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 Company Grandstone Boots and Fly Racing. Good morning. Welcome to the Industry Seating podcast. I'm gonna do something I haven't done. Well, one thing I haven't done in a while and another thing I haven't, I don't think I've done ever. So it's the offseason, as we all know, and I was thinking about topics that I wanted to cover and I wanted to go for a walk. So I'm gonna do this little walk and talk thing I've done before. So if you hear cars drive by or birds or whatever, that, that's the reason why walking it's right at sunrise in Boise on Sunday morning. So it's pretty cold out, but, but also really nice out. But enough about that. The, the topic for today is going to be a rundown of the 450 riders and I want to say the elite, but let's say the top 10 or 12 guys. And I have a list and kind of where I see them in their journey and you know, what they're, what they do really well, maybe, but a lot of what I see, see as far as, I don't want to say weaknesses, but things that they're going to be focused on during this time off to improve. And that's, you know, when you think about what the off season is like for these guys, it, it kind of goes in phases and this first month, because let's face it, September's now full season. It used to be a part of the off season, a very treasured part of the off season, but now it's full of SMX races. So this October month has really now become the only month where these guys can truly get time off. They can decompress a little bit and they can reflect on, you know, not only the super recent things that are going on, you know, yes, max races, how those went. But you think about your season, you think about your career, you think about career choices, like if you're in a contract, obviously, you know, what does the future hold? Where, where do you need to kind of right the ship or are things going kind of according to plan? Are you on the track that you want to be on? And as we go through each of these riders, that's going to vary. Like all those, all these riders are going to be in different kind of stages and phases of the plan. Maybe they're exactly where they want to be. Some of these guys are so far from where they want to be that they can't even see back to the right direction. And I don't want to say I've been in all of those places, but I can certainly, certainly relate to most of, most of those feelings. And yeah, so when I do these podcasts, it's for me to try to give insight and perspective to things that I've seen experience. And also I get to talk to these guys all the time. We can talk to them at the races, outside of the races, airports. So you get a unique, kind of just a window into, you know, the way things are going for them that, you know, they have their guard down a little bit more than when they're at the races. Right. And the camera's on and all those types of things and you don't ever want to betray their trust. But it's more of just getting a sense for kind of what they're going through. Right. Everybody's individual journey and that can be. That's the same for everybody, right. In life, everybody's going through certain things at certain times that lots of other people don't necessarily know about. So that's, that's the game plan for today. Before we jump into that, let's thank the sponsors of this podcast. Pirelli Tires Guts Racing, Plum Creek Funding Works Connection concept Coatings Design Co. TL Speed Shop Pro Glo Wash, Grantstone Boots and Fly Racing. And I will have some. Some more information on a few of those companies. Plum Creek Funding gave me some. Some great advice and if you're in the market, kind of what's going on in the state of a bear, Bears there as well. So without further ado, which I kind of already, I guess I already did the further ado explaining this whole thing anyway, so neither here nor there. First rider up, as you can imagine, is Jet Lawrence. And I didn't make notes for these. I just wrote down the names of the rider. So I'm going to be winging in a little bit. And it's not that. It's not that I was lazy because that's not really how I roll so much. I just wanted it to be off the cuff. I didn't want it to be structured or, you know, be kind of reading off a script. That's. Yeah, I don't feel like that's really the way these podcasts are supposed to go. They're supposed to be true Thoughts and, and just kind of the things that pop into your head like I think that's where you really get the most insight from. Instead of this pre planned like I'm going to run down like ah, whatever. There's, there's plenty of things that I have to do that, that follow that structure, but this won't be that. So anyway, Jet, I mean, I don't know jets in such a good place, right? You look at where kind of he's come from, right? He probably didn't know a lot of the struggle that was going on around him, right. Or if he did, he didn't really have context for it. You know, I think his older brother absorbed a lot of that hardship and he just kind of floated his way through this thing and that does not mean that he hasn't worked incredibly hard for it. But you know, the first time I ever saw Jet ride or race was in 2018 in Otaviano, Italy, which is in the middle of nowhere and it was a sand track and, and I didn't know, I think I'd heard the name Jet Lawrence once, but I didn't know much about him. I, I did not have any preconceived notions, honestly. I'd never really given him a thought in my life. So it was kind of coming in a bit just open, right? I, I went and I was watching emx250 but not even like trying to study emx because I didn't call the EMX races and I still don't to this day. Just because I don't, I don't feel that I have enough insight to share where I would be adding to the show. And for me that's a non starter. Like if I don't feel qualified to be a part of the broadcast, I'm not going to do it. So I didn't do emx250 then. I don't do the MX races now. I would just be kind of in the way and that, that doesn't work for me. So in that 2018 race, Jet went out and he was on a. I believe it was, was it Stefan Everett's 250 program at the time? I don't know. I feel like it was, but don't quote me on that, but he went out and he just dominated, absolutely dominated the MX250 class. And in those days, you have to remember this was not a 21 and under class like it is now. This was open to anybody. And they had, they had veteran guys in it, they had older guys that Were, you know, this is how they made their living. They would race domestic championships and they would also race the classes. And it's not like they are making a ton of money. But this was, point being, he wasn't racing a bunch of kids. He was racing legitimate seasoned professionals. And for him to go out there at 14 years old on a 250 and blow, I mean, I'm not talking about he barely won. I'm talking about he blew their doors off. I think that that caught everybody a little bit off guard, right? Like everybody was like, whoa, like what do we have here? You know, like that just simply. That doesn't happen. You know, think about where most kids are at at 14. Sure, you can go win a race against like kids their age or, or whatever, but to go win a race like that against. Yeah, people that he shouldn't even be, shouldn't even be racing against really, like in the US he wouldn't, he would not even be competing against them. That's a whole, that's a whole different thing altogether. You know, think about our Supercross futures class, right? For a 14 year old to go out and dominate against who we would consider seasoned professionals. And I'll give you an example, the only rider that really sticks out in my mind and it would be an interesting case study to go back and look at the actual results. But I remember Stephen Clark was in that race. And for those who don't know who Steven Clark is, he's a British rider. He's old now, right. Like I think he was. He's probably in his mid-30s and I don't even know if he's still racing. But this was a guy that was, got several top tens in American Supercross. I've seen him lead laps in American nationals. Great starter, but he has a ton of experience. Right. And I just remember Jet just killing, I mean, just absolutely yarding this guy. And I was like, this kid, I don't know anything about him. I know, literally all I know is his name and I know he's Australian and I know he's 14 years old. He was dominating. And that was my first inclination that we might be onto something with Jett Lawrence and really to come back full circle. It's kind of been off to the races ever since then. And you know, he comes into motocross and he does pretty well, right? Like not, I don't know, he didn't really take the world by storm right away. Right. Those first couple races you get I think a sixth in a moto at unadilla. Then Buds Creek, he pulls off because they were worried about his status, which was, I don't know, that was a whole other thing. I think they got the math wrong there, according to the rules. But I mean, it was, it was impressive, but it wasn't like, it wasn't he where he showed up and dominated his first national ever. And everybody's just like, oh my God, you know, it wasn't an Eli Tomac at Hangtown type situation. That's not, that's kind of not how it went. But Eli or, but, but for Jet, it's kind of just been this non stop steady progression outside of like the crash at Anaheim where for him Ferrandis were battling for the win. He breaks his collarbone, but even then he was showing signs that he was on his way. And it's just been this steady progression, higher, just elevating himself, his status all the way up through the ranks. And I mean, this kid, you know, I take a lot of heat for singing his praises too often, but like, what do you want? What do you want me or us to do, you know, he keeps winning. He went 220 his first ever pro motocross season. He, he had won seven championships in succession going into this year's pro Motocross championship. And if you think he wasn't gonna win the title this summer without that Hangtown debacle, I got news for you. He, he was going to. I just don't, I don't know how else to tell you other than very simply he was going to win his eighth championship in a row. And if you needed further proof, check out what happened at SMX when he came back after three weeks of riding, right, he goes out and wins that championship right away, his first series back. So, you know, Jet Lawrence is the picture perfect example of everything's, everything's going his way. Everything is happening on a time frame and timeline that you could only dream of. Not even like, hey, things are going pretty well. Like, no, this is about as well as it can go. And I don't think it's by accident. You know, I think it's a well oiled plan. I think there's a lot of hard work. And I mean, make no mistake, this is, there's a lot of talent here. Like, this is, this kid is super special and I don't want it. I just don't want anybody to think like, well, he must be just working harder than everybody else now. It's not really how it goes, right? Like, doesn't mean it can't be true. Like, I'm not saying it's impossible that he's. He's doing more work than everybody else. I don't believe that to be true. But I just think there's a lot more at play, like talent and skill and the feel he has, a manipulation he has over his motorcycle. Those are very uncommon things. And you can work as hard as you ever want to work. You're not going to have that special level of talent that he does. Not for everybody, you know, like the Sextons and these guys. Sure. That's a different conversation. I'm just saying this is not simply the result of hard work. Now let's talk about what Jet can work on. I don't want to spend too much time or this podcast to be five hours. But I think for Jet, and I've talked to people around him, the important thing is to stay motivated, right? Like, don't get distracted, don't get complacent. Don't fall into the trappings that money and fame and success can bring, right? Like LA crowd or. I don't know, like. I'm not saying any of those things happen. I'm just saying those are things that can happen, right? Like, you start to take things for granted, you start to get interested in other things, cars and, you know, like just all the things that money can, can bring and fame and success. So that's the challenge, I think, and that will be the task of, you know, his agent and his, his parents and his older brother and all the smart people around him, is just to kind of keep him locked in for as long as humanly possible. And that's not going to last forever. You know, he's 21. You know, if he made it to 27, 28 with this level of dedication, he could rewrite all the history books, right? Like, he could go chase whatever, whatever level of, of record setting and a legacy that he thinks is attainable. It's. It's possible, right? Like, it is. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. I'm not saying he's going to do it. I'm just saying for that kid, the sky is truly the limit there. There are very few riders that I've ever watched that I would say. I don't know that anybody can stop him, right? If. Unless he stops himself. I don't know that anybody can put a stop to that, right? Like, nobody. I don't know that many people can step up and say, you know what? I'm tired of this, I'm gonna end this Run, like, I don't know. I mean, we've seen Tomac Battle, we've seen Sexton have his days. I just don't know on a consistent basis where it's a week in, a week out, trend change, I don't know. I would say it's. It's highly unlikely that that's the case. I would say that they're going to need an injury, they're going to need him to lose focus, they're going to need some sort of outlier event. Honda to make a big change, he. To make a team change. And things don't go well, like, something like that, because I just don't see it otherwise. Okay, enough Jet. I don't want to take more heat about talking about Jet. Let's switch to Chase Sexton. Now. I'm a big Chase Sexton fan, and it's hard because, you know, he's been up against Jet, right? And. And if you remember, coming out of 20, 22, pro motocross, coming out of 2023, machining supercross, everybody, including myself, was looking at Chase going, all right, that's the next guy, right? Like, he's going to win a lot. Like, he is in a place where he is ready to take the reins from the Cooper Webs and the Tomax and these guys. Like, he is the heir apparent to domination in this sport. And this was before Jet came on the scene in the 450 class. And we didn't really know, or I certainly didn't know that it was going to look like it did. And so for Chase, you know, I think it's been like two years or at least a year and a half of frustration, right? And, you know, he did win the Pro Motocross championship, so that had to feel great. Like, that was certainly a really positive time for him. But those come with asterisks of not having Jet for the full series and the injuries. And deep down, you know, I think Chase probably, he knows that. You know, on the surface, it's like, man, I won the championship. Can you guys not just give me credit for that? And we. And I am. I mean, he beat. He beat Jet. You know, injured or not, he was the fittest guy in that class. And I would say even when Jet was healthy, I would argue he was the fittest guy. I just think his. His threshold for fitness and the load that he can sustain. And when I say load, I mean the workload, right? Like, how many motos can he do during the week? How much bicycling, how much just Punishment. Can one person take and absorb and process that into stamina? I think his level is incredibly high for that, which means he can go really deep on a fitness level when he needs to. Right. On the hardest days, the hottest days, when everybody's on the limit of their fitness, he is just going to have more in those situations than everybody else. And that's his strength. Right. Like, these guys have to. You have to lean into your strengths and you really have to protect against your vulnerabilities and liabilities when you can. And for Chase, that's where I'm kind of coming back to, like, reflection wise. Okay, cool. We took a step forward. Supercross was not what we wanted. Pro motocross, you know what? We, we found a way to beat jet injuries, crashes, whatever, those are a part of racing and always will be. Won the pro Motocross championship for the first time. Right. That's a big deal. It's a big step. You found success with ktm. That's great. That is a real positive to, to latch onto and forget about. You know, it's probably a million for the championship, plus all the other bonuses from Alpine stars and whoever. So you figure million two, all in. Something like that. Not a bad, not a bad payday. On top of all the money he already met, already makes. So he's getting rich. Don't, don't second guess that for a second. He is getting rich. He probably made, I hate to talk about other people's money. That's what we do. He probably made, I don't know, 5 million this year, all in. So. And I'm guessing I'm rounding numbers and things like that. Could it be. Could it be 4.2? Could it be 5.4? Sure. It's. But it's something, it's something like that. So he's making really good money. But, you know, the other part of this is for a guy like Sexton, yes, you have the money. Yes, things are going really well. And if, as long as he's smart, he's going to be financially secure for the rest of his life, that, that is phenomenally great. Right? Like, that's somewhere deep down for all of us, that's a goal. And the other side of that, though, is when you're not winning, when you're the heir apparent like Sexton was, and you don't fulfill that in the way you think you're supposed to, like Jed has stolen, kind of stolen the thunder. There's no other way to put it. So for Chase, you can live in a, in A world of purgatory at times, and that's not a lot of fun. You know, you think about all the upside and the bright lights and the fame and the money and the success and the championships and the winning. Sometimes all that gets completely just kind of brushed to the side. I'm trying to think of the right phrase, but it gets glossed over, and it's not the prevalent thought process. It's not the first thing that comes to mind, and it's not what's. What's on his mind when he goes to sleep. And it should be. It should be. He should be so damn proud of the things he has done and is doing and his placement and all the, you know, the fruits of all this hard work. But I have a feeling, and this is me 100% speculating, right? But, hey, guess what? That's podcasting. I believe that when he lays down his head at night and everybody has these, you know, moments where it's just pure introspection, retrospection, you know, you're alone with your own thoughts, I don't think it's one of, sorry for the car going by. I don't think it's one of relief and joy and satisfaction. I don't. I think it is frustration and fear of not fulfilling the expectations that he has for himself, his dad here has for him, you know, fans, his teams, sponsors, everybody. I believe that is the overbearing thought for Chase Sexton, and I hope I'm wrong. I do, because I don't. I don't wish for him to feel that right, because he. He has been so damn good. But that's what I think. I. I think those are. Those are the thoughts that kind of overwhelm everything else, is just the pressure of living up to what he. What everybody thinks he's capable of. So I don't know. That's just kind of where I think he's at. You know, he's been in Hawaii the last week or two, which is great. I know he loves Hawaii. It's awesome. Getting to play golf, getting to go surfing. And I hope he's able to just check out, not think about all this stuff. I know how hard that can be, and I didn't have any expectation, right. But I put so much pressure on myself, so I can imagine. And I see Sexton as a guy like that. I see a guy that puts the weight of the world on his own shoulders, and he has all this other pressure and people paying him tons of money that are also. They're adding to that Right. So I can't, I can't pretend I know how much pressure that feels like. But I have a little, a little glimpse of it from my own world. And I just hope he can find some peace and understand how, just how well he is doing in his, in his career before. Because what's going to happen I think is he's what. How old is he now? 25. I think he just turned 25. Pretty sure. And he's gonna wake up at 35 or 45 and be like, you know what? I, I was doing so well and I wasn't enjoying it. I was so wrapped up in what was expected of me, what I wasn't doing right. The, you know, I was worrying about the bad days instead of enjoying the good days. And for him, there have been so many good days in his still early career that I don't think, I don't think his mind allows him to dwell on those as much as he dwells on the things that haven't gone exactly to plan. Right. And you think about for a guy like Sexton not going to plans like getting like third. You know, it's, it's crazy when you really think about it on, on a big picture level. What, you know, a bad day or like not living up to expectation type day looks like for a guy like Chase Sexton is, is crazy. Like it's, it's so far out of the, I don't know, it just, it doesn't compared to the average person. You're like, that's not a bad day. Right? That's what I think of. I'm like, man, if that's a bad day for you, you've got it, you've got it pretty good. I guess that's probably the best way I can put it. So anyway, for Sexton, I think he what to work on. He's got to find a way to fix the starts. Like there, there is no, there is no getting around that. That is, that's just it in a nutshell. You know, the speed thing, he definitely needs to find some pace on the KTM and Supercross. That was his calling card on the Honda. He even got good starts on the Honda. But that, that raw sprint speed where it was almost, it was almost a no brainer that he was going to be the fastest guy. We started to see that come back a little bit at the end of the Monster Rangers Supercross season. He's got to get that back and he's, I mean, I don't care what they have to do at KTM like they've got to throw the book at getting the starts figured out for Sexton. Now ap, AP was getting starts, right. So I don't think it's something where it's impossible for him to get starts. I just think it is the, you know, getting Sexton comfortable enough. And a lot of it from what I've seen have been Sexton's reaction times have been awful. Right. So that's something they need to work with him on. I'm not going to place all the blame on ktm. Just watching Chase at times, like he has been so slow off the gate, that's. That some of that's on him because I don't believe that just from watching ap. I don't believe that it's something KTM just. No, we can't figure it out. You right, like look at Prado. He's on a KTM. Now his bike says gas, gas, but make no mistake, that's a ktm. So it's, it's not where they don't, they don't simply are just scratching their head trying to figure out how to make their motorcycle get off the starting line. That's not what's happening. There's something going on. There's a disconnect between Chase and that motorcycle on the start. That has to get figured out. Absolutely has to get figured out if Chase wants any chance. So those are the two things. Sprint speed, so he can go early and find that mojo and then the starts, the rest of it. Fitness, all those things. Strength, ability to hit loops. Although he, he has all those things in spades. So I'm, you know, that's really it. I don't know how to get there. Right. Like, I don't. I'm not going to pretend that I could fix those things for him. That's. That's for somebody much smarter than me to sort out. I'm just more. I think I have a reasonable ability to kind of diagnose, diagnose misses and it doesn't mean I, you know, I don't have a cure, but I can, I can kind of figure out what's wrong. And again, I apologize for these cars going by. I don't know if you can hear them or not, but a lot of cars for Sunrise, but anyway, so for Sexton, yeah, we'll see what he can bring in 2025, but I mean the mission in front of him is pretty clear now. Switching over to. Let's go to Tomac now for Eli Tomac. Right. It's been, man, we haven't seen him a lot. Right. Like, you think about him coming out of 2022. He wins that epic duel with Sexton. He goes into 2023 machine supercross, which, let's be real, for all intents and purposes, that that championship was going to be his. He tears his Achilles at Denver. We all know the story. And then from there, it's really been a tough go. You know, it hasn't been. There hasn't been a lot of success for him. Just kind of, you know, there have been bright spots here and there, but sustained success from that moment has been hard to come by. And, you know, think about a year ago, okay, we're getting ready to go into 2025 Monster Energy Supercross. Well, you know, we do these Supercross preview videos and, and getting everybody amped up and podcasting and. And venture. It's bench racing. You know, just go time for all that. And it's a great time in the sport. It's leading up to a new season. Well, Weege and I, and, And I think Mathis. I'd have to go back and listen, but I know Ouija and I were at. Were at odds over what Tomac was. Was going to be. And I just kept. Because I've had. I've. I've lived this, right. I've had through my own experiences, and I've seen other guys. I know how difficult it is to come back from a big injury like that and to get back to your best self. And it doesn't mean you can't be riding well. It doesn't mean, like, if. If somebody had gone to the test track and be like, oh, dude, he is ripping. He looks great. Cool. I. I've seen all that. I know that's. That's absolutely probable, and wouldn't surprise me at all to see that, hear that for that to be the case. The difference is that doesn't show up at the races early on in a recovery. It just does not. It doesn't mean it can't possibly happen. It just means it's not the usual situation. And so we. And I just kind of went back and forth and we just like, he's going to be awesome. He's got two months. He's going to be. And I'm like, I don't. I just don't think that's how it works, man. Like, doesn't mean he can't have a bright spot here or there. But it is very hard to. To accurately measure the setback that an injury like that gives you, because what Happens is he's off his feet, right? He can't do anything for a really extended period of time. So things atrophy, he loses his base fitness. He's not riding at all. So he gets rusty. You know, all those things are attainable. Like, he'll get those back. And he. I see, I think, sitting here a year later, In October of 24, he is back. He has all those things back to where he was. Like, I think he is the same guy he was pre Achilles injury, or if he's not, he's damn close, right? He's like a tenth of a percent off that. But that's a huge process. Like, that takes months and months and months and months of work to get that back. Now, on the other side of that equation are all, excuse me, all the other riders, the Chase Sextons, Jets, Cooper Webb, whoever he fancies himself as having to compete against for world championships, guess what they're doing? They're getting better, faster, stronger, fitter, more experienced. Got, like, jet, right? More experienced Chase as well. So it's this huge divergence that goes on for months and months and months and months, right? One guy, Tomac, is getting significantly worse in every category. Weaker, less fit, losing, like, coordination, you know, everything. Everything and anything, right? Like, mental acuity for racism, all those things. Not that they're huge degradation, but some of them are strength and fitness. And all those things are gigantic steps in the wrong direction because he's not able to do anything. He can't run, he can't bicycle, he can't do anything. He can't do anything. Weight bearing on his leg for months, right? And the setback that that brings is really hard to describe unless you've lived it. Meanwhile, everybody else is getting better and better and better and better. So, you know, it's a crazy change between the two. Like, the. There's this gigantic chasm between the direction that each one of those is going now. Now, Tomac, he gets back on the bike mid to late October of 23. Everybody's like, oh, boy, here we go. Like, everybody's pumped, right? Like, and I get it, you should be. But it is such a long road, right? And the thing is, he doesn't have to just get back to where he was. That's one thing, right? And you think about the amount of work, time, effort. He's a year older, right? Like, he's got to get back to where he was. That is step one, which is a brutally tough task coming off of an injury. Not only that, he's got to get to where those guys have progressed to also. And that's your. So it's just such a man. It is such a difficult thing. And, you know, you think about, why have we seen some of the greats be the greats? It's because they continue building momentum year after year after year, uninterrupted. And that is a really underreported aspect of racing and how these guys do what they do. Think about Ryan Vilpota winning four championships in a row. Yes, he had some injuries in there, but he was able to bounce back pretty quickly. I think Ryan Dungy is an incredible example of a rider who really just kept stacking blocks on top of blocks on top of blocks, right? Like, he just got stronger and fitter and faster and gained more confidence year after year after year. And. And really, I'm trying to. I could be wrong, but, like, when he turned pro in, I don't know, like, he went pro in the summer of 06, but, like, did he have any big injuries? You think about 09, he wins TV championship. 10, he goes pro, wins Supercross championship and a motocross championship. And yes, he lost four Supercross championships in a row after that. But he didn't get hurt. He was just getting beat. But he kept getting fitter and kept getting stronger, and he carried that. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 18. Right. He never really had any. Any serious setbacks, and that is wildly important to realizing your full potential is maintaining that momentum. So for Tomac, he. He had a huge setback, and that's. I think the age part is a huge factor. I would argue that, you know, I was. When I tore my ACL with Stu in 2011, I was 31. 30, 31, 32. And I never really got it back. I couldn't overcome that knee injury. Like, I just. And I probably, you know, I wasn't doing the right things, probably, and wasn't all in and all, but I really struggled to get fitness back and get my body back to where it was and catch back up. And I don't know that I ever, ever truly did. And that is the fight that Tomac has had. So when you look at Supercross and you look at the struggles he had, he just didn't. Just kind of wasn't the same guy. Right. And, you know, I. I don't. I don't like to rub things in when I get it right. Like, that's. There's no. Nothing to be gained from that. You're either right or wrong and you move on. But I felt very strongly that Tomac would have struggles early on and he did. And you know, my thesis played out to where I thought it would, but I think he's back there now. You look at way super motocross when he comes out on fire, look at motocross, the nations just continuation of what we saw. Like, I think he is back. If he's not again, as I previous said, he is extremely close to being back and that's going to set him up really well through. You know, he's probably gonna take a little time off. Like he's racing in Vancouver this weekend. He's gonna race some of these WSX races to make some money and, and I think for him he understands how important it is to continue sharpening his blade through this time. And remember, he didn't get to race a lot. Right. Like he missed almost all of pro motocross, so he's relatively fresh on that front and I think he wants to go racing and he understands you're probably one more full season and that's it. So he's going to continue to get back to his best self and maybe get better through this offseason. Right. November, December is like boot camp time. But he's already got such a good base of fitness. Now it's more of just going to be, you know, honing that skill set, getting everything possibly in place and ready to go after Monster Supercross championship in 25. But I truly think he's in a really good spot for it. Like, I think he is doing the right things and putting himself in a really good position to chase it. Now. Can he beat Jet? Can he beat Chase? Can he beat? I don't know. That's why we watch the races. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I think he's in a place where it's possible again. Like it's conceivable that he could go out and be champion in 25, where I didn't in 24. That was what I was pushing back so hard against. I'm like, it's not the right setup. It's too early, it's not enough time. The injury was too severe. There was way too much time, not only off the motorcycle, but off his feet. Right. That is just a Herculean ask, which I don't believe is realistic for Tomac coming into last season. So we'll see. I just think now it can be a thing. Like it's. It's a real ask and it's a real expectation that I wouldn't push back against. I just think, yeah, the sky's the limit now. Like, he can do it. Whether he does or doesn't is racing, but he can. So anyway, it's great to have you. I tone that back. If it's only for another year, that's okay. We're gonna get a year. I think we're gonna get a year of his best stuff. Moving on to Cooper Webb and as we go, I'm gonna have less and less talk because again, I don't want this to be a five hour podcast, but let's go to Cooper Webb. And Cooper Webb is, he's one of the most motivated riders I think we've ever seen. You talk about a person who has a lot of internal grit and he has a lot of, you know, he is so mentally strong. We talked about that for years with him. You know, you think about his championship years when he was able to just absolutely crush Ken Rockson late in races, right? Like he was so his racecraft and his mental. I don't know the right word. I wish I had a better vocabulary. But he is able to harness so much internal kind of will and strength when things are at their toughest and everybody like feels like they're on the edge and they're going to crack because of the pressure. And he is like cool as a cucumber, right. Like, he just doesn't wilt under any of that, right. And he uses it as a really powerful weapon because I think he, he is old enough and experienced enough now where he knows that, he knows that in those moments, in those times, he is going to be stronger mentally than those around him. And if you can, if you can be self aware enough to understand that there is so much to be gained by utilizing that as an asset and wielding it as such. And I think he knows how to do that now. The things he needs to get I think figured out, you know, he seemed to really kind of be up and down at times, right? Like I will say though, like, he came in to a one way better than everybody expected, right? Think about last year in September, how far off he was on the Omaha at smx. He was even close. He goes to Paris and he races not even close. Like, seriously, not. Not even close. And you know, I talked to him, I've asked him about this and he's like, well, I was actually getting closer in November and unless you were really, really paying attention, you wouldn't have noticed it. But we were making strides already in November from where we were in September. And so it kind of lit the, you know, lit the fire. Fueled the fire a little bit for the. The changes we had been making because we. It showed us that we were on the right path. So when I got home from Paris, I was able to really get after it because I knew, like, hey, we're doing the right things, like, this is going to work. And that was a really powerful moment for him. So I didn't know any of that. Right. Like, hindsight is a very powerful tool, and it's, you know, it's very transparent. But he came in. Point being, he came in day one, like, way ahead of where I thought he'd be. Remember, think about a one. He was. They were chasing Jet. He ends up going over the bars trying to. And trying to win. Like, he wanted to kind of prove to everybody, like, hey, dude, I'm back. Any crashes? But that was, I don't be the first to tell you, like, I was shocked and how good he was. And I was like, oh, like, we. We have something here. And yes, there were mud races and San Francisco and San Diego and all that. Like, so it kind of got diluted a bit because that's not his forte. Mud is. Is not where he's going to shine. But I think he understands if he does the thing he needs, does the things he needs to do, puts in time, puts in the work, gets the bike right, you know, keeps his weight down, does all those things he can win. Like, he can go toe to toe with these guys. He can find ways to. To beat Jet or at least simply be on his wheel and when opportunities arise, take advantage of him, just like he did in 2024. Jet crashes. Cooper takes advantage of it. Jet has a, you know, makes a mistake like Anaheim 2. Cooper takes advantage of it. Those are the things that Cooper does. Well, I've used this. This analogy with Webb many times is where he's like Iceman and Top Gun, right? He just so relentless on exerting pressure. He will wear you down. You get bored. In m quoting, you get bored, you do something stupid, and before you know it, he's got you. That is what Cooper Webb does. That's who he is. He just will sit on your wheel and make you so uncomfortable, and you're so consumed worrying about what he's doing instead of what you're doing, that that's when he'll get you. And I think that's how he has to win that. That's my take on Webb is. I don't think that Webb is going to be a guy that goes out and wins nine supercrosses and wins a championship. Not, not now, not at this stage of his career. He's 28 years old. I don't see that being the way Cooper Webb wins a championship in 2025 for him to win. And I think, I truly think he can. He's got to execute his game plan, and that is get to the front and execute, right? Like, leave no air in the room for anybody else. If Jack gets the whole shot, Cooper needs to be sitting on his wheel. He needs to exert pressure, right? When you think about a race like Birmingham, he was there, he was like two, three seconds back the entire race. That's what he's got to do. He's just got to find a way to close that gap a little bit pressure, jet a little bit more. But be in those situations weekend, week out, win when you can race like Seattle, right? Take advantage of other people's mistakes, adverse conditions, and be that guy that is just unrelenting all the time and is not leaving any room for anybody else to make a mistake, because if they do, you're going to lose points to Cooper Webb. That's how he wins. And he's good enough and fast enough that he's going to find ways to win on his own account, right? When the track suits him a little bit slower, a little bit ruddier, you know, not huge whoops or anything. Like he knows, we all, we all know enough by watching Webb. When the track's going to kind of work for him, then you really lean into those weekends and you have to, you have to capitalize. You have to maximize the points on those weekends. And then the other weekends when it's not perfect, you just, you just kind of figure it out. You find a way to sneak yourself on the podium. You don't give up a ton of points. Those are, those are the ways that Cooper Webb's gonna win. Now. He's got a window right now October to kind of take some time off, right? You think about he had to race motocross nations and I think he's kind of close to where he wants to be as far as fitness goes, but he'll really start leaning into this starting in November. He's going to race Paris, he's going to race Australia. So that'll give him, get him kind of a warm up and kind of get him back into race mode a little bit as he's going through his, his boot camp stuff. But I expect to see him come in hot again like in, like he did in 2024. I think he understands the road map now. I know that he thinks it's very valuable for him to have Justin Cooper to practice against because J. Coop is incredibly good during the week. He's crazy good rider. We all know that. You see him set the fastest lap times even at Supercross. That was a big step for him. But Justin has a lot of sprint speed, right? So when they're practicing during the week, Justin is the carrot for Cooper. For Cooper Webb to chase. And that is very valuable for Cooper Webb. And he's going to have that again for 2025. So I know he's. He's very excited to, to kind of have that, to. To go after. That's. That's an important thing, is having that. That's an integral part of a team, is having all those pieces in place so you can get the most out of your training weeks and come into the season as fast as humanly possible. Because if you. I'll give you an example. Okay, 2023. I think it was 2023. Might have been 2022. Cooper Webb was training at what is now the dog pound. Or, or Jet and Coop used to be 83, now it's the dog pound. I don't know. I can't keep up with these names. What was. Chad Reed's facility now is owned by the. Warren says Cooper Webb was practicing there and that was his training facility. He was working with Michael Byrne. And I was there in the off season when Cooper was training with Burner and getting ready. He was still in a ktm. He had gone away from Alden Baker, if you guys remember. But I remember what all this kind of looked like. And, you know, thinking back now, in hindsight, this was not a situation where Cooper Webb wasn't working hard. Like, I was there. I was. I was watching him do his thing. Like he was putting in laps and they were riding motos and training and doing the work, right? And maybe, I don't know, maybe his diet wasn't what it needs. I don't know any of those things. But I was there watching him put in the work. And he was fit, he was fast. But what I saw, and I didn't really not like I saw it in the moment, right? But looking back on it, he didn't have someone fast enough to be chasing. And I think had he and Jet practiced together, maybe that would have been enough. Jet was still in a 250, but Jet was ridiculously fast. We know that, but they didn't really practice together right at the Time. Webb was practicing with Macarath a lot, and McElrath simply wasn't fast enough for Webb to be chasing it, right? Like, Webb could come from behind, he could close him down, he could pass him, he could pull away. So he was by default staying within his comfort zone. And that is, that's something that happens subconsciously. It's very, very difficult, if not impossible, to willingly and consciously force yourself out of your comfort zone when you don't need to or have to. That only comes from, in my experience, having that rider that's faster or at least on par, that's going to push you because of ego and all those things, right? You need that. And Webb didn't have that in that time. Now, I've seen some of the best of the best guys like Carmichael, I've seen it where they can push themselves, they can use a stopwatch or their trainer, their mom, whoever, can just be so brutal on them with the lap times and those things that they get so pissed off that they'll force themselves into that discomfort area. But it's rare. You almost always need that guy. And that's why you see, you see guys like Vel Pota, they'll have that other rider like Weimer, and that's what Webb was trying to do with a guy like McElrath. And there were others, but the day I was there, it was McElrath is you give them a lead and you try to chase that lead down, but it doesn't always work because you become complacent and you're like, I'm going to catch him. You know, if I. As long as I put in this pace, I'm faster than him, so I'm going to catch him without even really having to take any chances or really push. That's. That's where you lose out on being your best or getting better, or when it's time to go to Anaheim and you have to race against Tomac and Sexton and these guys and you're like, dude, I just, I'm not fast enough. Like, look, they have so much speed on me. That's where you missed. That's where you're like, oh, when you get into the season, because you're in the mid season now and you're not. You're simply not where you need to be. That's a really tough thing. It happens every year to someone or multiple people. But I think that's where Webb was. That's what he fixed for 2024, and that's what I think he's Trying to maintain for 20, 25. It's having that guy with tons of speed, and that could be Deegan, that could be Justin Cooper, maybe it's Christian Craig. It can be anybody. I think that's what Webb needs, though, and that's what I think he's going to have for 25. So I think he's in a good spot. The question will be, is, can he. Can he win enough races to offset the excellence that we're going to see from whoever it is, Jet, Tomac, whoever. Like, he's going to have to win some. Like, you can't just attrition your way to a championship, not with this much talent, in my opinion. So we'll see. That's. That's what. So the question is for Cooper Webb. Moving on, we'll go a little bit faster through these guys. Aaron plessinger. I think AP's taken huge strides forward, right? Like, I don't. I don't think anybody's looking at AP going, yep, championship's coming. Okay. I don't think that is what's happening. Doesn't mean it's impossible, but I don't know that anybody's kind of thinking that way. I think for ap, you're just looking for steady progression. You just want to see him continue to get better. And if he can win, you know, he won a Supercross in 2024. That was awesome. I think everybody was over the moon, thrilled about that. If he can win multiple races in 2025, that's another step forward, right? Like, having realistic goals is really important. I believe that. Because if you set goals that are unrealistic, unattainable on the, you know, approaching impossible, all you do is set yourself up for disappointment, in my opinion. Doesn't mean you can't, you know, chase, like, really high, hard goals. That's okay, but they need to be attainable. Because, like, okay, for me, if I had been like, you know what? This 2008 season, I'm going to win Anaheim. Like, come on, man. Like, that's not. That's not realistic. It wasn't. I was nowhere near that. Right. That was never going to happen. Right. And then that's an extreme example. I get it. So I think for ap, going out, this is my year, I'm going to be champion. It's not on the same level. Those are two very different examples. I'm just telling you, on an extreme level, you have to be mindful, because otherwise you're just setting yourself up to be frustrated all year and be let down. So I think for ap, a realistic goal would be okay. I want to win more than one race, and I want to be top three in monster new Supercross championship points. That's, that is, to me, is a positive step forward. It is an achievable goal. It's something he can really chase, and it's going to keep him engaged and locked in, and he's just not going to be like, well, championship's over. Can't wait. Can't make my goal now. No, like, that's the whole. That's the whole premise of it, is something that you can really kind of stay engaged in and really chase down. So for ap, I think he's on the right track. I think he's doing the right things. He's getting better. You know, if he was on a kind of a chart showing, you know, positive or negative, like, he would be trending the right direction. And that's, that's really all you want. It's all anybody can ask for in anything. Doesn't matter if it's business or your education or anything, finances, whatever. Things are going in the right direction. Honestly. What else, what else is there kind of bounce around. Let's go to. For Jason Anderson. You know, Jason Anderson is a curious one for me because you think about, like, 2022, man, that guy was unreal, right? Like, won seven supercrosses, he wins his first pro motocross race. Man, things were really looking up. And after having kind of been blah for a while, he caught fire in that 2022 year. And I feel like we're. We're back there again. We're back in that blah thing. And it's not terrible. Not like he's, he's, he's doing awfully or anything like that. It's just not, it's not on par with, with that 2022 stuff. You know, he's not. We're not watching the gate to drop thinking Anderson might win tonight. Like, that is not in our, our real thought process anymore. And I think he's. He is capable of it. He has the talent for it. But I think for Anderson, he's got to be all in. Like, he's got to be fully locked into what he's doing. He has to, you know, he can't be distracted and, you know, want to have fun and, and there's the time for all that, right? But I think that's. And I'm purely speculating here. I'm not close to Jason Anderson, but I think that's what happens with him. Is he he wants to go out and he wants to have fun. He wants to do all the things. And don't forget, he got married, he had his first child. Like, there was a lot of change for him during that 2023 and 2024 time frame. And that's not, none of that is a negative. Like, as far as, like, the story of his life goes, those are incredible, incredibly positive developments, right? Like, don't, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying if you're purely looking on a results page, right, and you're looking at better or worse, 2023 and 2024 were significantly worse than 2022. There is that, that is just plain and simple, you know, but maybe he would trade it. Maybe he would be like, you know what? 2023 and 2024, on a life scale were two of the best years of my life, results be damned. And that's, that's okay, that's cool. Like, I, I get it. Nothing, nobody's going to be mad at that. You know, maybe Kawasaki would be a little bummed that his results weren't better. Right? They're not paying him to be a husband and a dad. They're paying to win motorcycle races. So there's always that, you know, push pull of the whole dynamic. But that's for him to decide. That's for him to make up his own mind where his focus and desire and kind of all in, all in this. I don't think that's a word, but I'm going to use it anyway. I just don't know where this story goes for 2025. I. I don't know. Right. So Jorge Prado is going to come into that team in Hill. Don't make that announcement. I think November one, maybe december first, I don't know. We'll see. I, I don't haven't seen his contract, but maybe that lights a fire under Anderson, right? Like, because Prada is going to be the new shiny toy. Make no mistake about that. When Prado comes in, he is going to get an incredible amount of focus and energy and time. And they're all going to be huddled around Prado trying to sort things out. Not so much that they think he's gonna go win a monster into Supercross championship, but they know that pro motocross, it is on like it is, I mean, on in every single way for them to be back in championship contention, which they have not been in since Anderson and Supercross in 22. So they're going to give him all their help time Energy, effort doesn't mean they're going to leave Anderson out in the cold, but maybe that fires him up. Maybe them being so amped on Prado pisses him off in a way that's like, you know what? These guys are so pumped on this, this Prado dude. I'm gonna show them what's up, right? Like, I'm gonna remind them this Supercross season why I'm on this team and why I'm highly paid, maybe, right? Like, I don't know. Or maybe he just gets so frustrated. He's like, you know what? Screw you guys. Like, I'm going to ride the contract out. You're going to pay me a lot of money, and I'm going to go do something. I don't know. I have no idea. That's for him to sort out in the next, let's say, 75 days before Anaheim gets here. Because that's when. That's when the work is done. That's when your decision, your season really decided. The rest of it's just kind of playing out the game plan. But that work that's put in the gains that are made on. On yourself, your mind, your body, the motorcycle, that's when it really shows up. You know, you do the work now in the next couple months, and then it shows up all the way through the next season. So, I don't know. It's a curious thing, but I do believe for Anderson, it's all in his effort and his mindset. And is he willing to push all the chips in the middle and go be his best self? I don't know. He's the only one that can answer that. I don't know that anybody else knows but him, like, where his motivation level is. Like, he's. He's a very wealthy individual. He's done very well for himself for a very long time, and he's very frugal with his money, which means he has a lot of it because he's made a lot of it. And that's. That is awesome. I love to see and hear that for these guys. So maybe he's just like, you know what? I'm good. Like, I have a kid, I have a wife, I have a family, made a lot of money, won a championship. I'm cool. Like, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm going to get fifth, and that's it. I don't know. Or the other. It goes the other way with the Prado thing that I kind of mentioned. We'll see. That. That, to me, is the. It's a binary thing. I think it goes one of two ways. I don't. You know, I think it's just kind of. It is what it is. Or he really leans back into this thing for one more push. Ken Rockson. You know, Kenny's getting older, right? It's not like he's super old. But we all know the physical strain and challenges that Kenny's gone through with all the surgeries and the arm, and now he's got this kind of, you know, immune thing that he's been battling from all those surgeries that take a toll on him. It. You know, that stuff wears him down, and we just see weekends from him that are not up to par. Like, this is not a new development for Ken Rocks. And we all know that this is. This is just who he is and what he's going to be from here on out. Like, that's not going to get any better. It's not going to change. And, like, you know, Mathis has said he can't win a championship, right? He, like, he has said those words, he can't win a championship, which I kind of push back on because I don't like disqualifying people from things, especially when you're as good as Ken Roczen is, Doesn't mean maths is wrong. It's just not something I feel comfortable saying. Like, I. I don't think that's an appropriate shot to take at Ken Rockson, but, you know, that's math as he. He's not scared to. To tell you what he's thinking, and he's not scared to take a really aggressive stance. That's fine. No problem. He's probably right to be fair and completely transparent. He's probably right. I just don't want to be the person that says that. I don't think that. I think it's a little bit disrespectful. You know, you can be right and disrespectful in the same sentence. That is something that can absolutely happen. I would just. I would choose respect before being right most of the time. But anyway, for Kenny, you know, I think it's just maintaining kind of what he's doing, like, find ways to win races, find ways to keep reinventing yourself. You know, Kenny's another one of those guys who has made a lot of money, and he's taken that money to make a lot more money. So financially, he's dialed, which is. Which is awesome. So he doesn't have all this pressure to kind of man, I gotta, I gotta make it happen now because I, I didn't when I had the chance. You know, none of that is true. So I think he's, I think he's setting himself up to ride a Ducati. I don't know that that's gonna happen for sure, but I know they have talked and it kind of makes sense, right? It's, he's German by, by birth. Right. So he'll identify with a European manufacturer and he has a ton of experience with testing and developing a motorcycle. So he'll be able to help Ducati right away, you know, kind of avoid a lot of the pitfalls and a lot of that. What happens is you get this new motorcycle, you can waste so much time going down the wrong path. So he can just help them avoid all those things, right. Like he'll ride the bike and say, nope, this is junk. Don't go this direction. Right. And that can be so much more valuable than knowing which way to go, if that makes sense. Right. Like knowing what to avoid can be the most valuable aspect. Like much more valuable than even knowing which way to go because you just waste, you avoid wasting time, money, effort, all that stuff. Right. So that's where having a really valuable test rider like Cairo is doing for them for their motocross settings, I think Kenny could do that for them with supercross as well. So I, I can very much see Kenny ending up at Ducati. I don't know. We'll see. Right. But it just makes sense. Also there is the side where Ducati is a premium, premium brand. If you know anything about Ducati is like they are and they have positioned themselves to kind of be upper tier, expensive, very premium, premium image, premium brand. I don't know a better way to say it, but that's what they go after. They're like the Ferrari, the Lambo of motorcycles. Well, think about Ken Rockson. He's kind of that too, right? Really good looking guy, always been kind of like premium everything, right. Like he has a Breitling deal. Like if you know anything about watches, like that should tell you a lot. Like he gets paid by Breitling and he's just kind of that rock star type guy. Like he's the. Trying to think of another way to kind of. It's a freaking soccer player that I names escaping me. Of course, I'm in the air. I can't think of it. But he, he has that image around him where you. Every, every brand would want to be associated with Ken Rockson. So it fits that's all I'm trying to get as it fits the narrative with Ducati to have Ken Rockson associated with it. So I could just see that working out. So I don't know where Kenny goes In, you know, 20, 25 as far as results. You know, I think he'll kind of do the same thing. He'll be in the battle to win sometimes and then other weekends you'll kind of scratch your head and say, man, it just doesn't look right. I just think that's where we're at with Ken Rockson for the remainder of his career. That's just who he's going to be. You know, is his body cooperating with him? Can he harness his best stuff on a week to week basis? That those are all the things that we just know we have to, have to kind of. Yeah, you just kind of have to expect with Ken Rockson. Hunter Lawrence is an interesting one, right? Like Hunter has continued to surprise me and in all the right ways, all the good ways, because I'll be honest, like I was, I wasn't big on Hunter's chances of being a 450 superstar. I wasn't. And I just have to just take the L. I'm just wrong. Like there's no other, no other way to put it. I was just simply wrong. When I watched him, like he was really good. Don't get me, don't. There's no doubt. But I didn't know if he would take the step where he could go battle jet and battle, chase and battle. Like, I didn't see that coming. And you know, like the, the whole thing, these two goody guys, they move up when you jump into the deep end with all of the other 250 guys that came before you that were exactly like you. And that's, that's the challenge of it, right? When I say I didn't know that Hunter was going to go to the top of the 450 class, it's because of that. It's because the class is full of guys who are exactly like you. They did the same things you did. They won the races you did, the championships you did. So are you going to be able to beat them? Because the 450 class is simply an all star class. That's all it is, right? Is it? It is a compilation of 250 champions and all stars that moved up and now they're going to sort it out amongst themselves who is the best of them. And I just didn't know where Hunter fit into that. And I don't feel like it was an unfair thing to question, but I also think it's appropriate to say that he has overperformed my expectation. Like, he's been better than I thought he would be. And I like to give credit where it's deserved, whether I'm right or wrong. And Hunter deserves it. So congratulations, Hunter. He's crushing it. I think you're seeing him come out of his shell a little bit, right? Like, he is. Like, you're seeing him like, he's comfortable in his own skin. Like, some of the videos he's done, like that motocross the nations video where he's kind of dancing before. Like, you're seeing Hunter be Hunter now, which I think is awesome. I think he's finding his own voice and he's realizing, like, hey, I can do this. Like, I'm as good as these other guys. Like, I'm gonna make this happen in the 450 class. He's making a lot of money, right? So, like, there is that financial security side of it that's. That's coming with that, which is, I'm sure, incredibly comforting for him because he. He carried the burden of the financial struggle that I talked about that. Like Jet, I don't think Jet really felt. Hunter definitely felt it. So for him to be making a lot of money, right, like, and I don't know what he's making, but, you know, if I had to guess, he's probably like 800k from Honda. His gear deals probably 500. Factoring some other. I don't know, you're probably making 2 million, I'm guessing. I don't. I truly don't know. But he's making good, really good money. He won two championships in 2000 and 23. That was another million. Ish plus, right? So he's a millionaire. He's got a really bright future ahead of him where he's going to make a lot more money. And things are going. Things are going his way. And I'm happy to see it. I think he deserves it. He's had a really long, arduous road to get to where he's at. And. Yeah, so now you know what's in front of him. What does he kind of need to work on to get better? You know, I think he's just got to continue taking steps, right? He's got to work on, you know, what are his weaknesses? You know, I think physically, and this is not me speculating, this is kind of what I've been told is he is not capable of Handling like a big workload, right? So, like, you have to be really careful about pushing him too hard physically. And that's not like, he's not tough or anything. That's not it. The dude is extremely tough. It's just some of it's, you know, it's your body and it's prior trauma. It could be anything. Like, look at Ken Rocks and you. Ken Rockston. It's not the. Ken Rocks is not tough. The surgeries took a toll on his immune system, and he can't handle the pounding and the beating that Chase Sexton's body can. That's not a mental thing. That's not mentally tough or anything. That has nothing to do with any of that. That is just biology and trauma, past trauma, traumatic experiences that your body has responded to and changed over time. But for Hunter, he can't handle the workload that even Jet can. So I think it's fine tuning exactly where Hunter needs to be all the time to be his best self. That is how Hunter is going to be his best version of himself. And I think I know that's still a work in progress all the time with his team around him, Johnny O'Meara and Doc G and everybody continuing to figure that out, get the motorcycle better. So, you know, like. And he's gotten really good in the Whoops, but being as good as Jet, right in the Whoops and. And really, it's just shoring up deficiencies. Not that he has many left. You know, the starts have been on point, and I think it's just leaning into some of the good things, making sure that you get the starts every time to put yourself in a position to succeed. That is absolutely a huge part of it. And then you just chip away at anything that's holding you back. And he's on the right path. There's no doubt about that part. For Hunter, he is on the right path. So let's just see if he can continue. Continue down the road. Because I, again, I was wrong. I was wrong on Hunter, and I'm not going to be wrong any longer. I'm truly a believer in what he's doing. Who else do we got here? Let's talk about quickly, three left, four left. Justin Barcia. You know, I think. I think Barcia's. He's. He's in the twilight of his career, right? Like, he's going to race a year or two more, and then I think he's going to try some other things. He'll do these beach races. I think he'll spend A lot of time in Europe. It wouldn't surprise me to see him do a season of mxgp or at least select MXGP events. But he's another guy that's made a ton of money over the course of his career. He's been around a long time, and he's done really well for himself that way. So I don't think he's stressing. I think he's just kind of being opportunistic, making the money while he can, enjoying racing his dirt bike, raising a family. Yeah. So good for Varsha. You know, I think it's the same kind of thing where almost like AP, set realistic goals, try to win some races in 2025, get back to being a podium guy, like, as much as possible. Those are realistic things he could really kind of aim at, you know, championship I don't think is realistic. I don't believe that at this stage of his career that's. That's in the cards. But that doesn't mean it can't be a successful year. He's had a tremendous career. So I think just staying healthy, trying to rack up more wins, trying to get more podiums is the thing, you know, what does he need to work on? That's tough to say. You know, I think he. He has most of the things in his toolbox. I think finding that elite level speed. You know, we. We used to look at him and be like, yeah, he gets up front, you know, look out, right? Because he's so aggressive, he can hold his position, he can knock down anybody. We haven't seen that much from him. So getting his starts back where he's up front and finding that raw speed where he can go at the front when he gets up there, that's what I think's been missing from Barcia for a little bit. So that's what. That's what I would be really locked in on if I was him. And, you know, fitness wise, he's a bicycle freak. Like, fitness is never going to be a problem for him. I just think it's that top 1% of speed. And that could be a motorcycle thing. Right? Like, there are not many people that are in love with that KTM gas gas chassis. And these other two riders I'm going to talk about in a minute fall into that. So let's just jump to them because we're already over an hour. Malcolm Stewart, he's going to be on Husky again, and it's tough. Like, I think. I think that Mookie has done a great job of finding his Pathway, you know, he wins that 250 supercross championship, doesn't get a factory ride, and it's been, you know, it's been a successful career. He's been around a long time, right, if you think about it. And I think he's made decent money, he's done well for himself. You know, he's had to live in his brother's shadow because his brother was one of the best we've ever seen. But I think it's, you know, for him, I don't think he's happy with his motorcycle. Right. So that's a tough. That's a tough dynamic to live through, is racing on a bike that you don't feel is on par with what you're up against. I've been in that dynamic all too many times, and it's not fun. You know, I'm sure he's making okay money and doing those things, and he's just doing the best he can. But it's not very much fun to feel like, whether it's true or not, I don't know. But if you feel like your bike is not it, it's tough. It's tough to show up and be enthusiastic and optimistic every weekend when you feel like you're coming in behind the eight ball before you even arrive to the racetrack. So, you know, I don't know. I don't know the answer there. In transitioning to Christian Craig, this is where I think Christian Craig has an opportunity, because he's been on that team, he's been on that bike. I know he's been incredibly unhappy on that Husky for two years now, and he's going back to Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, and he could not be more happy about it. So we're going to find out, I think, what the difference is in those motorcycles, right? We're going to see from Christian Craig how much different or what the potential is for. I would. I would even argue, like, Malcolm, right? Like, we're gonna see Christian on the Yamaha and we're going to be able to say, well, if maybe if Malcolm was on Yamaha, that's what he would be doing. I don't know. That's going to be a fun kind of social experiment to run, to compare those two and see what Christian brings to the table. And then you, like, what's going to be funny is if Christian comes out on fire and Malcolm's just like, oh, my God, please, someone just shoot me, right? Like, it'll suck for Malcolm, but I think just the, like, the thought process and the bench Racing and talking about that will be. That'll be interesting stuff to kind of work through. The last guy I want to talk about, and I'm going fast here. I know Justin Cooper. I think Justin Cooper made really positive strides for himself in 2024. I don't think many people expected much in Supercross. I know I didn't. And I think he overperformed. Like, he showed. He showed raw speed. Like, he gets second at the finale in Salt Lake. Like, I think he showed that he can be, you know, up there and, you know, talking to Cooper Webb, talking to other guys that ride with him. Like, he has serious speed during the week, like legit now. Can he ever harness that and bring it to every single main event on the weekend? That's, you know, that's where the rubber hits the road. That's where we find out if he's going to kind of take the next step. But he has, he has ingredient one, which is the speed. Like, most people are never going to have that, so anything's possible. I really like Justin Cooper as a person. He's really nice, he's respectful. So I, I genuinely cheer for him to do well because I think he was an unlikely kind of factory 450 rider. You know, he didn't have any real hype. No one's ever really been like, pointed to Justin Cooper like, we have a Jet Lawrence instead of like, yep, that's the guy. Like, that was never the story with Justin Cooper. So, yeah, I have high hopes for him. We just don't know if those are going to show up on. On every Saturday night. But that's it for this week. Thank you everybody for listening. I hope you enjoyed it. A little bit different. Sorry for the passing cars and probably my heavy breathing as I was walking around, but I enjoy those. It's a little bit different environment and, yeah, not so structured. But thank you to Pirelli Tires, Guts Racing, Plum Creek Funding, TL Speed Shop, Custom Coatings Design Company Works Connection, Grantstone Boots. Who else am I missing? Pro Glow Wash Fly Racing, everybody. Thank you for being a huge part of this podcast. I appreciate it. And yeah, if I can figure out how to stop this thing, I will see you.