Greetings everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend, and Happy Memorial Day to our friends in the USA. Actually, today is the perfect day to honour all our service members right across the globe. They keep us safe and allow us to enjoy the freedoms we sometimes take for granted. Thank you for your service and sacrifice each and every day.
Speaking of the great USA, this past weekend the gate dropped on the 2024 Pro Motocross Championships at Fox Raceway in California. The weather was perfect for racing, and the track crew created a circuit that tested each and every rider. To be one of the riders who follows the entire SMX series it must be absolutely exhausting. Let’s not forget that the Monster Energy Supercross Series ended just two weeks ago, so the riders only got one weekend off before jumping into the MX Series. However, this tight turnaround didn’t appear to slow any of the riders down, as the racing on Saturday was exciting to watch in both classes. In the 250 class, Haiden Deegan grabbed the win in both motos, despite taking two off-track excursions. The first one I think you could give him a pass as he made an attempt to slow down and rejoin the track at the safest point. In moto two, he went off the track again, and although he initially slowed down, he then accelerated just before reentering the track in order to clear a big jump. In a bizarre turn of events after the race, it took the AMA four hours, yes you read that correctly, four long hours, to decide whether or not Deegan was going to be docked. Now, you could argue that the AMA was just doing their due diligence, but that is an obscene amount of time to keep everyone waiting. In the end, the AMA decided that Deegan didn’t gain any time and he was not penalized. If all the AMA had to do was look at his lap time or segment time, then why did it take four hours? My guess is that there was first a protest, then most likely an appeal to the original ruling, and that obviously took time. I personally think it’s bizarre that Deegan wasn’t docked a position after moto two. Whether he lost time or gained time or whatever, this was his second time going off the track, and getting back on without losing a position. The AMA should’ve sent a message that going off the track, and not slowing down considerably before reentering isn’t going to be tolerated. On another note, I want to be a Haiden Deegan fan as I love his riding, as well as his grit and determination. The kid obviously works hard and he’s going to be tough to beat this summer. However, once he removes his helmet on or near the podium he takes on this strange cocky and annoying persona that in my view, takes away from everything good he just did on the track. He appears to have such a lack of respect for his fellow competitors, and he always gets some sort of dig in about them. Like I said, I love the kids riding, but him playing this villain role is already getting old.
Our two-time 250 National Champion Ryder McNabb was on the gate at Fox Raceway, and he had an eventful day at the opening round. In moto one, he was running as high as 14th at one point, before dropping back a few positions. Then, unfortunately on the final lap Ryder had an off track excursion himself, and ended up getting stuck in some mud. In moto two, he battled back from a poor start to finish up in a solid 19th. We didn’t see much of him on the broadcast, but it appears that he rode strong, and that his speed was decent. In these early rounds especially, the top twenty in the 250 class are going extremely fast, and one little mistake can cause you to get out of sync and drop back. Once Ryder gets a little experience with these new competitors he’s racing against, I expect him to be a consistent Top 15 finisher, and with a good start, he could crack the Top 10. It’s going to be fun to watch and keep track of his progress this summer! Next up for Ryder and his fellow Pro Motocross Championship riders is Round 2 in Hangtown this weekend.
Well, after months of anticipation the opening round of the 2024 Triple Crown is now upon us. The scenic and iconic Wild Rose MX Park, located a stone’s throw from downtown Calgary will serve as the host for Round 1. The City of Calgary is the perfect place to get things started, over the years it has been one of the fan friendliest regions in Canada. The festivities get underway on Friday afternoon as the official series Press Conference will be held at 16:30 local time. Soon after that, Kourtney Lloyd and her Team Canada MXON crew will host their party at the same location. As of now, there are a few tickets remaining for this event, so if you want to go you’d better act fast. It’s also open to people of all ages, as there will be games and activities for kids. Saturday at Wild Rose MX Park will be all about the amateur riders, as the opening round of the Parts Canada Amateur Open Series will take place. Then, on Sunday the gate will drop for the pro riders, as well as the Thor WMX Series, and FXR Pre-mix classes. It’s going to be a great weekend, and as I type this the weather looks great for Saturday, and okay for Sunday. However, it is Calgary in early June and we all know that the weather can change by the hour. I fly out to Calgary early on Wednesday in order to get a head start on the hype and great vibe that Calgary always produces whenever the Triple Crown Series comes to town.
Obviously, the discussion of who is going to win each class has come up on the daily in recent weeks, as everyone has their opinions. And while most everyone agrees that defending champion Dylan Wright is going to be hard to beat in the 450 class, who might win the 250 class remains a bit of a mystery. I do agree that Dylan is going to be difficult to beat on Sunday, however, he did lose a moto to Jess Pettis last year at Wild Rose, so there is a small opening for an unexpected winner at the opening round. I think coming into round one, you almost have to think that Dylan’s raw speed will continue to be superior to the other riders in the 450 class. He looked great when I saw him ride in Florida, and then in the final moto last month at the AMO race at Gopher Dunes, Dylan appeared to be riding better than I have ever seen him. However, with riders in the 450 class like Pettis, Ward, Harrison, Tanti, Kilroy, Elmore, and Benek, it’s going to be harder than it ever has been for Dylan to battle to the front after a bad start. If Dylan has one little, tiny weakness it’s that he doesn’t always get off the gate well. In past, he’s blown through the pack quickly, and he’s been able to keep an eye on the leaders the entire time. Usually, by halfway he’s close to the lead, and by the twenty minute mark, he’s passed for the lead and able to ride off with the win. Last year, Medaglia was able to hold Dylan off in Kamloops, and as I mentioned, Pettis did the same in Calgary. This year, and this weekend in particular, with Wild Rose MX Park having a cement starting pad, and sometimes the track being hard to pass on, even if Dylan starts in 8th or 9th, it’s not going to be easy passing some of the names I mentioned above. But, it will be fun to watch if Dylan does get a bad start and then has to go into “beast mode”.
In the 250 class, I believe you have to give the nod to Kaven Benoit as the favourite heading into Round 1 in Calgary. Last year, Benoit stormed out of the gate and took the opening round win in Edmonton. After that, he battled with his teammate Ryder McNabb for the next three rounds before crashing hard at Sand Del Lee. That took the steam out of Benoit and allowed McNabb to cruise to his second 250 title in as many years. For 2024, Benoit told me that he learned a lot last year about himself and how to manage his health while battling for pro motocross championship at 30 plus years old. I think Benoit is going to be even better than he was last year, and that is bad news to everyone else in the 250 class. Another oldie but goodie is GDR Honda rider Tyler Medaglia, who has moved back down to the 250 class after spending the past several years in the 450 class. At 37 years old, Tyler brings the most experience to the 250 class, along with the most fitness. My only question is, does Tyler have the raw speed to run up front in this class, when the motos are only 25 minutes plus two laps? As I said, Tyler’s experience, desire, and fitness are still second to none, even at his age, but will his brain allow him to let it all hang out and sprint with the kids. There is a good reason as to why there aren’t many top pro riders in their mid to late 30s, as this sport is a young man’s game to say the least. The battle this summer between Benoit and Medaglia versus the young guns like Racine, Adams, Kerr, Wood, Davies, Linville, and Amyotte, is going to be very entertaining to watch.
In the WMX class, the heavy favourite has to be Eve Brodeur, who for the past number of years has been a winning machine. For 2024, Eve is back on KTM and under the KTM Canada Red Bull Racing Team tent. As of right now, I’m not sure who might challenge Eve as she battles for yet another WMX Championship. However, it’s going to be entertaining to see the strides that riders like Kayer, Brown, Lopushinsky, and Ferguson have made over the off-season as they try to find the speed needed to run with, and even beat, Eve Brodeur. Our WMX riders work very hard and take this speed extremely serious, and because of that each one improves rapidly from season to season. The opening round always gives us the opportunity to see which rider has put in the most work during the off-season, whether it’s the riders in the 250 class, the 450 class, or the WMX class. This is what makes the first gate drops of a new season so exciting!
Well, that is it for me this week. I will have more on the opening round of the 2024 Triple Crown Series throughout the week. Finally, this past weekend at the Riviere du Loup AX, Mitchell Harrison was the big winner as he dominated both nights of racing. I’m not sure if racing an AX the weekend before the opening outdoor is the best idea? I mean, I remember doing it in both 1996 and 1997, and it worked. So, perhaps this is what Harrison needed and he’s going to come out swinging in Calgary this weekend. I also want to send best wishes to Ontario pro rider Tristen Dares who suffered some very serious injuries last weekend in an off bike incident outside the city of Guelph. Tristen is a kid who always has a smile on his face and always looks like he’s loving life and the sport of motocross. To think that someone could want to hurt him is unimaginable. Here’s hoping that Tristen has a full recovery, and all the best to him and his family. Please have a great week and thank you for reading. See you in Calgary!
