• 5 months ago
Transcript
00:00Make a move to get around that 32.
00:02That's right.
00:03Watching incredibly closely up here in the manager's tower, Ryan Dungey.
00:06Ryan, you have won here four times with the overall there on 450s.
00:10You know this track extremely well.
00:12You know Chase Sexton extremely well.
00:14What are you seeing out of him now with that 2.06 time there?
00:17Well, his lap times are coming into play.
00:19Start was good.
00:20Kind of got shuffled back there.
00:21But today I just feel like he's more letting the race come to him.
00:24As the race goes on, the lap times are dropping.
00:26He's getting faster and faster.
00:28With that, you don't want to make any mistakes.
00:30Let the leaders go.
00:32Hunter, he knows that championship's close.
00:34He's going to put in a hard charge.
00:36But some good racing.
00:37We'll see as the race plays out.
00:39See if he can't get to the front.
00:40Thanks so much, Ryan.
00:41Enjoy your hometown race here.
00:42I went in second moto.
00:44But, yeah, it's always good to see Ryan.
00:46But I'm just looking at the time that Chase Sexton is gaining on these guys.
00:50And it's all in those sand rollers.
00:52He was a couple seconds behind him.
00:54And look where he's at right now.
00:56He's rolling.
00:57Yeah, he was not in the shot one lap ago.
00:59And now he has both Lawrence and Cooper in his sights, J.T.
01:04And if Sexton gets by quickly here, guys,
01:07he is going to ride off into the sunset faster than these two will know what happened.
01:11You see how quickly he's pulled up to the back of them.
01:13The only thing that can slow down this momentum is he drops in
01:16and starts riding at their pace versus the pace he's used to catch them.
01:20So watch for that.
01:21He needs to make quick, decisive moves.
01:23And if he does, this moto is practically over.
01:27Yeah, and J.T.'s right.
01:28But look at Chase Sexton's body position.
01:31He's standing up.
01:32He's relaxed.
01:34To me, that's a rider who knows he's going to pass these guys.
01:37Sexton on a run to the front.
01:51And Lawrence trying to solve Justin Cooper,
01:54who has led almost to the halfway point of this race.
01:57For Anderson Plessinger.
01:59Plessinger, what a comeback.
02:01Yeah, Aaron was able to get around Dylan.
02:03Dylan's struggling again a little bit.
02:05Wouldn't say again, but struggling a little bit more today to keep that pace.
02:09Aaron's going to be kicking himself,
02:10because I think he does have the pace to be up here battling with these guys,
02:13at least for second place.
02:16But now, just like that 250 class,
02:18we've got a three-way fight for the lead.
02:21Yeah, it is on right now.
02:23Yeah.
02:28At this point, Hunter's aware where Sexton is, right?
02:31Has he noticed?
02:32No, he noticed.
02:33I mean, I saw a little look back a few laps ago,
02:35and that's when he really started pushing the pace.
02:38So, yeah, Justin Cooper's doing a great job, Will, of holding these guys off.
02:42Yeah, he is.
02:43And right now, Hunter Lawrence is wanting to do the same thing.
02:45And I heard you say earlier, James,
02:47you were wondering how much take that they may have watched
02:50back at Honda HRC there between Moto.
02:52So I asked Hunter Lawrence's trainer, Johnny O'Meara, that question,
02:55and he said, yeah, we definitely looked at stuff.
02:57We looked at what Chase was doing.
02:58We looked at where Hunter was losing any time there.
03:01And now he's trying to make up that.
03:03And I said, look, what does he need?
03:04What's going to be the difference-maker here?
03:05And he said, it's intensity.
03:07He's just going to have to dig really deep.
03:09So more of that simplistic.
03:11Oh, as the guys there make contact, more of that simplistic coaching there,
03:15but digging deep on a track like this, it's a theme.
03:18It worked, Will.
03:20He managed to muscle the lead away from Cooper.
03:23Yeah, strong move.
03:25Angles.
03:26Just had a better angle going into that corner.
03:28Caught Justin Cooper off nice.
03:31Halfway through the Moto.
03:32Reminder that Monster Energy now available at Quick Trip.
03:36And this is the critical juncture.
03:39Hunter going to try to get away.
03:41Sexton going to work on Cooper.
03:44Sexton.
03:50Big run around the outside.
03:52Finishes it off.
03:54That's a perfect example of where Chase is making the time.
03:56If you notice, you saw Justin Cooper.
03:58Both tires were off the ground.
04:00Chase Sexton, the rear tire was on the ground the whole way through.
04:03So perfect shot.
04:05Great job by our camera crew to catch that.
04:07Really good.
04:09Chase is doing a great job at just keeping that bike on the ground.
04:12Not moving too much, and it's less energy.
04:14Now he's going after that 96.
04:17Maybe Sexton not waiting any longer.
04:20Well, yeah, I think Hunter got around him.
04:23So he just doesn't want to get too far away.
04:26Get too far away and have to take that chance, JT, to catch him.
04:29Yeah, and that pass, I believe, this is all forced by the intensity that Chase Sexton brought to the fight.
04:36Because Hunter, I think, he was being complacent.
04:38He was being patient.
04:40You see how he forces a pass there because he knows how important it is to stay ahead of Chase Sexton.
04:45James, you've been talking about all day how important it is for Hunter just to be in front of Chase all the way through these sections.
04:51Don't let Chase get out front and dictate his own race.
04:54This whole fight, this whole surge forward was brought by Chase Sexton.
04:58And Hunter Lawrence has responded where Justin Cooper wasn't able to.
05:03Thank you, JT.
05:05Another Hunter Lawrence versus Chase Sexton battle for a Moto win.
05:11And this would also be the overall.
05:1913 minutes and two laps to go.
05:24Now, I think this next couple of laps is really important for Hunter.
05:28Just stay in front of him.
05:30Kind of like we see Eli in the beast mode.
05:33He gets rolling. You've got to get in front of him to stop it.
05:35And I think if Hunter can keep him, then he might be able to have a chance to hold on towards the end of the race or his best shot to do that.
05:41Another battle here.
05:42Wow, it has come undone for Justin Cooper.
05:45And Anderson is all over him for third.
05:48Jason's been riding good all day long.
05:50He was at fastest qualifier.
05:52Anytime he sniffed his third place, an opportunity to be on the podium, he's going to try to take it.
05:57So, nice recovery.
05:59I think things start happening pretty quick for Justin Cooper.
06:01He lost a toe to those guys in front.
06:03And now Jason is coming up on him.
06:06Yeah, he ran a 2.12 lap.
06:08Five seconds slower than Hunter Lawrence.
06:11Cooper and Anderson makes his pass.
06:14I think that's overall podium as well.
06:19Great battle.
06:20This one for third.
06:21In Promoto Cross, the Spring Creek.
06:23Justin Cooper in blue.
06:25Holding off Jason Anderson for third in this race while Hunter Lawrence leads.
06:32That guy left that corner out.
06:46Back to the leaders.
06:48Sexton applying pressure.
06:50Hunter Lawrence, 11 Moto podiums this year.
06:54But he's yet to win a race overall.
06:58That was unreal.
07:01Yeah.
07:02I think Hunter senses how far chase is behind him to go outside.
07:06Otherwise he would have went inside.
07:08Just like we saw in the first Moto.
07:10Let's see how much he's worked on that, J.T.
07:14You heard Ryan Dungey talking about Sexton letting the race come to him.
07:18We saw how patient he was in that first Moto until he wasn't patient anymore.
07:22I look at these battles now almost like a daytona 500 where they're simply getting the laps in the books in the first half of the race.
07:29Now you saw that charge.
07:31They went down to 207.
07:33Now the race has started.
07:35Now they're actually pushing.
07:37This is where the wins and loses will be decided.
07:39You saw what happened to Justin Cooper.
07:41When they went, he couldn't go with them.
07:43They're on it right now, J.T.
07:45Sexton trying to set himself up as we head to the sand.
07:49On the inside.
07:51And that was quick.
07:53Yeah, I'm not going to lie.
07:55Hunter kind of let him by.
07:57He knew how close chase was.
07:59You could kind of see him sit up.
08:01Maybe he just knew it was going to happen.
08:03He wants to see his lines.
08:05He didn't have too much fight.
08:07He went outside for a reason on that.
08:09Wow.
08:11Surprising to see.
08:13We were really bracing ourselves for a battle.
08:15He didn't even need the side rollers.
08:17He was past him before then.
08:19Yeah, chase is rolling.
08:21Hunter knew that.
08:23Chase was probably surprised as well.
08:25All right.
08:27I'll take it.
08:29So chase Sexton.
08:31Wow.
08:33I mean, winning the moto would not be a surprise.
08:35He won four in a row.
08:37But we are used to seeing hunter just fighting him with
08:39everything he has.
08:41As Sexton goes uphill and starts to pull away.
08:43This will be five straight moto wins.
08:45And here's the pass.
08:47Let's watch hunter.
08:49Yeah.
08:51Hunter has got the line.
08:53And this is right out the mechanics area.
08:55So here's chase Sexton behind him.
08:57There's no lappers in front of him.
08:59And he just goes outside.
09:01And watch his body.
09:03He just kind of sits up.
09:05So that was a pass that you know the guy is going to
09:07come around and just kind of give in to him, really.
09:09Interesting to find out what the story is there.
09:11And as J.T.
09:13Predicted, if Sexton gets to the lead, it could be
09:15lights out.
09:17And he's already to a three-second gap.
09:19He looks good.
09:21He is good.
09:23He is good.
09:25And just like I mentioned in first moto, because he got
09:27that gap so quick, he was able to recover.
09:29So there's no physical endurance or anything that's going
09:31to play into this.
09:33So the only thing that can stop him maybe is mother nature
09:35if it starts raining out here.
09:37Otherwise, chase Sexton, roll up.
09:39And he's going to be fine.
09:41He's going to be fine.
09:43He's going to be fine.
09:45He's going to be fine.
09:47He's going to be fine.
09:49He's going to be fine.
09:51He's going to be fine.
09:53He's going to be fine.
09:55He's going to be fine.
09:57He's going to be fine.
09:59He's going to be fine.
10:01He's going to be fine.
10:03He's going to be fine.
10:05He's going to be fine.
10:07He's going to be fine.
10:09He's going to be fine.
10:11He's going to be fine.
10:13He's going to be fine.
10:15He's going to be fine.
10:17He's going to be fine.
10:19He's going to be fine.
10:21He's going to be fine.
10:23He's going to be fine.
10:25He's going to be fine.
10:27He's going to be fine.
10:29He's going to be fine.
10:31He's going to be fine.
10:33He's going to be fine.
10:35He's going to be fine.
10:37He's going to be fine.
10:39He's going to be fine.
10:41He's going to be fine.
10:43He's going to be fine.
10:45He's going to be fine.
10:47He's going to be fine.
10:49He's going to be fine.
10:51He's going to be fine.
10:53He's going to be fine.
10:55He's going to be fine.
10:57He's going to be fine.
10:59He's going to be fine.
11:01He's going to be fine.
11:03He's going to be fine.
11:05He's going to be fine.
11:07He's going to be fine.
11:09He's going to be fine.
11:11He's going to be fine.
11:13He's going to be fine.
11:15He's going to be fine.
11:17He's going to be fine.
11:19He's going to be fine.
11:21He's going to be fine.
11:23He's going to be fine.
11:25He's going to be fine.
11:27He's going to be fine.
11:29He's going to be fine.
11:31He's going to be fine.
11:33He's going to be fine.
11:35He's going to be fine.
11:37He's going to be fine.
11:39He's going to be fine.
11:41He's going to be fine.
11:43He's going to be fine.
11:45He's going to be fine.
11:47He's going to be fine.
11:49He's going to be fine.
11:51He's going to be fine.
11:53He's going to be fine.
11:55He's going to be fine.
11:57He's going to be fine.
11:59He's going to be fine.
12:01He's going to be fine.
12:03He's going to be fine.
12:05He's going to be fine.
12:07He's going to be fine.
12:09He's going to be fine.
12:11He's going to be fine.
12:13He's going to be fine.
12:15He's going to be fine.
12:17He's going to be fine.
12:19He's going to be fine.
12:21He's going to be fine.
12:23He's going to be fine.
12:25He's going to be fine.
12:27He's going to be fine.
12:29He's going to be fine.
12:31He's going to be fine.
12:33He's going to be fine.
12:35He's going to be fine.
12:37He's going to be fine.
12:39He's going to be fine.
12:41He's going to be fine.
12:43He's going to be fine.
12:45He's going to be fine.
12:47He's going to be fine.
12:49He's going to be fine.
12:51He's going to be fine.
12:53He's going to be fine.
12:55He's going to be fine.
12:57He's going to be fine.
12:59He's going to be fine.
13:01He's going to be fine.
13:03He's going to be fine.
13:05He's going to be fine.
13:07He's going to be fine.
13:09He's going to be fine.
13:11He's going to be fine.
13:13He's going to be fine.
13:15He's going to be fine.
13:17He's going to be fine.
13:19He's going to be fine.
13:21He's going to be fine.
13:23He's going to be fine.
13:25He's going to be fine.
13:27He's going to be fine.
13:29He's going to be fine.
13:31He's going to be fine.
13:33He's going to be fine.
13:35He's going to be fine.
13:37He's going to be fine.
13:39He's going to be fine.
13:41He's going to be fine.
13:43He's going to be fine.
13:45He's going to be fine.
13:47He's going to be fine.
13:49He's going to be fine.
13:51He's going to be fine.
13:53He's going to be fine.
13:55He's going to be fine.
13:57He's going to be fine.
13:59And that will be 12th place.
14:01Derek Kelly and Freddie Norton.
14:03We check in with chase Sexton.
14:05Cooper did make a brief run at
14:07Lawrence.
14:09Cooper running a 210.
14:11Lawrence a 212.
14:13We'll see what the times are the
14:15next lap around.
14:17Chase Sexton, though,
14:19tightening the grip
14:21on pro motocross.
14:24Sexton now
14:26going to try to just bring it
14:28home.
14:30And Cooper would still be
14:32third overall if he holds off
14:34Anderson.
14:36And he's stretched it out a bit
14:38on him.
14:40And he's going to try to
14:42bring it home.
14:44And he's going to try to
14:46bring it home.
14:48And he's going to try to
14:50bring it home.
14:52So...
14:54What a
14:56story of perseverance, by
14:58the way, for Sexton, who
15:00really, I feel like, going
15:02back to La Turner
15:04supercruise, we had more
15:06down days and bummed
15:08out, frustrated interviews
15:10from Sexton than good ones.
15:12And it's come all the way
15:14back around.
15:16And look at this battle James,
15:18you saw it developing.
15:20Justin Cooper is all over Hunter Lawrence. This is going to be interesting. Battle for
15:28second raging. Justin Cooper is back on the heels of Hunter Lawrence. Let's go back to
15:34Will. Guys are out here fighting for different things. We talked about championships or SMX
15:41points. For Justin Cooper, he's out here fighting for a contract, an off track excursion. He's
15:48fighting for a contract. His contract is up at the end of this year, as I'm sure you
15:52guys know, and he does have incentives to have that automatically renewed. I asked him
15:57if 13 points was what that was, and he said, no, we didn't disclose what it was, but he
16:01did say he has not reached that market yet. So when you're out here and you know you want
16:06to stay on this team and you're fighting for that spot, that's just that extra incentive
16:10here to keep going. Well, well, you know, we're talking off the record here, but you
16:17know, he's never going to disclose exactly, but I have a strong feeling that podiums are
16:22in the mix, and when Jet Lawrence out, that opens the door. So you see why these guys
16:26are pushing so hard. Podiums over. It's that off track excursion, James. He lost it. Yeah,
16:33and it was a couple other mistakes after that as well. But just like the first motor, Hunter
16:36Lawrence responded when Aaron Bletchner got him. So maybe sometimes you start slowing
16:42down and you get stuck in that zone, and it's hard to pick the pace up. But when Justin
16:45came up, just like Aaron did, Hunter has a little bit more pace, able to respond. And
16:50what he needs to do is put another couple laps. Then he'll break Justin Cooper to build
16:55around this race out, and this still would be third overall for Cooper. But Lawrence,
17:00which had the points lead at our last round, and we get to Jason Anderson, who had been
17:05lurking there with Cooper for a while, and he's going to end up fourth overall and fourth
17:12to the Moto if it ends this way. And then Plesinger's charge has stalled. Send it to
17:22Will with more on the Kawasaki rider. I don't know if you guys were impressed with this
17:28hanging on here late into Moto 2 as I am with Jason Anderson, because whilst we talked about
17:32his injury there and his shoulder getting better, he is still dealing with essentially
17:36a handicap out there. So they've made a lot of improvements on the bike. They say they
17:42keep doing it. The Kawasaki team said they're constantly going. But the key to those improvements
17:47that they've made, and James, you've talked about it a lot, how guys go down the wrong
17:52route, kind of, you know, get buried there in things and have to change their mind. They
17:55said they are constantly going the right way. They're just making these small changes, and
17:59they're constantly making Jason feel more comfortable. That is the big goal. To me,
18:04when I'm riding with an injury still and yet still looking this comfortable, being this
18:08competitive is going to be a good sign.
18:11Yeah, absolutely. Sometimes you start chasing, because I know Jason wants to be out front
18:15and battling with those guys. Maybe the bike is fine, but because you're running fourth
18:20place and you want to be on the podium, you start changing things and you go the wrong
18:23direction. Maybe they went back to that base setup. Either way, he's looked good all day
18:27long. That shoulder is probably starting to bother him right now, but I think Jason's
18:31done a great job today.
18:34They're setting up big things in the future. He has a two-year deal. He'll be back racing
18:38last time out at red bud. Should be back a little later in the year at foot's creek.
18:44Absolutely. I'm seeing lightning strikes in the air. Hopefully they can finish this race.
18:49A lap and a half left. Sexton leader. Yeah, it is dark clouds. We might be in for a mud
19:00race for the 250 moto 2. That is still yet to start. Riders are headed to the gate for
19:08that. Normally the 250 is raced first, but we reversed it today, so we still have one
19:13more moto to run. And man, are the storm clouds overhead now. As for chase Sexton, as I was
19:22alluding to, think of, as they say on the social media, how it started, how it's going
19:28for him in this 2024 season. A lot of talk in the off season of very frustrating days
19:35bike. And suddenly now, everything going his way. Yeah, and I think the way that it happened
19:44is what the results you're starting to see. Now you see a guy that's not. Chase has always
19:48been fast, and that's probably the frustrating part with him earlier this season. He didn't
19:52have that speed. But once he found it, and he's found it during this outdoors, it's been
19:56pretty consistent. It looked like a battle with hunter in it as well. And we wonder when
20:02some of these riders return, maybe for SMX playoffs. Yeah, well, I'll say it for you.
20:06I don't think anybody should question whether chase X serves this or not. I mean, I think
20:11even jet Lawrence realized like he was still the guy to be because jet Lawrence has been
20:16so dominant, made chase Sexton better along with all these other guys. And so now the
20:20reins here, the reins here. So I think chase is growing. And with jet being here, this
20:26type of guy, it would be a knockdown drag out. And not to say what happened last year
20:31definitely wouldn't be happening right now. But again, that's why we go racing. And right
20:36now, the man of the hour is this number four dominant on the KTM. And they'll all be back
20:41again. And that includes Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb. Listen to a podcast, a Moto X pod show
20:47with the web recently where he thought he might have been able to be back even by this
20:50weekend. But he's realized a thumb injury that he's returning from going to take a little
20:55more time. Maybe we'll see him after the break at Unadilla. As for jet Lawrence, man, it's
21:00really raining now. We talked to Johnny O'Mara before and Doc G and they got him out in California
21:05doing nonstop physical therapy on his thumb for the next couple of weeks to try to get
21:10jet back for the S. M. X. Playoffs. So this story could change a lot. But right now it
21:16is not changing. It is going to be five straight Moto wins for Chase Sexton. And now we could
21:21say rain or shine. He's got it. The rain has to cool him off. That boy hot. Yeah, no cool
21:30down in the trash can needed now to be the ninth career 450 overall win for Chase Sexton
21:38and two in a row. Chase Sexton sweeps it at Millville. And we wait to see the gap. There's
21:58Hunter Lawrence fighting again, but second again. And there's always been great respect
22:06between these two former teammates with Honda. And there's Justin Cooper, who has had countless
22:10battles just like that with Hunter Lawrence through the years to 50 and now 4 50. Anderson
22:19across the line in fourth. And we'll talk to these riders on the podium when we return.
22:26Chase Sexton, the man to beat in S. M. X. Right now.