MXP: During last Saturday’s St Louis SX, we witnessed some great racing in all three 450SX main events. In the end, Eli Tomac was able to hold on for his first overall win of 2024. Regardless of what Tomac does in the final five rounds, this win was huge for him and his fans, as coming back from his Achilles injury last year couldn’t have been easy. What did you think of Tomac’s riding in St Louis?
RL: A: It was great. Eli is such a great champion and a huge part of the sport, and it was great to see him win. There is no question that he is at the end of his career, so maybe this was the last win we see out of him. To be honest, after his performances in the last few races, I didn’t think we would see him win, but man, he was on it and so solid in St Louis.
MXP: Okay, Newf, here is another betting question. Let’s pretend you just won $1000 in purse money at the Riviere Du Loup AX. Would you put it on Jett Lawrence or Cooper Webb to win the 2024 450SX Championship? Webb is only 8 Points back now, with 5 Rounds to go.
RL: I’m still sticking with Jett, even though I would love to see Webb win. If you look at what needs to happen for Jett to lose, you just have to think that’s not going to happen at every round. Don’t get me wrong, he went from having a comfortable points gap to just 8 points, so there has to be some added pressure, but I still think he can manage this. I really think the most significant factor in this championship will be the weather for the last five rounds. All of the final rounds will be in outdoor stadiums, so anything can happen.
MXP: Ryder McNabb was impressive in St. Louis, qualifying 6th. However, he had some bad luck in the main event and didn’t finish that well. What are your thoughts on McNabb’s first SX Futures race?
RL: I was for sure excited that the time had finally come. I had said before that my expectations were not super high as he was coming off a wrist injury, which would have limited his time on SX, and in his situation, time on SX is everything. The 6th in qualifying was good. Could he be better, and should he be better? Yes, but given the circumstances, it was fine. After seeing 6th in the afternoon, I thought he would get a Top 5 start in the main based on his experience of knowing how to manage a race, but it sure didn’t go that way. He ended up getting a bad start, then he crashed and just never seemed to be able to get things going. Thankfully, Ryder has another SX Future race in a few weeks, so hopefully, he can improve his results and show what he’s capable of.