With all roads leading to Las Vegas, the final pit stop on the way in the SMX Playoffs is at one Texas Motor Speedway on the outskirts of Fort Worth, Texas. The only non-dragway venue on this year's SuperMotocross slate, a lot of hype has surrounded one Eli Tomac, who had a surprisingly great day a week ago in Charlotte despite falling short to Jett Lawrence. His track record at true speedway venues doesn't need any introduction or spheal, but Steve Matthes made the point on Friday that ET3 seemed to like the way the track was, while everyone else wasn't so much a fan (which is exactly what you can say about the NASCAR product at Texas for the last decade, but I digress).
Even still, Tomac's streak of Daytona wins was snapped this year, and he'll have his hands full with the Lawrence brothers and an especially hungry Chase Sexton, who didn't run up to par a week ago. Meanwhile, in the 250 class, Haiden Deegan looked head and shoulders above the field in a dominant 1-1 day, but Red Bull KTM's Julien Beaumer was a massive surprise with his early Moto success in both outings in Charlotte. Could he, or anyone else, close the gap with Deegan going into Vegas?
Daytime Program/Injury Notes:
- There will be a day when this facility is reduced to some combination of ashes, atoms, and glass and then converted into either a nuclear testing site or a strip mall, and it's my hope I live to see that day.
- Honda HRC teamed up with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation this weekend and had four different looks for their four entries.
- Chance Hymas is officially done for SMX, but the plan is to gut through his knee injury and still run MXoN.
- 92 Degrees with a Real Feel of 100 Degrees. I hope those ice baths were good.
- 250 Fastest Qualifier: No. 1 Haiden Deegan (1:14.596)
- 450 Fastest Qualifier: No. 1 Jett Lawrence (1:13.201)
250 Class Recap
1st - No. 1 Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) (1-1)
Well, the one thing Deegan didn't do well last weekend was the starts, and I can assure you that whatever he did during the week to help out worked. No one had anything for him all day, except maybe Jo Shimoda, in those final few minutes of Moto 1. Now, one of the things I began to wonder as Shimoda was starting to make notable inroads on Haiden's lead was whether or not he would swap rear tires for Moto 2. After his podium interview in Moto 1, it became clear that he would, and that was a smart call, given how badly things deteriorated, and Deegan managed things beautifully. Now he can finish first, second, or third overall next week and still win a second World Title no matter what. It's not exactly a freebie, but it's definitely an easier situation than the guys in the 450 class have to deal with.
2nd - No. 16 Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM) (3-2)
Although it wouldn't have affected the final tally any, I think it would've been massive for Vialle to catch and then pass Deegan in that second Moto from a confidence standpoint. One of three guys who have somewhat of a chance to steal this thing from Deegan, and for whatever it's worth, Vialle had a stretch before he shut it down, where he was making significant enough in-roads on Deegan. The problem was he didn't get the start, which makes things 2-for-2 on the bad Moto 2 start front.
If you remember not hearing about Vialle during Moto 2 last weekend, it's because he was pinched off on the split start and had to rally from 20th to 7th. He left points on the table no matter how you slice things. That won't be why he'll hypothetically lose this Championship. Still, those are key situations you saw him not execute during the Motocross campaign. He won't be afforded the opportunity of a mulligan again if he wants half a million dollars.
3rd - No. 30 Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC) (2-3)
Once again, Shimoda does have a realistic shot at the SMX World Title, and his Moto 1 run with the collarbone injury in mind was mighty impressive. He has three Moto podiums in four SMX starts now as well, and I could easily envision him ramping up the intensity in Vegas to content with Deegan. It'll just be a matter of if he can avoid crossing that fine line that has got him burnt in Supercross and SMX these last two years.
3rd - No. 30 Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC) (2-3)
Once again, Shimoda does have a realistic shot at the SMX World Title, and his Moto 1 run with the collarbone injury in mind was mighty impressive. He has three Moto podiums in four SMX starts now, and I could easily envision him ramping up the intensity in Vegas to content with Deegan. It'll just be a matter of if he can avoid crossing that fine line that has got him burnt in Supercross and SMX these last two years. We know he has luck on his side; however, I don't know how he managed to stay upright, avoiding R.J. Hampshire, who hopefully heals up quickly after his violent looking get off.
7th - No. 39 Pierce Brown (TLD/Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing) (9-5)
I don't know if someone had ridden angrier all year than Brown did in Moto 2 when he charged from dead last to fifth. The seventh overall doesn't look sexy by any means, but he was making some mean-looking passes that entire race, and he had every opportunity to quit on himself and didn't. I am very excited to see his progression next year once he moves over to Star Yamaha.
250 Class Texas Top 10
1st No. 1 Haiden Deegan (1-1)
2nd No. 16 Tom Vialle (3-2)
3rd No. 30 Jo Shimoda (2-3)
4th No. 47 Levi Kitchen (7-4)
5th No. 929 Julien Beaumer (5-6)
6th No. 31 Jordon Smith (4-9)
7th No. 39 Pierce Brown (9-5)
8th No. 63 Cameron McAdoo (8-7)
9th No. 245 Matti Jorgensen (10-8)
10th No. 511 Nick Romano (13-8)
250 Class Points After Texas
1st No. 1 Haiden Deegan (100 Points)
2nd No. 16 Tom Vialle (81 Points)
3rd No. 47 Levi Kitchen (78 Points)
4th No. 30 Jo Shimoda (76 Points)
5th No. 929 Julien Beaumer (69 Points)
6th No. 31 Jordon Smith (64 Points)
7th No. 39 Pierce Brown (56 Points)
8th No. 37 Max Anstie (49 Points)
9th No. 29 Ty Masterpool (43 Points)
10th No. 63 Cameron McAdoo (42 Points)
450 Class Recap
1st - No. 96 Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC) (1-3)
It took him until the second to last round of the year, but we can finally say Hunter put a whole day together on a 450 and on perhaps the roughest track all calendar year in 100-degree heat; not too shabby, says I. Regardless, that first Moto win now certainly gives me more than enough confidence that he can walk out of Vegas with this Championship. The way he rallied after that mistake out in front, only to get back out front and shut down an Eli Tomac heater, was unimaginably impressive (probably the second-best all-around race this year behind Seattle's 450 Main Event).
(I don't know how it'd work logistically, but I do think an hour-long post-race show for at least Supercross could work)
The one-point lead is ultimately moot, given that it's now a three-way winner-take-all battle out in Sin City, but we know he can perform in the clutch now and, more so, win on the big bike. Impressed would be an understatement; Hunter should be super proud of himself, especially after not collapsing after that late Moto 2 mistake. It was comfortably the best ride of his career.
2nd - No. 4 Chase Sexton (Red Bull KTM) (4-1)
This time next week, we might be talking about Sexton's Moto 2 start at TMS as the Million Dollar Start because that may have single-handedly kept him in this short title fight. Dead to rights after that Moto 1 would be an understatement to describe Sexton. A bad start allowed the Lawrences and Tomac to ride off into the sunset, and Sexton never really got close to them.
Although it appeared that they made no bike changes going into Moto 2, Sexton said post-race that they made the bike feel a bit more towards what settings he had in MX, which indeed showed. It didn't take him long to stretch things out to over a 10-second lead once he vaulted past Dylan Ferrandis, and he was dropping absolute haymakers of lap times in the early goings. Even without the red plate, he might as well be tied with Hunter Lawrence at this point. Still, a win in Vegas would be the ultimate exclimation point on a year where he didn't face a full slate of riders outdoors but could shut down that narrative and take home seven figures all in one fell swoop.
3rd - No. 1 Jett Lawrence (Honda HRC) (3-2)
Speaking of guys who had critical day defining moments, that Moto 1 bike stall for Jett was quite litterally the difference between winning and losing the overall on Saturday. Despite his best efforts, I was surprised he couldn't run Tomac back down after the stall. The good news here is this for Jett, though: He's still in a winner-take-all spot going into next week despite only being able to tie either Sexton or his brother in points should one or the other come behind him. His hypothetical two SMX overall wins at that juncture is the tiebreaker, so he and Honda know where he stands now.
4th - No. 3 Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) (2-5)
Not the start or finish that ET3 was hoping for in Moto 2 yesterday, but luckily for him, they aren't paying points by the Moto here. Beyond that start, I can't imagine the scoop tire helped him out at all, never mind that his start wasn't great to begin with. He was progressively ramping up the lap times up until lap nine, where he dropped a 1:16.661, but never even came close to that afterward, mainly running in the 1:18 bracket from there on out. A gnarly track certainly had to be a factor, but he looked notably better earlier in the day. If for nothing else, though, he made that Moto 1 battle super fun.
While Tomac no longer controls his own fate regarding the World Title, he's not technically out of this just yet. His most realistic path would be a win, with both Hunter Lawrence and Chase Sexton finishing fourth or worse and Jett Lawrence finishing no better than third. It's not impossible, especially if Roczen, Plessinger, or Webb get in a groove, but it's far from a guarantee.
7th - No. 7 Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) (9-7)
AP deserves credit for going out there hurt, but it's apparent that he's nowhere close to 100 percent. Even with that said, he was able to find some clean air early in that second Moto and salvage a seventh for seventh overall, which keeps him mathematically within striking distance of the title. Now, do I envision a scenario where he takes home two Moto wins next year when he's not at full health? No, but his performance next week will either gain him or lose him no less than $50,000, so he has something to fight for no matter what. On a side note, I do wonder if his MXoN status ends up being questioned this week and into next.
450 Class Texas Top 10
1st No. 96 Hunter Lawrence (1-3)
2nd No. 4 Chase Sexton (4-1)
3rd No. 1 Jett Lawrence (3-2)
4th No. 3 Eli Tomac (2-5)
5th No. 2 Cooper Webb (5-4)
6th No. 94 Ken Roczen (6-6)
7th No. 7 Aaron Plessinger (9-7)
8th No. 21 Jason Anderson (8-8)
9th No. 14 Dylan Ferrandis (7-9)
10th No. 45 Colt Nichols (13-10)
450 Class Points After Texas
1st No. 96 Hunter Lawrence (90 Points) (New Points Leader)
2nd No. 4 Chase Sexton (89 Points)
3rd No. 1 Jett Lawrence (81 Points)
4th No. 3 Eli Tomac (69 Points)
5th No. 7 Aaron Plessinger (62 Points)
6th No. 94 Ken Roczen (58 Points)
7th No. 2 Cooper Webb (58 Points)
8th No. 14 Dylan Ferrandis (51 Points)
9th No. 27 Malcom Stewart (48 Points)
10th No. 21 Jason Anderson (48 Points)
Main Image via Honda HRC
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