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 GUTS Racing Pro, Glow Wash Works, Connection, Fast Foundry, TL Speed Shop, Grandstone, Boots and Fly Racing. Welcome to the Industry Seating podcast. It is Friday. I don't know if I've ever done a Friday podcast for industry seating, but we're going to do it today. It's going to be a little bit about Indy, a little bit about Daytona. It's going to be quick, but I didn't want to leave many of you hanging. Sometimes you guys reach out to me and say, hey, I really wish you had done a podcast last week. So I almost didn't do it because I was in Pulp Studio and I flew. I've flown four times since last weekend. So like it's been a week. I know that shouldn't be an excuse and it's not an excuse. That's why I'm doing it right now. It's just not going to be a super long one. But I did want to get some thing out there both for the sponsors and both for people that, that want to hear this podcast. So thank you to all the sponsors, GUTS Racing, Plum Creek Funding, Works, Connection, T Speed Shop, Grantstone Boots and Fly Racing. Thank you to all of them. And don't forget, TL Speed Shop has that race-rentals.com website up for their trophy truck side. So check that out. But let's jump into this short and sweet today. The two, the 250 class is going to be a showdown and I love the showdown races. I think if you had a showdown at a Triple Crown, I'm not sure it would get much better than that. It would be difficult to pull off because you think about the way showdowns are structured. They have a heat in each class and I don't know, I'm not saying we couldn't figure it out, we certainly could. It would just take some thought to work out how you're going to get 11 from each coast or at least the nine from each heat and then the LCQ. Maybe you just do it that way. Maybe it's the same exact thing. You have an east qualifying practice and a west. You take the top nine from each of those qualifying practices and then they race the LCQ for the top four and you have the the east and the west in the lcq. I guess that would be the same. So it wouldn't take all that much thought now that I think about it, but I think it Would be really cool to watch. Could you imagine the qualifying practices for top nine? Man, those guys would be going for it. That would be. That'd be pretty fun to watch. So maybe there's something there. I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask the powers that be, yeah, why can't we do that? And I think. I think this week might not have been the week to ask my bosses about that. Just. Just gonna throw that out there. For those of you who are listening to this, you probably already know what I'm, what I'm talking about, all the Daniel Blair stuff. But anyway, I think the showdown races are awesome. You think about, you know, Deegan going up against all the guys in the. On the East. It's going to be fun. You know, Hampshire is kind of catching fire here. Anstey needs to strike back. He needs to regain that momentum he had. Of course, we lost Levi Kitchen for the season. That's. That's a huge bummer. But what can you do? It's part of racing. Injuries are unfortunately a part of this sport, and I just think it's there. There are bragging rights, but most importantly, these championships, I believe, are often decided in these showdown races. The amount of points that are up for grabs and the gaps that are available to be. To be made simply aren't there the rest of the time. Now, you think about a race like this, and we need to qualify because Bomare has been a West coast contender, but he hasn't ridden since Arlington. He. He got hurt at. In practice. He hurt his shoulder. Didn't really tell many people, and he hasn't ridden since. So that's not, that's not a great sign when you can't practice at all. That tells me there's something going on. You know, if you're dealing with some sort of manageable injury, you'll usually like, at least be doing starts and maybe some corner practice, some drills, things like that, low impact. But you need to try to stay sharp. You need to maintain, you know, your skill set and do everything humanly possible. When I hear that he hasn't ridden at all and he's just going to give it a go in Indy, that tells me there's something more serious going on. And he, you know, that's, that's telling me they're taking every single possible second to recover and rest and preserve that shoulder for Saturday night. So I don't know what it's going to look like when we go racing on Saturday. That's the tough part is I don't think if you haven't written at all, you don't either. There's no way you can because you haven't tested it. If he had been doing some white riding, he would know, well, it's pretty weak. I have to be careful. I can't put myself in a bad position because I won't have the strength to, to hold on. You know, those things going in because you've been, you've been testing it lightly throughout the week. He, from what I hear, he hasn't done that. So it's going to be, it's going to be a wait and see moment for, for Bowmer. Now where I'm going with that is when I talk about showdown for them. Let's, let's say Hayden Deegan got a really bad start, which he has done many times in this west coast championship. The challenge for him to get from, you know, let's say he gets a bad start in a showdown. Let's say he's 14th on the first lap to get back to the podium is, I'm not going to say impossible because the kid is incredibly good, but so much more difficult when you think about who he has to pass. He's going to have to pass guys like an RJ Hammaker, Jaime just keep, keep going down the list. There are so many, there's so much more depth added in that simply wasn't there in the west coast races. And of course Davies and we'll see what the Mara looks like. And there's going to be talent on the west coast as well. Just the ask is going to be so much tougher. Now I need to be fair and say that if Omar can't do much, then that makes Deegan's life a lot easier. You remove Jordan Smith. If Bomar doesn't have a lot in the tank now he's really got to worry about Davies for the points. Like the job becomes much easier. I'm just saying the dynamic for these showdowns changes a lot. And if you talk to rj, he's leaning into this with full force. He knows how much opportunity there is at a showdown race. And if you look at 20, 24, the championship was decided here. And you know, if you're trying to nitpick, okay, yes, I understand there were many other races and there are a lot of other points handed out. But if you're looking for the real differentiation, where did RJ make up points? Where did he overcome the San Diego crash and all, you know, the trials and tribulations he went through early on outside of Anaheim 1. It was at the showdowns. Nashville was a huge one. RJ wins. Kitchen is on the deck. A gigantic swing happened there, and it wouldn't have been such a big swing without the showdown. That is the thing kitchen's 14th would have been. Let's just go off pure math, like a seventh. And I don't know the. The details because it wasn't specifically seven guys and west seven guys. And that's never how it is, but let's just say for simplicity, that it would have gotten a seventh. That's. That's a championship for Kitchen. Like no ifs, ands or buts around it. If you do the math, if Kitchen gets seventh and at Nashville and RJ still wins, Kitchen is your champion. That's what I mean. That's how important these things are. The math changes so quickly when you double the talent level and who knows, who knows who's the victor and who's the beneficiary and who takes it on the chin because of this dynamic. But this is what makes it so interesting, is someone's going to win and someone's going to lose, and it could be in a big and punitive way, could be very rewarding. You know, you don't know. It's more just about what this does to the point swing that I'm. I'm here for. So it should be exciting. I don't know what the dirt looks like yet. I haven't seen it. These guys are going to ride in about four or five hours from now from, from recording time. So, you know, the track softness level will certainly affect how these guys attack the racetrack. You think about the mistakes that have been made here, you know, Cooper Webb running into Clayson, I think last year, like those. Those things all have effects, and that was simply because the ruts were so tricky. Guys are. Guys get squirrely and lappers can't stay straight, you know, and straight down the middle of the track, and mistakes are made. Look at the ruts last week. Cooper Webb makes an uncharacteristic mistake because of just a really nasty rut there. So the. The softness of the track definitely has repercussions and it causes riders to make mistakes. It also presents areas to make up time. You know, it swings both directions. And I always liked Indy, and when we were back in Pontiac and Minneapolis, I like the soft, ruddy stuff because it slowed the tracks down a little bit and it made. Made mistakes more prevalent. And he really had to mind your P's and Q's. It wasn't just like racing Hot Wheels on a, on a kind of, you know, trying to think of the right word slot car, you know, that's what I felt like. A lot of racing is like when you go out west and it's just, there's no ruts, there's no bumps, it's just wide open. I wasn't very good at that. I mean relatively, you know, I was okay, but I didn't feel like I had really any edge where at these softer tracks where you have to be really smart and line selection and be aware of the track changing all around you. I felt like I had an edge in those situations. So that's, it's going to be that type of weekend. So let's see who can capitalize on it. Let's jump to the 450s, we'll do the power rankings and I'll make a note on each guy. 10th place it's. And these are going to be very similar to last week. The results were not outlandish enough to see big swings, a couple changes, but nothing really crazy. Number 10, Dylan Ferrandis. And I mean honestly he was kind of invisible, you know, like he, he's doing what he needs to do. You know, he's riding around trying to battle for top tens. Like it's not bad, you know, he just isn't setting the world on fire. And I don't know that we're ever going to see that Ferrandus again that is battling for a championship. I think that ship may have sailed which nothing wrong with it. Like he's a 450 pro motocross champion, he's a multi time 250 champion. There's no hate comms associated with it. I just think those best days might be in, in the rear view mirror and that's okay, that, that's a natural, natural thing that happens to everybody at some point. And maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he's got, he'll find something and have a make another run. I just think that possibly we've seen his best days. Justin Barcia probably in the same boat, you know, Bartra I think is still relevant. He's still really capable. Like when I watch him ride in qualifying practice, like the guy is amazing, he is incredibly talented racer. I just don't see the top end speed from him right now. And when a guy like Sexton or you know when jets racing, they kind of just displace him very easily and they're just on their way and that, you know the, that just shows you, he doesn't have the top end pace that the other guys do. You know, he used to be that guy. He used to, I mean one Anaheim, what, three years in a row. He used to be the guy that would get the start and battle and maybe he wasn't the fastest quote unquote guy on the racetrack, but he certainly was in the, in the realm and he could, he was a race winning caliber guy. He was always battling for podiums. I just think he's kind of lost that edge, you know, I think injuries took a toll last year and with age, I always believe and have believed that with age an injury sets you much further back, you know, you just don't have, I don't, I don't know what it is about it degenerative or it's just more difficult to get back to where you were. You lose all of the foundation that you had when you're forced to take a lot of time off. And it's really hard to get back to that. That just razor's edge that it takes to win in this class. And make no mistake, it is a very fine line. And you see how quickly you can lose it. Like it's very fleeting, especially when you get older. And that may just be what's happening to guys like Barcia and Ferrandis and these guys. Nothing wrong with it. Again, it's not a, it's not an insult. It's just the natural kind of way things go, how this sport progresses. If you're not getting better, you are getting worse. And I know that's super cliche and probably is on a refrigerator magnet, but it's true. If you're not getting better, if you're not improving your skill set or getting fitter faster, you're going backwards because everyone around you is. That's the thing. It's not that you're getting worse, it's that everyone else is getting better. So your relative level going to decline. And it's just, that's true for everything. It's true for any, any sport, any industry. Think about like how fast technology is moving. That's very true for that. You know, if your equipment or your technology is not improving on a daily basis, you are in decline by default. And this, this motocross supercross world is no different than that. Number eight, Justin Hill. I mean he's just continuing to hang in there like this kid is. He's really good. You know, he's, He's a top 10 guy right now. You can tell he's rededicated Himself to this sport and to his craft and his diet and all those things. And it's showing up, you know, when, when you hear, I don't know if you guys saw that off camera stuff with, with the podium guys, Webb, Rockson and Plessinger at Daytona. You know, they were giving him credit and, and you don't, you don't get credit from guys like that unless you deserve it. Especially off camera when they are being candid and they don't think that they're being recorded. When they give people credit, you can take it to the bank that they mean it and that it's, it's valid. And yeah, I'm a firm believer that Justin Hill deserves a lot of credit and good for him. Number seven, Justin Cooper. I had Cooper ahead of AP last week. I switched them this week because AP finally kind of showed up and Justin Cooper got fourth. So it was a tough one for me. Don't, you know, don't read too much into it. I just finally saw something from ap. You know, he led laps, he passed into the lead. So I just felt like he deserved a bump. And the only way to really bump him was to, to go past Jacob. And there will be reasons, I'll lay out the other reasons why they didn't move ahead of the other guys. But it wasn't like I didn't have a lot of conviction in this move. I just felt like, yeah, they did. You know, AP got a podium. He beat Justin Cooper on the weekend. So here you go. Number six, ap And I mentioned him. This is what you have to see. You can't just ride around an eighth all season. That's not going to work and he knows that. I'm sure it's been a miserable January and February, you know, and I'm sure he let out a sigh of relief on Saturday night, you know, driving back to Orlando, just had to feel great. And he probably wasn't tired at all. He probably is talking to his wife Kendall and just really enjoying the evening even it's a long day, don't get me wrong. But the, just the endorphins and the sense of, well, being after finally having a good result was I would guess it was palpable, you know, and I'm sure he's looking for more of that at a stadium that has been very good to him in the past in Indianapolis. Number five is Malcolm Stewart. And the reason I have Malcolm ahead of these guys is not, not based off of Daytona. But I mean, he has a win and anytime you get a win in this class, it's going to carry weight, period. And it's not like he's really declined. You know, he's fifth or sixth, sixth in Daytona. He almost passed Sexton on the last lap, so he's still hanging around. And when you get a win, you're going to go ahead of the guys that don't have a win unless you just are riding terribly after that. That's just how this is going to go. So Malcolm is fifth, and I think he deserves to be fifth. And you could argue that he should be ahead of Jason Anderson. I've almost put him ahead of Anderson. The only reason I have, it is just Anderson's been working in the points, you know, after, you know, we were talking about, he's only 17 points down at one point and he had two podiums and there was, there was a lot of hype about what Anderson could do if he kind of got it together. But unfortunately he's, he's not really doing the thing. Like he is not capitalizing on that. So I have to start considering moving him backwards. Like that's just going to have to be, it's going to have to be in the realm of possibility now and we'll see what Indy brings. But don't be surprised if Anderson starts sliding here. You know, he hasn't won a race and Malcolm has. So if they're close in points and Anderson puts in another ride like uninspired ride like he did in Daytona, you already know what's going to happen. Number three is Ken Rockson. And these are very much points based. You know, you could argue that Rockson should go ahead of Sexton, but the points don't say that. And I know that Sexton has all of the negative momentum in the world right now. Everyone knows that. But, but I'm going to leave it here for one more weekend. If Sexton has a bad weekend again, he's going to three. Just, just telling you straight up, he's going to three and Rockson's going to two. I don't know what's going to happen. That's, you know, it's racing. It's not like Sexton looks terrible. He has just got something going on. And I heard that he was feeling the effects from his crash weight and not so much like his back was hurting, but more like he was having a hard time focusing because he hit really hard. So, you know, that's unsubstantiated, just what I heard. But he, he's got to sort this out. End of story. Doesn't matter what the. The reason is. You could say an ex, an excuse. You can say it's a reason. I personally don't really care. It's irrelevant. In the end, he cannot continue to have these things go on. You can't be the fastest guy on the track at one point and then end up fifth. You cannot do it. And he's done that multiple times. He did it at Tampa. You know, I know Malcolm was catching him. I get it. But he had a big lead at one point and he ended up fifth. And then at Daytona, he was catching everybody and he ended up fifth. And at Arlington, he was the fastest guy at Arlington and he got third overall. Those are really important dynamics and negative point swings. Negative catalyst for the championship. You can only sustain so many of those. I'm just speaking from experience. I'm speaking from how many times I've watched it. I've been in championships myself, overseas, where I've lived. These swings. You only get so many bites at that apple to make up points, and you only get so many mulligans before they will end your championship run that. That's just how these things go. And I'm sure all of you understand that it's just getting to. We're reaching critical mass on Sexton. It's at that point for me, mentally. It may not even be a numbers thing, just mentally. I believe this thing is about to come off the tracks if he can't turn it around. You can only take so much mental anguish before it's going to show up a lot more than he does now. You see him holding his head in his hands after every time he makes a mistake. Think about what's going on inside his head. Think about the thoughts that he's allowing to creep into his psyche. He is punishing himself terribly, and those things have accumulative effect. He is really hard on himself. I think his dad's pretty hard on him, too. But his dad's also driven him to this point. So there's two sides to that coin. But these things add up. And it's easy to say, well, you got to just take it easy. And I'm a believer you got to take it easy on yourself. You're a multimillionaire. You're a champion in this class. You're one of the best riders in the world. You've won the motocross, the nations. Like, it's not that bad. Like, you can quit today. You could quit right this second and say, you know what? I'm done. I'm not racing Indy. I'm moving back to Illinois. I'm done. And you could, you know, if you have some smart people in your corner, you could live financially secure for the rest of your life. Like, he's made millions of dollars. He's not going to do that. You know it, I know it. I'm just saying if you put things in the right way, in the right perspective, it's not that bad. Like, it could be a hell of a lot worse than things are right now. So it's just something that I think all of these writers could benefit from, is, is a step back and gaining some perspective. And Chase Sexton is probably the number one name I would associate with that sentiment. He could really benefit from a breather and just, man, give yourself a break. Seriously, take it easy on yourself because I think you're doing a lot of harm to your mental state by just self. I think he's, I think he has really negative thoughts about himself. That's, that's my guess. I don't know. You know, this is all speculation. That's what podcasts are. But I think he is really hard on himself internally. I think he, he tells himself really negative things and he doesn't deserve that from, from the outside, from someone with no bias. I don't have any dog in the fight. I. He does not deserve to talk to himself that way. It is really misplaced negative, negative thinking and negative imagery that he's giving himself that. That's my opinion. So, Chase, if anyone's listening to this, that knows Chase, hey, bro, take it easy on yourself. You're killing it. You know, it are things, you know, messy. Sure, I get it. Like, there's a lot of pressure. You're making mistakes. I get all that and I'm sure he does too, but man, there are, there are millions and millions of people on this planet that would trade spots with you in a heartbeat. And you, you probably should always remember that and your darkest day, your worst moment. Remember that. That most people on Earth, 99.9% of people on this planet would change, change places with you in a heartbeat. Good looking guy, super fit, super wealthy, super talented, in a really cool sport. Like, yeah, you're not, you're not doing that. Bad guy. It's okay. Number one, Cooper Webb. And yeah, I mean, Webb's executing the game plan now. Was he pissed last weekend? Yes. Was he pissed in Tampa? Yes. But he has a 10 point lead. He's riding really well. Things are going his way and he just needs to stay the course. You Know, like he needs to be mindful of Rockson's momentum, no doubt about it. But he really in the end needs to go out and win races and step on the throats of these guys. You know, when, when Sexton's down, make sure he stays down, right? You, like, you finish him while he is in this vulnerable state. And that's a really, I, I think kind of a harsh way, you know, unsportsmanlike way to look at this. But that's, that's what racing is like. They sex or Webb's not looking at this going, man, well, you know, I did. I need to make sure I'm kind to my fellow racer now. He doesn't care about that. He, he wants to end this championship right now if he could go out and win. And you know, Sexton has another bad race. Kenny is. Even if Kenny got second or third going into an off weekend, that's a huge deal. Push the points lead up to 13, 15, 18 to second place. Coming off the off weekend where everybody's looking at it like, how the hell are we going to make up 15 points on Webb? You know, like that's, that's, that's where you want to put these guys. And I think he's on his way. You know, it doesn't mean he's going to win Indy, but that's the opportunity he has. And Cooper Webb is very good at seizing opportunities. He is one of the best I've seen at, at sensing where the situation is and making the most of a vulnerable position for others. So let's see if I'm right. Let's see if he can do it. I'm not saying he's got to win or am I saying he's gonna win. I'm just saying he is acutely aware of what lies in front of him and I think he is one of those guys that can go, you know what? I'm going to make the most of this. I'm going to step up. I'm going to hyper focus myself on this weekend because I am extremely aware of the damage I can do on a day like this. So that's it. I told you it's going to be short and sweet. I hope you enjoyed it. I will get another one out, hopefully Sunday. My plan is to get one out Sunday, so let's see if I can can knock that out. But anyway, hope you appreciate it. Thank you to all the sponsors again. Guts Racing Pump Creek funding Works Connection. Check out worksconnection.com TL Speed Shop with the new website, race-rentals.com Grantstone Boots Fly Racing. Thank you to everybody. See you.