Big Steel Box Presents The Friday Flight With Brent Worrall

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Welcome aboard friends to what is another wide open winter vacation version of the ‘Friday Flight.’ With two weeks of a scheduled six week vacation now in the books there has been no shortage of excitement. Being able to add to the many countless memorable moments and experiences with this great sport is truly what I live for. I have said it before and will repeat that I feel blessed to have the company and support of such a great life partner. I have also made many great friends along the way and they are truly what makes the sport of motocross what it is. So without getting any further into my personal sermon of Moto gratitude, let’s get to some of what went down in the last seven days!

Last Saturday we bombed over to Phoenix from our home here in San Diego to take in the first ever Glendale Supercross. Let me tell you that even though we are experiencing record temperatures here, I have never seen So Cal and Arizona so green. Pulling into the first ever Glendale Supercross was pretty surreal. While in the parking lot, the stadium looked like the ‘Mother Ship’ of an out of galaxy colony. The whole Glendale vibe was very Mardis Gras- like, and our hotel was part and parcel of the building the Arizona Coyotes of the NHL play in. As for the race track in Glendale, from a fan’s perspective, it was the best I have seen for a Supercross yet. The building is huge and the track was well over a minute long! Let me qualify the ‘fan’s perspective’ part of my opinion. There were many riders that did not like certain elements of Round 5. One, the start was 460 feet long and it sucked you up if you did not break clean or have the horses under your saddle. The whoops were gnarly and regularly humbled many including the likes of Ken Roczen, Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb. That’s right, regularly! In fact, the save Ken Roczen made in his qualifier was gnarly. It could have been real bad, maybe even a season ender. The other equalizing factor was throttle control on the hard packed almost flat track-like surface. Added to that was the piercing roost from the sharp stone-like material on the surface that got worse as the night wore on.

For the first time in three races the premier class saw a winner other than Ryan Dungey. Ken Roczen got to the front early and kind of checked out. Eli Tomac did catch him a bit, but Tomac looked like he became tired on a bike that still does not seem to be set just right. Maybe I am wrong but my eyes have seen a few rodeos. I still give Tomac a huge license to improve weekly as he is as talented and genetically built to win as they come. Roczen has some confidence now with this win and we all know what that means in this sport. If you watched the race you may or may not have seen Ryan Dungey do as Dungey does. That is minimize mistakes and keep pushing forward, no matter what. Dungey was 11th through two turns; he really impressed me. This is Supercross and the speed biased track layouts favour leads in increments. With 6 laps remaining Dungey was 4 seconds behind Eli, but he still was able to reel him in. He stamped a flawless pass in the whoops on the inside and looked like he could go another 15 laps at that pace. The 450 field has their hands full with Ryan Dungey in 2016, there is no doubt about that. The other rider who really impressed me was Davi Millsaps. For the first time this year I saw something that I believe is a sign that Davi could have a date with the podium very soon. It will not be an easy task as these top 3 guys have something a little extra special right now. But this is Supercross – remember that confidence I spoke of with Roczen? What about a Jason Anderson, Chad Reed, Cole Seely? They too could all be trouble with a good dose of vitamin C.

On to the 250 class; man what a race that was in Arizona. I posted an Instagram pic the other day stating the only downside to this 250 West series is the series doesn’t last for the full 17 rounds. Cooper Webb struggled in the whoops and Christian Craig did not. End of story? Sort of but not really. Cooper did get to the front but got a little over zealous with the front wheel, and it sent him to the ground. He did manage to retake Savatgy but could not catch a quick and confident Christian Craig. Our winner on the Geico Honda, Craig, marched on to victory with hand guards on his bars. Yes, the roost was that bad. I am pretty excited about the balance of this West series as these riders are playing for keeps. There has been no shortage of questionable passes in this series. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not! This is par for the course in this type of racing. I think it speaks very loudly to the character and talents of Craig and Pro Circuit’s Joey Savatgy. They are in no way, shape or form intimidated by Cooper Webb. A few weeks ago many were certain he would run away with the title. Yes, I was one of them. The race fan in me is happy to see these other guys are the fighters and racers they want to be known for when the gate drops. This weekend should be a beauty at Petro Park.

I did not get to see Cole Thompson post-race in Glendale as he was in a lengthy team meeting at night’s end. I did, however, catch up with him at the Lake Elsinore test track on Tuesday. I did a You Tube video with Cole, which can be found here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5NsH0Aw6cU. Cole had a good qualifier, finishing 6th behind Zach Osbourne. In the main, Cole’s start was not good but he finished up with a solid13th. Cole is still battling a very tender shoulder from A-2 and is still receiving treatment. With his dad, Kevin, helping him out at the track on Tuesday, they loaded up a little early to make an 11:00am appointment. Keep that thing on two wheels buddy. No matter what the results are, we are all pumped that you are following your dreams. Another rider who has somewhat followed his dreams under the radar this winter is Summerland, BC’s Brock Leitner. Leitner has just completed two successful goes of the AX tour. That’s right, two! Brock contested the Canadian Series as well as all of the rounds in the U.S. He was rewarded with second overall for his efforts in the Lites class in the American version. Brock, who is national number 51 in Canada, is not afraid to sack up and line up for all the marbles with the best of the best. This past year he raced the AMA National opener at Hangtown, plus for two consecutive years the final round of that series.

Brock, his mom, Lori, and dad, Rick, are back at their campsite in California. I was pleased to have Brock tell me on Tuesday at the Lake Elsinore Supercross practice track that he will race this weekend in San Diego. More good news for us Canadian race fans. Trust me friends, the spin off from the AX Tour and the Future West Series will pay immeasurable dividends soon. Also, Canadian National #6 in 2016 for Redemption Racing, Cade Clason, was also at Elsinore on Tuesday. He had a decent go at Phoenix and made it to the main event. I took the liberty of texting him video footage Sunday night of his first lap crash in the whoops, which looked like it hurt. Darn, I forgot to ask him on Tuesday. That’s okay Cade, we will leave it at that and just go with “it hurt.” Cade is a super chill guy and we Canadian race fans are fortunate to have him back next year. Another rider that was at Elsinore on Tuesday, that is rumoured to be in Canada this coming season, was Vince Friese. When I pulled into Lake Elsinore Tuesday morning and signed the waiver, I quizzed the girl about what riders were there. I asked her if there were any fast guys. Her response was, “Yes, there is, and that guy nobody likes is here too.” WUT? Who was she talking about? I forgot to ask. In all seriousness, I did not speak to Vince but I did speak to his father. I will not divulge much but I will say, like every conversation I have ever had with his son, it was a good one.

Finally, I should do what I probably should have done earlier, and that is get the elephant out of the room. I went to Elsinore on Tuesday to hang out with my good friend Adam Enticknap. We sized it up the night before and I showed up early as planned. Adam Enticknap has come a long, long way in this sport thanks to his ever growing army of dedicated backers. He has also had to work for every bit of talent he has gained and puts in more work than the average bear. He had a fill-in ride on the Rocky Mountain ATV Honda bike and things were on the upswing big time. On Tuesday things were as they always are around the Seven Deuce Deuce, fun and easy, but as always forwardly focussed on Supercross. After a couple of motos he came in for fuel and told me he was headed back out to do some section work. I stayed in the pits to chat with Michael Akaydin and other privateers. Shortly thereafter I could see on the track that riders were stopped and forming a barricade. Word was soon out that a rider was down and it was someone riding a Honda. Not seeing Adam anywhere, I wheeled over to the track fearing the worst. Cade Clason helped wheel me over some obstacles (thanks Cade) to get me out to my fallen friend. Adam’s colour was not great but he looked up and gave me his famous ‘What up Brent’ – dang, you just know when it is not good! The section he was working on, a Triple-Triple-Double, ended up working him to the ground hard. He told me his scrub was ‘Hot,’ which made him come up a bit short, kicking him off the bike to the left side. Landing full force on his femur there was no give in the hard packed, sun baked ground. My wife, Gisela, and another rider soon thereafter loaded up Adam’s truck then we followed the ambulance to the hospital. The X-Ray revealed a fracture of the femur right at the top of a previous fracture’s rod. You gotta be kidding me, right? Unfortunately not. The Seven Deuce Deuce has worked his tail off to get to where he is in Motocross but has had his share of injuries. He told me in the hospital that he will continue to embrace the 722 way of life. That is – making the best out of any situation, good or bad. I am super disappointed as Adam told me prior to throwing a leg over the bike in the AM that his Rocky Mountain fill-in ride was good for the whole Supercross series. But you know what, knowing Adam, I know this is only happening to make him stronger and better in the long run. It is a tough pill to swallow at the moment but he is a tough dude, so tough, in fact, that he had surgery Tuesday night at 10:00pm. He texted me a few short hours later thanking my wife and I for driving his truck and dog back to his place in Huntington Beach. If you don’t know Adam Enticknap and ever questioned anything about the hype around him or his character, well you need to get to know him better. He is the real deal. Like I said earlier, this sport is about the people that make it as great as it is. Adam is one of those, for sure, and the Seven Deuce Deuce is as ‘Real People’ as they get. Adam Enticknap has a couple of singles on iTunes from the Moto-7 movie. I know it would be a huge help to him if you could help him out by downloading one at the iTunes store for a mere 99 cents.

Well friends, as I get set to deploy the landing gear and descend into Round 6 of Monster Energy Superercoss in my backyard here at Petro Park, stay safe and have a great weekend. Until the next Friday Flight, ‘Airmail Out’………………………………….