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I hope everyone had a great final weekend of March. After being able to ride last weekend in Southern Ontario, Old Man Winter reared his ugly head again and the past 48 hours have been dreadful. Cold, high winds, as well as a little snow, made it impossible to ride yesterday, and even on Saturday conditions weren’t ideal. Today is the coldest day of this Polar Vortex and then hopefully the winter of 2021/2022 is over. Anyway, if you live in Canada and you were able to get some good riding in this weekend then consider yourself lucky.
So let’s begin with some surprising news that dropped last week and that was that Parker Eales was lining up this past weekend to compete in the Seattle SX. It was actually Ryan Lockhart who alerted me to this incredible news last week as Parker most certainly kept it on the DL. After qualifying 38th in the 450SX class, Parker had a solid night and eventually finished up with a solid 16th in the LCQ. I’m not sure what his expectations were coming into Saturday but I’m guessing that they weren’t that high. Parker doesn’t have a lot of SX experience and considering this was his first-ever Monster Energy Supercross I think he did just fine. I’ll be posting an interview with him tomorrow so I guess we will hear soon what his post-race thoughts are. This is just a great story all around as Parker Eales is a great guy both on the track as well as off of the track. Good on him for giving Seattle a go this past weekend.
Overall, I thought the Seattle SX was entertaining and thankfully the heavy rain held off until the race was over. There was some light drizzle during the main events but it looked like the track held up quite nicely. Actually, I thought the Seattle track was one of the best designs of the series as the rhythm lanes had some good options, the whoops were difficult but not impossible, and I also like the section before the mechanic’s area where the riders had the option of either tripling up and taking the outside or doubling and going inside. During the main events, the leaders used both options quite effectively and for the fans, this section was also fun to watch. Why can’t every track have cool little sections like this? Get rid of the sand sections that are sometimes used and then use some imagination to design stuff like this that is both fun for the riders and entertaining for the fans. I remember the days when they let a few of the riders design a couple of tracks and they ended up being the best of the season. The two riders I recall were Kevin Windham and Travis Pastrana that were given the green light to design their own tracks. Obviously, Ricky Carmichael designs Daytona each year, but why not allow a few others to do a couple of tracks or even some sections? Anyway, I loved the Seattle track and I’m glad the rain that Seattle is famous for held off.
I think it would’ve been great to have this track design earlier in the series when more riders were healthy and racing in both the 250SX West Series as well as the 450SX Series. This weekend we welcomed back the 250SX West class after their six-week break and things pretty much picked up where we left off back at Anaheim 3. Christian Craig is still the fastest rider in this series and if he doesn’t win this title I’ll be shocked. He probably should’ve won on Saturday evening but he got taken out early in the main event by Michael Mosiman while leading and never was able to get back upfront. Even when Craig charged his way back up to second he wasn’t really able to put pressure on race leader Hunter Lawrence. A few times it looked as though Craig was going to get a good drive through the whoops, but either a lapper got in the way or Hunter was able to pick up his pace. With a large points lead, I think it was a good idea for Craig not to try and mess with Hunter in the closing laps. Hunter wanted and needed the win badly and at this point in the series, Craig did not. It was smart racing by Craig and as I said, if he isn’t able to pull off this championship then I’ll be shocked.
In the 450SX class, other than Jason Anderson not having a crash while running near the front it was pretty much a repeat of what we’ve seen for the past month. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eli Tomac ride as good as he’s riding right now on his Star Racing Yamaha. He looks fast, loose, confident, and extremely comfortable right now and while he may not win all of the remaining rounds, everything is going right for ET3. I love the way Tomac is riding right now as even with his massive points lead he’s not sitting back and being cautious. He’s still attacking the track when he can and he’s taking what each race is giving him. Obviously, it would be great to see a points battle right now for the 450SX title but honestly, I’m enjoying just watching Tomac ride right now. To have a rider and their machine in sync the way Tomac and his YZ450 are doesn’t happen very often and we should all appreciate it when it does happen. Unless something catastrophic this is Tomac’s year and after he made the gutsy decision to switch from Kawasaki to Yamaha I can’t think of a rider who deserves this success more than he does in 2022. Thankfully for fans who do like a battle the race for second overall in the 450SX series shaping up to be one of the best as we head down the stretch. It’s hard to believe that only five rounds are remaining!
In other Canadian news, it appears that Jess Pettis is doing a little work with famed trainer Ryan Hughes out in California. Ryan has worked with several top riders over the years including most recently young Canadian rider and amateur prospect Noah Viney. This training has appeared to have helped Noah as he’s taken his riding to new levels since teaming up with Ryno early last year. Over the past decade, we’ve witnessed Ryno work with several top riders in the USA including Dean Wilson and Eli Tomac, and while his guidance and tutelage appeared to work in the short term, their partnership didn’t last long. Obviously, I’ve never worked with Ryno but I have met him once and was able to sit down with him and listen to some of the things he had to say. In my opinion, Ryno looks at training and motocross as both a physical journey as well as a spiritual journey and if you’re not prepared to ‘buy in’ to his ideals then things won’t work out. I guess it’s like that with any coach as the athlete has to believe and trust that what they’re being told will help them in both the short term as well as the long term. Every coach or trainer has their own way of doing things and that is what makes their teaching unique. At the same time, every athlete is different and some are easier to coach than others. As I write this I’m not sure to what extent these two will be working together but at this point in Jess’s career, I think it’s a good idea for him to work with someone like Ryno. At Jess’s age, he’s not exactly a blank canvas the way young Noah Viney would be, but he’s still at the age where he can make some changes for the better concerning his program and that could help him stay at the top of his game for the next decade or more. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know why every top rider doesn’t take advantage of some of the ex-pro riders and the vast array of knowledge that they have. If you look at a sport like Tennis, even the top players in the world employ former players as coaches as part of their team. Anyway, it’s nice to see photos and video of Pettis riding again after his crash and subsequent injuries a few months back.
In some non-moto news, not only does Brett and Melody Lee run Walton Raceway and the events that go on there, but they’re also part of the management team that helps run a Senior AA hockey called the Seaforth Centenaires. If you never watched or even heard of Senior AA hockey then you’re missing out on one of our great Canadian hockey leagues as it’s full of big-hearted and talented hockey players who usually range between the ages of 21-35. These are players who are finished playing either junior hockey or pro hockey and still want to play the sport at a competitive level. I’ve been lucky enough to have also been a part of this league both as a player as well as a coach for over 15 years and I can tell you that Senior AA hockey these days is played at a very high level. Anyway, the Centenaires team is currently up three games to none over their cross-county rival the Clinton Radars in the WOAA league final. To beat Clinton would be a massive accomplishment for the players, fans, and really for the entire town of Seaforth. They have a chance to clinch the championships this coming weekend so good luck to Brett and Mel and their favourite hockey team.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great final week of March and let’s hope real spring arrives very soon. With the opening AMO OPC event coming up in less than four weeks everyone needs to get some practice in asap. In other AMO news, last week they released their latest revised schedule and now some different classes are racing on Saturday, however, everyone will now get a chance to practice regardless of whether you race on Saturday or Sunday. Please see www.amoracing.com for all of the details. Finally, on Saturday my wife and I sold the house that we’ve been living in for 18 years and now we’re purchasing the farm where I grew up and spent the first 25 years of my life. I’ve been fortunate over the years to have had multiple motocross tracks on my parent’s 63 acres but it’s always been private and only for riders that I have invited over. Well, now we’re going to get some insurance and look at opening at least one of the tracks to more people this coming summer. We’ll see how it goes but for now, we’re excited to be moving back to the country and back to the house my father built-in 1974. Also, before I go I want to send out a big congratulations to the Canadian National Men’s Soccer Team as they beat Jamaica yesterday to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986. This event will take place later this year in Qatar. Anyway, this is a massive deal in the soccer world so congrats to Team Canada. Have a great week and thank you for reading.