Kimpex Canada Presents Dialed In With Donk

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Have you ever done something and immediately regret it?

Jett and Jason have entered the chat.

Things happen extremely quickly on a supercross track. Decisions are being made within fractions of a second and sometimes the outcome, is less than ideal. Two significant mistakes were made this weekend in Arlington, Texas, with one resulting in a series-ending injury, and the other throwing away the win and a perfect sweep on the night. 

The most impressive stadium I’ve ever seen hosted another round of supercross with the ever-growing in popularity, Triple Crown format. Yeah, these Triple Crowns are growing on me. Much like a Molson Canadian, they’ve been an acquired taste, but the fan in me is starting to enjoy them. The focus required for three races in one night and being able to manage the roller coaster ride is a whole new challenge that I think most riders are learning to adapt to. Adding yet another variable to the crazy world of supercross racing.

There were a few wild moments this weekend that left me a little speechless and scratching my head. One of my two honourable mentions is the Phil and RJ incident. Without question, purely a racing incident but man that was a hard lick. The section went back through the first turn but turned into the lane before, and while still turning they hit the over/under the bridge, lay it over and float one over that, then sink into the transition and float it out the other way over the supercross triple. A section that looked really fun, had a couple of pucker moments too. I think what happened with RJ and Phil is the worst-case scenario. Phil was in front and RJ was looking for a way around, and they both attacked the bridge and lines just floated into each other in the air. RJ clipped the rear of Phil and it high-sided him face-first into the bottom of the transition. It was a scary moment and really no fault on either rider in my opinion. It almost looked like RJ got a funny pop off the face and threw him directly into Phil. I hope RJ is on the line for Daytona but if I had to guess, he’ll be watching.

The second honourable mention is the turn and little straight shoot across the mechanic’s area. Twice, we saw guys get a good drive out of the corner and ride directly into the back of the rider in front of them. Both times I was questioning what the hell happened… other than the obvious, how are these guys simply riding into the guy in front of them? The section looked a little cramped, and the speeds out of that turn didn’t favour one line or the other. But, when the stars aligned, the guy on the inside didn’t execute the turn very well, but the guy on the outside nailed it, you get a rear-wheel eating buffet. It was definitely a couple of puzzling crashes that I wasn’t expecting.

The lesser of the two highlighted mistakes from the Lonestar State came from one of the best performers of the 2022 season. Jason Anderson made a miscalculation coming into the turn behind Mookie. (Who I said would be leading laps at some point this season a few weeks back, Mookie Fever!) El Hombre was visibly quicker than Malcolm and rode the rear wheel for a short time before diving to the inside on the 27. The lapse in judgment came when Anderson wasn’t expecting Stew to turn down as early and follow a different rut out of that turn. What looked like yet another T-bone/aggressive pass attempt from Anderson, became just a very costly move with a closer look that resulted in the loss of a moto win and ultimately the overall win. With this mistake, it shows even the best in the world can make the wrong decision when things are moving as fast as they do on a supercross track. Had Jason chosen another spot to overtake Malcolm I believe we would have seen the first Triple Crown sweep of the season. This guy is here for all the right reasons this year and between him and that other guy with the red plates, they are putting on one hell of a show. That last moto battle between Jason and Eli was awesome. The moments that stick out in my mind are the back and forth, inside-outside, and driving down the start straight. Two of the baddest dudes to ride these things squeezing absolutely every ounce of power out of their 450 machines down that start straight is what stokes my fire. There are a handful of guys in this world that can do this and man is it just awesome to watch.

I am not really a fan of Austin Forker, but you’ve gotta feel for the guy. Finally, the kid seemed to have his stuff together. I know we’ve only seen him for less than two full rounds but he looked to have almost re-invented himself with a new mindset. Unfortunately, he re-broke the same collarbone he broke last season and will miss some time from something that was no fault of his own doing. 

Now let’s discuss the phenom that is Jett Lawrence. It was kind of nice to go a few rounds there without the mention of the younger Lawrence brother after getting absolutely force-fed everything Jett at the beginning of the season. I will say, the hype is real though. I’ve spent some time watching videos of the kid and there are things he is doing on the bike that I’ve never seen, even from the likes of James Stewart and RV. This weekend he had Christian Craig like whoop speed but the small bore Honda gave him a little Texas Longhorn buck a couple laps in a row. The last buck had him sideways to about 3:30 at one point before he straightened it out and entered the turn. With Forkner on the inside and the fact he came in a little hot and uncontrolled, it forced him to the very outside line. He gathered it up and at that point, he had everything under control and hit the turn very fast. Jett’s mistake came when he failed to recognize the tuff block was slightly in his line at the lip of the finish line and he bumped it and sent him directly across into Forkner’s path. How these two got up is beyond me, that was scary, very unfortunate, and In my opinion, completely unintentional.

As I mentioned, these triple crown events are growing on me solely for the fact of getting to watch six shortened main events in one sitting. Which is really cool, for a fan.

But.

I also live on the other side of the fence and having to see and live with the potential repercussions of this style of racing creates a big negative for me. Because of the shortened length, I believe it puts an added level of urgency in these guys to rush things. I brought this issue up at home here last summer when our Canadian series added the sprint motos. Although incredibly intense and exciting for the fans, it forces these guys to rush their craft and make split-second decisions even quicker all while racing at sprint speed which is sometimes multiple seconds a lap faster than average lap times. Meaning, the boys are effing sending it. The problem with that is when one guy turns into “send it” Sammy, they all have to. It’s clear to see that these guys are racing at their limit and what can be thrilling for the average fan, makes me nervous as hell. Whether they’re the best in the world like Jett Lawrence and Jason Anderson, or the best in our home country like Dylan Wright and Jess Pettis, I think it puts an unhealthy expectation on them and really flirts with Murphy’s Law.

Call me old school, but I like the traditional style of 30+2 outdoors, and 20+2 indoors. The tactics, moto management, and highly skilled race craft that is required for the duration of a full-length moto or main event still draws me in harder than these high-intensity sprints.