Greetings! I hope everyone is enjoying their March break, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day this coming weekend to all of my Irish readers. Currently my son and I are down in Florida riding and enjoying the warmer weather. Last week, he rode at the 221MX track near Shelby, NC for a day. After that, we drove over to GPF in Georgia for a few days. If you haven’t been to GPF to ride then it should be one of those trips you put on your bucket list. Obviously, it’s easier to get to for us in the East, but I was surprised to see several families from Alberta camping there last week. It’s also a facility that many of our top pro riders use for training during these months. Jess Pettis, Sebastien Racine, and Dylan Rempel are currently all there training for the upcoming 2025 Triple Crown Series. The track is great, and the facility and property are amazing. Honestly, it’s just a nice place to spend time at, and the riders seem to love it.
Anyway, onto Round 9 of the Monster Energy Supercross Series in Indianapolis. For whatever reason, it doesn’t matter when this race happens in the series, or what the winter has been like in and around the Indianapolis area, the track is always soft and rutted. Even though a few weeks in Detroit, the dirt was dry with very few ruts, that was not the case this past weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium. As it always does, the track on Saturday night was treacherous as deep ruts formed on all of the jump faces, as well as in the turns. This was a Cooper Webb type track, and he certainly proved it by dominating the 450SX main event. Chase Sexton, who was coming off multiple sub-par finishes during the past month, appeared to have nothing for Webb in the main event. Even though Indianapolis is technically Sexton’s hometown race, he rode like someone who just didn’t want to make another costly mistake. Unfortunately, when you do ride like that you usually make mistakes, and that is exactly what Chase did yet again, as a tip over in the sand section cost him a second place finish, handing Webb even more points in the 450SX standings. These past six weeks have been a disaster for Sexton as on most nights he’s been the fastest rider, but just hasn’t been able to remain mistake free. I did hear this week that the reason for his lackluster Daytona main event was that his rear shock began to fade halfway through the race. Couple that with his bars coming loose during the LCQ, and it makes you wonder what is going on over in the KTM paddock. It’s a strange situation for sure, and I also heard this week that if Tomac retires at the end of this season then there is a good chance you’ll see Sexton on a blue bike in 2026. If Tomac decides to race one more season, then Sexton doesn’t have a lot of options. With the SX Series now taking its first weekend off this break couldn’t come at a better time for Sexton. Hopefully, a few days off with help him reset and then come back strong for the final eight rounds.
In the 250SX East/West Showdown main event, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Seth Hammaker gave his boss Mitch Payton something to smile about as he dominated the main event from start to finish. It was a great ride on a challenging track for Seth, and it was cool to have Jett Lawrence in the TV booth during the 250SX main event helping to call the action. With Hammaker training down at the dog pound with the Lawrence Brothers, they obviously have a great rapport, and that was evident while listening to Jett’s commentary. As for our Canadian boys, sadly neither qualified for the main event on Saturday evening. Cole Thompson qualified for the night show, but after a first turn mishap in the LCQ, he decided to call it a night. Cole has been having issues with his back, and it’s really been affecting him during the week. As any rider who has had or continues to have back issues knows, it can be a never ending saga of pain and stiffness. Cole has been doing his absolute best to battle through these issues, but things just didn’t work out in Indianapolis. He will now have a a few weeks off before the 250SX West Series resumes in Seattle at the end of the month. Preston Masciangelo was fast in qualifying, but came up just short of making it into the night show.
As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, this past week I was able to not only watch KTM Canada’s newest rider Dylan Rempel, but also 250 Pro/Am class title contender Sebastien Racine, and our 2024 Triple Crown Series 450 class Champion Jess Pettis. This was my first time seeing Pettis on his new MX101 FXR Racing Yamaha, with his big #1 plate, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. My initial take was that Jess looked a little smoother on the YZ450 than he did on his KTM, and although he speed looked comparable to a year ago, it appeared to take less effort for him to go that speed on the blue bike. He and Racine are doing some riding at GPF for a few days before his team comes down and they get right into testing. By the time they leave Georgia next month, I’m sure everyone will be dialed in. Also, I was impressed with how Rempel looked on his new KTM. He looked fast, and under the tutelage of Kaven Benoit, he should fit and be able go that speed for at least 30 minutes come late May. I’m a big Rempel fan and I think he’s going to not only challenge for podiums this summer, but also contend for moto wins.
Well, that is it for me this week. I know this column is on the shorter side, but today is a big riding/training day here in Florida. I will leave you with some great news though, with the milder weather this week in Ontario, Gopher Dunes is planning on opening this weekend if all goes well. Nothing says spring in Ontario like riding at Gopher Dunes in March, and we cannot wait. For more information, including track hours, pro shop hours, as well as all of the waivers you need to sign, go to www.gopherdunes.com. Finally, my pick for rider of the week is Justin Cooper, who rode strong to finish second overall in Indianapolis. If things continue to trend in Cooper’s favour, I think he could get his first ever 450SX main win before the series has concluded. Thank you for reading this week, and I hope everyone has a great March break!