450 Moto 1
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00:00He could be a threat for sure.
00:02Absolutely.
00:03Here we go.
00:04450.
00:05Race one.
00:06Bumping and banging down there.
00:11Cooper is going to get pushed wide.
00:12I think it's Jett Lawrence on the left side.
00:15I believe that's Hunter Lawrence right behind him.
00:18It is.
00:19Oh, Eli Tomac makes the move.
00:22Yeah.
00:23Eli's back.
00:24Eli's back.
00:25Great start by him.
00:26Great start by all these guys.
00:27Chase Sexton looks like he's trying to move his way up into fourth place.
00:30I love it.
00:31Look it.
00:32I loved what Eli Tomac was able to do on his second race back at Ironman.
00:37The intensity he showed early.
00:39Bringing that right now.
00:41And another thing that I'm looking for, James, is how does Jett handle this?
00:44He's been gone for many, many weeks with that injury.
00:47Is he able to control the emotions and play the long game?
00:50Emotions.
00:51Listen to this crowd.
00:53Oh, they love it, James.
00:55Here for Eli Tomac.
00:56Yeah.
00:57That's a lot of moves.
00:58Jett.
00:59Well, if you're a fan of pro motocross, you've certainly heard me talk about the scoop tire all year long
01:03and the choice between riders taking it and not taking it.
01:06Now I'm going to give you guys one guess as to the rider who chose to use that scoop tire.
01:11And here's a hint.
01:12He might be on screen right this second.
01:14The scoop, the paddle tire, he's trying to lay wood to these guys.
01:18Eli Tomac, just like Hayden Deegan, they kind of got the same riding style.
01:21Very aggressive, hard on the clutch.
01:24So this track's going to play well for Eli.
01:27Going to be interesting to see how that scoop tire plays out later on in this race
01:32on those hard, slippery areas on the racetrack.
01:35In a situation like this, it's going to work really well.
01:38However, where you're watching him right here,
01:41the coming out of this corner might be where it's going to slip.
01:44Anywhere where it's not very deep, like right here.
01:47And Hunter Lawrence has got around his brother, Jett Lawrence.
01:50And I would say in the beginning part of the race,
01:53really, Jett is a little kind of, I wouldn't say lax-y-daisy.
01:56I think Chase Exton must have fell over here.
01:59Tough ride for him.
02:01Just the rocks that I believe. The rocks that got around him.
02:03But, James, you know, for a guy like Jett Lawrence,
02:06he's been out for a while, and Eli Tomac has raced the last two Pro Motocross races.
02:11Hunter obviously was battling Chase Exton for the Pro Motocross championship.
02:16So a little more in season, if you will.
02:19And that's the part he would be lacking, that race pace getting out here.
02:22So if I'm Chase Exton and these guys, I've got to tackle before he gets in rhythm.
02:27Because we know what he does when he does do that.
02:30You can see these guys trying to do it.
02:32And Rockson making that move on Exton.
02:34You've always said this, Carmichael, how good Rockson is in the early laps.
02:37Oh, he's super explosive.
02:39Also, if you make a move by him, James, you are so good at this.
02:43Also, if he gets past, he counterattacks really, really quickly.
02:48And a lot of times, it passes you back.
02:50So keep your eye on Ken Rockson.
02:53How about this?
02:54Eli Tomac putting two and a half seconds on the field.
02:57Just getting back to racing.
02:59And he's never raced SMX before.
03:01And all the other players are there.
03:03The Lawrence brothers.
03:04Rockson sets it in now.
03:05Plessiger.
03:06Set it down a wheel before the 3.
03:09Thank you, Jason.
03:11Eli Tomac, guys, has just got the confidence going on today.
03:15It's kind of oozing out of him.
03:17Every time you talk to him, you just see it.
03:19If you ask him how he feels on the track, he just kind of does his nod and says, good, but you can just tell.
03:24And I asked him earlier on today, when did he know he was ready to come back to racing,
03:28know that he was ready to put in performances like this?
03:31And he said, well, outdoors, I normally do an hour 40 motos out on my track.
03:36He said, I couldn't make it to the end of a 40.
03:39He said, when I felt I could carry the pace all the way through a 140, then I knew I was ready to race.
03:45So the intensity of the opening laps were tricky.
03:47He got that taken care of there in those last two front running cross rounds that you guys talked about.
03:51Now he clearly feels very prepared to take on the rest of the field.
03:54Yeah, absolutely.
03:55I mean, you're not going to go out there and throw everything out if you feel like you can't lap.
04:00Yeah, Chase.
04:02That was a strong pass by Ken.
04:04He got that line.
04:05It looked like he was falling over.
04:06Ken hit that hook.
04:07And Chase understands the sense of urgency.
04:09Get on Jet Lawrence and try to catch that number three up front if you can.
04:16Oh, that's a big moment.
04:17Yeah, Chase has really good pace right now.
04:20Remember, he made a mistake a lap and a half ago.
04:23He's reeled these guys back in.
04:25Makes a pass by Ken Roxon.
04:27And I expect him to reel right on the back end of Jet Lawrence right there.
04:34Yeah, I think he's doing it right now.
04:36Hunter Lawrence trying to set sail after Tomac and get away from this battle.
04:40Lawrence on the 1.
04:42Sexton, Roxon, and Plessinger all right there.
04:45Yeah, I think the best thing for Chase and even Eli is to have Hunter Lawrence in that second position
04:51instead of having Jet because they understand Jet's probably going to have a little bit of nerves
04:55just trying to get here as he's trying to work on the inside.
04:58Now they're catching back up with his brother.
05:00But so far, so good, JT.
05:02Yeah, and for Jet Lawrence, he's coming back to racing with only three weeks of preparation time
05:07after he had surgery on his thumb.
05:09Now, look at the difference between the same injury and then the recovery time to racing.
05:14Cooper Webb, 89 days, Eli Tomac, 93 days, and Jet Lawrence, 66.
05:19So what I want to see, does he have hand strength late in the race?
05:23Is he able to hold this pace if Chase Sexton tries to make a move and go by?
05:28I think he's fine for the first half.
05:30It's that grip strength, and does the fatigue set in late in these races coming back this quickly?
05:35You know, you almost wonder, too, like, what is the strategy?
05:38They're not going to tell me and you, James.
05:40They're not going to tell us.
05:41Jet's not going to tell us what his strategy is.
05:43Maybe he knows that it's going to fatigue, so he's playing it cool early.
05:46That is total speculation, Will.
05:49Looks like Sexton made a little mistake and didn't get that double.
05:52He's battling with Roxton now.
05:53Send it back to Will.
05:55Ricky, just listening to what you were saying, I spoke to Darren Lawrence, Hunter and Jet's dad there,
06:00just to kind of ask them that.
06:01Like, what were they thinking for these three upcoming rounds?
06:04And Darren has an interesting theory.
06:05He says however long you've taken off the bike is how long you're going to take to get back into racing.
06:11We've seen Hunter with a lot of injuries.
06:12They've been through this and this.
06:13It doesn't always mathematically work that way.
06:15So we did the math and we said, all right, he's three and a half weeks-ish off.
06:19That means if what you're saying, he's going to build over these next two
06:22and technically be back to himself from the finale in Las Vegas.
06:27And he said, that's what we're hoping for.
06:29He said, I expect to see Jet 100% at that time.
06:33Of course, we know triple points, that will be the time to get that done.
06:36Yeah, well, the problem is if he takes that long,
06:39he's going to have plenty of time to get going because the playoff's going to be over.
06:42And, you know, I think Jet's doing the right thing.
06:45He's still right there.
06:46Eli Tomek's only a few seconds in front of him.
06:48So overall, I think Jet's trying to let this thing play in, Ricky.
06:52Yeah, 100%.
06:53And remember, you got the two-moto format as well.
06:56So do you want to win every race?
06:58Of course you do.
06:59But going into the final moto with a second or a third,
07:03especially with all the riders in the class, he could easily win this overall.
07:08Yeah, absolutely.
07:09And I think what he really wanted to do is what he's doing, and that's beat that number four.
07:13You know, that's his goal.
07:15And with Jet, he's battling his brother right now.
07:18So I'm sure that's kind of going to help him a little bit.
07:20But right now, it looks like Jet is starting to wake up, Will.
07:23Yeah, and the advice as well that's coming through the team and his dad, James,
07:27is to make sure that you don't reach too far.
07:30Know where you are today.
07:31Know what you are capable of today.
07:33And that's where you set your sights.
07:35So in other words, don't go out there, think, I've got to win this thing.
07:37When you know really you're not quite there yet.
07:40So finding that balance really is the strategy for today, too.
07:43And that is, in my opinion, James, that is a very smart play.
07:48If you don't feel 100%, don't override the bike, especially on these 450s,
07:53because you will be on the deck faster than you can shake a stick.
07:56And if this is what he's doing, I think that's well played.
08:00Very, very hard to do to have that kind of discipline to really hold the reins back,
08:04in my opinion.
08:05Yeah, 100%, especially with his racetrack being so fast and these rhythm sections
08:10and G-outs.
08:11So if you're not 100%, but that being said, Hunter Lawrence is performing.
08:16I mean, he's riding really good.
08:18So much as we think maybe Jet Lawrence is struggling, how about we just say
08:21Hunter Lawrence is actually riding really good, J.T.?
08:24Yeah, and Hunter Lawrence, this has been the recipe all season long.
08:27He has put himself in positions to succeed all summer
08:30in the pro motocross championship.
08:32He's following that up here in the SMX world championship playoffs.
08:35And a track like Charlotte, we've seen it is difficult to pass.
08:38By the way, don't tell Hayden Deegan that.
08:40But this is a track layout that's been difficult.
08:42It looks difficult.
08:43Well, if you're up front, guess what you don't have to do?
08:45You don't have to move forward.
08:46So if Hunter can stay here and turn solid laps, and make no mistake,
08:50Jet Lawrence is very comfortable sitting behind Hunter.
08:53Those two ride together all the time.
08:55They're family, right?
08:56So this is a great situation for them.
08:58I'm sure they'd love to have Eli Tomek a little bit closer.
09:00But I think they're very content to click off laps if they can stay right here.
09:04I'm not so sure now, though, J.T., because Chase Sexton's joined the party.
09:07I don't think that's part of the plan.
09:09Yeah, keep an eye on that rhythm section.
09:11Really, the only rhythm section on the racetrack.
09:13They come out of that 90.
09:14Chase Sexton is going on the tabletop, over the single, then quadding.
09:18Where Jet Lawrence and Hunter Lawrence, like Lars Lindstrom, the HRCT manager,
09:23said they're going over the tabletop.
09:25They're not going to do that one line, the more difficult line.
09:28They didn't think that the speed was necessarily there for the risk that they were taking.
09:32And I don't know that I agree with that, especially on the 450s.
09:36I think Chase catches Jet there quite a bit each lap.
09:40No, I agree.
09:41And the reason he's catching him, maybe not necessarily actually what Lars is saying,
09:44the gap, once you're in the rhythm section, you're probably not gaining that much time.
09:48But what Chase is gaining time by going on off,
09:51he can actually attack that rhythm section in the beginning part because he's moving forward.
09:56Because they go over that tabletop, they almost have to slow down and pop up
10:00and get over the backside of the tabletop.
10:02So they're losing all the time in the beginning.
10:04And if we keep an eye on Chase, watch his line entering that rhythm section.
10:08That's where he's going to gain the most time on these guys.
10:11That'll be on the other side of the track.
10:13We're halfway through this one.
10:14A reminder that Monster Energy is available now.
10:17Jet all over Hunter.
10:20I just wonder, you know, at what stage does frustration set in for,
10:26I wouldn't necessarily say Jet, but Chase?
10:29Do you think that he's a little frustrated right now that he's made a couple mistakes?
10:35Has it closed the gap yet or been able to contend to make a pass yet?
10:39Do you think that he just plays it cool?
10:42Yeah, I mean, if I'm Chase, I'm sure he's getting frustrated
10:46because he's clearly faster.
10:48And then it's the mistakes that he's making kind of on his own,
10:51like out of corners and stuff like that.
10:53So if he's not able to get around these guys, I mean, look how much time he lost in that lap.
10:58And it's a simple mistake coming out of the corner.
11:00The frustration is definitely going to set in, especially if he doesn't end up catching back up.
11:04I think Jet's going to be frustrated.
11:06He can't get by his brother.
11:08This is like one of the worst places to be in right here, JT, when you're behind.
11:12I think he's laying up.
11:13Yeah, no, I was going to say Hunter knows that.
11:16Hunter is going to let his brother go by because he's got a better pace.
11:20I'm really surprised to see Jet pushing the pace here.
11:23I thought he would kind of sit behind Hunter,
11:25but I think he has a little bit more than I think he anticipated.
11:28He looked like he was very content to go the pace they were going.
11:32And now I don't know if it was Sexton coming up and adding pressure
11:35or if he just got a boost of energy and said, hey, I can go get Tomac.
11:38But something has changed within Jet Lawrence in the last two laps.
11:42Yeah, well, if you're coming into a race and you're not really sure how your body's going to react,
11:45then you're going to just play it off.
11:47And we might have seen Jet wait until ten minutes, and he's like, man, I feel pretty good.
11:52All right, I'm just going to go around him.
11:54I'm going to just now push it.
11:56And then the fact is Chase Sexton, yeah, making mistakes.
11:59I think Jet's very aware.
12:01So probably because he doesn't know where his body is, he feels pretty comfortable.
12:04And at number four, just keeps making mistakes.
12:07Now try to attack him.
12:08Kind of goes back to like what Will was saying in her report,
12:13but what Darren Lawrence was saying about, hey, let's see what you got.
12:17If you think it's going to fatigue, ease into it.
12:20And he's played it perfectly if that happens to be his race strategy.
12:26Well, how about this?
12:28You got Eli Tomac coming back from a thumb injury.
12:30Okay, he raced two pro motocross races, but it's still a quick turnaround.
12:34And Jet even more quick in a return, and they are running one, two.
12:38We asked Lawrence about his recovery.
12:41You know, I physically feel pretty good.
12:44My thumb obviously is still – it's good.
12:47It's good enough to race.
12:48It feels fine.
12:49There's no pain.
12:50Obviously, my head's still aware of it because I grip a little hard with my left right now.
12:53So I'm just going to have to work that out a bit because my left arm has been getting tight
12:59and my right doesn't.
13:01But, you know, it's just part of learning and coming back.
13:03It's been my first major injury of having forced time off since my collarbone.
13:07And it's felt like it's been ages.
13:10So, no, I'm looking forward to coming back.
13:12I feel good.
13:13The bike's been great to hop on this 225.
13:15It's been really fun to ride.
13:18And, no, I'm just excited to get back racing and get that adrenaline going,
13:22get that competitiveness back in me a bit and line up on the gate, you know?
13:27Well, he's doing a great job.
13:30And what I noticed, Ricky, we were just talking right now, it's like, look at Jet's lines.
13:34He's opened this whole racetrack up, and I think it's allowing him,
13:38he's continuing that momentum like he always does.
13:41And now he's starting to find that speed and close down on that number three in front of him.
13:45But it's all because he changed his line, just like when we saw Hayden Deegan.
13:49But Eli Tomac, we're in a stadium just like Daytona, so you know these speedways.
13:54Eli likes that fast pace.
13:56And for a guy who's been injured coming back, don't forget about me.
14:00I'm ET3, and he's showing these guys he ain't done yet.
14:03Yeah, he's putting on a clinic.
14:05And it's been incredible to watch what he's been able to do.
14:08I do feel like these style of tracks cater to his riding style.
14:12But listen, he's a multi-time champion in both motocross and Monster Energy Supercross.
14:18So it isn't surprising.
14:20And just what this man is able to do, it's a lot of fun to watch.
14:25You know, you talk about, James, you have talked about when this man goes beast mode.
14:29It's a lot of fun to watch.
14:32He's doing well.
14:34He's got a baby.
14:35He's got that baby.
14:36He's got that head leaning over there.
14:38Love seeing it.
14:39Oh, yeah.
14:40When you see that head leaning, he's rolling, right?
14:41Mm-hmm.
14:42Yep.
14:43We'll update you on his teammates here.
14:44The Rocky Mountain ATV MC team update is with Tomac's team.
14:47He's obviously up front.
14:49Here's the fast qualifier from today, Justin Cooper, who is running seventh ahead of Cooper Webb.
14:54So I'd say of all the players to be expected to be up front, Webb is the one that has not gone right to the front.
15:00Tomac, the Lawrences, Sexton, Roxton, Webb, who re-injured his thumb when he came back at Unadilla,
15:06is running eighth right now on his second return to racing this year.
15:12And a good run for Cooper in seventh.
15:16Send it back to Will.
15:18That's right.
15:19Justin Cooper's teammate there, Cooper Webb, is sitting in that eighth spot.
15:22Maybe we were expecting to see him a little bit further up.
15:25And whilst he's the last guy to make any excuses out here in the field,
15:29I did learn that he had a sinus infection all of last week, so he was only able to get on the bike on Monday.
15:35Now, for a guy who's already been kind of sidelined again after Unadilla,
15:39after re-injuring his thumb, that very similar injury there to the other two riders,
15:43that obviously just leaves him a little bit shy of bike time.
15:46He's got a lot of uptime leading up to getting back into motocross,
15:49but perhaps not an ideal lead-in to this Supermotocross playoffs.
15:53Yeah. Thanks, Will.
15:55Yeah, the only solace he can take out of this is that this is a single-point round.
15:59If you rally in the second and third, you might be able to get back into the world championship hunt.
16:04Watch Webb here on the two.
16:06And Malcolm Stewart ninth, Phil Nicoletti pulled another one of his patented great starts.
16:11His career is winding down, but he started with the leaders,
16:13and Phil is running tenth ahead of Nichols and Ferrandez.
16:17Yeah, I don't know about you, Ricky, but I kind of expect that this is what we kind of see for Cooper, really.
16:22I mean, he's about the long game,
16:24and as the season goes on, the Supercross season just gets better and better.
16:27This format's a really, like, sprint.
16:30You've got to be attacking it.
16:31If you're not 100% coming to this or feeling like 100%, like, you're going to be in no position.
16:36Yeah, you can't cover it up.
16:38You can't cover it up if you're not 100% in a format like this.
16:42Like you're saying, James, you're exactly right.
16:45So, and again, these guys play things pretty close to the best,
16:49as we always give them a hard time for doing that.
16:52Who knows, maybe his thumb is on 100% also.
16:56I like, I'm pumped for Phil.
16:58Great way to come out here, the opening round of the playoffs,
17:03on his final season of professional racing, and put in a really good run.
17:11So there is the 35-year-old veteran out of New York.
17:15Here comes Nichols.
17:17Nichols, who just picked up a ride late,
17:19to try to get into the playoffs with Twisted T.
17:21Suzuki had to do it the hard way to the last chance qualifier this afternoon.
17:25He barely got in, got the last spot on the gate.
17:29But he's making the most of it right now at 11.
17:34Behind him, I think, is Dylan Ferrandez.
17:37Now, I'm sure he expected a little bit more on this firepower Honda this season.
17:43I know I did, but it's been a tough year for Dylan.
17:46He's doing his best.
17:48He's running up there, but somewhat disappointing.
17:51But again, I think they can hopefully continue building.
17:54But I know Dylan wants more, and he should be a little bit better in this, for sure.
17:58Send it down to Will.
18:00But for the team there, for Honda Phoenix Racing,
18:03it's their first go-around with these super motocross hybrid tracks here
18:07that we use for playoffs.
18:09And they did say it was a bit of a sort of hitting the restart button
18:11as far as working that out.
18:13They've obviously, as you guys have said,
18:15been a bit of a work in progress with Dylan throughout this year.
18:17So they said, while they feel like they're making these steps forward,
18:20it's kind of a bit of a, okay, let's start again
18:22because we don't have any data to look back on, you know?
18:24Yeah, and remember, he got sick,
18:26and the Monster Energy Supercross Series took a fair amount of time off as well.
18:31So that was lost time to make the improvements with that race team as well.
18:35But good to see him back out here.
18:37And then we go a little further back.
18:38These are the riders that are here straight up for the money.
18:40Freddy Knorr to the man parts.
18:42Kawasaki battling with his teammate, Shane McElrath.
18:46And for these guys who don't get the million-dollar salaries
18:49and the huge championship bonuses from the teams,
18:51these are privateers.
18:53The money on the line here, they could make six figures in three weeks.
18:56That would be huge, J.T.
18:58Yeah, chasing him is his teammate, Shane McElrath,
19:00who just switched to a Kawasaki about a month ago.
19:02He's trying to hold off Marshall Wilton and might not be able to do it.
19:05But for McElrath, this is his home race.
19:07You know he wants to show up and perform here,
19:09but there is so much money on the line for these privateer guys.
19:13And they know that every single point counts.
19:15So it will be interesting to see how this all plays out,
19:17where these guys end up at the final tally in Las Vegas.
19:20Yeah, thanks.
19:21McElrath originally from North Carolina,
19:23but he did get passed by Wilton, the veteran privateer out of Michigan,
19:27making the most of his opportunity to make money.
19:29Wilton gets by the Gizmo box, Rock River, Yamaha, the 75.
19:33Then here comes his teammate, Grant Harlan, on the 23.
19:36And there's Harry Kulas, a rider out of Estonia,
19:39who begged and borrowed and everything else he could do
19:42to get enough races in the United States to qualify.
19:45And here's a good battle between him and Wilton.
19:47And you know they wanted to get the dangling carrot of that purse money on the line.
19:51Yeah, oh, nice pass, James, right?
19:53Oh, I spoke too soon.
19:55Yeah, well, he had the pass,
19:56but that outside is just getting a little bit farther blown out.
19:58But this is why they kept...
20:00Oh, Harlan!
20:01A little high, yeah.
20:02I mean, now the money's on the line,
20:04so that position is worth thousands and thousands of dollars.
20:07So he's not going to roll around.
20:09J.T.
20:10Well, Harlan, his nickname's Hard Dog,
20:12and he's got that dog in him right there,
20:14trying to make a move on Kulas there.
20:16But I think that just tells you what this is all about,
20:19like the money at stake here.
20:21And Grant Harlan will be the first one to tell you what that means to these guys.
20:24So you see him getting a little bit aggressive,
20:26battling for 15th, that's why.
20:28Well, it was Nichols that's the poster child for that.
20:30He bought and borrowed bikes last year
20:32and made $100,000 in this championship a year ago.
20:37They're all following the Nichols program,
20:39so this man's not following anybody.
20:41Man, I'm impressed with Eli Tomac.
20:43When we saw it, even at Ironman,
20:45I'm like, there's something different about that dude.
20:48He had that old Tomac confidence when he spoke,
20:51and this is what we can see.
20:53And let's not forget the Supercross season.
20:55It was Eli Tomac versus Jet Lawrence,
20:58the older guy versus the new guy,
21:00and Jet had him.
21:01So we're talking about Chase Exton and those two going at it.
21:05Eli said, don't forget about me.
21:07I'm ET3.
21:08I may be the third wheel here,
21:10but right now I'm running at number one.
21:12I'm feeling like I'm back, baby.
21:14Got these dudes slipping is exactly what happened.
21:17And these type of tracks, Adam Cianciarulo,
21:20SMX Insider, pre-race show,
21:22talked about how these fast tracks play into his hand
21:27really, really well.
21:29And for confidence, from a confidence perspective,
21:33if he feels comfortable on these style tracks,
21:35he could carry this through the whole playoffs.
21:37Absolutely.
21:38A win can do a lot, but a win in his confidence,
21:41that's something he's going to carry.
21:43This is a beatdown.
21:44A big lead.
21:45The crowd's loving it.
21:46I saw Eli yesterday.
21:47I said, you like tracks like this, don't you?
21:49And he said, oh, yeah.
21:50And he has proven it.
21:51ET3 is back.
21:53Eli Tomac going to score the Moto 1 win at the SMX opener.
22:01Get some.
22:02Get some.
22:03A little wear on the shoulder, too.
22:04Good job for this guy, as well.
22:06Oh, hey, man.
22:07He's been off.
22:08Gnarly thumb injury.
22:11Strong performance.
22:12Hey, gnarly thumb injury for both,
22:14and they end up going 1-2 here,
22:16rallying in time for the playoffs.
22:19It's like everybody's hurt, so it's all even.
22:21They're all even coming into it, so.
22:25He's got to protect that thumb.
22:27Careful with the high fives of the fans.
22:29Eli's headed to the podium.
22:30Remember, it's only the first.