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These past two weekends at the 2019 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour Series have been very difficult on everyone in attendance. With the challenging track conditions (back to back sand races) and the heat and humidity of summer in Ontario, it’s no wonder that tempers flared this past weekend at Round 5. I thought the weather at Gopher Dunes was hot but it was nothing compared to Saturday at Sand Del Lee. With the humidity factored in, the temperature rose to a dangerous 43c during the afternoon. The only saving grace was that once in a while the sun disappeared behind a cloud for a minute, and there was a decent breeze all day. It was most definitely the toughest day of racing we’ve seen in 2019 and my hat goes off to every rider that line-up.
Dylan Wright was once again the rider to beat in the 250 class at Round 5. Photo by James Lissimore
Before I get into all of the drama that took place on Saturday, I first must congratulate Dylan Wright and Matt Goerke as they took the overall wins in the 250 and 450 classes. Dylan was unstoppable once again as he came from behind to win both motos. Tyler Medaglia and Jess Pettis made it tough on the Honda rider for a short time in each moto, but Dylan was just too determined to get to the front. I spoke to Jess Pettis at the end of the day, and he said he was happy to have led Moto 2 for 15 minutes but Dylan was just too strong so he couldn’t hold him off. Pettis was happy with his day as he’s feeling better each week, but I think he definitely is seeing how important it is to come into the outdoor series healthy and ready to go. I still see Pettis winning another moto or two as well as an overall before the MXTour concludes at Walton Raceway. This kid is just too talented, and he’s been working too hard not to taste victory again this summer. At this point, though, winning the championship will be very difficult because Pettis is 33 points behind Dylan Wright with just six motos remaining. Not an impossible task, but given the level that Wright is currently riding, I don’t see any rider in the 250 class straight up beating him at this point. It would have to take a major mistake or some really bad luck for Wright not to bring home the 2019 MXTour 250 title. However, anything can happen in this sport. I don’t think a more accurate statement has ever been said when talking about Canadian motocross. So now to the drama from Saturday…
Over the years there have been many a television shows that depicted how crazy extreme heat can make people. I think back, okay way back, to an old episode of Magnum P.I. (one of the best shows ever, in my opinion) where the warm Kona winds blow into Hawaii and make everyone cuckoo for a few days. Or how about the episode of the original 90210 show when the Santa Ana winds take over Southern California and the cast doesn’t even know which end is up. Well, on Saturday at Round 5, what happened at the end of the second 450 moto looked more like a bad movie than a motocross race as the hot and humid Sand Del Lee winds were blowing strong.
I’m not even sure where Phil Nicoletti found the energy for this. Photo James Lissimore
I guess if I’m going to talk about what went on after the race then I have to talk about how it all started during the second moto. With Matt Goerke out front and having his best moto of 2019, Phil Nicoletti was in the midst of one of the most animalistic charges I’ve ever seen. With just about every rider on the track seeing mirages of the lemonade stand that was at Gopher Dunes last weekend, Phil was trying to make for his first moto disaster, which saw him crash then pull in for a rad change, and in the end scoring no points. Anyway, Phil was already mad and was riding with the sheer determination that sometimes only anger can fuel. With ten minutes to go, Phil reeled in Mike Alessi and was looking for a way around last week’s overall winner. Phil knew that if he could get around Alessi quickly then he still had some time to try to catch Goerke, who was out front and trying to finish off his glorious moto in style. With Phil closing, Alessi received a pit board message telling him that if he wanted to win the overall then he could not let Phil by. Basically, hold Phil off and win your second overall in a row. Sounds pretty simple to me, but with every rider near exhaustion and Phil coming fast, Alessi most certainly had his hands full. Even on his worst days Mike Alessi has been very difficult to pass over the years. Some riders know how to ride ‘wide’ and Alessi is one of those riders. On a track such as SDL, which is difficult to pass on anyway, Phil also had his hands full. So, as you can see, the stage was perfectly set for some sort of altercation between the two notorious American riders.
Unless a rider makes a mistake or you get lucky, one of the best passing (and only) spots at SDL is the corner before the finish line. With a long and rough straight-away coming into the final corner, a rider can pace themselves off another rider’s entrance speed, brake a little later, then either square up and come inside of the other rider or, as Phil tried to do, sweep around the outside while the rider you’re trying to pass gets caught trying to protect the inside. This type of pass has been going on for years and I suspect both riders knew it was coming. As Phil came into the turn, he knew that Alessi had very few options. Also, because Phil had so much speed, he assumed his best option was to ride around the outside and hope that Alessi was too tired to fight him off any longer. However, the one thing I don’t think Phil thought about was that for Alessi, the pass was for the overall win and most likely a lot of bonus money. Now, it’s not up to Phil to think about these things as all he was trying to do is win his first moto of 2019, but he would’ve been wise to take this information into consideration as in the past Alessi has been known to do anything to win, especially in the closing stages of the hottest moto of the year when every rider has worked so hard to be in the position they’re in.
You can bet that John Dowd thought all of the drama at SDL was a little over the top. Photo by James Lissimore
As Phil rode around the outside of Alessi and tried to lean in a little to slow his exit speed, Alessi wasn’t having any of it. Instead of letting Phil have the position, he kept the throttle on and basically threw his shoulder into Phil and punted him off of the track. I must admit, when I watched the pass live from the tower, I thought it was cheap and uncalled for. However, after watching the video of the pass on Instagram (@triplecrownseries) it looked more like an incident we’ve seen 100 times over years in motocross. A rider tries to pass someone around the outside and that rider says ‘No way, not on my watch’ and boom, they make contact and the rider on the outside has nowhere to go except off the track. In this situation, if I was Alessi I honestly would’ve done the same thing, but on the other hand if I was Phil, I would’ve also been absolutely livid. After Phil found his way back on to the race track, he hunted Alessi down again, made a clean pass and then almost caught Goerke for the win.
Let’s not forget that Matt Goerke rode amazing in the second 450 moto to win the overall. Photo by James Lissimore
It was truly a remarkable moto for Phil as he would not be denied second place. That type of determination is something that not every rider has and I was happy to see it live, and for my 11-year-old son to see that regardless of what happens during a race, you never give up, never! That is the message that I hope people take from the second 450 moto on Saturday, and I wish that somehow Phil could’ve been contained at the podium and didn’t go over to Alessi to say what he did. I completely understand him being furious at Alessi. What rider wouldn’t be in that situation? But Phil took it too far, and it’s a shame that everyone will only remember what happened after his incredible performance on the track. As I said, I don’t blame Alessi for fighting hard to hold his position, especially given the fact that it was for the overall win, but on the other side, I don’t blame Phil for being incensed about getting punted off the track. I don’t even blame Phil for wanting to chat with Alessi as soon as the race ended. Maybe he shouldn’t have right after the blind finish line jump where your fellow competitors are coming over, weary after a long and exhausting moto, which was dangerous for everyone. But say your piece, tell him that he’s going to get payback on the track next time, but don’t carry it to the podium in front of everyone with their cell phone cameras. That situation should never have happened, as first, Phil should’ve controlled his anger a little better, okay, a lot better. Someone should’ve restrained him and not even let him walk over to Alessi (I mean, what good was going to come from that?). Lastly, when it was crystal clear that tempers were flaring there should’ve been an official of some sort there to try to control the situation. As you can see, it was just an ugly situation all around and one that will get an endless amount of attention on Social Media in the coming days, sadly giving people more reason to talk about what Phil did off the track rather than what he did moments before on the track.
The Sand Del Lee facility was in incredible shape for Round 5 of the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour Series. Photo by James Lissimore
This morning it was announced that Phil and Alessi are facing penalties for not just this situation but also what happened during staging for Moto 1. That is another story all together, but one that also adds to the drama of what should’ve been an excellent day of racing. The crew at SDL had the entire facility looking great, and both the pro day as well as yesterday’s amateur day were perfect.
Well, that is it for me this week, and now it’s time to move on and think about Round 6 in Moncton. GDR Honda riders Dylan Wright and Colton Facciotti have control of the red plates as we head to one of my favourite tracks of the series. Riverglade Raceway has always been a gracious host to our national series and this weekend should be no different. Hopefully, Round 6 runs smoothly and the battles remain on the race track. Thank-you for reading and I hope everyone has a great week.
