Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Well, after months of waiting and even wondering if there was actually going to be a 2020 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series, we’re now just two sleeps away from the first gate drop of the season. It’s been a long road to get to where we are now and before I get into my 250MX predictions, I want to send a big congratulations out to the Jetwerx and MRC Racing crew for working so hard to make this all happen. With so many Covid-19 hurdles to leap over, it would’ve been easy to stay in lock down and look towards 2021. But this series is about the racers and the racing and since it’s run by former racers, they found a way to make this series happen!
So let’s now talk about the 250MX Series and which riders are looking good for this 14 moto battle. First, I’ve said a few times now that I believe Jess Pettis is the favourite heading into Saturday. Not only is he a former 250MX Champion (2018), but he also had a great series last year and if it wasn’t for the out of this world riding by Dylan Wright, Pettis would’ve won his second title in a row. You could make the argument that since Pettis has been off for ten months with a knee injury that he might come in a tad rusty and this could leave the door open for someone else to get a head start on winning. While this may be true for the opening moto on Saturday when Pettis may be in conservative mode, once he gets one national race back under his belt, he’ll be fine. Also, it’s not like any of his competitors have done a lot of racing either in the past few months. Finally, as every rider or athlete knows, when you’re laid up for months with an injury one of thing that you have a lot of time to do is think, and then think some more. As you rehab your injury and spend endless hours getting your body back to normal, in almost all cases a fire begins to burn inside of you. In short, you get hungry and as much time as you spend rehabbing your injury, you spend twice that visualizing your return to competition. Pettis will be fine and I’m sure he’s gone over his return to racing a million times in his head and with this being his second year on the KTM, his set-up will be that much better.
Of course, it’s not going to be easy for Pettis as he will have three or four riders that are also hungry for success. One of these fast kids is Marshal Weltin who joins the Monster Energy Thor Kawasaki Team for 2020. Weltin is not only a good sand rider, but he also comes into this series in great shape and very happy with his KX250F. Weltin had a good series last year in Canada so we know what he’s capable of. I also think that when he lines up this weekend he’ll sit on the starting line and truly believe that he can win. That is not an easy place to get mentally as everyone ‘wants’ to win, but only a few actually believe they can. Weltin will be battling for wins at each round and when all is said and done he might just be the biggest thorn in the side of Pettis for all 14 motos. Even though I have Pettis as the favourite to win the 250MX title, I’m predicting that Weltin wins the opening moto of the series on Saturday, and here’s why. For most of the winter Weltin has been training at ClubMX in South Carolina and since their training and motos begin early in the morning, Weltin will be accustom to racing a 30 minute moto before noon. With Saturday’s first moto being in the morning, this may give Weltin a slight edge as the gate drops for this breakfast moto at Gopher Dunes.
Two other riders that come into 2020 ready to take their game to the next level are Tanner Ward and Marco Cannella. These two Ontario riders have been racing each other since they were kids and it’s been fun to watch their racing careers kind of parallel each other. Both are immensely talented and at this stage in their young careers, they both need to have a great series this summer. Not only for their own confidence, but with more uncertainly and most likely more budgets cuts coming in 2021, good support may be even harder to find. If there was ever a time to set yourself apart from every other rider, this is it. The good thing that both Ward and Cannella have all of the tools needed to win races and even challenge for this 250MX Championship. They both work hard, they both have a lot of experience on these tracks, and they both have a great team backing them up each weekend. Basically, how far up the ladder they climb this summer is up to them. I’m big fans of both of these kids as not only are they great riders, but also great individuals off of the track as well. They always have time for the youth of our sport and as they’ve grown up and matured they’ve become great role models.
If you look at the final 250MX series results from last year, there are a few fast riders missing. Tyler Medaglia has moved back to the 450MX class, while Josh Osby and Luke Renzland also won’t be returning. This leaves the door wide open for other riders to step up and challenge for Top 5 finishes. Young riders like Ryder McNabb, Tyler Gibbs, Jacob Piccolo, Tallon Unger, and American Ryan Surratt, are all capable of making life miserable for the top riders in the 250MX class. McNabb is fast and fit, Gibbs is ultra-talented, as is Piccolo, Unger trained all winter at ClubMX so he’ll be ready, and just a few years ago Surratt went 1-1 at the Deschambault National to win the overall. They’re are a plethora of story lines inside the Top 10 in the 250MX class and I cannot wait to see it all unfold this weekend at Gopher Dunes.
This weekend will be like no other national race in history in Canada. There are strict rules in place when it comes to wearing masks, social distancing, and of course there are no fans allowed in the gates. I’m sure there will be a strange vibe in the paddock as riders and teams navigate themselves around these new rules. Even for us media guys, getting interviews and talking with people is going to be more difficult than ever before. However, this the price to pay in order to have a series in 2020 and we’ll have to just adapt. As for the Gopher Dunes track, it will surely be the miserable beast that it always is. The track has gone through a few changes since last year so the riders will have to figure some of the new sections out. In talking to a number of riders since last year, everyone of them wishes there was less air time as jumping 70 feet through the air gets more and more difficult as the moto goes on, but in between the numerous jumps the deep sand will no doubt take on a life of its own. So here we go, 5 rounds and 14 motos to decide who will be champions in 2020. It all goes down in 48 hours on the roughest track in Canada and you can watch it on either Fox Sport Racing or the Two Wheel TV App. Just go to www.rockstartriplecrown.com for all of the information.
