Jason Thomas (0:00)

A pulp MX Network production. A cerebral and experienced look into the racing action from the week that was this is Industry Seating with Jason Thomas. Presented by Pirelli Tires, GUTS Racing, Plum Creek Funding Pro Blow Wash Works, Connection, Bass Foundry, TL Speed Shop Concept Cod Design Co. Grandstone Boots and Fly Racing. Welcome to the Industry Seating podcast. My name is Jason Thomas. It is an off weekend kind of most of the the industry has been in and out of Loretta Lynn. Some people are there all week but many of the pro riders. It has been an off week and really two right the second consecutive weekend off and it's a godsend for for riders and the pro mechanics and everybody that's on the road all the time. If you did not have to go to a Reddit winds man, you really, really probably leaned into some of this off time. So we're going to talk a little bit about that. My trip to Europe, my trip to a winds how I kind of see the rest of the series going. It's going to be a little bit short today because obviously we didn't have a race but I did want to add some content. I know things are a little bit slow out there in the the moto world at the moment, especially this weekend, so hopefully this will yeah fill some of that void for you. Do want to thank the sponsors of this podcast. Pirelli Tires, Guts Racing, Plum Creek Funding, Concept Coatings Design Co. Works Connection, Pro Glow Wash TL Speed Shop, Grant Stone Boots and Fly Racing. Thank you to all of them. Have promo codes for many of those I'll mention here in a little bit but yeah, we wouldn't be doing this podcast without the help of our sponsors. So what have I been up to? Oh, it's been. It's been a doozy. I know this podcast is not all about me, but it's been one of the most extensive travel swings that I think I've ever had. Maybe maybe not the most but. But up there for sure. So I went to Spring Creek right as well now I've been going to all these races all year. That that goes without saying but I went to Spring Creek that was what, July 13th or whatever around then did that race great. I actually got to go to Mexico for a couple of days and I just kind of forced a little mini vacation on myself. There was in Mexico Sunday night, Monday, Tuesday, then flew to Portland for Washougal weekend and we had our 2025 fly racing launch event at PIR, which is Portland International Raceway, which coincided with their Thursday night motocross event and that was awesome. All of our ambassadors were there. The turnout was incredible. We did a ton of unique content, videos with all the media outlets. I thought it. That it went really well. Right. And I thought the line was well received. I thought we got a lot of mileage out of it and, you know, a little insight behind the scenes. Like it kind of worked because the challenge with launching at Washougal is you just get drowned out by the racing news cycle. There's so much content and so much other stuff. The racing results and crashing and the points and the leaders and the Sexton Hunter battle and all the stuff. Right. Deegan, whatever Deegan happens to say or doesn't say, all that is just too much noise for us. A brand like us or a competitive brand that we, you know, that we're up against to get any real play out of the news or social media or anything on that day, it's just gonna fall into the void of all the other things. So this happening on Thursday, it helped us. Like, I was a little concerned because it's not a national, it's a smaller event, but in hindsight it was brilliant and this was not my decision. So I'm not patting myself on the back because we got all of the attention from the media, right. They didn't have to. We didn't have to compete with a million other things happening all at the same time or their attention or their bandwidth to push stuff out like all those things. So I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it went over really well. And thank you to all of you know, the Damon Bradshaws and Wesson Pikes and TRA Kinards and Andrew Short. Thank you to all of those guys for, for coming out. Thank you to all the media for showing up. If any of you listening happen to be there, thank you for, for coming by. And there were so many kind words said and great conversations. Had just an awesome event. So anyway, did that Thursday night, went to the track on Friday for our normal meetings. And remember, this was the Thursday that the world started to end with the CrowdStrike Microsoft glitch. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, Google it, because this really affected so many aspects of the world for days on end, if you're Delta Airlines for weeks. In short, what happened? CrowdStrike is a huge cybersecurity company, one of the largest in the world. Very trusted. They integrate into Microsoft Windows. Lots of companies, tons and tons and tons of companies are clients of CrowdStrike for good reason. CrowdStrike is awesome, but they screwed up bigly. By rolling out an update that wasn't staggered, it wasn't thoroughly tested enough, clearly. And it. It failed. The update, overnight update failed. Okay? And I'm trying not to get too far into the weeds here, but that screwed up everybody's systems. So Microsoft Windows, if you were. If your Windows downloaded this or automatically downloaded this update, you just got a blue screen. Right? Right. Like your computer did not work. And it was supposedly affecting around a billion computers, which is wild. That's a challenge. But the bigger problem was all these Microsoft systems wouldn't work. And there's going to be some IT people or analysts or somebody listening to this and telling me I'm an idiot, and I'm not explaining it right. Granted, okay, this is layman's term stuff, but this caused huge problems. And where I'm going with this is most of the people that I know, they fly Delta a lot. I'm a Delta loyalist. I fight Delta all the time. They're a great, great company that they just do it right. And that's why I fly them. So all the people that are flying Delta, think about Deegans, Ricky Carmichael. Gosh, every. Like, there's just so many people that were trying to get to Washougal that were affected by this, and even people that weren't. Jason Wigan's flight, he flies American. He was really in really tough shape trying to get to Washougal. So at one point on Friday, I was the only member of the broadcast team that looked like they were going to make it to the race. Like, seriously, this is where we were. And I don't know what that would have looked like. I truly don't. But I do know that I was going to be carrying the broadcast mostly by myself. I'm sure we would have had some sort of backup plan somehow, some way. I just. I'm not a decision maker there, so I don't know what that was, but very important people were kind of looking at me going, hey, you need to be ready for kind of anything here. If we just can't make it, if we just didn't make it, that would have been the most catastrophic thing that could have happened. And it may not seem like that on the surface, but I'm just telling you, the way these shows are executed, we each not making it would be the biggest challenge we could have faced. Ricky, yes, obviously, he's Ricky, right? But he's an. He's the color guy, the. The analyst side. We could have gotten away with it even if I had to go in the booth. The show would have been worse. I'm not as good as Ricky at that. But we could have had a show if Weege wasn't there, and I was forced to do that side of it. The. The play by play and the transitions and the reads and all the things that make a show go smoothly. It would have been challenging. Let's just say that we would have been. I, who. I don't even have the right frame for it, we would have been in trouble. That's really all there is to it. So, yeah, I mean, Deegan was in jeopardy of not making the race, so we wouldn't have had the points leader there. You know, they ended up renting a private jet for 60 grand or whatever. It was one way because there was the last jet left. I think Deegan kind of mentioned that they had to pay a premium, which was double the normal price because it was the only jet available. Right. And, yeah, it's supply and demand. Like, I. You know, you could say it's price gouging, but I don't know that that's ever gonna. Ever gonna come into play. So anyway, that was chaos on Friday. And like, around 10am on Friday, it was looking really bad and I was like, in, like, prep mode, trying to be like, okay, I've got to figure out how to do all these things all at once. Right? So anyway, everything came together. Ricky made it, we made it. Will Christian made it at around 2am on Friday night. So she. She thankfully was green light, green lit, green lit to skip race day live, so she could actually sleep. And, you know, we're on NBC that day, so you can't, like, show up looking like you just woke up five minutes earlier. Right. So thankfully, they're like, yes, please sleep. Come to the track when you can, and we'll get you on TV when you're ready. So, yeah, smart decisions were made. Everybody came together, all the riders made it. But, man, it was. It was really dicey behind the scenes for a while with teams, riders, staff, television, just trying to get everybody on site to pull that off. So anyway, we go washougal happens, race is great, whatever. I get home and then I leave for Europe. Like, the rest of the industry is like, oh, man, we got two weekends off. We're chilling. All the Loretta's people are in their own purgatory. Like, they're like, here we go. Like Jason Wigan, right? He's headed to Loretta's in a week. Everybody got that first week off. I should mention that before Loretta's, but I went to Europe. So I left for Amsterdam on Tuesday and I was at the WAML gp. But on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I was in, not non stop, but several meetings, at least two each day with GP teams, riders, staff, people from in front. Like every sort of our business dealings with Europe. We were engaging in those days leading up to that event. Signing team, signing riders, working on our current GP deal, trying to work out our commercials. Like there was just a lot of moving parts in there. But it was great, super productive. We got exactly what we needed to get done. While we were there, GP happened. I was in the booth with Paul Malin on TV around the world, which is again for me, hard to believe. Like I, I don't ever believe that's happening, but it's, it's happening. Like when, when re. You know, reality or truth is stranger than fiction. It's amazing that if someone puts me on tv, I still am shocked that people put me on tv. It's crazy to me, but I'm trying to do the best job I can. God knows I love it. Like, I really, really enjoy getting to do that. So whatever blessings I'm getting or whoever's mistakes are being made by doing this, I hope they continue to make them for a very long time because I, I genuinely love it. And I don't think it's like my calling, I don't even know what that means really, but it feels in my heart like that, like this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I just, I wish I could get good enough to where it seemed like that to everyone else, because to me it does feel like that. Like this is what I feel like I was supposed to do. I just am not as good as I want to be. So it doesn't, I don't think it shows that way, right. When you watch certain broadcast analysts, like you watch Peyton Manning, you watch like Tony Romo, you watch, I don't know, Bob Costa's calling event. Like you can tell. Like this is what they were made to do. Like this is their defining like business avenue, right? That's where I want to get to. That's a, I mean, that's a huge ask. We all know that. Like, I'm shooting for the moon here, but why not? Why not aim, you know, when I have really big goals. So I'm going to continue working towards those and I hope I get the opportunities to, to continue to chase them. So anyway, GP happens was great. I had an awesome time. We fly home on Monday and I was with my co workers, members of Our marketing team that I. That I needed there, they're great help. They go home, I go to Aretas straight from Europe, I go. We go to Seattle and then I wait around in Seattle for a long time and then I fly to Nashville so we can film SMX Insider. And I am smoked by the time I get to Nashville. Like, jet lag. I got to the hotel at 1:30 in the morning. And keep in mind, we were gonna. We started filming at 7am so it's not like I really got any sleep, time zones be damned. I don't even know what planet I'm on. And it's go time. So I, you know, just fought through it all day. I was really starting to, like, come apart late in the day though. Like, my eyes were just like burning. And thankfully the team was merciful and we kind of got it done really quickly and like, I was having a really hard time shooting the last shot. And when you watch, if you watch SMX Insider from Loretta's that just came out this week, watch like the last couple scenes. One, we're up on the podium. If it's the one we're on the podium. I am. My eyes are like watering and burning so badly I couldn't even function. And you might be able to see it, I don't know. They said, nah, we cut away from it. But if they show it, man, just know that I was in pure agony in that moment. But that was like our last shot of the day and I got to leave. So anyway, Loretta's. Good times, you know, it's great to be back there. I haven't been back there in like 10 years. Came home and, yeah, actually, like, got to chill for a few days. I've been home since. Since Wednesday afternoon and been working. I've had a lot to catch up on, but it's. It's been really nice to be home. So that's. That was a whirlwind, right? Minnesota to Mexico to Portland to Belgium to. Or Seattle to Loretta's to home. Yeah. Anyway, that's enough about me. I just kind of want to fill you in what's been going on in my life. Let's talk about the GP first. If you want washougal stuff, we're gonna skip. Like, washougal happened. We all know kind of what went on. Deacon Killer. The second Moto crushed everyone. Sexton killed everyone. Like, good for them. They. They did the thing. They. They won. They deserve all the accolades. Like, great job. AP is still awesome. For all those wondering, he is still the best Interview. He might be the best interview in sports. Like, can I just say that, like, I'm going to try to start pushing that narrative and see if I can get NBC behind it. I think that's a great narrative to like try to generate is like, hey, you know, mainstream sports world, you want to see the best interview in sports? Come watch pro motocross because we, we have that guy, right? And maybe, maybe I'll get some traction with that. Let's, let's see if we can, let's see if we can make that a thing or I'm going to try to make it a thing anyway. You don't have to do anything other than keep listening to this podcast and watching racing, but we're going to kind of skip over Washougal. It's been a long time now. I don't think anybody's even thinking about Washougal anymore. But the GP, you know, the MX2 class, there is this kind of quiet war between Lucas Koonin and Kaido Wolf. They're on the same team, but make no mistake, they're not friends or not fans of each other and they desperately want to beat each other. And Kaido Wolf, I mean, he got the best of Kunin by a lot last weekend, right? Like he held him off the first moto and then Kunin couldn't get out of his own way and Kai just kept racking up points and Kai was pissed because he threw away a lot of points in the second moto. But still, if you look at it, if you frame out and use, add some perspective, it was, it was a great day for Kai. You know, like, you can't let, you know, you can't let perfect be the enemy of good, right? Like it was a, it wasn't even good. It was a great day championship wise for Kaido Wolf. And that should be, that should be the thought. Okay, sure. Be frustrated, you know, on the podium. He said, I need to be better. Cool, that's great. Like, I like that. But let that be an hour of that. Like, hey, we're going to get better. I can't crash. I got to figure these things out. Like, what, what am I doing wrong? Is it technique? Is it attention span? Am I daydreaming? Am I what's happening in that moment and then switch back to, okay, we're doing the right things. Let's just continue down this path and let's correct small mistakes if you can. If you can. You know, and I'm a, I'm 45, right? Like, I've Lived this life for a long time of racing and I've, I've done it myself poorly. I've watched the best in the world do it. So I've got to have this really broad perspective of people coming through the ranks, how they deal with success and failure. My own first person experiences of that. Watching Chad Reed, watching Tim Ferry, watching Ricky Carmichael, watching Sebastian Tortelli. I've got to see them all go through this stuff and a lot of other writers too along the way. Get to ride with Ryan, Bill Poto a lot, Nick Way, like all these people, I've seen it up close. I, I know this stuff and I'm not trying to, it's not bragging, it's just I feel like I have a lot to offer to someone like Kaidi Wolf in that moment because I've, I've lived through this cycle over and over and over again. I've watched it happen. So my message to Kai would just be, I like the fact that you're not content, great. But, but don't let it get you down to the point where you, you're less happy and you're more frustrated than happy because you should be very happy where things are going and enjoying this ride. Keep your head down, continue to work, but understand that you are on the right path, you are on the way to becoming a world champion and things are looking very good for you. So yeah, it was a great day in the end for Kaido Wolf and for Kunin. Everything's there, dude. You just got to stop crashing. You have to figure out how to stop crashing. And you know, I was told once that Kunin only really wants to win or nothing. Like he doesn't really care unless he's winning. No other result is satisfactory. So that makes sense. Watching him ride like that. I don't know, I've never talked to him about this, but that theory seems to carry weight with me when I watch his racecraft. Like he's just so sendy right? Like he's just going for it without any real thought of. It's okay to get a third and a second on a day. Like you need points. It's a 20 round championship. Like you have to continue to rack up points. You can't have motos where you get 10 points and that's what he does. That's where, that's where Kaido Wolfe gets these huge points gaps because you know, basically how it plays out is they'll go kind of even like a yo yo back and forth. Kai wins, Lucas wins and it's Back and forth, back and forth. And then the fourth race, Lucas will get nine points in a moto because he crashed his brains out and Kai will still get second or first in the Moto. And then you, you have a 14 point gap or whatever, right? That just opened up and then no yo, yo, back and forth, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo. And then Lucas will have another bad moto and Kai will have a, you know, even If Kai got fourth in the moto, you have another 10 point gap that builds up. Now you're up to 24 points, right? And that's how you get these time after time. You just build up to 60 point leads is because of days like that. It's not a slow and steady burn by Kai to extend the lead. It's the same, the same, the same, the same boom. Huge moving points. That's how this championship has really gone and that's what Lucas has to grow out of and find ways to mitigate if he wants to become world champion. And I think he will. But I also think he's coming to the US in 2026, so he's got one more year of it to, to kind of sort through that. And, and honestly I think his heart is already in the US anyway. Like he's, he wants to win, that's who he is. But his heart is already in, in the usa. Like that's where he wants to be, that's where he thinks his future is. So yeah, I get it. Like, but he's. That dynamic will not change. That dynamic will be the same whether he's in the USA or Europe or racing on the moon. Doesn't really matter. You need to be your best, but you also need consistency to be a real title threat. So that was the MX2 class. Langenfelder was fantastic in second Moto by the way. MXGP. I mean the whole story was Hurlings, right? Like, what a monster that guy is. And he's still a whole bushel, a bushel of points. I don't think I've ever used a bushel of points before, but I'm going to use it now. He's a bushel of points behind the, the two front runners of Geyser and Prado. And he's going to have to keep winning. Now. The challenge for Hurlings is that he doesn't have any room for error, right? He can't have bad motos, he can't, he can't have any sort of difficulties like you don't have any cushion for that. So he has to be perfect. In the end, he has to be perfect, right? And there's a movie where the coach basically asked the players, I'm asking you to be perfect. Can you be perfect? That is the question, right? And like, that's what's facing. That's what's facing Hurlings right now down the stretch. Can you be perfect? Because that's what's going to take. And he was fantastic at Wamo. The best rider in the world. Like, nobody on this planet would have beaten Jeffrey on Sunday in Wamo. Nobody. I don't care who, I don't care what name you bring out, you know, okay, from the past maybe or whatever, like Ricky or. I don't know. Right? But I'm talking right now. Sexton, Jet Hunter, Tomac. Don't care. Doesn't matter who, what name you put out there. Jeffrey would have beaten them. And it was methodical, right? Jeffrey allowed Prado. I don't say allowed. He didn't panic when Prado put in his sprint. Like, Prado went straight for the jugular, right? Putting in 207s, 208s. Like, I'm out of here. I'm going to build this lead up. He got it up to 17 seconds and Hurlings just eviscerated that lead like nothing. Three laps. He cut the lead to zero. It's not, you know, like, he's the best sand rider I think that's ever lived, right? Like, Stephen Everett has something to say about that. Like, I understand and I'm not saying it's inarguable, but I think it's. If he's not, it's marginal that he's not. The guy is just superhuman. And that doesn't mean he's going to win this title. It doesn't mean he's ever going to win a title again because his injuries and he's gone through a lot, we all know, right? But he's won like 110 GPS. Like, he's a. He's a legend. He's a living legend that we're getting to watch still race. And there's a lot of people that don't like him. I don't. It's not what I'm talking about. I don't really care. But the talent and the ability is just unbelievable now for Prado. I think he was happy because he made up points on Geyser. And I think at the end of the day, I was trying to kind of square how Prado would look at the day. And he seemed very happy. And every Race day ends with this simple question. Are you closer to the championship or further away from the championship at the end of the day, right? Not for me. I didn't, you know, like, okay, German series or whatever. Yes, but in America that wasn't, wasn't a question I was asking myself. But these guys are, or they should be. Am I closer or am I further away? Did we move towards where we need to be? And for Prado, he did, he was, I don't remember, 30something points out of the lead going in and he was less points down from Tim Geyser when he left. So that's success. That is a successful day. Don't. It's very similar to the theme with Kai. Don't get caught up in the, the minutia of it and let that detract from what could have been. Be happy for the success you had. Right? Like it was a good day, it could have gone differently, poorly, it could have gone much worse. So we gained points on Tim, we showed our speed in the sand, right? And yeah, just tip your hat to Jeffrey and move on, you know, that's all you can really do. But man, Prado, Prado in the early laps is so unbelievably legit. I think it's going to surprise a lot of people when he comes stateside next year. Now the only question is, is how does he adapt to the Kawasaki? And I'm speaking out of pocket saying he's going to be on Kawasaki, but it's a pretty poorly kept secret that he's going to be alongside Jason Anderson next year. So the real question is, does he adapt to the Kawasaki the same way he is on his gas? Gas, which is really a ktm. I don't know. You know, he hasn't written anything but a KTM that I've ever seen, so I think he'll be fine. But that's really the only question. Is a factory production Kawasaki, is he as capable and as potent as he was or is on his current setup? We'll find out. Time will tell. But if he is, his early lap sprinting speed and ability and starts and all those things and pro motocross, there are going to be some people going, holy crap, where did this guy come from? And I'm going to be like, hey, like I was talking about it last summer, like he's going to surprise a lot of people. But yeah, it's going to be, it's going to be a really Fun Summer in 2026, assuming he can stay healthy and come in ready and all, you know, all the variables that we need. The setup is really great. And for Tim Geyser, yeah, it was. It's fine, right? Like, he knew it was going to be a tough day. Could he have been better? Sure. But he didn't want to give up a ton of points. He still has a red plate. You just smile, you take it on the chin and you move on. That's all you can really do. We're going to go to Sweden where he's really good. He'll be fine. Hard packed, you know. Like, I'm not saying he's going to win the title. That's going to be decided on the racetrack. But there will be days like this where you just, no, you're not as good. You're not. You. Like, you just weren't as good as they were. That's it. Like, sand is not his prowess. Like, he's not a sand expert the way those other guys are. And you know, he grew up in Slovakia or Slovenia, sorry, Slovenia. He write if you've ever seen videos of his track that he practices on at his house. It's rock hard. Like it's clay. Rock hard clay. Like he's not. I'm sure he practices at Wamo plenty, but he's not riding in the sand every single day of his life growing up like those other guys were. And Prado didn't either, but he moved to Llama when he was 13, so. Okay, semantics about whether he grew up in the sand or not. He's been riding in the sand for 10 years, you know, 15, whatever, 12 years. But for, for Geyser, I just don't think it's something he's ever going to be the best guy on the planet in the sand. And some days you just have to take your, you know what your wicks and move on. And that was that kind of day for him. Quickly on Loretta's, you know, like, there's a lot of talent there. Drew Adams, I thought, had a really tough early part of the week, like a really bad first moto. But then the rest of the week he was great and I think he showed his potential. Right. Like, is he going to go win outdoors? I don't know, like next year or the year maybe? You know, like, there's. There's a ton of talent out there. Right? Like, the next step is what's critical. Can you go pro and then immediately just shine amongst all those riders who have been great for a long time? Because this is how it is. Like, Drew Adams is the best guy and it's in the amateur ranks right now. But Jordan Smith was. This was him 10 years ago, and RJ Hampshire was him 10 years ago. Or 15, more like. Yeah, whatever. You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? All of the guys, Deegan was this guy a year ago. Two years ago, all of these riders were Drew Adams at this point of their career. Now you jump up to the 250 Pro class, and it's an All Star, former All Stars of the amateur ranks. And are you good enough to climb to the top of that? And then when you show you are, which Deegan is on his way and Val is on his way, you will graduate to the 450 class. And guess what? Now you're racing all of the All Stars that were in the 250s, that were the best 250 pro riders that got to graduate up, and now they're the best 450s, right? So it's just leveling up and leveling up and leveling up. And can you continue to shine and elevate your game every time the stakes are raised. That's what this game is all about. When you really step back and think about how does this all work, that's what you have to do. You just. When you take the step, you have to prove that you are as good or better than everybody that has taken that step before you. And then guess what? You get to level up again. And money and the accolades and the glory and all the things come with those steps if you can make them. I wasn't good enough, right? Like, I was never good enough to, like, I, I was a top 10, 250 guy. And then I made the move because I couldn't get a factory to 50 ride or, you know, was 125 at the time. And I went to the big bikes and I was a top 15 guy for a very long time, but I could never get to be a consistent top five guy. I just couldn't do it. Like, whatever, maybe I should have ridden more, worked on my craft more, didn't have enough talent, whatever. Like, they're probably all of those are true, but I couldn't do it. So watching people that can is I have a lot of, a ton of credit or a ton of respect and want to give a ton of credit to, to them for being able to do something that I, I couldn't pull off. You know, I did my own thing. I hung around and had to reinvent, reinvent my skill set many, many times to stay relevant as Talent continued to cycle through. That's another thing. But the. Be the best of the best, like, at the very top. Those guys are. They're freaks. You know, like, we, we talk about, like, these other NFL sports and golf, like Rory McElroy and these guys, like, they are freaks of talent as well. Motocross guys are the same fitness and coordination and talent and all those things. Like, they are the best at what they do for a reason. Like thousands and thousands and thousands of people around the world are trying to do what these guys do and can't even, can't even come close. Like, I don't, I don't think the average person understands how good at what, like what Jet Lawrence is or Sexton or Hurlings, whoever you want to put in there, how good they are at what they do. Like, they, they don't have a frame of reference. They can't even relate to it because they've never ridden or tried. If you like, if they. If your average viewer, right, I went down. I'm gonna go to, to, to lunch here in a little bit. If I grabbed an average person and said, hey, watch this motocross race, right? They'd be like, oh, man, that looks pretty cool. That. Man, those guys are. They're going fast, like, whatever. They don't have any ability to understand exactly what they're watching unless they tried it. And if you could convince them to put gear on, go to a track and try to ride, and you could do that for everybody in America, I think our ratings would explode. Like, right. We always talk about how do we make our sport more mainstream? It's going to be very difficult without them ever getting to experience it and understanding what they're watching. That's when you're like, oh, my God, I can barely ride. My arms are so pumped up. They're going to explode. I feel like I'm going to kill myself riding around this track with ruts and bumps and jumps. The bike wants to go every direction but forward. Yeah. Now watch Jet Lawrence or Sexton or whoever. It's freaking poetry in motion. These guys are ballet dancers on two wheels. They're just incredibly talented at what they're doing. So I don't know how I got off that topic, but. Oh, Loretta's. Yeah. So it'll be fun to watch these guys, Parker Ross and Drew Adams and Cole Davies, and see how they see how they fit in. Right. They're gonna go pro soon, and we'll see. We'll see how they fit into this class. But Loretta's is A is just all class, all the way of an event. I know it's expensive. I, I get it. Like you know, hear from Chris Keefer and, and families talking about how expensive the Loretta's journey is. They're not wrong. Like you know, but in the end I think it's worth it. The memories that are made, the I, you know, I remember my trip to Loretta's with my family. I, you know, never forget those days. Right. And money comes and goes. Right. You always have an opportunity tomorrow to make more of it and you know, so do I wish it was more affordable. Sure. Right. Why would I not? But yeah. So some things are just the way they are and probably won't change but it is still an event that can't be missed and all those people are going and paying. No one's got a gun to their head. They're willingly doing it for a reason because it's freaking awesome. That race and event is freaking awesome. And it's hot as hell. I was so miserable and jet lagged and sweating and hot. But when I was leaving I was like I'm glad I came. Like I'm glad I was here. As, as terrible as I feel right now, I'm glad I was here to experience this. It's been too long since I've been here. So yeah, it's, it's truly is the great American Motocross race. And I'm just coining things left and right, coining them left and right. Here Aaron Plessner the best interview in sports. Loretta Lynn's a great American Motocross race. I don't know what, I don't know where these things are coming from but they're just coming to me today. But anyway that's it for this week. Thank you to all the sponsors again. Pirelli Tires Guts Racing Plum Creek Funding Plum Creek Funding Concept Coding Design Co the Concept 10 promo code will save you some money there Work Connect Works connection promo code is JT23. That will save you some money. TL Speed Shop Pro Glow Wash Grantstone Boots Fly racing. The new 2025 line is available. Go to fly racing.com to get yours or your favorite retailer, e tailer dealer, whatever. But it's, it's out, it's available. We're shipping it. So go get it. And thank you to everybody. Thank you to Guts Racing. He's going over to Fox Hill in August to race the vet motocross the nation. So good luck to Andy Greg doing that. Zach Morris Pump Creek funding. Thanks for always having my Back. Ryan Humphrey, Pro Glow Works connection. Eric Phipps and his son's great team over there. Works connection, Grandstone Boots. Wyatt Gilmore is leading the charge over there. Yeah, it's just a great team of people that I get to work with. Concept coatings design company is Benji Dawson. Great dude. And I don't want to work with people I don't know or like. Right. Pirelli. I work with Josh Whitmore or, excuse me, Whitmire. I need. Yeah, I'm losing my mind here. Josh Whitmire. You know, I got to race against him as an amateur. I've known him for 30 years. But great group of people. And that's why, you know, like, yes, it costs money for me to put this podcast on, which offsets that. That's why we have sponsors. But I truly don't want to work with companies or people that I don't want my name attached to. Right. Like, my name is something that I like to use now and again. And if you're associated with the wrong people or the wrong things, guess what? Your name's not worth much. Right. So that's how. That's kind of how I look at this and that's how I choose to who I partner with and who I don't. So anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. A little bit different show this week, but again, I wanted to add something to kind of fill your week. And we're off to Unadilla this week. It's going to be an interesting bounce back. We'll see if anybody kind of got, you know, if Hunter Lawrence can find that. That form he had. It just looks like he's been tired lately, to be really honest. Like, he looks worn out and we'll see if he can get that mojo back. But we'll talk to you next week. See you.