The Triple Crowns have been great this year and this one in Arlington was no different. Let’s break down some of what went down in the Lone Star State.
Cooper Webb: Just when you think he’s out of it, he wins! We haven’t seen a rider this tough in a very long time. Webb isn’t the fastest guy and he even admits this but he puts himself into positions to capitalize on his competitors mistakes. He knows that Sexton can make a mistake at any given time so he makes sure that he is in the position to be there when those mistakes happen. I also checked to see if Cooper made any adjustments on his bike for the main events and from what I heard, he only made a clicker adjustments to get more feel from the bike. That tells me he went a little softer with his suspension which you could tell from the way he was riding the last two mains.
Chase Sexton: Yes, I am sure Steve was saying this in the press box on Saturday night. “I don’t know, man”. Let me start off by saying, Chase is the one of the most likable guys in our sport right now. He gives good interviews, he’s honest/transparent, he admits when it’s his fault so when we see this happen over and over again, it crushes our souls. I’m using the word “our” because I feel a lot of you guys feel like I do when I see him make dumb mistakes. Like why did you rush it? Why are you stalling? Why are you hitting the gate? RC is right! Sexton is better than what we are seeing, but we aren’t seeing an improvement in his ability to NOT make those late race mistakes. I ma thinking out loud here, but do “we” need to see someone about concentration issues? Is this something we need to look at? The look on Sexton’s face at the end of the last main event says it all. He is getting beat down by his own mistakes and it’s now reality starting to bother him. Before when he would make mistakes he sounded more positive after the race, but this one stung. Do I believe he can figure this out and bounce back? Yes. Is Daytona that spot? Could be.
Jason Anderson: The old JA was back in Arlington! Smacking dudes and throwing fingers is what we’ve come to know about JA. Jason has the speed to be a podium guy but getting fired up is something that he may need to allow himself to ride better? A little misunderstanding with Webb in qualifying poured over to Barcia in the main event, but by that time it was too little too late. If JA could just be in the top 5 every main then he could have been near the podium. As a fan, I am here for angry Anderson! I think it makes for good TV but I am sure Kawasaki thinks otherwise. You have a guy that is a podium guy but he gets into some tussles on the track that can hurt his finishes, is not what the bosses want I am sure. However, Anderson will get it back on track as we witnessed the last main.
Justin Cooper: Did anyone see Cooper go through the whoops the first lap of the first main event? WHAT! He then resorted to jumping which worked in Arlington most of the night but something is up. I don’t remember Cooper not being able to skim whoops as a 250 rider. I thought he skimmed and jumped well. Maybe I am wrong, but when you resort to jumping almost every weekend something is up. J-Coop is unreal everywhere else on the track as the segment times show, but if he can get the whoops down, he is going to be a problem for A LOT of other riders. Also, don’t be surprised if we see J-Coop on the podium at Daytona. It will be his kind of track!
Justin Hill: Two words. HELL YES! The dude just shows up and smacks these other riders in the face in qualifying then gets a top five overall. Oh, on a privately owned team (not a factory bike)! This is bad ass and should be talked about more. Ross at ENZO has been hard at work with Justin to make his KYB/WP suspension as good as it can. Ross may also know something about putting KYB internals into WP suspension from another top rider that we won’t mention so seeing Ju Hill on top is not a real surprise. What I think is most key is that he is getting confidence now and isn’t jersey reading when he’s up there! He knows he belongs!
Jerry Robin: I see you Jerry! I was almost going to put Jerry in Daytime last week but I wanted to wait one more week to see if he can get into the top 15 again and he did! Jerry is being more consistent with less mistakes and it is showing! His raw speed in qualifying is there as well! This guy has been at it for a while and you’re starting to see the snowball growing as it is rolling down the mountain. Sometimes it takes a bit to get it all figured out and Jerry is slowly but surely getting it. Smoothing out with more speed is harder than it looks so to see Jerry putting into main events and ALSO doing well is a huge feat.
Deegs: A chiller Deegs this weekend. Not a lot of smack talk and a Deegs that comes through the pack is something we haven’t really seen yet in 25’. Crazy that he is not getting starts but he is working his way through the pack decently enough to get the W’s. Deegs isn’t great through the whoops but he made it work on Saturday night. With J Smith out, Deegs is in the driver seat for the title.
Coty Schock: WOW! A well deserved second place for one of the nicest guys in our sport. A humble kid with great parents that kept chipping away at his craft and we just got to witness it in Arlington. From a full on privateer to a ride with the Muc-Off Club MX Yamaha guys was something this kid needed to see his potential through. Kudos to Brandon and all the guys at Club MX for seeing the potential in Coty and sticking with him. It’s only going to get better from here as his ceiling is pretty damn high, especially when you see his SX progress over the years. We knew he was a motocross kid but now we see him as a SX guy as well!
Michael Mosiman: Another nice human! This is just cool to see for me. Love to see Michael clawing his way back into podium contention and showing all of us that you can take some time away from the sport then get into podium contention if you’re in the right mind space. Being away from this sport is usually a results killer but this kid has been steadily improving the season. The speed is coming back, less mistakes per race and great starts is a recipe for success. Plus Mosiman is a thinker when he speaks, he just doesn’t blab out shit. Refreshing for the sport.
Lux Turner: Shout out to Lux. I watched Lux race and an amateur and the kid was always a scrapper. He wasn’t afraid to send and now that send has smoothed out into a quality SX rider. Getting top tens in 250 SX is not easy and he’s doing it consistently. A big part of that is having Jeremy (owner of AEO KTM) believe in Lux and giving him quality 250 machinery. The AEO KTMs are fast and handle well so getting the pieces to the SX puzzle put together is not usually easy to do but the team and Lux are riding ways to put it together. Great job to the kid and the team.
