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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, Works Connection, TL Speed Shop, Unmatched supplements, Firepower parts, Grandstone boots and fly racing. Welcome to the Industry Seating podcast. My name is Jason Thomas. I'm sure you probably already knew that, that's why you're here, but I am recording this a little late. It is Thursday and, and we are in between San Diego and Anaheim too. So I'm going to make two podcasts kind of into one because it's a little late to be reviewing everything that happened in San Diego. So I'm going to kind of try to incorporate both what I saw in San Diego and what I expect to happen this weekend in Anaheim too. So you're going to get a little bit of both. And I apologize for being tardy with this podcast, but these things tend to happen. I was on a lot of shows this week, so if you wanted to hear my voice, you probably had your opportunity. But this, as you know, is where I get to kind of steer the ship. I get to decide the narrative. I get to decide what I want to talk about. We're going to do our power rankings. We're going to talk 250 class. But before we do that, let's talk about the sponsors of this podcast. Guts Racing gutsracing.com utsracing on Instagram the best graphics and seat covers in the game. They have make full seats as well. Check those guys out. Andy, Greg, been with me from the jump. Thank you to him. Works Connection may have seen Steve Mathis posting some of their great accessories this week. Rear brake cover, frame guards, Pro launch start device is I what I believe to be the best one in the business. I say it every week. But the fact that Monster Star Yamaha and Factory Honda chooses to use the Pro on start device, you're just not going to get better than that. That's just the end of the road as far as like, you know, where can we get this product? What team should we get? That's. That's it. Like, that is the. The top of the ceiling. So congrats to Eric Phipps on all of his success. I mean, this guy's been the best in the business for accessories since 1990. So going on 35 years in the game and I love being a part of the works connection family. Race-rentals.com want to tell you a little bit more about that. You ever wanted to race like the mint 400 Baja 1000. You want to do it in a side by side, you want to do it in a trophy truck. This is your opportunity. You can do it any way you kind of want to do it. They have all of the equipment ready. So go to race-rentals.com and it's super plug and play. You don't think you want to race. You just want to kind of get your feet wet. They can do that too. They have driving schools. You can go down to Arizona and they can walk you through every step. So you could kind of make it a process where you go down, you learn all the ins and outs, you get to drive the truck, you learn everything there is to know and then you kind of graduate into one of those big races. Because for a lot of people that's a bucket list thing to race like the Baja 500 or the Baja 1000. Like that is as big as it gets for like trophy truck racing or side by side racing. So pretty awesome. Check out again race-rentals.com They've been in the game for 50 plus years. They know what they're doing. Why would you trust anyone else? What else do we got? Fly racing, of course. Firepower parts, of course. Grantstone boots. Listen, I don't get to dress up well, you know what, I could wear them more to work if I wanted to. But when I get to go out and like go on a date or go to town and go to dinner, like especially when it's cold like this, I honestly feel like I am not living up to what Grandstone boots are like. I am not. Me as a person is not good enough for the shoes that are on my feet. They have the most high quality and yes, they're not cheap, but you get what you pay for. And I promise you, everyone I've ever had, they're like, hey, I'm going to try those. You know, I'm business professional. I have a lot of applications for those. I'm just telling you, you can't go wrong. So check out GrantstoneShoes.com and unmatched supplements. My friend Chris Gethin's company along. He has a couple partners there, but Sean Wells I believe is another one of those guys, if any of you are in the bodybuilding world. But they've been launching new products like crazy. And every time I see one or they send me a new one to try, I'm like, guys, you guys are on fire. How do you even keep up with this? But they recently launched like a sleep peptide to basically helps you get into a Deep sleep a little bit easier. And tomorrow a new collagen peptide is being launched as well. Both of these are oral. You mix them into drinks so no injections or anything like that. But they continue to innovate in this space and I have some of the motocross community trying some of the unmatched products as of right now. So hopefully that, that goes swimmingly. I know they work fantastic for, for me, I, the quality is beyond question so I don't think they're going to be any problem with that. So hopefully you'll see some of the, and these are big name writers too that are going to be using unmatched supplements in the future. We'll, we'll see how it all shakes out. But anyway, thank you to all of them and I'll get to the meat of this podcast. I know you're not wanting to listen to the sponsors, but I wouldn't be able to do it without them. There are production costs, equipment and all those things involved too. So let's do this damn thing and let's start in 250s. Why would we not start with Hayden Deegan there? There's no reason to go anywhere else with Hayden and there's a lot to unpack with Hayden last weekend. And moving forward now quickly, you know, with the race, he was the best guy full, you know, like I had somebody complaining about me using Full Stop. So I won't say it but just, you know, in the complete package, when you look at speed in qualifying, speed in the heat, overcoming adversity with not getting the whole shot, fitness, he was the best guy. There was just no way around that and he deserved to win that race. The other part of that conversation is the Max Anstey incident and how that is viewed and was that approach the right way? My take on it is that Max was giving the position up. When you're a racer and you're, you've already been passing the heat and you know that you don't have Hayden's pace, you've already been, it's been proven to you in the heat and now in the main event, he has caught you and now has the inside going into a corner, you really don't have any choice but to relent and give the spot to Hayden. And that's exactly what Max did. Max has so much experience, he knows what the situation is. Everybody who's been in that spot more than once knows that you are the jig is up, you know, for lack of a better term. So Max checked up, he gave Hayden the line and was hoping to just go on his merry way. And I think he knew that for all intents and purposes, the race was finished at that point unless Hayden crashes, which he really doesn't do. Max knew it was done. Everybody that has been doing this for any length of time knew it was done in that moment. Where it got over the line. Is Hayden putting some English on it? Right. Or putting some mustard on it. Whatever phrase you want to throw at this thing to spin your rear tire up there, which this is, you know, where a lot of its opinion but you won't get me off mine. To spin the rear tire up there and put it into the side of Max, that's an intentional move. And. And a lot of these are subtleties. And I get it. Like if you're new to the sport and you're just tuning in, maybe you don't pick up on that. You're like, oh, he didn't mean to. No, no, that's not how this works. I've been around this for too long and I raced for too long and I just been in that situation too many times. Hayden went in there to make a point, you know, and did he mean to knock him down? I don't believe so. And there is a distinction there. I don't believe so. But he felt slighted after a one. And if you know anything about Hayden, you know that he doesn't like when other people get attention. He doesn't like when other people become a threat to his winning and dominance. That is as clear as day. That has been him and his M.O. from the jump. Look at everybody he's done it to in the past. From kitchen to Jaime to Ryder d to master pool to anybody. Take your pick. Anybody that's ever challenged him. Bowmer, just go down the list and there will be more. This is not something he's going to shy away from. Max Danstie just happens to be the latest of them. Tom Viall. Add Vial to the list. There are a ton of these guys. RJ Hampshire, you know, like anybody who has been in the mix with him, he goes about it this way. He gets aggressive, he gets mouthy and this was no different. So given the opportunity, yeah, he got aggressive and he put his rear tire into him and Max went down. Was it the dirtiest thing I've ever seen? No, it wasn't. But it was really aggressive. It was borderline. The only problem I have with it is that he shies away from it after and he goes into this mode that we've all Seen where you know, he thanks God, which I'm all for. Trust me. I'm a born again Christian and I am all for giving glory to God. I that is not the problem. It is that he is using that as a shield. In my opinion. He is using it to deflect the booze that he knows are about to come and the hard feelings that he knows are about to come and I don't like that. And that's my opinion. He could say I'm absolutely wrong and I'm an a hole for saying that that's okay. But that is my opinion is that's what he's doing because he knew what he did and it doesn't make it wrong. I'm not the judge, jury and executioner on this but he knew that he went in with intent and I'll even back that up today or yesterday maybe. Brian Deegan posted on some post basically saying that you don't understand, you know, like people that are mad about the past don't understand racing. Hayden gave a basic warning shot as I think the term he used a few corners before Max didn't heed the warning and then he paid the price for it. That's in essence what Brian said. So it can't be both. It can't be. I didn't mean to and I was just trying to block him. And also I gave you a warning shot and you didn't listen and so then I had to go further. Like it can't be both. So, you know, pick your poison, choose your fighter. But to me it's a bit comical because in the end Hayden just own it. Like I've said this from the jump. Like just own it and say, you know what, man, I'm the guy. Like, I don't like that he won last week. I don't like that people are thinking he's in the title contention. I don't like any part of it and if I give him the chance I'm going to rough him up. Like, I would respect that so much more. It doesn't mean that I think would think it's awesome but my respect level for him would go up. I would think it's like bush league as racing wise. But this two faced do one thing and then say another to me is just like the height of hypocrisy and maybe hypocrisy is too strong of a word but I don't know, like just stand up and own it, you know, Like I, I think every adult in the room would just be like you know what? I don't like it, but at least you're admitting what's going on. It's okay to be hyper competitive and want to win at all costs like most people reward that. It's this. Oh, my gosh. I didn't mean to. I just. Man, what happened, that is not going to fly. Nobody with a brain is going to. You know, unless you're just a die hard Deegan fan, which there are a lot of everybody neutral is going to be like, no, sorry, bro. I just can't buy that. So that's where I come down on Deegan coming in a two. This is not over. They had a huge blowout this week. Hayden, from what I was told, Hayden went at Max aggressively with words this week. Max was like, why are you doing this? Why are you saying those things? And Hayden just went in harder because again, I think it all comes back day one when Hayden feels threatened from him being the guy and the top dog, he goes on the attack. That is just what he does. And there's nothing wrong with it. You just have to know that's who he is and that's what he's going to do. Going at your teammate at the practice track to me is like, what? Like, why are you doing this? But that is what Hayden does. That is his M.O. and it's not going to change. So this is not done. This is. I think he actually has turned Max into angry Max now where I think before he was just like, you know what, that's my bad. I shouldn't have trusted him in the moment. I shouldn't have thought like, hey, he's my teammate. He won't do that. That's on me. My bad. I'll know better next time. I think he took him from that guy to oh, now you want to really go hard. Okay. All right, game on. Let's do the damn thing. I really believe that's what's happened and I don't think that's a net plus for Hayden. I don't like, I don't see any upside in doing stuff like that. And Steve and I talked about this on Moto 60. He's paid a price for it once with kitchen at St. Louis. He really hasn't paid a price for it ever before or after. At some point you're going to deal with people that know how to do something about it. And I promise you, if he tries to do these things in the 450 class, those guys, grown men that have been through the trials and tribulations, they're not going to put up with it. He may beat them like he is incredibly gifted and incredibly good at racing but they're not going to just take it lying down. I know this with every ounce of my soul that they would rather ruin their race and to knock him down then be disrespected from someone like Hayden as far as, like being younger and being wowed the way he is, they're not going to take that. So whether Max does anything about it or not, not for me to decide, I don't really have a strong opinion. But what I can tell you is that feelings right now are at an all time high. As far as like discontent. There's a lot of harsh feelings right now where I think if Hayden had diffused it and gone to Max on Monday, guessing they rode Monday and said, hey man, my bad. I'll check myself a little bit next time. I truly I got aggressive. I didn't mean to knock you down though. Even if he meant it or not. If he said that, I think he'd be fine. But instead, in true Hayden fashion, he went even harder. So I don't know, man. It's not for me to say it's not working because look at the results. He's won every championship pretty much outside of this past SMX playoff championship. But I just don't think it's wise, man. I do not think it is the right course of action. And ask any former champion if they think and not me. I'm not putting myself in that but I do have an opinion. But I'm saying ask guys who have been there and done it and had to think through these things. Ask them if they think this is wise. I will bet you any amount of money they say nope, this is not the way to go about it because now you have a target on your back from everybody in the class. Like that's just how you don't want that. Why would you want that from anybody? So anyway, I'm going to get off Deegan, that was far too much. But I think it was really important. I kind of covered max 2. I still think Max can win. He's going to get the start. Now the question is what happens when he gets to start and if Hayden catches him, what do we see in that scenario? I truly don't know. I don't know what will happen now that it's really, really tense between those two. Cam McAdoo, honestly, great job from Cam. Like this race from Cam when he wasn't the fastest guy. He hasn't really been the fastest guy or even near it. Like, he has not even been, I would say, one of the top five fastest guys through two races. But he was able to conjure and manufacture a second place. That was awesome to me. I love to see that from McAdoo. And I think, you know, if he can do that regularly, really, really good things await McAdoo because I do think that he's going to get better. I think he's going to get faster. And if he can, if he can get a second place finish when he's really not, you know, kind of using his best stuff, if that makes sense, that portends very, very good things from here. So I, I want to give Cameron McAdoo a lot of credit. And I told Nick way this after the race. I was like, hey, man, that was pretty solid. And Nick being his coach and being honest to a fault was like, the riding's not great. And I said, yeah, I actually agree. It was the first thing I said at Anaheim. One was that Cam looks off the pace. He doesn't have the last 1% that he typically would have. Like, he's still behind the curve from the injury. Like, it's intensity, it's the little last edge, and I never could go as fast as Cam is going, but I know what it looks like and I know what it feels like. And he's missing that little extra right now. So it was even more impressive for him to be able to get a second place given that dynamic. So good job, McAdoon. And his podium interviews are all time right. Like, a lot of people I know, some of the riders roll their eyes and it's, you know, kind of the same thing, but it's heartfelt like, he is not making things up or like, I'm going to sell the audience. Like, no, no, this is who Cameron McAdoo is. Like, this is. This is who he is as a person. He's just being really transparent on the podium interviews. And I'm here for it, right? Like, I like Cameron McAdoo. I've said it on the show a million times. I'm a McAdoo fan and I cheer for him. I can't like on the air, but deep down, I cheer for him. You're a good person. You do things the right way, you treat people the right way, you're most likely going to have me as a fan. That's just probably how that's going to go. Levi Kitchen is next on my list. Maybe not next on the results, but, man, Kitchen has got to figure this thing out, the riding is not the problem. The. It's all the little stuff. It's the detail stuff that is killing him. And most notably, it's trashing on the start. That's two in a row, man. Like, the heat race start was so bad. I know they're dealing with clutch changes and they're trying to figure things out and they're changing levers and they're all these things. That was one of the worst starts I've ever seen by a guy with his talent. Like, that was atrocious. That's not like, hey, we need to be a little better. That was truly awful. So I don't know what's going to make this right. I don't know what's going to fix Levi Kitchen, but I can tell you that, you know, he's only nine points down. He's very fortunate to only be nine points down because Deegs blew it at a one with a start. And he has an opportunity to turn the tide here. With minimal damage, he could easily be down 15 points, incredibly easily, the way Hayden is riding. And he needs to do something about it while he still has an opportunity. So this weekend, to me, is incredibly important for Kitchen, like, wildly important, to turn the momentum back his direction and start reeling the points back in. Because we go here, then we go, we start going down the list. And if you like, you look at Hayden over time, the more races you give him, the more damage he's going to do to you. So you need to take it. Like, you got to get in front of him early and try to withstand him getting better. Like, look at last year. Look how good he got down the stretch compared to the beginning of the year. That's just who he is. It's always the same with him. Every championship he's ever been in just gets better and. And better and better as you go. And I guess if you go out and dominate, you know, the opening pro motocross round, it's hard to get better from that. But supercross especially, he just continually gets better as the races go. And for Kitchen, like, if I didn't think he was so capable, I wouldn't be hard on him. And it's the same kind of mantra I have with Sexton. If I didn't think that there was so much there and they weren't capable of so much, I wouldn't come down on them. I wouldn't expect anything. And that is something that I've tried to, like, really portray to people because I've had people like, man, you're really like. And Ricky's the same. Ricky's pretty. He's demanding of Sexton, and I am too. But that's only because of what we see them able to do. If I didn't think he was capable of doing anything, if I thought his lack of talent or lack of motivation or a lacking, you know, he's just too old or doesn't have the skill set, I wouldn't say anything. I would like. I would be like, he's doing really well. Like, he's won so much and done so great. This is awesome. But what he's capable of, this is Kitchen and Sexton. It changes the conversation, it changes everything that I have to say about them because I know that they're capable of so much more than they're giving us. And now we have to talk about why, why they're not doing it. So watch for Kitchen this weekend. I truly think this is a huge race for Kitchen and Truly and for Sexton. Very similar storylines they have going on and they practice together a lot. So maybe I'm not saying there's anything to that, but it is coincidental that both of them, I think, are in the same spot. Chance Hymas. One of the biggest saves I've ever seen in my life. To be able to shift twice in the air, to know instinctively, to get the rear tire spinning faster, to bring the front end up, I've never done that. It was remarkable to see. It's easy to say on the front end, like, yeah, man, if you could just grab a couple gears when you're endoing, that'll help you. Like, cool, that sounds awesome. But to be able to do it and then full, you know, red, like, five alarm fire, panic, to be able to do it is next level instinct. So I give him a lot of credit. I know he was freaking out when that happened, and that's why he rode around without really jumping much for half a lap. I think he was so terrified, and I don't blame him, but that's really where the sixth came from, because if he stays there, I think he gets third. Like, if he doesn't have that moment, if he gets around McAdoo, he was capable of more, certainly more than a sixth. Michael Mosman podium. Great job, Michael Mosman. You know, Michael Mosman is a unique individual. You can see from his podium interviews, if you've ever gotten the chance to meet him, you'll know exactly what I mean. But he's gone through a lot. His. His career has been really bumpy. And this kid is so talented, but it has not come easy. Like, that crash at Unadilla last year was just breathtakingly brutal, and he's had a lot of those. He's knocked himself out more times than I care to remember. So it's nice to see Michael Mosman doing well. And I do think he could win a race. I really do. He's going to need things to go his way. He's going to need to get the hole shot, and he's going to need Deegs to have some sort of adversity. But I do think he could win a race. He could be that. That sleeper guy you think about, like a weather race, like a Seattle, something out of the norm. He could. He could. Absolutely. I'm not saying he will. I'm just saying he. He's on form to be able to do something like that. So that's our 250 class. We're not going to take a break. We're not going to do anything other than go straight to the power rankings with this thing. Number 10. And I just want to mention these are. These were really tough this week, truly. Like, these were really difficult for me because we have, like, a lot of variance in the results. Like, it's hard to kind of pick and choose. Like, for instance, I took out Ferrandus. I don't have Sabachi in there coming off a top five. And I took out Anderson after going, what, like 611 or whatever. He's gone. I don't remember what he got at the first round, but something like that. No, to get 9th may have gone 911, but I don't have Anderson in there either. They're all honorable mentions. That's how difficult this was, is. I don't have either of those two guys in there when, honestly, they deserve to be in there. It's just I only have 10 spots and I'm going to tell you why they're not in there. So number 10 is Prado. He was pretty good. I mean, look at his, you know, his qualifying was outstanding. I think he, you know, that. That first round was just mind blowing. And I think for him to end up like 11th shows like he can do it. I do think he needs to get the start because that's always been the M.O. with Jorge Prado. Like, he always needs to get the start. I don't think that's going to change like that. There's no reason for me to think that that will change with Jorge Prado is that he's going to Be a guy that needs to get the start. So when I watch Jorge Prado kind of struggle in 11th to move forward, that. That checks out for me. Like, I have no reason to doubt what my eyes are telling me, and they're telling me that if he gets a good start, he's capable. We learned that at a 1. But if he doesn't get the start, it's going to be really challenging to. For him to move forward. I think there's too much talent at the front of the pack for him to move forward in this field, so he needs to rely on what he does extremely well, and that is get the start and run away and hide. So I think he can do it, but it's going to be situational. It's going to. He's going to need to lean on his strengths. And I think he can. I really do think he can. Time will tell, you know, we'll watch all of us together, but it wouldn't shock me if you saw a lot of top tens because he kind of has the important stuff figured out. Like, he has, I think, the pace, for the most part, figured out. He's fine in the whoops. Like, reasonably fine. Like, is he the fastest guy? No, but he's pretty solid in the whoops, which is really all you can ask for from. From Prado, I think, especially when you compare to prior seasons and look at what he did when he got the start. Like, this is a guy that knows what to do with a hole shot. Or like he thrives on racing from the front. So I think good things are to come from Prada. That's why I have him. Top 10 is because I like everything I've seen qualifying well, heat races are fine, and even with a mediocre start, he was able to turn that into something really good in the main event. You know, like I say, really good. He was able to turn a mediocre start into a reasonable finish, which is what I have been the most concerned about. What is he going to do if he starts in the back? Because he could get bumped around. He doesn't really have any experience racing in the back, which is. That's been true his entire career. He's never really had any experience racing in the back. And it's just going to happen in Supercross. The starts are too tight, there are short shoots and he can't get the jump every single time. He's going to start up front most of the time, but it's not going to happen every time. So I have Prado at 10 for a reason. I think he truly deserves to be at 10, and it's going to be an ongoing process. If he starts regressing or other guys start moving him around, then fine. But that. That first race for me looms super large. So I like what I've seen from. From Jorge Prado so far. Number nine is rj, and this one's a bit controversial because he hasn't been in the top 10 in a race yet. But I'm looking at last season. I'm looking at what I think he's capable of, and I'm. I'm looking at him learning as we go. Like, I just think he is going to get much better as we go, and I'm not. I don't think this is, like, peak RJ Hampshire right now. Like, I think everybody hopes it's not anyway, right? Like, this is, I think, going to get much better, and time will tell, but I think he still deserves to be in the top 10 because he was so rock solid while last season. And I think he'll figure it out. I think he'll figure out how to stay off the ground. I think he'll figure out that, like, you can't override the 450. Like, you just simply can't. You have to respect it. You have to be smart about what you're doing. And I think that he's going to learn that really, really quickly. So I have RJ Hampshire at number nine. And again, it's not like he's. He's staying there forever. You know, if he continues to crash and continues to make mistakes, I promise you he will get moved out of there very, very quickly. But for now, I feel fine with him being at number nine. Malcolm is number eight. And, like, Malcolm's going to be fine. He's only going to get better from here. The injuries are, you know, like, obviously the shoulder is a problem, so I look for that to improve significantly. Uh, maybe not this weekend, but shortly. He's going to get a lot better. So if he's able to race a week after that, things are going to get better rather quickly, which is a great sign for Malcolm because he was already pretty freaking good 10th with that shoulder. Think about that. Think about getting 10th after that crash. That says so much about Mookie's character, about his strength, about his ability to overcome adversity. And I think he's. I think he's going to get better for, like, I don't think it's. It's going to regress. I think he's going to get stronger. I think speed wise, I saw enough in the off season to know he can do what it takes. So I feel comfortable with Malcolm being a top ten guy moving forward. I really do. You know, we'll see. We'll see. The jury's still out. It's early. We have two races under our belt. But I think Malcolm deserves the benefit of the doubt because that crash was just truly unreal. And for him to even be racing still says a lot like that is. That's pretty wild for him to even still be racing. I don't know that he's going to win a race. I've been asked that a bunch of times. I don't know that he's going to win a race this year. That's. It's just such a tall task to win a race in this class. He's only done it once in his career and he's starting off with the shoulder thing, which is not a great way to start, of course. So we'll see. We'll see on winning a race. But I would just like to see him get back to fully healthy and back to podium contention. I think that would be a hell of a return because his season could be over. Like, truly with the way that went, his season could already be done before it started. And that would be. That would be truly a shame. And I'm very thankful that know we're going to get Malcolm Stewart in this series. We're going to get more Mookie. You know, last year was. Was such a breakout and it was probably the moment of the series for a lot of people. I know so many people at Fell were just like, I don't know how we're ever going to top that Malcolm Stewart moment. I don't. I don't blame him. That was just simply incredible. So for Malcolm, let's just hope that it's only up from here. That would be. Yeah, it would be a blessing for, I think, honestly, for the series. Not that I really care who wins and loses, but I think for the series it would be pretty awesome. Who else we got? Number seven is Aaron Plessinger. And I know it's gone poorly for ap. I get it. It has not been a good run thus far for ap, but he's looking better. And you just have to wonder, had he not crashed at or he didn't crash, had he not gotten taken out that first heat race by Cooper Webb, what would this have looked like? Would it. Would it all have gone differently? Because there's no doubt that that changed things, right? Like, he didn't have good gate pick in the main because of that crash. And it's. Once you get things going the wrong direction, it's really hard to kind of get this. The ship steered back your way. So I don't know, like, maybe it didn't change anything, you know, maybe it was absolutely a nothing burger. But I do believe that it did kind of change the trajectory of what we've seen so far. I really do. I think it changed everything that we've seen because if you get the ball rolling the right way, it's really hard to derail that. It's really hard to kind of unseat a lot of positive momentum. And I think we probably got that situation. It just. It just uncoupled anything he had going. And I know I'm kind of droning on about it, but I'm trying to think of an instance where you get going one direction and you feel like you're going to execute and then one thing kind of tips the scales the wrong way and then everything comes unravel. But it's like a perfectly fine like centrifuge or refined centrifuge. And if one little thing gets off kilter, the thing starts wobbling and everything kind of comes unravel. That's what happens when you go from winning the heat race to barely qualifying in that heat race, you now went from like second gate pick or first gate pick maybe to like, I don't know what he was 15th gate pick or something like that. It just. Everything is so much harder now. You need a miracle to get a good start in the main event versus you were dialed. You would have had the gate you wanted. You'd probably been right next to the box. Like life gets a lot easier. So I don't know. I'm giving him an incomplete here is basically what I'm trying to tell you. Because I don't know that we've seen the best of AP yet. Like, I just think that he has more in the tank and we're just getting a touch of the AP that is. Is coming. So we'll see. It doesn't mean he's gonna show up or do anything, but I think that he's gonna bring it anyway. Moving on to Justin Cooper. And wouldn't you know it, Justin Cooper is sixth and he's been sixth place in both races so far. So it shouldn't be shocking to anybody that he is in sixth here. Now for Justin Cooper, he's overcome a lot. It's been A very quiet sixth. But if you look at the results, he has been outstanding as far as moving through the pack. Like, it has been a much better sixth place than you might think from the outside. And I think if he ever can find a way to get a start, you're going to see Justin Cooper do some damage. So. I'm trying to think, what is the ceiling for Justin Cooper? And I apologize for. I'm kind of getting lost in thought as I think about these things. But I do think a podium is possible for Justin Cooper, I really do. And a track like this weekend, Anaheim 2. The Whoops are going to be really conducive to jumping. And I haven't seen them built yet. I'm just looking at the track map. But why I say that is the way the corner is formed. It's going to be flat and it's going to be slippery and everybody's going to go to the inside. When you go to the inside and you have no speed going into the Whoops, it is a whoop jumper's dream because the guys that want to blitz have no speed. Like, they're. They're blitzing from a flat stop, basically. And so they have to now either get on top and then try to build speed going in, or they just kind of like flounder through there. And the best guys in the world aren't going to flounder through there, but they're not going to hit them with reckless abandon the way they would with a lot of speed. And for Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb, at times, Cooper Webb's better in the Whoops, but at times it can be the reason they don't get on the podium or win the race. And I think when you look at the situation as an. As all things considered, this whoop section opens the door for a good result. It doesn't guarantee it, but it opens the door for a good result. And that's. That's really important, that is for riders mentally. They're going to go into the race and say, like, I can do this. Like, this is the setup I need. Short start. If I get the whole shot, I'm not going to have any liability on this racetrack. That is a big mental advantage to have, and it's not an advantage on the track because everybody's going to have to do the same thing. But for what they do, and knowing what's a liability and knowing what type of loops can be a problem, removing that complete dynamic is such a weight lifted off your shoulders. And I think it really will be for those guys this weekend, I think they'll go into this being like, man, like, this setup is pretty damn ideal for me and I better make the most of it. Who else we got? Number five is Hunter. And Hunter is dangerously close to moving forward. And you think about the guys in front of him, it's really hard to put Hunter in front of the rest of the guys. It really is. Like, you have multi time champions, you have defending champions, you have the fastest guys in the race, you have the guys that have won all the races so far and you have guys that have been on the podium twice. Like, it is just, it's a really difficult thing to ask to move him forward right now. And this is about the best I can give him based on what I want to move him forward. Like, I think he deserves to be higher, but I can't. Does that make sense? Like, I feel like he deserves it thematically, but when you, in practical terms, he doesn't because he's riding well. He almost won the SMX World Championship. He almost won the promo. Well, almost won the pro Motocross championship. He was really good. He won Buds Creek. Like, he was fantastic summer and the fall. Now he's getting podiums in Supercross. Like, he deserves a lot of credit. And if he does continue this path, I'm going to move him forward. Like, make no mistake, I'm going to move him to the front, near the front if this continues. But right now I can't yet. And we're getting close. I promise you we're getting close. Number four is Chase Sexton. And Sexton, I'm giving him credit because I know what he's capable of. That's really what this is. It's not based on two rounds at all. I mean, maybe you could throw the heat race in there because that was pretty damn special. And maybe you could throw his lap times in and overcoming the, the hitting gate because that was really special. But hitting the gate is inexcusable. And the first round, like getting eighth, I don't want to say it's inexcusable, but it's not good. It's not what he's capable of. It's nowhere near. I mean, it was a one was an abomination for Chase Sexton. Like, he looked terrible. Not, he didn't look terrible, like, but look at all the mistakes he made jumping off the track. Like, it was not a good race is what I'm trying to tell you. I'm giving him so much credit because I think he's going to win. And he was really good at times last year. Like, I would argue he was the fastest guy in 2025, and we're two races in and he's proven that he can be the fastest guy again. He was the fastest qualifier at A one, and then he was setting the fastest lap times at San Diego. So there you go. That's why he's number four, results be damned. So far. I'm not going to get caught in the moment. I'm going to give this thing time to play out. Number three is Cooper Webb. And another great example, like, I'm not going to get caught up in the moment because better things are coming for Cooper Webb. This is not sustainable behavior. Crashing twice, you know, like, this stuff is going to sort itself out. It's. He hasn't been riding poorly. It's not like he's riding around and getting, you know, eighth or whatever. That's. That's not what's happening. It's circumstances. It's putting yourself in bad position. It's bad starts. It's crashing into Hunter trying to make a pass. It's getting taken out by Chase, like, allowing the door to be open. It's all those things. And I think those things are temporary setbacks for Webb, and I think he's going to figure this thing out. They went to Florida last minute and have been testing all week, so I don't know what they figured out. I'm sure that they were working on starts. I know that was a big concern. Different clutch, plates, springs, levers, engagement points. All those things they have the capability of changing. So I'm sure they tried everything there is to try. And I'm sure they probably burned multiple clutches in their motorcycle figuring out how to get off the line better, because that has been a real problem for them so far. More so Justin Cooper than Cooper Webb. But Webb's main event starts haven't been there. Like, he's got one out of three. And I know there's been two races, but the red flag when he got. And the other two haven't quite been there. Number two is Ken Rockson, and you could say he didn't win. I get it. Like, he didn't even race outdoors. I get it. But he has been really good through two rounds. Like, unequivocally better than Sexton and Webb through two rounds. And I think his body of work in Supercross is far superior to Hunter Lawrence. That's not even a question. So if you want to say that I'm putting Roczen in second and that's unfair. That's fine. I'm not going to argue it. I actually probably could see your point, but I did it anyway because that is the form that Ken Rockson is on right now. He looks amazing on his motorcycle right now. That. That is really more the point. So I'm. I'm leaving him there. I think he's going to be just fine. I think he's gonna win a race. I do. If he won a two, I wouldn't even bat an eye. I would. I would be like, yeah, man, that absolutely checks out. That makes all the sense in the world. So I do think that he is on his way to really good things in this. In this series. So we shall see if I'm right or wrong. But I think a race win is coming, and he just. He looks the part so much right now. I think these guys better be ready for a really good Ken Rockson moving forward. So let's see. Let's see if Kenny can find a way to get a win, because I do think that a win is very, very much COD coming. That leaves one guy, and I'm sure you can figure out who I'm talking about, and that would be none other than Eli Tomac. And Eli Tomac, make no mistake, has been absolutely lights out. Incredible. Like, for real incredible. He has been awesome. I was very unsure of what this would look like going into the season. Not because I don't think UI Tomac's a great racer. That has nothing to do with it. It is because I wasn't sure that he could handle so much change and be this. Be like, not this good, but, like, go out and win. Like, look at change. I know I've talked about this, but he's changed motorcycles. He changed, like, the metallurgy of the frame. He changed suspension components there on wp. He changed suspension technicians, which he's never worked with anybody that he has now. He's never worked with any of the Austrians. He's never raced a KTM outside of, you know, the KTM Junior Supercross Challenge. That is so much to work through and figure out. And look at Chase Sexton. Look how it's gone. For Chase Sexton. That is more the norm. Like, maybe, okay, the crashing, but, like, not being perfect, screwing up to start being unsure of where to go on settings. That is like Sexton changing his entire motorcycle of round one to round two. That is the prototypical. Switching everything. This Eli Tomac thing is wild. Like, kudos to him. Great job to him. I don't know how the hell he's done is a master class in how to switch teams and figure things out. Truly, it really, really is. Like, this is. This is something special. And I don't know that we'll ever see something like this ever again. Like, really, I don't know that we will see somebody that's been able to figure it out this way like this anytime soon. I don't know that I ever have. Like, maybe Ricky going from Cali to Honda and come out and winning everything right away is similar, you know, I guess that's a fair comparison to make. And Ricky crushed it on a Honda. Like, but I don't know that it. Like, look at where Ricky was so unequivocally the best guy at the time. It's. It's a little bit easier to believe for me. But so, like, what I'm trying to say is, Ricky, like, he had such an edge on Everybody. Speed wise. McGrath was way off his best level. No one else was even really close. So that kind of makes sense to me that he would be able to do it in that context. Eli Tomac's 33 years old and there's no way you can say that he is like, his is on his best form of his, you know, going in. Was he on the best form of his career? There's no way you could say that. Like, that wouldn't be a fair assumption to make, I don't think. I certainly wouldn't make that case and I'll be damned if he hasn't taken all that and made it look ridiculous. So I, I just give the guy all the credit in the world. I really, really do. And yeah, I just like everything I'm seeing from the guy, like, he just looks phenomenal on the motorcycle right now. Can he win the championship? Of course he can. The guy's won two races pretty. I don't want to say easily because Hunter could have ran it in on him. But like, he has been. It's impossible to say he hasn't been the best guy through two races. So when you have a guy that has historically struggled early in the season, like, he has not been that great in January over the course of his career, I think anybody that's paying attention would know that for him to be this good right away, to win the first two rounds, to establish himself as the man to beat to, I'm just gonna say it, dominate the series in January on all new everything. Good luck, man. Good luck to everybody else. Because that is an equation that I don't know that anybody can answer. I really don't. Anything can happen. Injuries happen. You know, a Sexton could catch fire. I get it. There's a million different ways that they could go sideways, but through two? Not that I've seen. Not that I've seen so far. This guy looks like he is on rails right now. And he doesn't have to win everything, right. It's the starts are on point. He's not making mistakes. He looks really comfortable on the motorcycle. So he can just be around the podium most of the time and run away with this thing. I don't know that that's going to happen. I'm not predicting that. I'm just saying what it looks like on the surface is pretty damn impressive. So that's it for this week. Thank you. Enjoy the races. And I promise to get this one out sooner next week.