Soft. Grabby. Rutted. Tricky. False neutrals. This is Seattle. From a boring race in Glendale to a really good race in the PNW. Here are some thoughts for you to chew on for the week.
Eli Tomac: Did you notice the off rhythm Eli was doing before the finish? He would go inside and roll then start his rhythm down that lane. By now you probably have seen this, but watching it live was something else. There was one shot of Eli from the TV broadcast doing this from behind and you could see how many ruts he was missing because he was on an opposite rhythm. I mean it seems so obvious but when you’re racing, but it’s tough to understand and force yourself to do a line you haven’t done or pick up on it in the heat of the moment. However, when you’ve been doing it as long as Eli has, it is just experience in these situations. It’s going to be tough to be the number 3 this year because his starts have been decent in most cases and his speed is also late in the main is tough to deny. Pending a bike failure or a huge get off, he’s going to be tough to beat for this chajpionship.
Cooper Webb: There is one man who would disagree with the above comment. Soft dirt means Webb comes out to play. Some bike refinements have been made on Webb’s machine the past couple rounds but you could visibly see that the team (and maybe Webb) missed the mark in the whoops. The YZ looked a little too firm in the edges of the whoops which allows for Tomac to gain on him throughout the main. I am sure Gilly is aware of this and is already locked in for testing this week. Look for the King of Dallas to come out and play Saturday.
Justin Cooper: Finally! I think we all thought this would have happened earlier but some clutch problems have arose more than I thought Cooper or the team would have originally planned. Since the Yamaha went to the Nissin hydro clutch, starts have been a problem for Austin. The crazy wizard (Bob from ARC) has had his own hydraulic clutch system for quite sometime and he has been trying to pursue teams to use it but up until now no one “really” needed it. Well, the time has come for the Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha team needed Bob and his different master cylinder piston size/adjustable lever ratio lever concept and it seems that Justin prefers that over the options he has tried from the team. Does this move make other teams look into this part? I think it does!
Kevin Moranz: Kevin has been steadily chipping away at making most of the main events all year and that in itself is a feat. Running your own team and riding the time to get better on the bike isn’t easy so a big SHOUT OUT to Moranz for continually being in the mix.
Deegs/Kitchen: What a race. I was surprised that Kitchen wasn’t more pissed but from the sounds of it, it looks like he was having a good time. As soon as Kitchen got into second and starting catching Deegs you could see that Deegs was doing the Maverick “I am going to hit the brakes, he’ll fly right by” move and it seemed to work. I think Deegs wanted to see Kitchen’s lines and then adapt. He did just that. I also thought Kitchen’s fight showed Deegs that he is not some push over he will roll right by. Both riders were impressive and this was the best race of the year so far in my opinion.
Parker Ross: For a guy that doesn’t come from a huge amateur career or parents with a ton of money, this guy is making a name for himself the old fashion way. He reminds me of an old school 90s racer like Jeff Stanton or Jeff Ward. Just a tough dude that is not flashy on the bike but gets the job done. A ninth place is a good showing and being ninth in points is something that should be praised. Oh and The BAR X Yamaha teams bikes are really good off the start. Wonder why? Yeah, cause those are Twisted Development engines.
“Slap Dicks”: These are not my words, but I would like to comment on something I read on social media over the weekend. I commented on “X” how our total rider entries seem low for how early in the year we are. Of course about 30% of the people responded with we should get rid of mosts of these guys and have only factory/factory supported riders in these races. Are you guys serious? Imagine living in a world where we have ZERO privateers in our series. We would not even have a full gate to line up for these late in the year main events! So we should get rid of Kevin Moranz who just got 15th place? Or a Tristan Lane? Oh no, we should get rid of a guy like Josh Greco because he hasn’t made a 450 main event or he’s off the pace in qualifying. I am all for making sure we get guys that are at least doing the obstacles and ARE NOT a hazard for other riders but getting rid of privateers just cause they haven’t made a main event is asinine. This one guy on “X” even called them “slap dicks”. Any one of those “slap dicks” would blow away most of anyone at any local track. These SLAP DICKS are better than 90% of most of us watching the damn race on Saturday night. Look, I am never going to tell someone “you should quit” just cause I think they are slower than others in the class. That’s not up to me or you! That is up to the rider and the AMA! There are tons of great stories within the privateer paddock and if it wasn’t for these “slap dicks” our series would be barren. I do think the days of 80 riders in each class are gone but I do think we have more than capable privateers in our series that deserve to stay, NO MATTER IF THEY NEVER MAKE A MAIN EVENT. Some of you guys on “X” need to ride a SX track to understand how difficult it is. WE fans are jaded by watching the elite of the elite in “A” qualifying so when we see the B or C qualifiers it may look A LOT different but that is directly due to how hard this damn sport is! Chill back keyboard SX Pros… Chill back…
