Hey race fans! It’s been a minute! Millville is one of the best tracks on the circuit so I thought why not resurrect Daytime Program because of two things: J Mart and Millville. Here we go.
J-Mart: Did you not think we weren’t going to start this whole thing off with the man of the weekend? Sure, he could of just rode off into the sunset and lived his life with the memory of being one of the best 250 racers of all time, but the guy shows up to his home national and rides the way he did. INSANE! We know J-Mart is in shape but racing shape is different than Leadville 100 shape. No matter though because Jeremy pulled two holeshots and won the second moto going away! If you say you saw this coming you would be a liar. Home track or not, there is no way I thought he would win a moto, let alone a second overall. What we saw the first two rounds wasn’t your normal J-Mart and I would of thought he would have been in the top ten but it wasn’t to be. This is what makes this last race of his career all that much sweeter. To beat these kids at his home race, seeing all of the track workers and fans cheering him on gave me chills. We don’t get to this type of performance in sport that much so to be able to watch this was pretty damn cool. Oh and a beer in the press conference is a nice touch. Bravo, 6! Cheers to Chapter two!
Deegs: Look, I am not a Deegan hater or a huge fan, but I can appreciate the kid’s grit and willingness to send it. I also think some of the shit he puts out there on social media is kinda funny. I don’t have TikTok but my kid does and when he showed me some of these videos he’s made over the past week or so it makes me laugh. A lot of people think it’s horrible for our sport and I get your concern but to me it really doesn’t hurt or help. Only thing it does is get others spooled up that DO NOT like the kid. The video of him talking about being a rich kid and maybe he should crawl back up into his mom’s womb then come out poor so more people would like him, had me laughing out loud. Maybe I just don’t take these things too serious but the kid is 19 years old so he’s going to do 19 year old things. At the end of the day, he is going to bring 450 SX/MX racing to another level and we as fans are going to benefit from it soon. Great championship ride by Down Home Deegs at Millville. Stand by…
Mikkel Haarup: I have the pleasure of riding at the Triumph facility from time to time and get to watch this dude ride. He’s a great human and rides the bike very fluid. His tall/bigger stature is not the best for the 250 class but the Triumph has a great power plant so it can pull his big ass around well. A fourth overall is a great ride for the likable viking and I think he does podium before the season ends. I think Washougal can be a great track for Mikkel as his smooth style could fit perfectly with the slippery conditions of the PNW. Also, shout out to the whole Triumph team getting into the top ten this weekend!
Dilan Schwartz: The BarX Yamaha rider has been putting in some great rides this summer as well as his raw speed has been on display. The BarX team doesn’t have these huge budgets and with the help of Twisted Development this YZ250F has been helping him achieve some of his best outdoor results of his young career. Look for Schwartz to be good in Washougal as well.
Levi Kitchen: If there was going to be a “I don’t know man” in this article, this is where I would put it.
Jett/Hunter Lawrence: These two are morphing into the same style on the bike. Hunter has been looking more and more like Jett these days and that is good thing. Hunter is slightly less active on the bike (movement) but is very fluid when he does move around. Next time you watch either of these guys, watch them lift there front wheel or use the braking bumps like SX whoops. It’s almost like the blip the throttle, lift the front end slightly and get the bike light into de-cel bumps. Their bike doesn’t ever get too deep into the stroke (unless they are loading down hills). Hunter’s bike looked a little more planted to the ground than Jett’s but that could be just how they apply throttle/brake. Either way the boys at HRC Honda have the bikes working amazing and it’s really fun to watch/learn from these two.
RJ Hampshire: On the opposite side of the spectrum here is RJ. Technique not always great but heart is always 100%. You are not going to sit down an amateur racer and have him watch RJ’s technique but that same amateur racer could learn a thing or two about heart and grit when it comes to RJ. The Husqvarna actually looked pretty damn good at Millville and I was impressed on how RJ’s corner speed looked. I would say he had some of the best corner speed out of anyone all day.
Valentine Guillod: MXGP invader Valentine is showing up at these AMA rounds and hurting dudes feelings on a relatively stock motorcycle. Some suspension, an Akrapovic muffler, some ECU work and a heavy throttle hand is getting Guillod into the top ten. At the beginning of the MXGP series he was also riding impressive but here in the states he is a consistent top ten rider on a stock motorcycle. Also, there is A LOT of Yamahas on the gate. If you’re a privateer, the Yamaha seems to be the bike of choice lately.
Marshal Weltin: A hero performance in Millville for Marsh. Not because his results were amazing but because the sportsmanship he showed when he saw Cairoli sitting under his bike cooking on his Ducati’s muffler. I know Marsh didn’t get the best start and he wasn’t in any points chase but to have another rider pick your bike up off you when you can’t do it yourself is something that you love to see. Marshal is one of the nicest guys in the pro paddock so it’s not surprising to see this but when about 6-8 others probably saw the same thing, it’s cool that one person had the right thing to do in his head when he witnessed it. Good human award of the weekend goes to 35!
