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Jason Thomas
A pulp MX Network production.
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Narrator
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 Glow Wash Works, Connection, Bass Foundry, TL Speed Shop Concept Co Design Company, Grandstone Boots and Fly Racing.
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Jason Thomas
Welcome to the Industry Seating podcast. My name is Jason Thomas. It is Wednesday, August 21st and we're going to talk a little bit about what we saw, Butts Creek, what we're going to see at Ironman and yeah, I won't touch too much on the SMSMX playoffs with Era Wilming. They're around the corner. We will have Labor Day weekend off and then we will roll into it and it's crazy to me to think about Charlotte. Like it feels man, just. I just remember the hotel and the whole weekend because it was a brand new event, brand new venue format. Like I just remember that race vividly and I can't believe it's right around the corner again, but it just feels like time speeds up. Talk to a lot of people about this and as you get older time just is going by faster. It's, it's a crazy thing. Before we jump into any of that, let's 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 for being a part of this podcast. Many of them have been on since the very, very beginning and yeah, it means a lot. So what happened at Buds Creek? Well, I will tell you. Hayden Deegan won his first ever pro Motocross championship. Now remember he won the SMX World Championship playoffs last year, right. And I know that for many people it's kind of not, they're not there yet as like this being a huge deal. But I can just tell you that the people behind the scenes and the powers that be are all in on this on the playoffs. So unless something fundamentally changes, I think this is here to stay. Just from my perception and kind of watching it from the inside out. They're all in on this whole format and the playoffs and I know that NBC is big into it so we might as well lean into it because it's, it's only going to grow from here. Now how Hayden Deegan went about his day was pretty interesting and I think it also leads to questions of how he will go through his day at Iron Man. First moto was unbelievable, right? Like, and, and you could even go back to qualifying fastest in Both sessions dominated the first Moto. I mean, he had a 25 or 22nd, six second lead at one point. He did make a mistake. He did tip over. And yeah, Billy was what, 12 or something at the end, But I think he kind of showed everybody what time it was in that first moto because Kitchen and Jaime were, were back there. It wasn't like they were stuck mid pack and, you know, some guy that was going to get 18th in the Moto was second. And Deegan was able to build this big gap. We've seen that. This was not that, though. This was Deegan taking it to the best guys. I mean, taking it to them. And they didn't have an answer. Simply did not. So kudos to him. That was an incredible ride in that first moto. And you wonder, you know, he wins, he clinches the title. He knows it. I'm sure they're just high fiving and there's this what I would call like an adrenaline dump. And to me, how I would describe and define that is all of his thoughts and, and emotion and everything is just like, there's this huge release in between motives because he's been so nervous and he's been so worked up about all this that, yeah, it's just, it's like, wow, it's gone, it's over. Like, I did it. I, I can, I can, you know, kind of relax knowing that I won this championship. So I don't know if that was the, the main, like, deal, right? Like, one thing led to another, like he killed everybody. And then it was like, oh, it's over, it's over. And then he couldn't find intensity. And that's what I'm kind of trying to get back to is the difficulty in finding intensity for Moto2. I've heard it from Zach Osborne, I've heard it from lots of guys that they simply can't get back, like, quote unquote, up again for the second moto because they just like all of this tension in anticipation and worry just got flushed out, right? And it truly is like a flush. And so, I don't know. We'll see. And I guess what I'm wondering is if. Does he have still reverberate reverberations of that can't talk this weekend in Ironman, Right. Is he able to harness that intensity and the pace that he wants to get all that fire back? Can he get that back? A week removed from the championship I want to lean into? Yes, I think he can because he's such a fiery dude, like, he just. Just piss and vinegar, that guy, right? He works his butt off. He tell. He'll. He works his butt off, then he'll kick your butt, and then he'll tell you about it. Like, it's just. It's just how he kind of carries himself. And, you know, you may not like it, but unless you can do something about it, you can't really say much, Right? You just kind of go with it because he's backing up every ounce of his trash talk. It's hard to. It's hard to do much with that. And I keep waiting for one of these guys to kind of step up and do something about it. Hasn't happened yet. So here we are. He's champ. He won the SMX playoffs. Everybody was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think you can say that after, you know, he was really good in Supercross. He didn't get the title, so. Fair enough. Tom Beall did a great job, but this outdoor season, he was unquestionably the best guy. Unquestionably. Now, were there moments that he didn't always step up, you know, when he needed to? Okay. You know, Kitchens won three of the last four races. There's. There's a lot for. If you're looking to take a shot at him. It's not like it's impossible, but I think it's also impossible to say he wasn't the best guy. And if. If that's the. The direction you want to go or the narrative you want to try to conjure, I. I'm not. I won't listen to it. I'm not here for it. He was the best guy this summer, and that's why he's a champ with, you know, three motos to go. Levi Kitchen, as I mentioned, has won three out of the four last races. That's a big deal, you know, and is he. You know, the championship's over, so he didn't get that job done. But when you look at what is still left out there, there's the SMX playoffs, and it's half a million dollars just from the track. You know, Feld Entertainment and MX Sports and SMX Crew to win that. Not let alone per race, which is a ton of money per race, and also whatever team bonuses he gets from that. So if you don't think it matters that he's getting hot late, I would beg to differ. You know, the. The championship is a huge deal, and it will only grow, as I mentioned at the top of the show and the. The financial aspect of it cannot be overstated. Like it is a big deal to these guys to, you know, if. Let's look at last year, I think, trying to remember, I think RJ got like 160 grand from the points fund. Joe Shimoto got 250, 250 or 350 and Deegan got 500k, not to mention the money they got from really strong performances at each race. At each race. Like, that is, that's a big deal. That's, that's a ton of money. And you hate to throw around huge terms like life changing money, but it kind of is. If you, if you talk to a financial planner, you go on the Internet and Google like what that kind of money does with compound interest. It can, it's life changing and I'm just going to say it, it's life changing money because that number grows into numbers that would blow your mind. Find a compound interest calculator. If you've never done this, you should have already done it. If you've never done it, find a compound interest calculator and start playing around. And I, I promise you it will absolutely blow you away. And, and it's, you know, that's why it's, they work. People like Warren Buffett and these people say it's the, you know, eighth wonder of the world is compound interest because of how powerful it truly is. So that's what's on the line for these guys. That's why momentum late is so important for Chantimus. It was a shoulda, woulda, coulda weekend. You know, you could say the same thing about Unadilla. You know, he's putting himself in fantastic positions for success and he's just not finishing the job. And I mean, this week he crashed on the last lap of the first Moto and he would have been in position for an overall, a chance at the overall this weekend. So he's got to clean it up a little bit. But make no mistake, he is. He's made drastic improvements this summer. So you don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. He just needs to find that little extra bit of polish and he's going to be a force. He will be in championship contention from here on out with the way he's, he's kind of going about things. Tom B. I mean, it was a solid day podium, really good lap times in Moto2. And I kind of wrote in my notes, like, not flashy, but really solid, like the kind of day you want to, you can like lay your head down at night and Go. Okay. I was really good today. Now, was it exactly how I want it to go? No, there's, there's work to be done but that was a really solid day and I think you just have to kind of keep it in perspective sometimes that way. We're going to jump one more. Sorry, one more. Rj. Hampshire wasn't, you know, the result was not headline grabbing. It wasn't anything he's going to really remember. But I was impressed, I was very, very impressed with his effort. I did not think it would go that well. I thought it would really be tough in the second one and I just didn't think his fitness would be there. I didn't think the speed would be there. So it was, it was better than I expected. Great job by rj and it only bodes well for what's going to happen when we get to Ironman and we get to the SMX playoffs. Like that is. You know, you're hearing a recurring theme from me but that's where all these riders heads are. You know, that's what they're thinking about. Yes, they're in the moment racing but there is this huge thing in September that they're preparing for and trying to get everything, all their ducks in a row so they go in there with a full head of steam. So I mentioned the sponsors want to do that again. Pirelli tires just dominating in Europe as they do. You know, I have to be a little bit fair. Tim Geister is winning the championship. He does not. I don't believe, I think they're on Dunlops but I should know that. You know I'm gonna look right now. But Jorge Prado is, I mean he's, he won in, he won in Sweden. Dominated in Sweden. Jeffrey Hurling's definitely won in, in Arnhem last weekend in Holland on Pirelli. So they're winning across the, across the pond and you know, it's so interesting. I get asked this all the time about why do, why does everybody in Europe tend to run Pirellis and why does everybody in America tend to run Dunlop? And it's such an interesting kind of thing I don't really have. I didn't have a good answer for it. I, I don't necessarily know why, why that happens but it definitely is a thing. It's definitely a complete difference in popularity and first choice attire and all those things. It's, it's kind of a weird thing. So I don't know, I kind of still chasing that answer but it is certainly an interesting aspect of it. But Pirelli tires doing their thing. Definitely give them a look. They have a great, great product. Guts Racing graphics seat covers. It is the choice of all these teams for, for especially for seats and seat covers. Graphics. You can do custom graphics. You can use the ones they already have. If you're into Surrons, which have kind of taken the world by storm, they have all sorts of things for them, full seats for them. So check those guys out. Guts racing.com and at guts racing on Instagram. Great team, Andy. Greg's actually in the UK right now where Steve Mathis will be headed actually today to meet up. So they're going to that motocross vet motocross the nations over there. So that'll be fun. Pump Creek funding rates have come down a tiny bit and it's funny, you can see anytime rates move down at any possible metric like degree home sales pop because every. There are so many people waiting to buy that have been scared off by interest rates. So if they get any movement at all, you just see this surge of buying and building on the home purchase side. So you know there's all this talk of rates coming down. That's only going to help if you're in that camp, in that boat. My advice would be to reach out to Zach at Plum Creek Funding and just prepare yourself. Like be ready for that incoming rate decrease so you can make the kind of like you don't have to start the process. Like you see rates come down, you're like, okay, now what? You can be ready to pounce when the opportunity arises. That that's my best advice. Concept coatings design company whether you need Cerakote anodizing, laser engraving bike builds done. They have a full race shop in Temecula. Trackside support. They kind of do it all, just kind of connect. I'm connecting dots with Benji there with some of the major teams. It's gonna, it's awesome to watch unfold because I can kind of see where it's going. And I truly think he's going to be the number one answer and solution for all these teams and everybody that wants to build out custom bikes, right? Because their work is state of the art and top notch. And that's, that's rule one. If you don't do fantastic work, guess what's going to happen. No one's going to work with you. So yeah, if you want to save some money on anything there, use concept 10, the number 10 and save yourself 10% at checkout works connection. These guys have been with me from the very beginning. Eric Phipps and his sons. Great company. I mean you look back, you know, since I don't know, like 1990. ISH is like the first I knew of it. And Steve Lampson used their products. They're based in Northern California, right? I mean 10 minutes from Hangtown. Great workshop. And the memorabilia that they have there is amazing. You can just tell they're die hard moto people. And they have a product called a pro on start device. Which team Honda uses, Monster Star Yamaha uses. And I would just ask you to look at who gets all the hole shots. I don't really need more than that. Sometimes you don't need more than the basics to prove your point. And when you have Monster Star Yamaha and factory Honda using your starting device, that that's it, right? So why would you choose anything else is is what I would tell you. And there's a promo code there as well. It's JT23 has not been updated. That's my fault. But it's still JT23. Pro Glow Wash. Check them out. Power Sports formulated wash. Great product, great people. TL Speed Shop. It's gonna start cooling down a little bit. So when you start planning your fall activities into the winter, TL Speed Shop should be a part of that. Side by sides they're getting into the trophy truck rental side. They do repairs and all that too. It's probably not applicable for most of you, but I think what the cool thing is is you can fly into Phoenix, have a corporate event, family getaway, whatever. Side by sides trophy trucks like they have it all set up. You don't have to go try to buy a $50,000 side by side to go pre run Baja, right? They have it all dialed. That's what they specialize in. So check out tlspeedshop.com and see what they can see what they can line up for you. Grandstone Boots, the number one name in boots. And they have sneakers now. They have women's boots. Check them out. Grantstoneshoes.com they have me so much so far beyond dialed. I wouldn't even know. I wouldn't even know how to explain it. I mean I have so many more looks that I could ever wear. I'm actually just kind of waiting for it to cool down a little bit so I can, so I can wear most of them. And last but not least, Fire Racing. Fire Racing.com. check them out. 2025 line is available now. So let's do our power rankings. That's what we do on this podcast. And number 10 is Phil Nicoletti. And this was a tough one because I think Freddie Noren could be in there. Grant Harlan's made a case for being in there. But I think if you look at where. What Phil's been capable of and kind of his trajectory, he deserves to be there. And also, he's about to retire, so I wanted to get him in there anyway. But Phil's had a great summer, really strong performances, and, yeah, good for him. And I'm. I'm really happy with kind of what I've seen from Phil, because it could have been. Could have been a lot tougher for him than this. Like, I think he's shown a lot of resiliency and just an ability, excuse me, an ability to kind of overcome age and all the fears. And it's a tough thing. Like, I lived it. It's a really tough thing to stay your best self as you get older. And he's kind of proven he can do it. Number nine, Christian Craig. You know, it's. It's easy to. To say that Christian Craig has underperformed in his pro career, like on a 450. Excuse me, on a 450. But I don't think that story is complete yet. He's gonna, I think, likely will go back to Monster Star Yamaha next year, and that's where he wants to be, in my opinion, and then we'll see. Because ever since he's got on this Husky, it. It really hasn't gone that well. And so I'm kind of giving him an incomplete grade until I can see what he does on the Yamaha. And if it's still the same, you know, 7 to 12, then, okay, so be it, right? Like, still won a championship, still won races, still a fantastic career that most everybody would want. I don't think there's any shame in that. So I just want to see what he's capable of on a bike that he really, truly wants to be on. So we'll see. I think we're going to get that in 2025. Malcolm Stewart is almost the same exact thing, right? He's on the same Husky that Christian's on. I haven't seen confidence from him. I haven't seen that blinding speed from him. Every once in a while, we'll get a couple of good laps or a good heat race or something. But it hasn't been heat race, Mookie. Like, we haven't seen that. Just, I mean, like, one time this year I saw it, I think Dallas maybe or somewhere, but that guy is still in there somewhere. And I think. I don't know what it's going to take. I don't know if it's going to take a team change or a bike change or a chassis change. Maybe they upped it that husky. I don't know what it's going to take, but I still think that guy is there. Dylan Ferrandis is number seven. And other than, I guess, unadilla, it's been an underwhelming outdoor season because I, I just remember talking to him, listening to him when I wasn't in the conversation, him talking about this bike and what it was going to do for him, like how much it unlocked for him, how how much difference it was going to make and, and this speed unlock. And we really just haven't seen it. We have not seen it very often anyway, like maybe a couple laps here and there, a moto or two. But when you look at last year, he was kind of in podium contention most of the time. And this year he's kind of not close to that. I don't, I don't know what to do with that. Right. Like you hate to say, like, you were just wrong, Dylan. You were just like, okay, great. Like that's, that's not really accomplishing anything. I'm sure he knows that, you know, but he took a chance. He did what he thought needed to be done to kind of get back to his winning ways. And it, it hasn't really worked. Okay, it hasn't been a catastrophe. But if the expectation was podiums, most of the time it hasn't been that. So maybe it just shows the prowess of the factory teams. Maybe the Honda wasn't quite as good in race conditions as he thought it would be. I don't really know other than I don't think this is necessarily how he had it pegged in his brain back in November and December. I would almost guarantee you this is not how he had it drawn up. Number six is Ey Tomac. And he is back. Tomac is back. And first moto and qualifying were both great. Ahead of expectations, ahead of schedule, in my opinion. But the second moto was kind of. There we go. There's the lack of preparation, there's the injury showing its, its ugly head. So we'll see, we'll see what he does with Ironman. He still is in contention for the motocross the nation spot. I don't think he is the favorite. I think Aaron Plessinger is the favorite for it. But time will tell. We'll see how that goes. This Weekend. If he came out and like won a moto or got on the podium and beat ap both motos, I don't know. He might be in there. We'll see. That is a very, very tough decision that I'm very thankful that I am not making because the politics and the push pull of that, those team decisions is so difficult. So maybe Tomac makes it easy and he just is not good again and AP beats in both Motos, then I think it. The job is a little easier. You know, Justin Cooper still in the talk too, but I really, I really believe right now that it's APs to lose and Tomac is going to have to do something heroic to kind of go get it. Jason Anderson is 5, and it's been a quiet summer for Anderson. Not great, not terrible, but I, I think he's given Cowie enough that they're kind of like, all right, it's not so bad. You know, they would love to be winning, but winning stuff. Right? Like, we all know that and only one guy can win. You know, I think the goal for Anderson is just getting, getting on the podium each week. That is. It seems so basic, but that is the goal. That and Tomac coming back makes it that much tougher. But whether you're AP or Justin Cooper or Jason Anderson, that is your primary goal every Saturday is to be standing up on that box at the end of the day. So make no mistake. It's really that simple. Number four is Justin Cooper. And I. I have Cooper and Anderson kind of the same. They've kind of had the same type of summer. Some good, some not so good. But I think Justin Cooper has done a good job of establishing himself as one of the guys, and that's what he needed to do. I think it's going to keep him on that factory Yamaha. You know, it's. When you move up, it's very. It's a very precarious time because you can't fall back into the, oh, this isn't working group. And I would say Christian Craig has been in that group, unfortunately. Right. Injuries are certainly a part of that, but it's a big picture. Look, injuries can play a major role, but in the end, you want to come in and immediately establish yourself ahead of that. You want to be in like, oh, yeah, he's. He's a guy. Right. He needs to be on a factory team no matter what. And I think Justin Cooper has done. He's done that, he's done that. That's. At the beginning of the year. I thought that was the biggest goal for Justin Cooper. I really did, and I would say it's mission accomplished. Number three is ap, and I think it's kind of a solid spot here. You know, it won't last because Jet's going to come back and Cooper Webb's going to come back. But AP has been the third best guy this summer, in my opinion. That's. That's a really big accolade for him, you know, to be a top three guy in the 450 class and pro motocross is saying something, and I think he would agree. I think that is a really solid thing to be able to hang your cowboy hat on. Is top three in the series, and that's what he's going for this coming weekend at Ironman. Number two, Hunter Lawrence. He's honestly been remarkable. Like I say that knowing it's hyperbolic and knowing that he had some really tough races in the middle there. You know, Washougal was not good. Spring Creek wasn't quite as good. Washougal was his worst race of the year. But look at him now. Look at him on the 25. Look at him with some rest under his belt. That gets good, man. Like, he is better than I probably ever gave him credit for. I would be willing to say that he has surpassed my expectations probably for about a year and a half now. So congratulations to Hunter Lawrence. He's doing the thing. He's going to be a rich man. He already is a rich man, but he's going to be a much richer man because of the improvement he's made and kind of the corner he's turned number one, Chase Sexton. And that's an easy one. Right? But I want to kind of talk about for a minute what he needs to do from here if he wants to go win this SMX World Championship. And it's pretty easy because he. He has momentum on his side. He has speed again that is so critical that he's got that speed back. The number one thing he needs to get dialed in right now before we get to Charlotte are the starts. And I don't know how that's going to happen. I know they've been working on the clutch, but I can tell you, winning that championship and losing that championship, in my humble opinion, comes down to what his starts look like at those three races. That's it. Like, it's as simple as that because you. You have a behind the 8 ball. Jet Lawrence, you have a behind the 8 ball. Cooper Webb, you have a behind the 8 Ball. Eli Tomac, you have a Hunter Lawrence that you've already proven you can beat. And what else is there? You tell me what else is stopping him? I guess Ken Rockson, right. I think he has proven he can beat Kenny though. What else is in the way? If he gets hole shots at those races with the momentum he has up against guys that are not at their best and will not be at their best, make no mistake, those guys will not be at their best in those three rounds. They'll get better each round, but they're not going to be at their best. If Chase Sexton's pulling hole shots at the playoffs, he's going to be the SMX World Champion. That's my prediction. It's the perfect setup. It is the perfect setup for him. He has everything going in his way and he has competition that is not prepared. You can't ask for it to be any better. I've been in that spot, not at this level, but I've been up against guys that are not prepared and I am prepared and you know it and they know it. And if you can't exploit it, if you can't make the most of that, then Godspeed ever getting it done again. And that, that may be harsh, that may be kind of, kind of over the top, but that's what I believe. If you can't get it done when everything's going your way and everybody else is not prepared coming off an injury, haven't ridden all these things and you're at the best you've been all year, if you can't get it done, I don't know when you will. And that's what I'm going to leave you with. That's, to me, that's what this all comes down to. This is legacy building. These are legacy building moments. These are when you look back over the course of your career and moments that define it. Chase Sexton right now, his preparation, his confidence, getting the starts and going in and winning that SMX World Championship, these are career defining moments that will, he will never forget. Never ever, ever. Thank you for listening and we will, we'll talk to you after, after Ironman. See you.