Detroit didn’t have as much drama as the previous rounds but it still had enough fireworks to get in some information up here on Daytime Program. Here are some nuggets from D-Town. -KK
Cooper Webb: We wrote about the Gilly Effect last week but what about Coop’s ability to adapt to the track changing. I think this is the one thing that is overlooked about Coop’s race craft. Sure he’s strong minded and cuts low in the corners but what about his track awareness of where there is traction and where there isn’t. He will find portions of the track where there is good dirt and use that to his advantage. He also knows how to manage slippery areas better than most. 94 is one of the best when the track gets hard pack but Cooper isn’t far behind. Throttle control and “on bike weighting” is on of 2’s strong suits. He knows how to weight his machine around the track to ensure he has the most traction available. It was impressive to watch.
Ken Roczen: 94 rode a great race. He looked strong enough to win but a couple mistakes and covered insides really did him in near the ned there. The broadcast always talk about how Webb goes down low better than anyone on the line but what I think what allowed Webb to make the move on Kenny was 94 covering his insides too much. Now, you can’t blame Kenny for blocking the insides but being in Webb’s position, you have more options available to you as a racer. Kenny was using the very top of the berms and was carrying more speed through the corners easy in the main event but then lappers and slower corner speed did him in. I still think 94 has some in the tank to win a couple races so hopefully he can claw back some of that points deficit.
Chase Sexton: I am going to start with I REALLY like Chase and I think he is the fastest rider we have right now. But… What is it about these mistakes? You can NEVER just say that Chase has it in the bag because these dumb mistakes happen A LOT to Chase. Either crashes or these things that we saw on Saturday night end up happening. Sure he came back to third but the dude needs some added concentration I think. I could be totally wrong but I feel most of his crashes is lapse of concentration. It isn’t that he’s over riding the bike. It isn’t bad luck. It’s just concentration issues. It’s tough for me to sit here and write about because I am no where near the level of Chase but as a fan of the guy it gets frustrating. Just like I am sure it is for him! I don’t know what else to say. You can even hear it in the announcers voices of how they almost expect this from 4. We all want to crown him, but we can’t because Gisele comes out. Shout out to the BEST DRESSED winner though! All is not lost! This whole Alpinestars gear set and Chase looked FIIIIIIIRE!
Justin Barcia: Bam Bam has been getting better each weekend. 51 is creeping into the top 5 and at least can see it now. What is crazy is that when you watch 51 ride you would think he is top three speed, but then he’s seventh or eighth place. To think we have some guys out right now too and that might have put him in a nine or tenth place spot. CRAZY!
AP: Bueller? Bueller? As Steve would say, “I don’t know man”. Good starts and going backwards isn’t usually an AP thing. Let’s ALL hope he gets it on or near the podium soon. We love you, AP.
Red Flag Drama: Hopefully NO ONE is debating why the AMA threw the red flag out there because if you’re wondering why then look at this photo. Rider safety “should” be paramount”. Does this look like a man that is good? NO! I don’t disagree with the red flag being thrown, but the AMA rule of time on the clock so it’s a staggered restart needs to be looked at (especially if the heat race has a different rule). I do think Max got screwed out of this win and I understand why he would be bummed. If AMA called the race with 7 seconds on the clock, I don’t think ANYONE would have protested because Max was over six seconds up on Kitchen. Now, if Kitchen was on Max’s ass and the red flag was thrown, would anyone be bitching about the red flag restart rule? PROBABLY NOT! Everyone would probably want a restart and Max would probably be not as pissed. Especially the fans because they would get a good race (or at least get that good race, that was happening before the red flag to at least play out). But because Max had a huge lead and he didn’t win, he is pissed, fans are pissed and even some media are pissed (which I think is comical). Should the red flag rule change for the main event? YES! Should people be pissed off because of the restart? Some, should yes and it’s understandable. Should AMA have thrown out the red flag? YES! Let’s hope at some point the rule evolves because of this. Live and learn. I am trying to be positive with the AMA here people.
Levi Kitchen: You can even tell that Kitchen was kind of dazed and confused by his win. He won the damn thing but even he looked like he felt that he didn’t win it. Let’s be real, that restart was kind of lame and yes Kitchen won the race but I think deep down Kitchen knows he got beat on Saturday night. A win is a win and that check will clear like one so I am sure 47 is just fine with it.
Max Anstie: The dude was my pick before it all started. I saw a glimpse of him riding before the season started and to me he had all the tools. Being older helps in this class and even though he hasn’t won an American title, I am sure he feels like this is his to lose. He also isn’t testing a bunch of stuff. He is happy with this bike and is just riding during the week.
Carson Mumford: Mumfy has been good and his starts have been good enough to get him in the mix, but I thought it looked like his bike wasn’t able to get out of the corners to do some of these three ins. He wasn’t jumping over that 3-3-5 and that hurt his momentum a little. He also wasn’t able to three on top of that table so that was another piece of the puzzle that was missing. I reached out to him to see what was up and what I got was a very honest answer. “I’ll give you a long but 100% truthful answer, Keefer. My leg injury took a lot longer for me to come back from then any injury in my life. It’s probably going to take a year for it to be 100%. I really didn’t start to get good SX riding until around Christmas and then of course it was like ride 1, day take 3 off every week due to weather conditions. So with that being said I’m not my peak self. Yes, I can go fast, the bike is good and I’ve always had a lot of talent and heart but I just decided for the first few rounds my biggest goal is to stay healthy and do what ever lines I know I can do for the whole main safely. So those three out of the corners were pretty big in practice and I just said I’m not even going to worry about just ride my laps and I get what ever I get. Last weekend in Tampa I did the same thing with the whoops, I just hit them nice and slow and safe. I probably lost about 3 positions by doing so but I just stuck to my plan. This weekend I could’ve maybe got a 6-7th if I did those jumps but on the off chance I get tired and do something stupid an have a crash, I’d be kicking myself in the ass for not just sticking to my plan. Now I don’t want you to think this is a forever plan haha I’m hoping by the end of the season I’m stronger and mentally there for the whole race to do everything I know I can but for now it’s just not worth it in my eyes. About two weeks before the season I was feeling really mentally rusty on the bike, I was having a hard time with my feet positioning in my right leg (the one I broke). I couldn’t really feel if I was on the ball of my foot or not and my brain was a little slow to catch that. I actually had a near crash where I was late in a moto and my brain was starting to fade then I seat bounced a three out of a corner and I accidentally stepped on the rear break instead of the foot peg. When I say I almost died I almost ended it all. So ya I know it’s not the most fun thing to watch me go from the lead and get 8th on the night but I’m hoping to play the long game this year. I definitely think when I’m riding good I’m actually pretty on it with those front guys so I know it’s there and can come along as long as I’m there racing every weekend”!
Austin Forkner: A seventh place isn’t a horrible start. I think some of us wanted Forkner to come out and podium but this is real life and these podium guys are REALLY good, so building up to a podium isn’t a bad place to be. I think most of us will want Austin to just make it through the year and build. Let’s face it, Supercross isn’t the safest sport so getting out healthy is a win in itself. Austin and the team will get closer to the podium soon.
