Greetings! Welcome to March, and hopefully the first official month of some Spring like weather in Canada. After a long and vicious cold snap in Alberta, some milder weather set in last week and this past weekend Wild Rose MX Park opened up for riding. My Brother lives in Calgary and he text me on Saturday to say that he drove by the track, and people were out ripping. Hopefully, here in Ontario sand tracks like Gopher Dunes will be able to open in the coming weeks. For now, as I sit here it’s -15 and I’m staring at four feet of snow. The good news is that in a few hours my son and I are jumping in our truck and driving south for two weeks so he can begin to spin some laps and get used to his new Guaranteed Comfort Hanover Motorsports Honda’s!
Originally, we were supposed to leave for Florida last week and attend the Daytona SX, just as we did last year. However, with my son being knee deep in hockey playoffs, he decided to stay home a few extra days and play with his team. Even though I’m going to be 52 years old this coming May, and have been to Florida many times, I still get excited like a child when it’s finally time to head south in the winter to ride. This goes back to the year 1989 when I was getting ready for my season in the Intermediate class. I had switched from Kawasaki to Yamaha during the off-season and Mark Stallybrass was my new boss (so to speak), at Yamaha Motor Canada. Even though all of my moto friends had been to Florida multiple times to ride, my family had never been. In the past, my Dad had elected instead to keep me sharp with the occasional AX race in places like Cincinnati and Toledo, Ohio. Obviously, those events were not ideal in the middle of winter, but they still served a purpose as the racing was highly competitive, and overall the events were fun. But, in late February of 1989, along with my moto buddies Chris Randall and Chad Hart man, we hit the road and made our way to Ocala, Florida. I remember that drive like it was yesterday, cold to start, then by Kentucky we were shredding layers, and from there, each gas stop we were greeted with warmer temperatures. Those days were so pure and simple, as I sat in the passenger seat with a large Rand McNally Atlas beside me, ready to do any navigation that my Dad might need. There wasn’t much obviously with I-75 being the only highway we needed. However, without really knowing how long it was going to take us, reading the map served as a great way to pass time. I also spent a lot of time just looking out the window at the passing terrain. Kentucky is a beautiful state, as is the Eastern side of Tennessee and Georgia. Since this was our first time doing this drive, everything was a new experience and I was soaking in the scenery like Christopher Columbus when he was discovering the New World.
As I said, our first stop was Ocala as the old Hard Rock Cycle Park had just opened for business. After spending a few days there destroying tires (yes, Hard Rock lived up to its name), we headed even further South to the famous, or infamous, Croom! For the next week we stayed at the then Holiday Inn hotel that was right at the entrance to the riding area. Even though the track was a nightmare to ride each day, it was still so much fun. In those days there weren’t a lot of tracks to ride in Florida, and with the Gainesville National and Daytona SX taking place while we were there, a lot of pro riders showed up at Croom to ride for the day. One day, Ross Pederson showed up to ride, Guy Cooper was there, Team Honda came for a day, as did the late great Donny Schmit. Actually, Donny was there for multiple days by himself, and parked beside us in the hotel parking lot. One day he was struggling with his practice bike so my Dad helped out and got it back running. I remember him being a really nice guy. Seven years later at the 1996 Minneapolis SX riders meeting, they announced that Donny had passed away the prior evening, and then we all had a moment of silence. During that moment all I could think of was Donny at Croom back in 1989. All by himself, just pounding motos and going for long runs. He appeared to be lonely, but so very driven at the same time. Anyway, during our time in Florida we raced the Gainesville National Amateur day, attended the Daytona SX, rode some Thursday night motos at the Dade City MX track, rode some random track near Tallahassee, and then B-lined to Michigan for the opening round of the Silverdome Series. It was a certainly a whirlwind of a trip, but one that I will never forget. With my Dad now gone, that trip stands out as one of the best family motocross memories for me. Fast forward to present day, and you can easily see why it means so much to now be doing these trips with my family.
So, with waiting for my son’s hockey game to take place this weekend, we missed the Daytona SX. However, I was able to watch it on Saturday evening on the SMX Video Pass. The racing was entertaining all evening long, and it was great to see Ken Roczen grab the win in the 450SX main event. Kenny certainly earned the win as he came from behind to pass all of the 450SX class top riders. Kenny had some great lines, and he used them wisely to get to the front, and then remain there until the end. Cooper Webb made a little charge with several laps to go, but that pace proved to be too much for the Star Racing Yamaha rider, and he dropped back after making some mistakes. Chase Sexton had another strange day as he once again wasn’t able to parlay the fastest qualifying time into a main event win. February will be remembered as the month of unforced errors for Sexton as he’s made some at each round. In Tampa, he crashed while leading, in Detroit he got stuck in the gate, and could only charge to third (it was still an amazing ride, but he should’ve won), last week in Arlington, he had the overall and points lead in the bag, until he crashed on the final lap. Then, this weekend he detuned himself with a first lap heat race crash, and was never himself after that. Sexton did salvage a 5th place finish in Daytona, but with Webb finishing 2nd, it was more points lost for Chase. Last week, I said that I thought Sexton was getting ahead of himself mentally, and that was causing his miscues. However, after watching him weed himself 30 seconds into his heat race, while leading, I’m at a loss for words for what the solution might be. Sexton seems to enjoy golfing, so perhaps he should research what professional golfers do when they get “The Yips”, which in golfing is pretty much what Sexton is getting in Supercross. Tiger Woods even went through it years ago, but thankfully was able to work it out of his game. I searched up the word “Yips” and here is what Wikipedia spit out. Does this sound like what Chase Sexton is dealing with right now?
“In sports, the yips are a sudden and unexplained loss of ability to execute certain skills in experienced athletes. Symptoms of the yips are losing fine motor skills and psychological issues that impact the muscle memory and decision-making of athletes, leaving them unable to perform basic skills of their sport.
The exact cause of the yips is still not fully understood. A yips episode may last a short time before the athlete regains their abilities or it can require longer term adjustments to technique before recovery occurs. The worst cases are those where the athlete does not recover at all, forcing the player to abandon the sport at the highest level. Causes include but may not be limited to performance anxiety and neurological conditions.[1]
There have been a plethora of treatment options tested to ameliorate the yips, including clinical sport psychology therapy, motor imagery, pre-performance routines, medication, botulinum toxin, acupuncture, and emotional freedom techniques. However, their possible effectiveness is primarily based on personal experience rather than well-founded research evidence. Early intervention with a thorough treatment plan is imperative for recovery of athletes with yips”.
The 2025 Monster Energy Supercross Series heads to Indianapolis this coming weekend, where the first 250SX East/West Showdown will take place. I hope Sexton gets things figured out this week, as it’s hard to watch him throw away points. I also want to send a shout out to Tiger Wood, who rode very steady to finish 5th in the Daytona SX Next race. Finally, my Rider of the Week is Ken Roczen, as he rode brilliantly to the 450SX win in Daytona. I just love when the 30 plus riders win these days! Well, that is it for me this week, If you have any questions or comments please email me editor@mxpmag.com. Thank you reading, and my next week my Gate Drop Column will come to you from sunny Florida.