MXP: Hey Newf! Looking back at the opening round of the SMX Playoffs, have you ever witnessed a track so technical? It looked like one of your +40 motos at the Walton TransCan last month, but with jumps.
RL: Oh man that did look really tough and sketchy. No thanks! The dirt was soft when they moved it in from what I heard, but I really feel like you need to build based on the dirt. There were some massive crashes and some big injuries. As weird as it sounds, it was a bit scary to watch. Either way with all the things that went down, it wasn’t a great start to the SMX Playoffs.
MXP: Yes, the racing in Charlotte wasn’t that exciting to watch. Obviously, with your job at Matrix Concepts Canada, you deal with a lot of our amateur riders. What would your advice be to an amateur rider right now as they plan their off-season? Should they try and keep riding? Should they keep racing through the winter? Or, should they go and do other things or play other sports in the next few months and not even think about motocross?
RL: I think it’s important for these guys to finish off their local series races. After that I’m all on bored with taking a bit of a break to recharge the batteries and take some time off. Time off is healthy for everyone. but with saying that, I do believe that racing in the off season is good. For these young amateurs if there is opportunity for some local off season races then you should do them rather than just taking 3-4 months off before they head south in the spring time.
MXP: There is talk that Haiden Deegan is going to move up to the 450 class for the 2026 Pro Motocross Championships. Where do you see him fitting in with the top 450 riders like Sexton, Tomac, and the Lawrence Brothers?
RL: I think the big bike will be a bit of a learning curve for Deegs, but he’s going to be just fine. Part of me wants to see him get his ass kicked, that way it will put him back in his place a bit. If I were to guess, you will see him right in the mix right away, but it will be the consistency that he will have to work on. He will not be able to blast through the pack in the 450 class like he does in the 250 class. It’s going to be fun to watch that’s for sure, and I would have to look back to the days of James Stewart, where there was a rider that had this much hype moving up to the premier class. There is definitely going to be a lot of pressure on him next year, so we’ll see how he handles that part of it.
