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00:00Stopped three in a row for Tom Biel who had never been fast qualifier until the first
00:05one and now he's been fast qualifier in all three.
00:08So we'll see if that translates to the race.
00:09The hat trick.
00:10Yeah, that's right.
00:113P.
00:12There you go.
00:13Take ten keys to the moto.
00:14There you go.
00:15If you're Hayden, eliminate those early moto, first moto tip overs as he's done the last
00:19couple weeks and the rest of the field, continue to fight, close that gap on Deegan, find ways
00:24to be better, find ways to challenge him.
00:26That's what I'm looking forward to in this first moto of the 250 class.
00:31Yes.
00:32450s race first.
00:33By the way, we mentioned some potential red cross flag violations in the 450 class that
00:37reviewed them.
00:38No penalties will be handed out for the moto that you just saw.
00:42Fly racing 32nd card is up.
00:46It's going to be a good one.
00:47250 moto one.
00:48Kitchin absolutely buried off the start, and Bial, I thought he had the motosport.com
01:03whole shot.
01:04Deegan battling him for the lead.
01:06Horsepower here at hill right here for the 250s, Bial making it happen on that red bull
01:11KTM.
01:12Putting the power to the ground.
01:14Rear end never, rear tire never left the ground.
01:17And Roderick DeFrancisco is third.
01:20He's challenging Deegan for second.
01:25Not sure what happened to Kitchin there, but he is way back, not what the fans wanted to
01:29see.
01:3026th off the start as Bial leads Deegan.
01:35Inside outside.
01:36I like this inside line where Hayden Deegan is at right here.
01:40Not able to make it happen, though.
01:42That outside line that Tom Bial took was able to keep his momentum up.
01:47Just creates more speed coming down that hill.
01:50Jordan Smith fourth, Ty Masterful fifth, and Hymus again riding with the injury.
01:56A solid start.
01:57He's seventh behind his Honda teammate Joe Shimoda, but look at Bial go.
02:04Nice job by Bial to get into the lead.
02:07Hayden Deegan on that second corner, that right hander, he held the gas on and committed
02:11to go to the outside, and as he started to fade out to that outside, boom, he hit the
02:15embankment of the corner, and it slowed his momentum down.
02:20Oh!
02:21That 16 of Bial getting that front end down a little bit.
02:27And Jordan Smith looking to make the move on DeFrancisco for third.
02:31Working the outside and those whoops.
02:34Not quite enough.
02:36One lap in the books.
02:37Bial over Deegan.
02:38I had an opportunity to talk to Jordan Smith in the airport yesterday while we had multiple
02:43delays.
02:44He was like, what should I do?
02:45I'm like, I don't know, man.
02:46If you think you're going to get there, ride it out.
02:51I said I'd probably go back home, but that's me.
02:53I haven't raced in 18 years.
02:56He's like, man, I really want to go there.
02:58I like the track.
02:59It's harder packed, and I've been riding really well.
03:01He's got the opportunity.
03:04to get.
03:05He told me with all the cancellations yesterday, he was 76th on the standby list, and he got
03:10on the flight, and that's how he ended up making it.
03:13Deegan now catching Bial.
03:18You've been number one on the standby list and don't even make it.
03:21Well, luckily I did.
03:22As for Deegan, he made himself number one with his own admission.
03:26He decided to just rent the private plane.
03:28Do you know anything about that?
03:29I do.
03:30I do.
03:31Hopped a ride?
03:32I rode with him.
03:33We all pitched in, and it was a fun ride.
03:34Will?
03:35That's right.
03:36You've been Hayden Deegan there.
03:37And a few different guys had very different circumstances.
03:38Some were able to come in on Thursday.
03:39Others were late.
03:40Some got private jets, as you know there, Ricky.
03:41But what it did to a lot of these guys who had Friday flights is it threw them off their
03:54normal schedule and routine.
03:56So what they normally eat, suddenly you're there in an airport, and they're eating different
03:59food.
04:00They're not eating at the right time.
04:01They're not sleeping at the right time.
04:02So a lot of the guys in the paddock, they told me, you know, it's really kind of thrown
04:05their day off.
04:06Interesting to see, Ricky, that with Jordan Smith there, it actually hasn't done any harm
04:10to him.
04:11Maybe it takes the edge off.
04:12Expectation goes down, Ricky.
04:13But definitely a challenge.
04:14And Hayden Deegan's dad, Brian Deegan, was one who said, we're going to have to wait
04:15and see how that affects this race that goes on.
04:16I don't think it's going to affect a guy like Hayden Deegan too much.
04:24He's such a strong rider.
04:26He's in great shape.
04:27He's young.
04:28He's creative.
04:29J.T., it's going to be hard to stop this guy.
04:31Even despite the travel conditions yesterday.
04:34I think with Hayden Deegan, you're starting to see a pattern develop where he's trusting
04:38himself.
04:39He's trusting his fitness.
04:40He's trusting his ability to close on whoever it may be late in the race.
04:45Similar to what chase Sexton has been doing to the riders in the 450 class, Hayden has
04:49been doing that to the 250 riders.
04:51Now, it always doesn't result in a moto win, but you look at last week coming all the way
04:55back to fourth, those incredible high point rides where he challenges all the way up to
04:59the front.
05:01That will allow him to feel less sense of urgency.
05:04He's going to let the race unfold and let the race come to him because he knows in the
05:08final laps, he will be the strongest, so he can kind of wait it out right now unless you
05:12fall down exactly like that, then my whole plan goes right out the window.
05:16J.T., that is exactly what you were talking about at the beginning of this moto rc.
05:20I told him on the airplane yesterday, I said, I don't want to do it, but if you make those
05:24early moto mistakes, I'm going to have to call it.
05:28Just a simple mistake.
05:29What happened there?
05:31He leaned the bike over, the foot pegs, and gear shifter caught up, slowed his momentum
05:35down, and he hits the ground, but he only lost one position, so that's not too bad.
05:41It's really crucial when you go down early on in the first moto like this or early on
05:46in the race because so many guys, so much of them, you get passed by multiple guys.
05:50There it is.
05:51Dabbing it a little bit right there is an inside line, outside line, and that runs pretty
05:57deep.
05:59Probably slowed him down, killed his momentum, and down he went.
06:01Now he's third.
06:02Ryder DiFrancisco had one of his best races of the year last week.
06:06He's up to second.
06:07Jordan Smith, Joe Shimoda having a huge battle right behind him.
06:12It looks like Shimoda has made the pass.
06:15Shimoda in red.
06:16A lot of racing left right here.
06:19A great job like you're talking about by Ryder DiFrancisco.
06:23He's had some good moments, and aboard this, surely designs Red Bull gas gas machine.
06:32And Ryder Di, fifth last week.
06:34That is the season best, as I mentioned, so he's coming off with some momentum.
06:38Last week was a bit crazy.
06:39We had rain, we had a weather delay, a huge first turn crash.
06:44Everyone that had a good race there, though, is trying to prove it is legit, and Ryder
06:47Di, out of Bakersfield, California, he has ridden this track quite a bit growing up through
06:53the years.
06:54He's riding well.
06:56There's that battle we were talking about with Smith and Shimoda back there.
07:01Shimoda has been bringing it the last couple of weeks.
07:06Want to give you a short team check in with the monster energy star racing team.
07:11Smith there in fourth.
07:12And Steve, 13th.
07:13He had an even wilder travel story.
07:15He had to sleep at the Dallas airport Thursday night when everything got grounded.
07:19Romano, 21st.
07:20Dax Bennett, 23rd.
07:21Oh, Deegan, challenging now.
07:23DeFrancisco, and he has it.
07:26Makes the move.
07:27I like that inside and outside lane, their options before the rollers there.
07:32Given these guys, if you're following, you're able to break out and go to the inside.
07:36Or if the guy in front of you goes to the outside, boom, you go to the inside.
07:41Two ways of looking at it, go to the outside, you're able to carry up more momentum, hoping
07:46that that momentum will help you at the end of the rollers rather than if you go on the
07:50inside, you're going to gain a little bit of time early on.
07:54DeFrancisco pushed back to third, but the improvement in results lately has coincided.
07:59He went back home.
08:00He's been riding at all his local tracks in Bakersfield.
08:02He has gotten better, but not enough to hold off Deegan, who's going to make a run at D.L.
08:07D.L. Has led six motos now this year, but he's only won one of them.
08:14Knocked him down.
08:152.22 was his lap time.
08:17The last lap, that's the fastest lap that he's set of the race so far.
08:22Deegan was at 2.24.
08:24Keep in mind, he was in traffic.
08:26Let's keep our eye out on the lap times and see if Deegan is able to match the lap time
08:32of Tom D.L.
08:34We'll give you the motorsport.com whole shot replay while we wait to see if we've got a
08:39battle for the lead brewing.
08:41Here's the start.
08:42Kitchen.
08:43Man, that's a bad one.
08:44He got a horrible jump out of the gate.
08:47Levi Kitchen did.
08:48And this track, really, really tough and challenging to pass on.
08:52It races narrow.
08:53Although, it's crazy that it races narrow when all these tracks have a regulated width.
08:59Yes.
09:00But just how the track layout is causes it to be that way.
09:03Not in a bad way, just how it is.
09:05But...
09:07And D.L. leading.
09:08We'll send it back to Will.
09:10Thank you, Jason.
09:11I was talking to Marvin Moustan there.
09:13Obviously, famous French SMX rider who trains Tom D.L.
09:17And I was talking to him about where he sees it, if he sees any kind of holes, any place
09:22in Tom D.L.'s riding that he can sort of make up that gap to Hayden Deegan.
09:26He said, look, he's got the speed.
09:28He's got the fitness.
09:29He has all those pieces.
09:31But he did highlight Hayden's grip.
09:33We talked about it, Jason, last weekend a lot.
09:37No matter what happens, if the bike goes down, well, then you kick the exhaust pipe, you
09:41straighten it up, and you go that sort of killer instinct that he's had.
09:45He said that is hard to teach.
09:47That's something that's just clearly in him.
09:49And he said he just needs to match some of that, that idea that nothing can stand in
09:53his way between him and the wind.
09:55Easier said than done.
09:56That's tough on track, especially when you're riding against an opponent like Hayden Deegan.
10:00Yeah, I mean, grit is really, really hard to teach, in my opinion.
10:06You know, it's some traits that riders will always have and some that don't have.
10:12And I don't know if it's something that you're born with.
10:14However, I would hate to try to be teaching grit.
10:18But outside of that, there's so many things that Tom can lean on of why he is so good.
10:23And Marvin was talking about it.
10:25He has a strength, right?
10:27He has the ability, the technique.
10:31That last lap there, Tom was still the fastest, but only by a ten.
10:35So, Deegan definitely able to match the lap times.
10:39Well, I think Vial might have sensed that, because they're both now two seconds faster
10:43than anyone else on the track.
10:44They are really throwing down now.
10:46And look at that response from Vial.
10:49Not letting Deegan bridge that gap.
10:54And then we go a little further back.
10:56This is...
10:57Cochran so great last week, leading most of the second moto.
11:01And he's battling the same rider that he battled there, Levi Kitchen.
11:04Here's the problem.
11:06Now it is a battle for 14th and 15th, not 1st and 2nd.
11:12And Cochran had really been building toward that great ride last week.
11:15Just needed to start to really show what he could do.
11:18Didn't get it today, though.
11:19And we didn't talk about him a whole lot before last weekend,
11:22but he was quietly putting in some very impressive rides.
11:26Southwick, Redbud.
11:28And he was up there.
11:29I was watching his lap times.
11:31And, you know, I call quiet.
11:33You know, top tens.
11:34Fifth.
11:35Top tens.
11:36And sneaky.
11:37And he got in there last week.
11:39And just an incredible finish for him.
11:41Especially that second moto.
11:43And, you know, these are guys like himself and rider DeFrancisco
11:46who have grown up racing against Hayden Deegan.
11:49So probably a little extra added motivation.
11:52They probably get tired of everyone talking about, you know, this kid
11:56and want to show them, like, hey, we grew up with this kid,
11:59racing with him, and we can challenge him.
12:02Now that's one story.
12:04Cochran up ahead.
12:05Are you surprised that kitchen has not really been able to make moves
12:08in this moto?
12:09Well, no, I'm not.
12:11This track is the way that it races.
12:14Yeah, that narrowness?
12:15Yeah, the narrowness.
12:16It's tough to make passes.
12:18So if there's only a couple zones on the track to where you can make the move,
12:22it's almost like you have to wait and just be right there on the guy's rear tire
12:26until you get back to that section.
12:28So when you make a mistake at this racetrack, you know, it's hard to cover it up
12:33because you can't march through the field.
12:36Just because you can't go from one side of the track to the other,
12:39like, say, you could at a track at Millville or Southwick
12:42and tracks of that nature.
12:44Well, Levi probably doesn't wish he was right about this,
12:46but when he was asked last week about your coming-to-your-home track,
12:50but are you better at that track?
12:52He said, yeah, the fans part is cool,
12:54but he said it's very prep-dependent and start-dependent,
12:58and we have learned that in a big way in this mod.
13:01He was here yesterday for press day.
13:02We asked him what it would be like to be able to win the home race.
13:09Yeah, it was great.
13:10Honestly, it's pretty surprising, but, like, I would say
13:13the car ride back to the hotel that night was, like, the high,
13:16and then Sunday, you know, you fly home, and it's kind of back to work.
13:20So it doesn't last very long, and I think that's why we're all addicted
13:24to competing like we do.
13:26And as crazy as it sounds, I almost forgot that I won already last weekend,
13:30and I just want to do it again.
13:33Levi Kitchen, he lives very close.
13:36We're very close to the track here.
13:38His hometown is listed as Washington.
13:42And for good reason.
13:43Let's take a look at some photos of Levi growing up.
13:46These are all pictures that his mom, Sarah, gave me here.
13:50He's raced here since he was a little boy,
13:52so that familiarity that he has here at the track, Ricky,
13:56unfortunately with that start that he got, not helping him right now,
13:59but that familiarity, that hometown track, tough to replace.
14:03Levi absolutely loves this place.
14:04The fans love him.
14:06You can hear it every time he goes around the track
14:08that you can just hear everybody cheering,
14:09so maybe they can give him the motivation that he needs here to try and move forward.
14:12Yeah, definitely better.
14:15Definitely a good feeling coming to your home track.
14:18Yeah, but not a good feeling to be still in 15th place.
14:22Really putting the heat on Cochran now.
14:30Like right in this section, as they come down the hill,
14:33see how the main line funnels to the inside for the most part,
14:37and how it's switching back right there.
14:39That's what I was talking about.
14:41It's really hard to make a move there,
14:43and you just kind of have to stay put,
14:45but yet stay right on the guy in front of you, his rear tire,
14:48so when you get to a section possibly like this,
14:51where he goes to the inside, then boom, bust it.
14:53You go to the outside and try to get a better run through the rollers,
14:56so it's areas like that what makes this track so challenging,
15:01but I will tell you, when you're in the lead,
15:03it sure is fun, and it sure is nice if the racetrack is like that.
15:06Yeah, well, it's working out well for Vielle,
15:08who maintains about four seconds on Deegan,
15:11and Kitchin needs to get Cochran here,
15:13because now Joey Sivace on the Triumph has caught him.
15:16You'll see him back there in a couple of longer camera shots,
15:20so he might lose a position.
15:23There's the 17 of Sivace.
15:26Coming through.
15:28Sivace's had some success here at this race as well
15:32for that Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team
15:35in his early years.
15:37Yeah, I remember him winning it overall with something crazy,
15:39like a 7.1 moto score or something like that.
15:42Now they're starting to catch another pack,
15:44Jalik Swole and Max Anstey.
15:47That is 10th and 11th, so a 4, maybe even 5,
15:50if you count Sivace dual.
15:53Five-way battle up to the top of Horsepower Hill.
15:57And halfway through the moto,
15:59remind you that Monster Energy available now at Fred Meyer,
16:02and we send it back down to Will.
16:04Look at the jet wheels here, the number 12 riding well,
16:06the Club MX, Muc-Off MXR Yamaha.
16:08Will.
16:09That's right, right ahead of him there, Max Anstey,
16:11as you said there, Jason, the Englishman.
16:14I spoke to him about his travel woes yesterday,
16:16and, wow, he had a tough one.
16:18He actually went to leave on Thursday.
16:20Mechanical on the plane pushed him to late, midnight,
16:23Friday night.
16:24Then they left at 4 a.m.
16:26All the tech issues hit,
16:28and he basically had to sleep in the airport.
16:30He did say to me, though, he said,
16:32this feels like back in my GP days.
16:34He said, when I was getting flights delayed,
16:36like to Russia and Argentina,
16:38he's like, that's a challenge.
16:39He's like, I've learned to sleep in airports,
16:41so I think I can manage this.
16:43So he's just digging deep there
16:44and looking back into his past
16:45to try and get through this one today.
16:47Well, thank you.
16:48Digging deep is Kitchen.
16:49He just passed Cochran, Will,
16:50and now Cochran trying to come back.
16:52Look at Casey, the rookie on the inside,
16:54repasses Kitchen.
16:55Yeah, makes the move right back,
16:57and this kid is riding great.
17:00It is this track, I will say,
17:03for all of these riders,
17:04it's easier to defend the position
17:06because of the layout of the track.
17:08You can use that to your advantage,
17:10but that was an incredible move by Casey Cochran
17:13to get back by.
17:14Oh!
17:15Kitchen just went off course.
17:17Yeah.
17:18In those shadows.
17:19So Sobachi around him.
17:20How many more positions will he lose?
17:23It turned out to be a disastrous moto
17:26for Kitchen.
17:28Battle on right now.
17:30Cochran continuing to make passes.
17:32That is the 35 of Hawkins
17:35on the AEO KTM riding very well,
17:38battling it out with Reynolds.
17:40Cochran trying to pass Hawkins.
17:42What a roller coaster.
17:44Cochran makes the move.
17:45Nice move up the inside,
17:48but what a roller coaster for Levi Kitchen.
17:50Yeah.
17:51You're at the top of the world one weekend,
17:52then you come to your hometown
17:54and thinking you could use that
17:56to a feather in your cap here
17:59and just that poor start
18:01just kind of manifested from that point on.
18:04And still no change up front at all.
18:06The exact same 3.9 second gap
18:08between the leaders.
18:09We'll send it back to Will.
18:11Yeah, Ricky, just on your point there,
18:12when Levi came to his mom and dad,
18:14Paul and Sarah,
18:15Kitchen was talking to them exactly
18:16about that roller coaster that Levi has been riding
18:19and they were just really proud of him.
18:21They were giving him a lot of credit
18:23to get through that.
18:25He was a late bloomer,
18:2718 years old before he turned pro.
18:29So they said all these things that he's having to learn
18:31riding that emotional roller coaster
18:33has all happened very quickly.
18:35He's had to adjust to the new team
18:36over there at Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki.
18:39They said, and then go through all this,
18:41be fighting for a championship,
18:42the disappointment of losing a championship.
18:44Everything he's had to do
18:45has been very condensed in his career.
18:47So they were just saying,
18:48we're really proud of him
18:49when he's done that process
18:50that he's being true to.
18:52Yeah, well, not working as well today.
18:54Comes off the 1.1.
18:55It was definitely working well then.
18:57Check back in with the leader here, Tom Vial.
19:00Deegan has taken it from 3.9 to 2.9.
19:02Well, this is a really good battle,
19:04especially from a perspective of a lap time.
19:07I mean, they are just swapping tents.
19:10An example of that is Vial was a 2.22.5 last lap
19:15and Deegan was a 2.22.2 this lap.
19:18They were a 2.23.7, 2.23.5, JT.
19:23That is splitting hairs.
19:25Yeah, and just to give you perspective
19:27on the pace that they're putting in here,
19:29that battle that we had been watching
19:30the previous laps between Cochran and Kitchen,
19:32they were hovering anywhere between 2.25 and 2.28.
19:35So anywhere from three to five second a lap edge
19:38that these guys, Vial and Deegan,
19:40are putting in at the front.
19:41So it may seem like they're doing the exact same thing,
19:43but there's no wonder that they're checking out
19:45on the field.
19:47Yeah, they have established themselves, JT.
19:49Another battle we want to watch.
19:51Chance Hymus.
19:53Game time decision.
19:54I talked to him about an hour before this moto
19:56and he still didn't know if he'd be able to race.
19:58Right.
19:59Dab that injured foot in qualifying
20:01and sit it really hurt.
20:02And he is hanging tough in seventh.
20:04But Pierce Brown has been rolling
20:05with some strong lap times lately from eighth.
20:11Credit to Hymus, though,
20:13for a guy who didn't even know if he could race.
20:15A lot of points if he can get to the end.
20:17Well, and honestly, especially this track,
20:20with how ruddy it is and how hard packed
20:22that the base of this racetrack is,
20:24when you have an injury,
20:25especially in the foot, knee area,
20:27and the exposure that it has
20:29by dabbing your foot on the ground,
20:32it's a frightening feeling.
20:35And it's hard to ride at your best
20:37when you know that at any split second
20:39you might have to dab that foot, leg,
20:41whatever it might be or whatever that injury is.
20:44So because of that,
20:46you're going to automatically ride
20:48a little bit tentative, and that makes it hard.
20:50When you were riding, dealing with an injury,
20:54I'm sure the goal is to try to ride normal.
20:56Could you actually not think about it?
20:58Or did you need to be conscious of it
21:00to try to protect it?
21:01How would you approach it?
21:02Well, definitely you had to ride
21:04and be aware of it so you don't make it worse
21:07and take advantage of the tracks
21:09where you knew that you were at less risk
21:11and then where you're at the most risk
21:13and vulnerable areas of the track
21:15is where you really had to be mindful
21:17of paying attention.
21:18So would that take away a little bit
21:20from the focus and everything else?
21:21A little bit.
21:22I feel like it takes away the nerves
21:24because you're a little bit more focused
21:26and concentrated on what you need to do yourself.
21:28For me, it was that way.
21:30And just go out there and take care of myself
21:33and make sure that I don't make my injury
21:36worse than what it is at that moment.
21:39He is showing some grit right now,
21:41no doubt about it.
21:42Jordan Smith and Masterpool were battling.
21:45Smith of the 31 fell.
21:48Actually, no, that's why Masterpool has caught him.
21:51So now we have a battle between Smith
21:55and here's Masterpool up the inside.
21:57Masterpool a little under the weather this weekend.
21:59We'll get more of that from Will.
22:02That's right, Jason.
22:03Talking to Ty earlier, he did not feel well at all
22:06and he's very beaten up from that first home crash
22:09that we saw.
22:10He was involved in that last weekend in Spring Creek.
22:12He told me that he got ran over by a bike.
22:15Three different bikes.
22:16He got ran over by three different bikes.
22:18All his back is bruised.
22:20He's got grazing all up his arms.
22:22He put some ribs out.
22:23He said, I am very sore.
22:25And I said, did you get sick?
22:26Do you have a cold?
22:27And he said, no, I just think my body's just run down.
22:29He's just gotten to that point.
22:30Remember, he's a feeling rider here
22:32at the Monster Energy Pro Circuit,
22:34Kawasaki team.
22:35He didn't get his base training in there,
22:37that kind of boot camp training
22:39that sets him up for fitness throughout the season.
22:41And he's just been sort of running on fumes,
22:43as he described it.
22:44And he said, when that happens, your body gets run down,
22:46sickness kicks in.
22:48So right now, what Ty Masterpool is showing to me
22:50after listening to him is incredible.
22:53It's amazing when you think of these athletes
22:55and what they go through
22:57and the pain that they endure.
23:00And they're so quiet about it, right?
23:02And I talked to Ty Masterpool as well there with Will
23:05and I'm like, well, where's it hurt the most?
23:08He said, it's going to be hard for me to sit down
23:10because the bottom side is all bruised up as well.
23:13Kind of what Will was talking about.
23:16But even outside of his normal off-season boot camp
23:20that he does, I think he's done an incredible job
23:22getting an opportunity to ride for this race team.
23:25And I just love when racers get that opportunity
23:28and they make the best of it.
23:30That's so, so comforting to see
23:33and I'm happy for the guys like that.
23:35Well, he certainly has getting that win at a high point
23:37and we thought he was going to win again at Red Bud.
23:39But to Will's point, he just ran out of energy
23:42in the second moto.
23:44How about DeFrancisco still hanging here in third
23:47of the 34, his career best is a fifth.
23:50Smith went down, so that moves him up.
23:52But here comes Shimoda.
23:54Ah, this would be a big pass for Joe Shimoda
23:56if he's able to get by, let go to the outside
23:58and try to cross up back to the inside.
24:01Remember, this is that narrow area.
24:03This is where Levi Kitchen went off course.
24:05Kitchen is 15th. Oh, nice move by Shimoda.
24:08God, look at the shadows are messing with me.
24:10It's hard to see Joe kind of set up
24:12Ryder DeFrancisco to make the move.
24:17Still will be a career best for DeFrancisco
24:20and we mentioned the fast lap times
24:22of Vial and Deegan.
24:24Shimoda is 16 seconds off the lead.
24:26So this might be as far as he can go third.
24:29That was an impressive pass by Joe
24:31and a very difficult, challenging part of the track
24:33to make a pass.
24:35Well, great, now they're all going to say,
24:37see, Joe, it's not so hard to pass.
24:39Those excuses.
24:41Exactly.
24:43Getting latent to the moto.
24:45Yes, six minutes and two laps to go.
24:47Right, fitness starting to play a part.
24:49It's pretty warm up here today
24:51in the Pacific Northwest.
24:53But in the low 90s is what I thought
24:55it was forecasted to be.
24:57So putting these guys' fitness to the test
24:59and the motorcycles as well.
25:01Well, that's the same thing for Vial up front.
25:03He is weathering attack
25:05after attack after attack
25:07from Deegan.
25:09We took it from 3.9 to 2.9.
25:11Now 2.6.
25:13They have just been matching each other.
25:15Deegan two-tenths of a second
25:17quicker the last time around.
25:21Man, I think about
25:23three or four races ago when we were talking
25:25about those epic
25:27late race. Whoa!
25:29Deegan going for it.
25:31Feet off the pegs.
25:33Quick little mistake there.
25:35He's going to lose some precious time.
25:37He put in some great work late in the motos
25:39a few races back.
25:41It was a lot of fun to watch.
25:43Now he has a much bigger points lead
25:45than he did then.
25:47Are we going to see the same level of risk
25:49in this moto
25:51as we saw in some incredible ones
25:53going back around two and three of the series?
25:55Part of me says yeah.
25:57I think he just has that mentality
25:59to where he wants to win.
26:01I've watched him grow
26:03this year as far as a racer
26:05and just what his approach is
26:07and looking at a big picture standpoint.
26:09I'm torn. It's like
26:1150-50.
26:13At the same time, as though he's had
26:15these small mistakes, he still
26:17is gaining points on the weekend.
26:19I think at this stage in the race
26:21he could probably lay up and take a second
26:23and play the long game here.
26:25Anstey has caught Masterpole.
26:27Anstey in the 37th.
26:29Oh, the outside.
26:31Oh, hey, we're seeing passes
26:33in all sorts of areas where we normally
26:35don't see passes.
26:37Track's starting to open up. Those outside lines
26:39are working a little bit better. That was a great
26:41pass by Max.
26:43Able to get into that left-hander a little bit
26:45faster. Maybe it didn't have as many
26:47braking bumps going there.
26:49It'll roll through that corner
26:51and get a good drive coming out of the corner.
26:53Masterpole might have had all those
26:55physical issues catch up to them.
26:57As Will mentioned, he got totally drilled
26:59in that first turn last week. He was on the
27:01ground and then he got hit square. I think it actually
27:03might have been Vial's motorcycle
27:05that hit him. It was a KTM. I know that
27:07for sure. Hey, Vial has responded.
27:09It's back to a 4.5
27:11second lead. Remember, though,
27:13Hayden made a mistake. That's it.
27:15In that tight S section there.
27:17Did that cost him time? I think so.
27:19Then he started looking back shortly
27:21after there. Maybe he has conceded
27:23to Vial
27:25for the Moto win, which there's
27:27nothing wrong with that.
27:29Especially, like you asked me, do I think
27:31he'll put in a ride and charge to the front
27:33and risk it, or do I think he'll play
27:35big picture? I think at this stage
27:37he's playing big picture
27:39in why he did it.
27:41That's what he has earned himself
27:43the right to do. Remember, second
27:45in the first Moto, you can still come back
27:47and win the overall in Moto 2.
27:49But Tom Vial
27:51looking for his second Moto win of the year.
28:00And the SMX playoffs offering
28:02an opportunity for camping
28:04at all three rounds. Spots are going quick,
28:06so sign up today at
28:08supermotocross.com
28:10and that's bringing that motocross
28:12feel to the SMX playoff
28:14rounds because this place is lined
28:16with campers and people racing amateurs
28:18Friday and Sunday.
28:20I'm going to tell you, when I went to that
28:22ZMAX dragway last year in Charlotte,
28:24I mean, the vibe there, the camping
28:26vibe was unbelievable.
28:28I was like, man, I need to get a camper
28:30there for next year.
28:32I think I might do it.
28:34I think I might do it. I need to get my
28:36co-host Ryan Villopoto to do it with me.
28:38Hang out with the man. Remember,
28:40he is America's favorite retired
28:42rider, right? That's what he says, yes.
28:44But who's going to split the bill? I feel like it's going to be a battle.
28:46Oh, he is. Oh, really?
28:48I'm sure he would say the exact opposite.
28:50And then at the last second, I'll knock on the door and ask if he's got any room.
28:52But it's too late to say no.
28:54The owl
28:56loses the back end there.
28:58I think that might be it for Deegan's charge.
29:00Deegan into the 225s on lap times.
29:02Yeah, when he
29:04made that mistake in the S corners
29:06and then shortly after he looked
29:08back, that was kind of a sign to me,
29:10like I'm going to check
29:12up here and just mail this
29:14in and bring it home in second.
29:16But I've got to tell you,
29:18Tom Vielle,
29:20he earned this ride
29:22and how well he's doing.
29:24And this is what I expected of him,
29:26honestly, the whole
29:28series. He's riding incredible right now,
29:30JT. Yeah, and I think for Hayden
29:32Deegan, when he got that five laps to go sign
29:34from his mechanic, I think he tried to go to that
29:36place where we've seen him dig deep, put
29:38in those amazing laps late.
29:40But this track, it's a unique animal.
29:42You can't really ride it in the way
29:44that you can ride other tracks. It really doesn't
29:46award aggression, especially
29:48in the way that Hayden Deegan wants to do it.
29:50Hayden would just say, I just sent it, right?
29:52Which means high RPM, high aggression
29:54all the way around the racetrack. That's not
29:56the way to attack this racetrack, and I think
29:58Hayden knows it. So when he tried to go to that place
30:00and made a big mistake, I think he said,
30:02you know what? This isn't the time and the place.
30:04I'm just going to lean on the points lead.
30:06We'll ask him on the podium, but I think that has to be
30:08coming to play here at some point. Well, and JT,
30:10I mean, we just talked about it a few
30:12minutes ago. It seems like even when we
30:14think Hayden has a bad moto,
30:16he ends up making up points on the
30:18end of the weekend.
30:20Yeah, he does, and that's one of the most remarkable
30:22things about this. He'll have a bad
30:24weekend. We'll talk about him overcoming
30:26adversity, and then we look up, and yet the points lead
30:28is even bigger.
30:30Just wait till it
30:32shakes out, and then you guys can
30:34be like, yeah, we had it right. We guessed the way
30:36this would go. I want to give a shout out to Dylan
30:38Schwartz in 17th, and here's why.
30:40With this ride, he
30:42scores these points. He might move himself
30:44into the top 20 in combined
30:46supercross and motocross points,
30:48which would give him an automatic bid to
30:50all three races of the
30:52SMX playoffs and world championships, so
30:54that's what's so cool about this playoff
30:56format. I don't think 17th
30:58would be something we'd be focused on until
31:00this happened. He started this race
31:02in 38th place.
31:04Yeah, I mean, I can tell you what. You don't want
31:06to go into the playoffs and not be seated
31:08and have to qualify into those
31:10races. Anything can happen in the
31:12qualifiers.
31:14LCQ every time.
31:16You know what I love about the SMX
31:18playoff races is the hybrid design
31:20track. A little bit of supercross,
31:22a little bit of motocross,
31:24and I think
31:26the dirt works track crew have
31:28done a fabulous job.
31:32Schwartz, he's seven points out,
31:34Garrett Marchbanks, who's 20th right
31:36now, was at least
31:38a 450 rider, wasn't expected to score
31:40any more 250 points, but
31:42Marchbanks broke up with the
31:44Publix Yamaha team this week,
31:46so we don't know when we'll see Marchbanks
31:48back. Maybe next season
31:50as we go back to the leader,
31:52Vial, and
31:54I cannot believe
31:56it's only the second
31:58Moto win of the year for Vial.
32:00Right.
32:02And it was the point you made
32:04after a supercross title.
32:06Right.
32:08You think like, oh, man,
32:10supercross title would be way harder
32:12to win.
32:14Yeah, for a rider with so much motocross experience.
32:16Right, two-time world champ.
32:20But these are the type of rides, look,
32:22we did see Deegan make the mistake and look over,
32:24but there were, what, ten, twelve minutes
32:26where they were having a lap-time battle
32:28and Vial wouldn't let him get there.
32:30But I like this track for Tom Vial
32:32because I feel it kind of
32:34caters to his style.
32:36How he's very light on the motorcycle
32:38and like JT was talking about
32:40how you almost have to go
32:42slower to go faster.
32:44He's very methodical and bounces around
32:46and he's really crafty with his lines
32:48in this racetrack, especially in the
32:50tighter areas, like before the
32:52rollers, a couple corners before the rollers.
32:54Situations like that,
32:56he's just, he's really, really good at.
32:58So, it just doesn't
33:00come to a surprise to me because of that.
33:02Deegan second, Shimoda third,
33:04DeFrancisco still working on the career
33:06best, fourth on the Troy Lee Designs
33:08Red Bull Gas Gas.
33:10His teammate, Brown, then Max Anstey
33:12here. I mean, think about Anstey,
33:14I was talking to him a couple weekends
33:16ago at Red Bud and I'm like,
33:18when's the last time you raced an MX?
33:20And he's like, well, on a 250.
33:22Oh, wow. Here in the US
33:24is 2010.
33:26That's a long time ago.
33:28I think it was 2010. Yeah,
33:30in America it was. It was actually for this team
33:32but this team and this rider were in totally
33:34different places in their trajectory
33:36at that time. Who would have thought 14
33:38years later? Yeah, unbelievable.
33:40Credit to Anstey to still be
33:42racing long enough to get
33:44back on a team. Most people don't even race that
33:46long. Dude, think of that.
33:48My career was only,
33:50my professional career was only 10 years.
33:52And here he is, 14
33:54years. Yes. In the grind.
33:56And he's saying, I'm just trying to
33:58ride it at the end of this year to really be ready for
34:00next year. That's my real goal.
34:02Year 15, I want to win titles
34:04with this team. I admire
34:06this guy because of that.
34:08I mean, that's incredible.
34:10But I will tell you, I feel like a lot of the racers
34:12and it's been so cool to see and
34:14I'm actually, I
34:16should say I'm jealous of it, but I admire
34:18how they just really embrace
34:20racing and
34:22the process and
34:24they're having a lot of fun
34:26with it where I don't know
34:28that certainly for me it wasn't
34:30that way and
34:32I like it. I wish that I
34:34would have had a little bit more of that approach.
34:36And that's what's keeping them racing longer?
34:38I think so, yeah. I believe so, yeah. It's cool
34:40to see. And Anstey, by the way, told me his
34:42watch tracks his sleep. About an hour
34:44and 20 minutes, that's all he got in, of
34:46good sleep at the airport Thursday night when he
34:48was stuck there in Dallas. You folks around
34:50the world probably heard about this I.T. problem
34:52and caught pretty much everyone
34:54trying to work their way to Washougal.
34:56Maybe he only needs to sleep
34:58that little bit every time because he's doing
35:00pretty darn good. Yeah, yeah.
35:02Because the first two rounds back
35:04in this series,
35:06I think there was some excitement coming into Southwick
35:08because he's always been good at sand. That was a terrible
35:10weekend. It's taken a few weeks for him to get it
35:12but now fifth. That's nice progress
35:14but it's going to be a long time. A lot of
35:16progress needed to get up to this guy. Tom
35:18Vielle. What a performance
35:20here. Great, great performance.
35:22Maybe here too late in the race
35:24building that bigger gap.
35:26Was able to
35:28back off the effort a little bit.
35:30Save a little bit of stamina
35:32for the second moto.
35:34When you get in this kind of position
35:36it's common for
35:38riders to do that.
35:40You can see him looking over his shoulder there
35:42just to make sure that
35:44he knows exactly where Deegan
35:46is and he can roll out a little bit
35:48because every little bit counts.
35:50Yeah, Deegan's going to save energy.
35:52Vielle's going to save some energy.
35:54That's right. Now on the final
35:56shadowed section
35:58and two turns to go for the
36:00Frenchman who only has
36:02one overall win in his career in
36:04America. It's a good step toward a
36:06second one. Moto one
36:08at Washougal
36:10goes to Tom Vielle.
36:14And
36:16Deegan will bring it across
36:18second and that has really been the
36:20story of the season.
36:22Deegan's good every week
36:24and everybody else has their ups and their
36:26downs. We're looking
36:28at Levi Kitchen in 12th
36:30place right now after winning both
36:32motos last week. Yeah, Deegan was
36:34kind of in no man's land there
36:36when he was in second. Really
36:38getting no pressure from
36:40Ryder DeFrancisco and then
36:42no pressure from Shimoda. Wasn't making
36:44or closing the gap on
36:46Tom Vielle and that's
36:48why I think part of that
36:50because he couldn't make up any time
36:52on the leader. No reason to take
36:54any risk.
36:56Kitchen is still out here
36:58with this 12th place finish. Got
37:00absolutely buried off the start and never got
37:02it going. It's going to be Shimoda
37:04third, DeFrancisco and Enski
37:06rounding out the top five. Yeah, and remember
37:08he went off the track right here
37:10so that
37:12didn't help his cause.
37:14And at least for the moment, Vielle
37:16moves to second in points. That was Kitchen
37:18coming into this race.
37:20George Smith had such a good run
37:22going. He just crossed in 11th after
37:24he fell and there is Kitchen.
37:26Man, he's got to be bummed.
37:28High vibes coming into the
37:30home race. Didn't get what he wanted.
37:32Vielle did though.
37:34We'll talk to him about the win next.