2024 Supercross Salt Lake City - 250SX E/W Showdown
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00:00So the way this works is, everyone's on the gate together, and whatever points you score,
00:05the points you get.
00:06We don't pull out east versus west, different in the point statics.
00:09What you finish and what you get, and however that affects the championship, it is what
00:12it is.
00:13A lot of talk about gate pick, because Vial didn't have the good heat race finish, said
00:16it to Jason Thomas.
00:17Well, I'm standing right in front of where Tom Vial will launch and try to go win this
00:22250 East Championship.
00:23Now, what I want to show you is this gigantic hole and bump that's on the outside of his
00:27gate.
00:28What I want to do is disrupt his acceleration in a big way.
00:31Now, a lot of these gates have holes, but this is one of the deepest one I've seen.
00:34So he's really going to have to get across that hole and focus on accelerating past that.
00:39The most difficult part of that transition is if the riders to his right and left get
00:42their handlebars in front of him, he will not be able to accelerate.
00:45So this is a really tough ask from the could-be champion, Tom Vial.
00:51So it is stacked up there for Vial, does have his teammate inside him.
00:54What about that hole there?
00:55What do you think, James?
00:56I'm surprised he took that, actually.
00:59Have an option to go a little bit farther outside, but we'll find out.
01:03All right.
01:04Let's get some more analysis.
01:05Will?
01:06And we start with this man, RJ Hampshire, the number 24 there.
01:14That red plate is there because he is fighting for that championship tonight.
01:18And it has been ten years in the making.
01:21First year for him to have that red plate.
01:23And he has it now tonight going into what could be, guys, the most important race of
01:27his career.
01:28Well, we're going to go all the way back to 1991, 33 years ago, and you see Mitch Payton's
01:34pro circuit Honda team at the time.
01:37This is where they got their first win.
01:39Now, the late Brian Slink, you see him there barely taking the win over Ryan Hughes there.
01:44Now, Levi Kitchen has an opportunity to go into the history books as the 20th rider to
01:49win a championship for Mitch Payton.
01:52It's not going to be easy.
01:54Will Christian just talked about how excited and how motivated RJ Hampshire is.
01:58That's what he's going to have to contend with, but Levi Kitchen has his own opportunity
02:01here as well to not only get a 300th win, but, again, be the 20th rider to win a title
02:06for Mitch Payton.
02:07Hey, go out there and put the same exact ride you did in that heat race and let the rest
02:13take care of itself.
02:14That's all you can do.
02:17And Joe Shimoda coming off of last weekend's win.
02:19See if you can continue that and get a start here and see if you can get another victory.
02:27That was our Utah sports commission pre-race report.
02:29A lot of talk.
02:31Some unexpected action in the heat races, but it's all come down to this.
02:35The moment is now both for the east and the west.
02:40It's a showdown race.
02:43Let's go.
02:44Two titles will be handed out in one race.
02:48Roads are up.
02:51Gates down.
02:54Vial, a good jump on the outside.
02:57He's going to pull it.
02:58Gets pushed wide.
02:59Is that Deegan on the inside?
03:02Yeah, that was Deegan on the inside.
03:05Hayden Deegan to the lead, but Vial surviving the 18th gate pick.
03:09Oh, but Shimoda made a mistake and almost took Vial down.
03:12Oh, this is playing out perfect for Hayden Deegan right now.
03:17No looking back.
03:18Race in front of you, not behind you.
03:19And Hempshire is up to third behind Romano.
03:22I do not see Kitchen.
03:24Yeah, I was going to say that.
03:26Yeah, he's back there, but yeah, that's not the position you want to be in, especially
03:31with R.J., but R.J. just got passed by Hayden's teammate, it looks like.
03:36Kitchen is about eighth right now, and Vial right behind him.
03:39There's Kitchen on the 47 in green.
03:42Now, if you're Vial right here, this is perfect scenario for you.
03:46Now you just ride these pace, get through these first few laps, let things space out
03:49a little bit, take this thing on to the checkered flag.
03:52But if you're Kitchen, you can't wait.
03:54You've got to get to Hempshire.
03:57Yeah, nice.
03:58Let's see if he can get past.
03:59He's trying to go up the inside of Jalik, and this is going to be a tough position for
04:04Levi because he does not want R.J. to get away any gap.
04:08And how close those guys have been all year long, it's going to be hard for Levi to make
04:14that time up, especially how slippery that track is.
04:16But yeah, he's doing a good job.
04:18He's got to get around Jalik as quick as he can.
04:21So let's reset it.
04:22It's Deegan Romano-Smith.
04:23Hempshire's drifted to fourth.
04:25Woo-hoo!
04:26Feet off the pegs and the whoops for Hempshire.
04:29Levi made it past Jalik's wall, so that's another position.
04:34It's only two riders between Hempshire and Kitchen.
04:38It's Shimoda and Thrasher.
04:40Yeah, you can see R.J. taking a quick look back.
04:44And that's not normal like him.
04:46He's usually racing four, but that feet off the pegs might have woke him up a little bit.
04:50And now you can see Tom Bial making a pass around Jalik as well, which is a good sign for him.
04:54Yeah, that's right.
04:56He's following suit.
04:58I like Bial.
05:00What a big turnaround from the heat race for him.
05:02Definitely not riding as conservative.
05:04Maybe figured some things out.
05:06Well, he only needs to finish 11th to win the title.
05:09He's in eighth right now.
05:11Yeah, if Deakin wins, and Deakin's leading at the moment.
05:13So we switch back to the west.
05:15The 24 of Hempshire, the 47 of Kitchen.
05:18Whoever finishes in front of the other is the champ.
05:23Ooh, that was a good save by Levi Kitchen.
05:27He gets a little high up in the berm right there.
05:29The berm starts to give away.
05:31And Deakin, fast qualifier, heat race win.
05:35And pulling away here in the main event.
05:37He has been perfect so far in Utah.
05:41There's Bial.
05:43And there you go, Bial, he just stays here.
05:45Eighth place.
05:47Probably not the way he drew it up, but it would still be four points to the good.
05:49And he'd still be the champion of 250 East.
05:51Yeah, and I think for Tom, it was pretty simple.
05:53If he rode anything like he did in that heat race,
05:55he was going to lose this title.
05:57So he has no choice but to race.
05:59But yeah, it looks like Joe Shimoda, as I talked about in the beginning,
06:03trying to do his best to get around.
06:07RJ almost lost the front end going into that corner.
06:10Yeah, he did.
06:12And look at Kitchen there.
06:14He's gaining some huge time.
06:16Let's watch the timing and scoring right here, James.
06:18It's going to be interesting to compare RJ versus Kitchen.
06:22Kitchen was a half second faster than Hampshire on that lap.
06:30Ooh, I like that triple out of the corner that RJ's doing.
06:32Landing on that tabletop.
06:34That's huge.
06:36Kitchen trying to make a move on Thrasher.
06:39Let's see.
06:41He's on the inside.
06:43Yeah, you see, it looked like people were probably wondering
06:45why he wasn't aggressive.
06:47But it was really slippery.
06:49He would have been putting himself at risk going off.
06:51Because Nate obviously was not going to let off.
06:53He was trying to hold him off.
06:55And yeah, he made the right decision on that.
06:57That would have ended ugly for him.
06:59Levi.
07:01And Kitchen make the move on Thrasher and Shimoda.
07:03Shimoda there on the 30.
07:05He's got to get them to have a chance to battle Hampshire
07:08Yeah, Levi cannot get stuck behind these guys.
07:10When he catches them, he has to make a pass.
07:12Because look at the gap now between him and RJ.
07:14He was right there.
07:16Now it's three, almost four seconds back.
07:18And that's in one lap.
07:20He's trying everything, RC.
07:22Well, I mean, he's doing it.
07:24But the guys he's racing with aren't any scrubs.
07:26They're fast, too.
07:28This is going to be the spot where he needs to make the move.
07:30Trying to get a better drive out of that corner.
07:32Isn't able to do it.
07:34Here's Fiala making passes.
07:36Romano has drifted back.
07:38He was third early.
07:40Fiala looking to get him for seventh.
07:42A little more insurance.
07:44Patting that points lead.
07:46Hayden Deegan long gone.
07:48Hampshire, man.
07:50He's starting to find his groove right now.
07:52Yeah, he definitely is.
07:54And I think for RJ, he's got people in front of him.
07:56So imagine if he was out front.
07:58Everything would be behind him.
08:00But at least he has that rabbit in front of him where he can
08:02still keep pushing forth.
08:05Yeah, you were my rabbit there.
08:07So I'm like, man, as long as I can hold on to you as long as
08:09possible.
08:11A little gap between myself and Chad.
08:13I mean, I got lucky.
08:15It worked out perfectly.
08:17This is working out great for RJ Hampshire right now.
08:19And, man, is Levi losing some serious time.
08:21It is going to be really hard for Levi to make any ground on
08:23RJ.
08:25RJ is in great shape.
08:27He can go the distance.
08:29Yeah, the problem for Levi is he's going to have to get
08:31the time on RJ.
08:33Even if he passes Nate.
08:35And even if he passes Joe Shimoda.
08:37He's going to have to go faster than he is now.
08:39And that's going to put him at a risk.
08:41And for RJ, he's done exactly what he needed to do.
08:43And it's going to be up to Levi to make the right call.
08:45Yeah.
08:47He's in great shape.
08:49He can go the distance.
08:51Yeah, the problem for Levi, obviously, with the east-west
08:53shootout, everybody that he's racing against, they're really
08:55good.
08:57But with the track conditions and being so slippery, you can
08:59really feel it.
09:01Yeah.
09:03And it's going to be up to Levi to find that medium gap.
09:05He got a good start.
09:07RJ did.
09:09But what the tricky thing I feel like for Levi Kitchin was in
09:11that start is Hayden Deegan was on the inside of him.
09:13Hayden Deegan got a little bit better jump.
09:15Was able to close out Levi.
09:17So, I mean, Levi did what he had to do.
09:19Just wasn't good enough off the gate.
09:21JT.
09:23We talked so much this week about how important track
09:25position would be between RJ Hampshire and Levi Kitchin.
09:27Because when you don't have a significant pace advantage, it
09:29all comes down to where you are in that first lap.
09:31Now, of course, they can make mistakes and crashes do happen.
09:33But just like we saw last week in Denver, Levi Kitchin got the
09:35gap on RJ and he could not close it down.
09:37That seems like what's happening so far.
09:39Yes, there are other riders in between them, but that gap has
09:41remained the same.
09:43Well, you know how it is, James.
09:45When you're able to look into peripheral vision and you're
09:47coming back the opposite direction of your competitor
09:49and your yard.
09:51And you're able to see where you're going.
09:53And you're coming back the opposite direction of your
09:55competitor and you're yarding them and pulling away.
09:57That just gives you more confidence and things really
09:59start to click.
10:01Yeah, absolutely.
10:03And RJ is going faster than Levi.
10:05I would say Levi is maybe getting held up by Nate Thrasher a
10:07little bit.
10:09But RJ is going out there and racing forward.
10:11And I think for him, that's the best thing he can do.
10:13He's going to ride like RJ.
10:15Here you go.
10:17Inside line.
10:19This time Kitchin has Thrasher covered.
10:21Two riders to have a shot at Hampshire.
10:23He just got one.
10:25He's going to have to turn it loose right now, James, if he
10:27wants to win this championship.
10:29He's got to put in some sprint laps and give it his all.
10:31I think he just.
10:33Yeah, this all to nothing.
10:35I mean, for Levi, these next three laps are going to be
10:37whether he has the opportunity to run RJ down but win this
10:39championship.
10:41And the one thing he can do is hopefully start closing in on
10:43RJ and make RJ start thinking about him and possibly make him
10:45mistake his own self.
10:47But it's going to be up to Levi.
10:49Levi Kitchin was the fastest race.
10:51Fastest guy on the track right there to 53.5.
10:53Some of Lawrence brothers getting ready for their 450
10:55main.
10:57They'll be up after this.
10:59We're halfway through the 250 main event.
11:01Visit Maverick.
11:03Monster energy drinks are available now.
11:05And this is it.
11:07He said he's going to have to let it loose.
11:09He's going to have to let it loose.
11:11He's going to have to let it loose.
11:13He said he's going to have to let it loose.
11:15The 47 is doing it.
11:17I mean, that's a half second faster.
11:19So he's going to have to chew into this lead.
11:21Big time.
11:23Jordan Smith catching Hayden Deacon in a battle for the win.
11:25Now, it's not going to affect the title if Bial stays where he
11:27is.
11:29Smith on the move.
11:31And what's on the line for these guys?
11:33Bonuses probably pay.
11:35Hey, bonuses probably pay around 50 grand of the 250 class, if
11:37not more.
11:39You win a race.
11:41So there's a lot to fight for, even if it doesn't affect the
11:43points.
11:45Money.
11:47All of the will.
11:49And I was asking Jordan Smith, guys, that question earlier,
11:51like, what does this mean to you to finish strong here?
11:53Because at this point, obviously, focus starts to go
11:55there on motocross as everybody moves forward through the
11:57series.
11:59And he said, no, no, no.
12:01He told me, make no mistake, 100% I want this win.
12:03They have made a bunch of changes on the bike here in the
12:05last week.
12:07He said he has a bunch of changes.
12:09And that will collect a little bit into place this week.
12:11There was definitely a commitment to him in the way
12:13that he wanted to finish this out, knowing, obviously, that
12:15this was the last opportunity here tonight in a showdown,
12:17guys.
12:19Going after Deegan and looking good doing it.
12:21So we have a battle for the lead between the Monster Energy,
12:23Yamaha Star Racing teammates.
12:25One from the east, Deegan.
12:27One from the west, Smith.
12:29Hampshire by himself and forth.
12:31Can Kitchen continue?
12:33He's got a lot of momentum.
12:35He's got a lot of momentum.
12:37Hampshire by himself and forth.
12:39Can Kitchen continue to close?
12:41That's the bottom screen there.
12:43There's Kitchen.
12:45It looked like RJ kind of answered a bell that last lap
12:47running the 53.8 where Levi was at 54.5.
12:49So he lost quite a bit of time.
12:51And that's what I was saying.
12:53Levi is going to have to push it.
12:55And by pushing it, you can gain the time.
12:57But you can also lose it as you see him going down the straight
12:59and, you know, losing the rear.
13:01So he's got to keep it going.
13:03Just want to mention that Smith
13:05is mathematically still in it
13:07for the west title if both
13:09Hampshire and Kitchen
13:11were to falter big
13:13and essentially score zero points.
13:15A point or two.
13:17I think one point or two he would still overcome them.
13:19Smith on the move in the woods.
13:21See if he squares him up.
13:23Oh.
13:25He thought he was on the inside and squared him up.
13:27Yeah, I was about to say,
13:29that was a nice, like, 10th pass.
13:31And then he didn't know he was there.
13:33But, yeah, Jordan definitely has Hayden
13:35in those whoops. He's going in with his
13:37entry speed is a lot faster.
13:39So if Hayden doesn't close that off, J.T.,
13:41he's going to be getting passed.
13:43Yep, and watch for this next lap.
13:45If Jordan doesn't lose too much time there,
13:47he's going to have to be right on him.
13:49But he set him up there by going to the right.
13:51Now if he swings left, Hayden's going to be thinking right.
13:53He goes left. That may open up that inside.
13:55He's not going to be close enough this lap.
13:57But watch for that. If he gets close,
13:59putting that block past again, but in the corner
14:01before the finish line, it's going to open up that for Jordan.
14:03Ah, R.J.'s
14:05starting to realize a little.
14:07They're here late in the race, and time is
14:09running out. If you're R.J.
14:11Hampshire, man, you just,
14:13yeah, I mean, you want to send a message.
14:15Winning the race would be incredible, but
14:17that position he's in right now,
14:19if he could hold what he has,
14:21not take any risks, this title's
14:23yours. Yeah, I was just thinking,
14:25R.J. probably would love to pass
14:27these guys, but by catching them
14:29could slow you down, and it seems like now
14:31Levi is going to be all-in,
14:33so that possibility of R.J. going
14:35up and catching those guys
14:37might let Levi have an opportunity to get in there,
14:39but R.J.'s answer the bell.
14:41Yeah, I mean, and he was fast
14:43all day in qualifying practice.
14:45He had the speed advantage.
14:47He rode well last week at Denver,
14:49and, you know, he's making
14:51it happen, making it happen when he needs
14:53to, most important, crucial
14:55time of the series, of the
14:57championship, and you have to
14:59respect that, and it's incredible to see him do it.
15:01Oh, feet came off there.
15:03Almost went down, James. Yeah,
15:05R.J. doesn't need to be like R.J. right now.
15:07Just keep it up, and, I mean, I'm
15:09impressed. The guy's been
15:11really, there was a lot of pressure on him, and we
15:13know how loose his riding style is, but
15:15besides that, I think we talked
15:17about, would guys be riding more
15:19like themselves, and R.J.'s been looking
15:21like R.J. has all year long, and
15:23Will, what do you see?
15:25I don't know what I was hearing, James.
15:27Talking to R.J. Hampshire earlier
15:29on today, just the
15:31emotion that was coming out of him
15:33as I was asking him to sort of, like, reflect
15:35on what this would mean to him
15:37to get this done tonight, and he said to me,
15:39people don't really understand
15:41all the pieces that have to come together,
15:43whether that's my team, how
15:45you feel personally, what's going on
15:47in your life, on and off the track. He's like,
15:49that takes time. That has taken me
15:51ten years to put all that together
15:53and put me in this position, and I
15:55can see him almost kind of choking up when he was
15:57telling me that. So guys, right now,
15:59how does he focus? He's in this situation,
16:01but he knows what's on the line here. Ten
16:03years in the making, how do you not
16:05focus on that? Oh, we gotta focus on this
16:07Will! Oh, Smith tried
16:09to make the move on Deegan, he went down,
16:13and Deegan, maybe a little
16:15surprised, he gestured back,
16:17that'll move Hampshire up to second.
16:19Did Hampshire clear that okay? He cleared
16:21it alright. He's good.
16:23Well, we knew that
16:25block pass might be coming in the whoops, and there it was.
16:27Wow, Deegan's
16:29gotta go through lap traffic now. Here's the
16:31attempt by Smith to get the lead.
16:33I think Smitty had had enough
16:35of it, James, was going for
16:37it. Tries to make the pass,
16:39he just wasn't close enough. Yeah, it looks
16:41like his fork got caught on Hayden's bike right
16:43there and it pulled him down.
16:45Yeah, it was
16:47kind of tough for him, but way
16:49to stay strong, Hayden.
16:51Now Deegan in the midst of lap traffic,
16:53looking at his third win of the year.
16:55But he's going to come up a couple of points
16:57short of the title, unless
16:59Vial, who is holding on to eight,
17:01falters. He would need Vial to drift
17:03back to twelve. And time
17:05is running out, 46 seconds
17:07and a lap left in this.
17:09The Dave Koons East-West Showdown.
17:11You just think about the journey and
17:13how we got to where we are today
17:15and where Hayden has,
17:17could you imagine, had he not come into
17:19the series wounded.
17:21That was close. He's got
17:23Hempshire right behind him now.
17:25Couple of mistakes. Yeah,
17:27you see how slippery this track is
17:29and all these riders,
17:31to go as fast as they are on this track,
17:33how slippery it is, just shows how much talent they
17:35have. But yeah, until you cross that
17:37checkered flag, it is not over.
17:39That was really close. It's one lap
17:41after this, so they're going to
17:43come by and get the white flag.
17:45How does Hempshire play this?
17:47He has caught the leader. What does he do?
17:49I mean, I'm taking the championship.
17:51Man, that's where I'm at.
17:53But do you get worried about
17:55he's going to hold me up too much?
17:57No, he's got plenty, he's got a huge
17:59lead on Kitchin. Look, do a little
18:01check, see where you're at, see where Levi's
18:03at. Follow him home. Yeah, it's a tough
18:05position for RJ because Hayden has
18:07to kind of win the race to have any shot at
18:09this, so it's not like he's going to roll over.
18:11But RJ, he's in a great spot.
18:13He has a lot of room, and as long as Hayden
18:15doesn't really make a mistake,
18:17if I was RJ, I would kind of give him that gap,
18:19honestly. So in case he does make one,
18:21I'm not right on him, and Levi's far
18:23enough back. Deegan's
18:25a fan favorite. Listen to the crowd.
18:27What a ride
18:29by this kid, man.
18:31His best race of the year,
18:33qualifying heat race main.
18:35As for Hempshire, a multi-generation
18:37racer. If you go to the record books
18:39of the Loretta Lynch Amateur National Championship,
18:41he's not alone.
18:43He's got dad, uncles, his
18:45sister was a multi-time women's motocross
18:47champ, but he was more of a
18:49baseball player growing up, but
18:51now he's closing on his first title.
18:53Deegan did everything he could do.
18:55He wins the race, but
18:57Hempshire takes the
18:59250 West Championship,
19:01and here is Tom Vial.
19:03We knew the championship experience
19:05was on his side. Two world titles
19:07in motocross in Europe,
19:09and the Frenchman made it
19:11a little tough with that heat race, but he
19:13delivered in the main. He is. He's just got
19:15a few more whoops to go.
19:17He's going to go through this corner.
19:19Here it is. Tom Vial
19:21in his second season of
19:23Supercross is the 250
19:25East champion.
19:27What a ride by all these guys.
19:29Look at this. This guy stepped
19:31it up, R.C. He did. He stepped it up.
19:33He did. I feel like all season
19:35long, too. He just
19:37was more sound on the motorcycle, looked more
19:39solid, way less mistakes. There's
19:41his wife, their youngest
19:43child. Everybody congratulating
19:45Hempshire. As Will said, he's been at this
19:47for ten years. Let me tell you something
19:49about this kid. He did a lot
19:51with a little. Small
19:53town out of Florida.
19:55Just kept chipping away,
19:57working, working, working,
19:59and here he is.
20:01Ten years.
20:03And it is a sweep for the Austrian
20:05group. Hempshire has been very vocal
20:07as they were working on this new motorcycle
20:09two years ago. The progress they made,
20:11they win both titles, one with the KTM
20:13brand, one with Husqvarna.
20:15Soak it up, R.J. Hempshire.
20:21Keep those things.
20:23And there's Vial with him.
20:25Victory lap time. They have
20:27conquered it. Tom Vial,
20:29R.J. Hempshire, backs
20:31against the wall. They did what they
20:33had to do. How about Vial with that great
20:35start from the 18th gate pick
20:37to put himself in position to ice the title.
20:39Hempshire
20:41did what he had to do. And now he can call
20:43himself a champion.