'24 Spring Creek 250 Moto 1

  • 2 months ago
Transcript
00:00It's important for these guys as J.T. Mentioned and we saw in the 450 class the momentum coming
00:06out and through these sections and this 250 class, the exits of the corners, what I mean
00:11by that, the exits going up, going into the sand roller, coming out of the corner is going
00:16to be very crucial for these guys.
00:18We saw what happened with Hunter Lawrence.
00:20Exit of the corner wasn't good.
00:21He got passed by chase Sexton.
00:22This 250, they're going to have to get these things right to get up these hills and through
00:26those rollers.
00:28So here we are, 40 riders, 30 minutes and two laps, the race duration.
00:33Shout out to the Frenchman, Tom Guillaume, he's headed back home but he did collect the
00:37F.M.F.
00:38Privateer power award last week battling through traffic, getting some points in the top 20.
00:43Now the fly racing 32nd card is up.
00:47Momentum on the line.
00:48The first off weekend for Deegan due to a variety of reasons.
00:52Last week at red bug, was it a one-off or a tie-mix at master pool and Shimoda, Vial,
00:58can they get a hook in him?
01:00We're about to find out.
01:06Here we go.
01:18Is that Deegan?
01:20He's on the inside.
01:22Looking to clear out.
01:24I think it's Cochran right with him.
01:27Deegan and Cochran.
01:29Rivals in their amateur days.
01:31Two of the young riders up front and two Kawasakis, Kenseth and master pool.
01:35What a way to bounce back and show everybody you back by getting out front.
01:38It's a perfect place.
01:40Let's see if he can get a little gap on these guys.
01:42Looks like chance Hyman is around fifth place.
01:44Maybe that's his teammate Joe Shimoda.
01:46Hey, Deegan, after last weekend, this is exactly where you need to be at.
01:50Fifth hole shot this year for Deegan on the monster Yamaha star racing ride.
01:55And now Shimoda.
01:57Levi was able to get around Kasey.
01:59Now it looks like Joe Shimoda, I believe, went down in practice earlier today.
02:04Hurt his shoulder.
02:06So nice to see him up front.
02:08Hopefully that shoulder doesn't bother him.
02:10Look at this lead already.
02:12I don't think he liked the talk of the off weekend we were bringing up after last weekend.
02:16Hayden is putting in some sprints right now in this first opening lap.
02:20This guy is all about the bulletin board material.
02:23It doesn't take much to fuel that fire.
02:26And he is definitely fired up now.
02:28And the great part about the track soul here at Millville is that you don't have to worry about the water or the thing being too slippery.
02:35So Hayden is able to get out here.
02:37And he feels comfortable.
02:39He can just let it hang out because of the traction this track has, Will.
02:41That's right.
02:43And I said before there, James, that the team, Hayden's crew, they were not worried about last weekend.
02:48Like you said, there was a myriad of reasons why they said he was in that situation.
02:52And he told me on top of that, he's like, if that's my off weekend and I crash, I saw the bike, I'm not feeling very well,
02:59it's like if that's the off weekend, not a problem.
03:01I will take it.
03:03But an interesting take from his dad, Brian Deegan.
03:05He said, look, we're in a balance here as to what we do with this 18-year-old kid is how he described his son there.
03:11He said, because we thought maybe a little bit of a break last week, it was the 4th of July, took Thursday off.
03:16He thought maybe that would refresh him.
03:18But now we've learned that actually taking him out of his routine and doing that perhaps wasn't the best idea.
03:24And he said maybe that resulted in just feeling a tick off.
03:27And that's what we saw him there last weekend.
03:29Clearly right now, it doesn't seem to be affecting him.
03:32His dad also said 450 is going first.
03:35James, this track is rough.
03:37And that plays to Hayden, Deegan, JT.
03:39Yeah, and for these riders, you know, confidence is such a fickle thing.
03:44And I think for riders like Chantimus, riders like Ty Masterpool, they were starting to gain a little bit of confidence
03:50and starting to believe that they could beat Hayden Deegan on a week-in and week-out basis.
03:55For Hayden, I don't think he ever doubted himself.
03:57But he needed to go back and send a message to everyone, including both of them,
04:01that, hey, I'm still the same guy I was.
04:03There's a reason I have a 40-point lead.
04:05And I think that's what he's came here and set out to do.
04:07Yeah.
04:08But on that being said, Hayden's got to be careful because you can't really ride this racetrack.
04:13I know he wants to go out and send a message.
04:15If that's what he's trying to do, it looks like that.
04:18But you see he's starting to make a few mistakes.
04:20Levi was able to close in.
04:22So as much as he wants to send a message, the message has been sent with that 42-point lead he has.
04:26And he needs to remember that and not take a big chance and go down.
04:30Yeah, so why is this a track?
04:32I mean, the dirt looks so great.
04:33It looks like you could just rip it.
04:35Why does he have to be careful and not overdo it?
04:37Well, because we saw what happened, as I was saying, in the keys, the Xs of the corners.
04:42So if he's going in hot because he wants to, you know, power and slam into stuff, he's going to lose time.
04:48And it seemed like in that latter part of that first lap, he was doing that.
04:52You saw how much time Levi was able to close.
04:54So Hayden wants to send a message.
04:56And when you're a young kid like that, sometimes, you know, you get a little out of control.
05:00You start slamming into these corners.
05:02Allow these guys to close in.
05:04And again, he's got a 42-point lead, Jason.
05:06And he's done all the hard work.
05:08Don't lose it now because of something that happened last week.
05:10We've seen Vial in third of the Red Bull KTM.
05:14So always has Marvin Muskan, one of the great riders of the past, Frenchman.
05:18But also now David Willamette joining him this weekend.
05:22Wow, we've got a battle.
05:24It is Hymus on the right side looking to make a move on Cochran.
05:26Chance to a scrub.
05:28Now he's got the outside.
05:30He's going to flow around.
05:32Kasey lets him go by now.
05:34This is where you're going to see how much improvement and confidence Hymus has grown over the last few weeks.
05:38He's able to close in and maybe get up on the podium.
05:40Shows me that this kid really believes that he belongs up front.
05:42He looks really aggressive now.
05:44And being from Oklahoma, or at least practicing it out there, I think he probably feels pretty comfortable on these soil and this kind of conditions.
05:52He looks pretty good.
05:54See if he can get around his teammates and keep going forward.
05:56So it's the Honda teammate, Shimoda.
05:58And now Hymus, fourth and fifth.
06:00Cochran, sixth.
06:02Then Masterpool got shuffled back after the good start.
06:04And then Julian Bumair making his return to racing after a concussion a couple weeks ago.
06:08Ninth.
06:10Anstey is tenth.
06:12Down to Will with more in the 30.
06:14That's right.
06:16For Joe Shimoda, Jason and James.
06:18A bit of a rough start to the day.
06:20What you're about to see here was early on in qualifying.
06:22We did not catch the crash.
06:24But I was told that as he landed on the ground, he basically extended his right shoulder back enough that he was in a decent amount of pain.
06:32They did get it checked out there.
06:34They put it down as a strain.
06:36But he is taped up.
06:38So we did have to have some work done on him today.
06:40Apparently he's in pain.
06:42But it's not an extreme amount of pain.
06:44And they said they feel that he should be able to ride through it.
06:46But I just want to give you a little update there on Joe.
06:48Thanks, Will.
06:50And he already was in some pain.
06:52Spent two weeks in Michigan with his riding coach, Nick Way.
06:54He was originally from there.
06:56And he told me, I rented an Airbnb.
06:58And all I did was cycle, gym and ride.
07:00I had nothing else to do.
07:02And just worked on technique stuff, not even full motos.
07:04So he has been in the grind.
07:06He said it was nothing but motocross.
07:08Sunup to sundown the last two weeks.
07:10Yeah.
07:12And you would think for a guy that has a shoulder, the hardest part would be the sand rollers.
07:14But it's not.
07:16It's actually going down these hills where he's in the most pain.
07:18Going down those hills.
07:20And then going up.
07:22Because he's got to be leaned back.
07:24That shoulder is all stretched out.
07:26And if it's more about something, flexibility, then it's going to be tough for him.
07:28Here's the Michigan motos.
07:30Look how gnarly this track is.
07:32That little willy right there was pretty gnarly.
07:34J.T., what do you see there?
07:36Well, much like Joe Shimoda, I actually spent time living with Nick Way.
07:38And riding that very track that we have on video there.
07:40So I know what Joe Shimoda is going through.
07:42And it is complete and utter focus on racing.
07:44And the craft of it.
07:46Training, riding.
07:48Because there's nothing else to do.
07:50Joe doesn't have friends in Michigan.
07:52Really doesn't know where to go or else do.
07:54So you're completely locked in.
07:56And another thing that I really benefited from in Michigan,
07:58the temperatures are a little cooler.
08:00And you think about Joe Shimoda.
08:02He's been in southern California where it's over 100 degrees every day.
08:04In Michigan it's a little bit cooler.
08:06So you can spend more time riding.
08:08You can spend more time working on your technique and your craft.
08:10Because your number one thought is not getting out of the heat every single day.
08:12So I think he's gaining a little bit of that.
08:14And gaining confidence along the way as well.
08:16Yeah, I agree.
08:18And I think by riding on the east coast of Michigan,
08:20it's going to make Joe more of an aggressive rider.
08:22Because being in California,
08:24the soil is really hard.
08:26So you've got to be really patient.
08:28You know, easy on the throttle.
08:30So I think sometimes when Joe gets to these races,
08:32as we're watching Chance Hymus,
08:34his teammate, try to close in on him,
08:36sometimes he rides like he does on a hard pack track,
08:38which is really conservative.
08:40And that might hurt him.
08:42Now, with Chance Hymus,
08:44let's see if he can keep rolling
08:46and as we drop him back.
08:48Yeah, he can hold Hymus off.
08:50Now we've got Cochran and Masterpool still battling.
08:52We are seeing some real progress here
08:54from Cochran in this fight now.
08:56As for Masterpool,
08:58let's check in with Will.
09:00Jason, you and I were walking around the paddock earlier
09:02talking about Ty Masterpool.
09:04Because we didn't quite see the performance
09:06we were expecting in the qualifying rounds
09:08earlier on today.
09:10I spoke to Mitch Payton, team owner,
09:12and then I spoke to Ty himself asking about that.
09:14And Ty did say, well, he didn't get
09:16a completely clean lap in,
09:18so that explains those times somewhat.
09:21He also said, I've got to find some different lines.
09:23They were looking at tape.
09:25He said, I was losing time here and there.
09:27But he referenced again, James,
09:29the fact that he didn't have that fitness base.
09:31He talked about this on the podium last weekend
09:33when he kind of faded back off.
09:35He didn't have that fitness base that he would have had
09:37for boot camp leading up to the start of the season
09:39because it was a surprise ride that came up to him.
09:41At this point in the season, James,
09:43how tough is it to play catch-up?
09:45It's really tough.
09:47I mean, it's like starting on a road trip
09:49where you've got a full tank of gas.
09:51You've got to stop for gas a lot earlier.
09:53So that's essentially where he's at.
09:55And I think the hard part for Kasey
09:57is that if he hasn't been to a lot of these tracks,
09:59he doesn't have to rely on the line.
10:01Wait a minute. Sorry.
10:03Hayden Deegan has gone down.
10:05So now it's Kitchen in the lead
10:07and Vial, Kitchen in green, Vial orange,
10:09and Deegan third.
10:11Also saw Nick Romano in the pit.
10:13Wow, this is a shakeup.
10:15Yeah, I'm wondering what happened to Hayden
10:17because this is what I mentioned earlier.
10:19He had to be careful of not overriding this racetrack
10:21and go down because you want to send a message.
10:23So maybe it was just something,
10:25a lap rider, a typical fall over,
10:27but now the one guy he probably didn't want
10:29is that fast qualifier, that number 16,
10:31Tom Vial, and his friend Levi Kitchen.
10:33He wants to probably have a chance
10:35to get back at Hayden as well
10:37for that first race.
10:39Well, these are probably the two riders
10:41considered Deegan's biggest competitors
10:43coming into the championship.
10:45A rough go as of late for Kitchen
10:47who wasn't on the podium,
10:49I believe, six straight photos,
10:51then finally got a third last time out at Redbud.
10:53Deegan is back, and he is putting heat
10:55on Vial.
11:01And the Deegan fans, they line the hillsides
11:03everywhere we go. They're fired up now.
11:05And Hayden's been really good all year long.
11:07Once he, if he makes a mistake,
11:09being able to get, or somebody pass him,
11:11able to get back around him.
11:13We're going to watch Hayden try to get back
11:15and at least stop the momentum and have Tom
11:17don't believe.
11:19He's jumping a quad right there.
11:21Let's see, he's going down this hill, charging pretty good.
11:23Let's see if he just loses the front end in these ruts.
11:29Yep, front end goes over these ruts,
11:31so it pops out. So Hayden was standing up.
11:33He goes in to lean into this corner.
11:35You can see his front tire pop over that rut.
11:37Got to believe that a little bit
11:39was because Levi kept that gap somewhat close
11:41and Hayden wanted to prove it, so.
11:43Small mistake, but now look what happened, Jay.
11:45Yeah, almost got to Vial.
11:47Now Vial has responded. Shows some
11:49motos in this fight now.
11:51Yeah, the problem with Hayden, not only he got passed
11:53by two people, but now he's letting that number 30
11:55who's been gaining confidence from last weekend
11:57and maybe even Chance Hyman
11:59if he sees him as well.
12:01Could be looking at a five rider battle
12:03in this 250 moto one.
12:11Turnaround, by the way, for Kitchen.
12:13I mentioned all those motos off the podium.
12:15He was then starting to move out of the top five
12:17in some of the races.
12:19Big if he could win this one.
12:21Yeah, and you talk about confidence being out front.
12:23He just ran a 2.08.
12:25The closest time to that was
12:27Joe Shimoda at a 2.10.2,
12:29so over a second and a half faster
12:31than anyone on a racetrack, and that's why he's got
12:33a gap. Levi
12:35finding it right now. Deegan going back
12:37to work on Vial with the Honda riders
12:39right behind him.
12:41Shimoda and Hynes.
12:43That is still MasterPool
12:45and Cochran. Oh, they almost come together.
12:47How did Cochran save
12:49that MasterPool cross right in front of him
12:51in midair?
12:53Wow.
12:57Whoo!
12:59Look at this challenge from Shimoda
13:01on Deegan.
13:03We're in the second half of the season. You know what, Tom?
13:05That's Joe time. Joe Shimoda
13:07is starting to come on. Let's see if he can get inside
13:09of Hayden Deegan.
13:11It's going to be hard to make a power move on that Yamaha.
13:13Oh, yeah, they're always quick.
13:15Into the downhill.
13:17Shimoda all over him.
13:21Let's listen in.
13:31Oh,
13:33spectacular racing. J.T.
13:35Well, for Hayden Deegan, I think it's really
13:37important here to just calm down a little bit.
13:39You see him making lots of mistakes,
13:41and that's pretty typical right after a crash, because
13:43your heart rate explodes. It jumps through the roof
13:45to get this spike, and then mentally
13:47and physically, you just have to take some deep breaths,
13:49control your breathing, and calm
13:51back down. So I think if he can withstand this charge
13:53from Shimoda, get his heart rate back
13:55under control, he may be able to work back forward,
13:57but this is pretty standard after a crash.
13:59Everything about you wants to freak out
14:01and you want to panic, but you feel like you just
14:03threw the race away. He's got a lot of time left.
14:05He's got 17 minutes plus two laps
14:07to sort this thing out.
14:09And just to kind of expand on that more,
14:11this is new for Hayden, because every time
14:13he's went down, he's been able to close in
14:15on these guys, and I think what he expected
14:17once he got back up, he would get around
14:19Tom Bial, and all of a sudden,
14:21he sees Levi Kitchen pulling away,
14:23Tom's pulling away, and he's got Joe Shimoda, so
14:25it's a different position
14:27that he's been in all year, and now you
14:29kind of start to see him have to figure that out,
14:31and I think that's why he's making that mistake, J.T.
14:33Now the thing
14:35for Deegan is those final
14:37five to ten minutes of the race is where
14:39he's really had the magic, and we're not
14:41quite there yet, but a
14:43lot has changed. Not just
14:45the mistake from Deegan, but the return
14:47of Levi Kitchen.
14:49This is the Levi Kitchen we expected
14:51to see all summer long. He has
14:53pulled out four seconds on Bial.
14:55And
14:57Shimoda is not done with Deegan
14:59showing him a wheel everywhere.
15:01Yeah, Joe's really good in those sand
15:03rollers, and Hayden's struggling, so
15:05I know he's worked on his sand, but this
15:07track is a little bit sandier than a lot of
15:09other tracks. I'd probably say the sandy is one
15:11outside of Southwick, and Hayden
15:13won that race, but he did struggle last
15:15year in the sand, so maybe he had a little bit
15:17conditions and whatnot, but
15:19he's got a problem with that number 30 on
15:21the HRC Honda and Joe Shimoda
15:23trying to get around him.
15:25They've dropped Hynes. He had two bad
15:27laps in a row.
15:29About a second and a half off of these two,
15:31so he's no longer lurking.
15:33Here we go.
15:39To Will.
15:41Guys, I'm just looking at the lap
15:43times there. Tom Bial ahead of
15:45Hayden Deegan, and once again, he's put in
15:47a faster lap time. When I spoke
15:49to Ian Harrison, the team manager at
15:51Red Bull KTM earlier on, I said,
15:53have you talked to Tom Bial at all
15:55about what you think he needs to do moving
15:57forward? It's a tricky situation, because we're talking
15:59about a highly experienced rider
16:01in Bial, and Ian said,
16:03there's only one thing I told him, and
16:05that's that you need to dig deep, and you need
16:07to get more grit, because when he was referring
16:09to Hayden Deegan, he said, that guy
16:11has grit. He has determination. He said,
16:13you cannot rest at any point. If he
16:15is behind you, you need to
16:17respond, and I'm just looking at this, James,
16:19now, and I'm feeling like this is a Tom Bial who's
16:21potentially just responding more
16:23to the guy that he knows is behind him and what he's
16:25capable of. Will Kitchen has
16:27made a mistake. Bial not only responding
16:29to the challenge from Deegan, but
16:31now has a shot at the lead.
16:33Yeah, I think that corner is starting to
16:35get a hook in it, and it's catching these guys out,
16:37because they're going down that hill, leaning that bike
16:39over, and now starting to get an L-shape,
16:41and I believe Levi, just like we saw Hayden,
16:43struggling. It is the slowest part,
16:45but if I'm Tom Bial, I'll be like, well,
16:47thanks, coach. What else you got for me?
16:49I know you got to be tough, but give me something else.
16:52Hey, here's what the Kitchen
16:54mistake impacts, not just Bial.
16:56You do not want to
16:58give wind in the sails to Deegan,
17:00and now he can see the leader again.
17:02Kitchen was gone.
17:04Can't believe we're only just halfway
17:06through this moto. So much has transpired.
17:08Reminder that Monster Energy
17:10available at Quick Trip.
17:12Shimoda and Deegan still slugging it out
17:14amid lap traffic now.
17:17Oh, I think Shimoda's made the pass.
17:19I was about to say, I think Joe's
17:21the fastest rider on the racetrack.
17:23He's just getting stuck behind Hayden.
17:25Now let's see what Hayden does
17:27because he hasn't been
17:29in his position, and if these guys drop him,
17:31it's going to be tough
17:33immensely, but now
17:35let's see if Joe can keep that momentum up
17:37and go up and get around Tom Bial
17:39and go after Levi Kitchen, but Levi's
17:41pulled out in two seconds again on him.
17:43Man, he definitely has pace today.
17:45Okay, the lap time.
17:47Shimoda. Yeah, about
17:49four tenths quicker
17:51than Bial, and he was
17:53dealing with Deegan at the time. Now he's
17:55got a clear shot at the 16th.
18:03Dropping down Mount Martin, 500
18:05feet to the bottom.
18:07Yeah, I've noticed Joe's been
18:09really strong on the downhills. I don't know if they
18:11made some changes to the Honda or he just feels
18:13more comfortable, but he's closing in
18:15a lot on Hayden going down those hills, and he just
18:17closed in on Tom, so watch
18:19for that. Right before the finish line, there's
18:21a pretty steep downhill where Hayden
18:23Deegan and Levi Kitchen crash.
18:25See if Joe can close in on those guys as well.
18:29What direction
18:31will this go? Bial,
18:33can he close to Kitchen?
18:35Bial going to have to deal with Shimoda. Here's the corner
18:37where Kitchen made a mistake clean this time.
18:39Look at Joe!
18:45Yeah, I think he said it.
18:47It's Joe time now.
18:49He's pulled away from Deegan,
18:51and now he wants second from Bial.
18:53Let's see if Tom goes.
18:55Oh, yeah, nice move by him. I thought he was going to go outside.
18:57He's going to leave that inside open, but
18:59Joe's been really quick in these sand rollers as well.
19:01It's like he's on the opposite timing
19:03of most of these guys, so let's see
19:05if he does that same thing if he can get a run.
19:07Here we go.
19:09Trying to set himself up.
19:11A big triple to the sand rollers!
19:13Can he hold it from the outside?
19:15Yes, he does!
19:17Power move by Joe,
19:19and just like Chase Sexton,
19:21getting on the opposite ends between
19:23the rollers, there's no ruts in there,
19:25so everybody's been going double-double.
19:27Once he throws that triple in,
19:29it's a lot easier and smoother, J.T.
19:31Yeah, and you notice how fast
19:33Joe Shimoda was going through the beginning of that section.
19:35He was wheeling
19:37forward.
19:39He was wheeling through the bumps,
19:41which allowed him to gain all that speed,
19:43get the timing, and then go for that triple,
19:45where Tom, a little bit slowly,
19:47just didn't have the aggression early on.
19:49The pass, though, is set up, just like we
19:51opened the show, the pass is set up by the beginning
19:53of those sand loops, building all that speed,
19:55which then allows him to go
19:57for that triple later on in the section.
19:59Thank you, J.T. Let's see if he can use that
20:01on kitchen as you watch a huge battle
20:03for seventh in the bottom box.
20:05Brought to you by Thor, that battle box,
20:07Anstey, Cochran, Savage,
20:09789,
20:11Jordan Smith, 10th.
20:13These guys are really duking it out.
20:15Anstey looking to make
20:17a move, I think, there on Cochran.
20:19This is where
20:21Casey, being a rookie,
20:23learning the lines and what his team
20:25was saying, like, you got to have better lines than himself.
20:27This is at the end of the race, figuring that
20:29part out. He'll come here next year and know
20:31if that's not a good spot, but nice response
20:33by Levi. Joe was right on
20:35him, and now he responded. See if he can
20:37get around these lap routers, because we know how fast
20:39Joe has been in these sand rollers.
20:41If Anstey holds
20:43on, eighth would be the best
20:45of the year for him. Seventh, even better than
20:47that. Of course, only joined
20:49Promoto Cross two races ago
20:51at Southwick. Get an
20:53update on him from Will.
20:55Talking to Max
20:57yesterday, J.C., gave me kind of a different,
20:59shifted perspective on his season so far.
21:01Like you said, this is the best result. There was a lot
21:03of expectation coming into Southwick
21:05for him, but he said, hey, these rounds
21:07here to finish off Promoto Cross,
21:09these are bonus rounds for me. He wasn't
21:11supposed to be moving to
21:13the Yamaha Star Racing team until
21:15the end of the year. He said, but he got the opportunity
21:17with Firepower Honda. They were
21:19prepared to release him early, and he said, look,
21:21these are bonus rounds. He said, I'm making changes
21:23at the weekend that you would never normally
21:25make on a race day. And he said, the idea
21:27is, I want to learn the bike.
21:29He said, give me a few rounds to learn the bike.
21:31I'm going to have a good end to this season. He said,
21:33my big goal here, I have a two-year deal,
21:35is to take this opportunity
21:37and make the most of it. And if I use these rounds
21:39to prepare myself, I'm giving myself the best
21:41shot at that. Yeah, thanks, Will.
21:43And he is getting slowly but surely
21:45better each week. And the competition
21:47in the 250 class is so
21:49close, and I can illustrate it. James,
21:51look at the lap time for Kitchin
21:53and Shimoda the last time around.
21:55Yeah, identical.
21:572.11,
21:598.21 to the
22:01thousandth of a second Kitchin and Shimoda.
22:03Identical lap time.
22:05That's unbelievable. Yeah, I looked at it,
22:07I'm like, wait, hold up, am I seeing
22:09double?
22:11Yeah, they're both pretty good. And you saw
22:13Levi, he's jumping that triple, the same
22:15thing Joe was able to get around him.
22:17So he's got that part figured out, JT.
22:19Yeah, and Shimoda made a big
22:21mistake at the top of the hill right before they
22:23came down before the finish line. So watch
22:25for this lap. I think that lap time's a little deceiving
22:27because Joe lost at least a
22:29full second. You see how much he's already closed
22:31back in. So I think his pace is significantly
22:33better because that mistake may
22:35have thrown the lap time off. And Vial
22:37still lurking, although blocked by the lap rider.
22:39Vial is the orange bike
22:41that held up by the green Kawasaki there.
22:43And the one thing about being
22:45in second on this racetrack with these
22:47long downhills, as you notice, like
22:49Joe or any time a rider's
22:51close to a rider in front of him, you see the guy in
22:53front, they let off, they just hang on the
22:55rider just a little bit longer. So sometimes you
22:57can close in on someone just because
22:59you're behind them. And I think that's what we're seeing
23:01with guys when they're battling.
23:03Checking in with
23:05Vial. Can he stay with the lead
23:07duo? And what order will
23:09that lead duo be?
23:11Shimoda, another chance to
23:13attack. Is Shimoda better in these sand rollers?
23:15Has he been better in the kitchen? Can he
23:17close in, you think, through here? Well, Levi
23:19just started jumping that triple as well. Okay.
23:21So it really depends on, as I
23:23said, the entrance and the exit of those sand
23:25rollers. If he can keep that momentum up and
23:27Levi makes a mistake, yes. Levi's
23:29doing the same thing as Joe. But I think Joe
23:31is a lot stronger going down the hills
23:33than Levi. So even if he stays
23:35close to him or even, I think
23:37he's going to close in up on him going on
23:39this next section. As you can see, he makes a
23:41mistake here.
23:43Odada's good for Joe there? No, he
23:45wasn't able to jump that triple.
23:47And I don't know if Levi did as well because he didn't
23:49lose that much time. But it definitely wasn't
23:51what we saw from Joe when he made a pass
23:53on Tom Biot, which has picked up
23:55those lines as well and kind of keeping
23:57Joe honest too.
23:59Now, this is where Joe's been really strong at.
24:01Oh, yeah. You're not kidding. He just pulled up
24:03alongside.
24:05Battle for the lead. Bar to bar.
24:07With a lap rider.
24:09That slowed up Shimoda just enough
24:11for the 47 to hang on.
24:13Yeah, and what happened was Levi messed
24:15the exit of that corner up before that
24:17tabletop. And you saw all that time Joe was able
24:19to get. Now, see the same thing. Now, Joe's
24:21on the outside.
24:23He had to let off the gas. Otherwise, he would have made
24:25the pass on Levi. He still might.
24:27He is rolling right now, but more
24:29traffic to deal with. To the top
24:31of Mount Martin. Shimoda
24:33on the outside. Now, this is
24:35where Joe's been really strong. If he can get even,
24:37Levi's probably going to close that door if he senses
24:39Joe. Yeah, there you go.
24:41Go down the middle. Close that.
24:43Joe was really strong on those brakes.
24:45A kitchen
24:47just not giving him any room.
24:49No, Levi's just going. He knows Joe's
24:51fast down here, so he's just
24:53blocking him, making sure he can't get by.
24:55There's only certain parts of the racetrack you can pass,
24:57and then it funnels into one line.
24:59So, Levi's doing a great job, JT.
25:01Yeah, and coming down those hills, you don't
25:03necessarily have to make the pass. Like you mentioned,
25:05you just have to pull alongside.
25:07And there's a saying, if you're even,
25:09you're leaving. You can get down to the bottom
25:11and block where that rider wants to go.
25:13You don't even have to make the full pass.
25:15As long as you know the line they want to be in,
25:17you occupy it at the bottom.
25:19Absolutely. If he gets past,
25:21Joe's going to be leaving.
25:27Oh, this is fantastic
25:29action in a fight for the lead.
25:31Spring Creek National.
25:33Watch this outside line from Joe.
25:37I kind of stuffed it in that corner now.
25:39I actually believe it's better for him to have
25:41a little bit of distance behind Levi
25:43going into these sand rollers.
25:45Because it is kind of one line here.
25:47So, he's got to be able to see as he makes a mistake.
25:49You're too close to the rider in front.
25:51You can't see. So, he makes another mistake.
25:53Now, get even or beside him.
25:55Now you can put on that pressure
25:57and see if he can get around going in his next section.
25:59Not quite enough.
26:01Five minutes and two laps to go.
26:03Kitchen hanging on.
26:05Joe's jumping that.
26:07He carries that momentum.
26:09Gets on the inside of Levi.
26:11This is where Levi made a mistake.
26:13Lap before.
26:15It's going to be higher.
26:17There you go.
26:19Let's see if he can get up the inside.
26:21Oh!
26:23Kitchen fighting it.
26:25And so much traffic here.
26:27Kitchen just split two riders.
26:29Well done.
26:31Yeah, I think Joe should have passed Levi
26:33probably four times in the last lap.
26:35But there's been lap riders in front of him.
26:37He has to let off the gas.
26:39He's unsure where they're going.
26:41Now look at the gap he lost because of the lap rider.
26:43What hurt there is those riders
26:45were battling each other.
26:47I know people are going to say just move over.
26:49They've been in a dogfight as well.
26:51I think that's Phelps on the 435.
26:53Now he probably realizes
26:55probably feels bad about it.
26:57But what's done is done.
26:59Look at the gap.
27:01Usually for these lap riders when they get past
27:03it's usually one at a time.
27:05Two leaders battling.
27:07It's just racing.
27:09They have to deal with it.
27:11The worst part with that was where it happened at.
27:13At the bottom of that hill.
27:15You saw how much time.
27:17Because he made that mistake behind the lapper
27:19he lost all that time going up the hill.
27:21That was a trickle effect.
27:23Now you're watching Hayden Deegan.
27:25A lonely fourth place.
27:27Now he's going to go back and realize
27:29I got a 42-point lead.
27:31Can't finish any worse than what it is right now.
27:33He's going to lose a little bit to Tom.
27:35But gain on chance pretty much even.
27:37Hayden has a new helmet there.
27:39That's a signature line
27:41that Alpine starts putting together.
27:43That thing is going to be up for sale soon
27:45in dealerships.
27:47That's why he's got a little different look than usual.
27:49I thought you were going to say it's up for sale.
27:51Usually if I got a new helmet and I did it bad
27:53it's going to be up for sale.
27:55After a bad race.
27:57A little superstition there.
27:59He might have a same looking but brand new helmet
28:01for the second moto.
28:03Just couldn't rebuild it
28:05after that fall.
28:07Now this reminds me of
28:09Hayden Deegan last year.
28:11We saw as a rookie he would be really fast.
28:13We saw Hunter Lawrence get around him.
28:15You would think most rookies would
28:17lose it.
28:19I want to be out front.
28:21Hayden was always able to recover
28:23and still finish in the top five.
28:25This is what he did last year.
28:27He's doing the same thing right now.
28:29This is what he did to continue
28:31to build to beat Hayden Deegan.
28:33Tom Pial is still right in front of him.
28:35He might have a chance to get on
28:37his podium anyway.
28:39Last year
28:41I would say the thing that stuck out for Deegan
28:43most was the consistency.
28:45He didn't have the ups and downs.
28:47There could be more ups.
28:49As you just saw he now has
28:51Pial in his sights.
28:53As always the last five minutes of the moto
28:55I guess we can start saying
28:57that's Deegan time.
28:59He has Shimoda and Pial in his sights.
29:01If they don't get on it, they're going to be in the danger zone.
29:03Just a quick update.
29:05Brent Duffy, mechanic there
29:07to Hayden Deegan, just reading his board there
29:09and it just says on it, it's go time.
29:13I just want to propose something.
29:15If you've been watching all along this season
29:17you know that Hayden Deegan has gone
29:19down to a 2.10 lap time when he starts
29:21feeling it. These guys have been hovering
29:23around 2.12, 2.13.
29:25Now I don't want to say
29:27he's going to go to 2.10 and land again
29:29but if he does, nothing is off the table
29:31just yet here with a minute and a half
29:33plus two laps to go.
29:35That's a great point, JT.
29:37He has bridge gaps to the lead like this
29:39several times this year.
29:41How much does he have left
29:43speed-wise in the tank?
29:45Yeah, I think it's going to be a little bit tougher.
29:47This race seems different to me.
29:49Like Hayden's there. Seems like Joe's
29:51made that mistake with that lap router.
29:53In the past races
29:55when Hayden's been able to do that
29:57he's looked more comfortable.
29:59He's always had that speed. This one he just looks
30:01uncomfortable even running this pace.
30:03Might be a little bit harder this time
30:05but nonetheless, you never know when you
30:07can fall into danger zone.
30:09He did do 2.12. That was a little bit quicker.
30:11About a second quicker
30:13than the lead trio but not the massive
30:15four or five seconds
30:17that we saw at high point.
30:19But two laps to go board is not
30:21out yet, so next time around.
30:31I've seen multiple Motos like this this year, James.
30:33Where different
30:35riders at different stages of
30:37these races are the guy. Deegan early,
30:39then it was Kitchen, then it was Vial,
30:41then Shimoda might be Deegan again.
30:43It's been fun to watch.
30:45Yeah, I really think Levi and Joe have been
30:47the two strongest ones in this race.
30:49I think Joe had a lot of momentum.
30:51For him to be stuck behind Hayden,
30:53get around him, get around Tom,
30:55and then close in like he did on Levi,
30:57that lap router really cost him
30:59as far as just the momentum and time he lost.
31:01Now, this is where
31:03that experience of Hayden, Deegan,
31:05and coming back and being able to run
31:07these guys down at the end of the race falls in
31:09because he might not be the fastest
31:11but Tom Vial knows he's there and Hayden,
31:13that confidence might allow him to at least
31:15get around Tom and get on that podium.
31:20Might just be that grit
31:22that the KTM team is talking about.
31:25Thanks, coach.
31:33Supermoto Cross Playoffs,
31:35a one-of-a-kind racing weekend you don't want to miss.
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31:39Friday and Saturday,
31:41including practice sessions,
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31:47favorite racers you've come to expect.
31:49Go to SupermotoCross.com
31:51for details.
31:53A playoff race is in September.
31:55Man, you hope we have action like this.
31:57Shimoda and Vial
31:59fighting for second.
32:01Vial on a roll.
32:03Joe made a mistake coming down that hill,
32:05which allowed Tom to close in.
32:07See Tom go around the outside of him, sneak around him.
32:09There you go.
32:11And Vial will now be on the inside.
32:13He has second.
32:15Oh, there's Tom.
32:17Just the momentum.
32:19All right, now I got around this guy who passed me earlier.
32:21Sometimes that momentum just continues up.
32:23And Levi's right in front of him,
32:25so if he makes one mistake in his sand roller
32:27and Tom gets through, Tom's going to have a shot
32:29at winning this race.
32:31I mean, all 40s guys got a shot at winning this race.
32:33We're 30 minutes into it,
32:35and our top four
32:37is within four seconds.
32:39Amazing to have racing this close.
32:41And Shimoda
32:43letting Vial off the hook.
32:45Yeah, it looks like Levi and
32:47Joe's been a little bit better
32:49than most due to sand rollers.
32:51And Hayden seems like he's struggling the most
32:53out of these four. He lost more time
32:55there, so...
32:57Left rider might have slowed
32:59Shimoda there,
33:01who was on the left side.
33:03And you see, because of that, now look at
33:05that blue number 38 Yamaha
33:07in.
33:09Letting it fly, just wheeling to the top of the mountain.
33:11Is he going to let him go down
33:13the inside? Come on, Joe!
33:15I don't think Joe realized that Hayden
33:17was there that close.
33:19Shimoda fighting back.
33:27And Deegan
33:29able to seal the deal. No!
33:31Shimoda comes back! What a move!
33:33It's Joe time! There you go!
33:35Nice move by Joe.
33:37And that has been the key, responding
33:39to Deegan down the stretch.
33:41Shimoda did it. Oh, Deegan
33:43sending it on the downhill. You think
33:45these guys hear some of these comments every once
33:47in a while? Uh-huh. That was a move. That's the
33:49most aggressive I think I've ever seen,
33:51Joe. Nice.
33:53You think Deegan expected that?
33:55Probably not. I didn't expect that.
33:57I know he didn't expect it.
33:59Vial going after Kitchen.
34:01It'll be one to go. Deegan
34:03putting the attack on Shimoda
34:05again. Now, if I'm Joe, I got
34:07to get a little bit of gap, because what I just did,
34:09you know that's going to upset Hayden, so now
34:11the gloves are off. Good thing
34:13for Joe, Hayden has that championship,
34:15so he's not going to be too crazy, but
34:17he's not going to like that as well,
34:19that disrespect.
34:21Oh, one
34:23lap left, James. Deegan's right there
34:25just like Vial was.
34:27Uses the outside-inside combo.
34:29Yeah, you know Hayden saw Tom do that,
34:31so that's
34:33nice move by Hayden. Let's see if
34:35now Joe can respond. Hayden hasn't been
34:37that strong through the sand rollers. Joe's got to be a lot
34:39closer than he is, at least close back up
34:41at the end of him.
34:45Oh, Joe messed up
34:47the entrance of these sand rollers,
34:49and that's pretty much it right here.
34:51Deegan looking to
34:53salvage a podium.
34:55Kitchen, up to two plus
34:57seconds on Vial in the final lap.
34:59What a race
35:03by all these guys. I mean, they had their
35:05points of, okay, I'm getting
35:07past. They easily just kind of give up,
35:09but now look at Hayden. Because he was able to get
35:11around Joe, why not get
35:1316, too? Let's gain points on everybody
35:15in this championship.
35:17Oh, it's going to be a battle
35:19of wills. Here's the grit
35:21that the KTM group
35:23wanted to see out of Vial. Can he hold
35:25Deegan at bay?
35:27Yeah,
35:29to me, it just looks like Hayden, although he's
35:31closing up, the guy's making mistakes, and he doesn't
35:33look that comfortable, especially going
35:35down these hills. So I don't know if he
35:37can just let off the brakes and just charge down.
35:39I don't think he feels that comfortable.
35:41As you can see, now Tom was able to pull away,
35:43but still, as much as this
35:45struggle is his motto, he's in third place
35:47right there behind Tom,
35:49and Levi's right in front of them.
35:51So not too bad.
35:58Kitchin!
36:00Be the fourth career moto win for him.
36:02First one of the season. Hasn't even
36:04led laps since the opener.
36:06What a bounce back!
36:10There's some subpar rides
36:12following the season opener
36:14where he and Deegan battled pretty much all day.
36:16And suddenly, Levi Kitchin!
36:18Kitchin's on
36:20fire again!
36:22No one's going to put it out this time!
36:25Levi Kitchin!
36:27First moto win of the year.
36:29It'll be Bial's second,
36:31Deegan third.
36:33That's a great race.
36:35That was a great race. That was
36:37these guys' race.