Finally getting around to Track Snacks this week. I did say hopefully, and late is better than never? This was a nice short trip to Indy but we got to take a lot in. First, we did it! WE set the Indy attendance record. This season the turnouts have been record setters. Walking around the city, going to breakfast, getting pre-race beers, and then being in the stadium you could tell a noticeable increase in people at the race. It was cool to see and be a part of.
The race looming and St. Patty’s day had the green beers flowing Saturday before the race. The race being around the holiday, championship weekend for college basketball, plus one of the cleanest cities causes for a shit show before and after the race. Bar crawling around the stadium before making it in for the final qualifiers is a must. Sometimes it causes you to nap during the final practice sessions, but what are you gonna do?
While I may not have caught practices or the LCQ’s I was attentive for the opening ceremonies and the mains. The opening ceremonies were wild. Not wild in a good sense, they were actually lame. Now, I know they haven’t been the same since K-Dub was hitting transfers and McGrath testing pyrotechnics, but can’t we at least have the funny videos of Deano on a jet-ski or Musquin’s goofy cat videos? Do we not have enough time because we must get Deegan, 4th in 250 East Points, fit in before the top 3 of the 450 class? What are we doing here?
The 450 class was rinse and repeat. It was hard to decipher all 3 main events. Kenny gets the holeshot, Jett is 2nd or 3rd by the second turn, then he just stalks his prey. Even though it was pretty much the same moto to moto, still plenty of things to watch that kept everything exciting. One of the first things I noticed was Kenny and Chase, NOT JETT, sending it into the whoops from the wall. Jett even gave Kenny his flowers in the press conference. Now, of course, Jett doing it in the third main with the ruts that gathered was next level. It’s scary, but the kid still has room for improvement…like finding creative lines mid race on his own.
The Webb wreck was one of the funniest crashes I have seen in a while. Not hitting a lapper, or even crashing out of a podium spot were funny, but the way he finally hit the ground. It was a classic Carmichael hold onto the bars until the bitter end. Then the ground fell out from under the rhythm section and he just flopped over, so good! AC’s safe sign to the stadium was also great (check out his IG post if you haven’t seen it), but Webbs wreck took the cake for me. It’s hard to put anyone at fault there. The track was difficult, Cade got cross rutted and went in front of Webb. Cade was battling with Chizz at the moment, but even if he wasn’t the odds of making a mistake and going left to right are high on a track like that.
Webb getting taken out in the first main, then failing to get good starts because of it in the others has all but wrapped up the championship for Jett. It’s going to be boring situation in the points for the rest of the season. This was another fascinating race by Jett though. He can go any speed at will. I am not sure he can be the most consistent that way, but the speed he has on reserve has never been seen before in my opinion. He admitted on Pulp MX that he was going to settle for 2nd in the third main until he saw Chase coming in 3rd. In less than a lap and a half, Jett made up 2 seconds on Kenny AND passed him. That is crazy! His speed through the sand to close up on Kenny was mind blowing. I know everyone gets it, the kid has skill. But it truly is amazing just how fast he COULD go, but choses not too.
The group of Tomac, Anderson, Plessinger, J-Coop and Mookie were all underwhelming. Tomac had a few charges put on from the back of the pack, but they would stall out behind his teammate or literally just stall his bike. AP and Anderson were racing each other like they hated one another. That was some fun fireworks. Anderson rides pissed off and amazing for a few laps, backs off, people catch up to him again and then he gets fired back up. It’s interesting. I was happy to hear he has no plans to retire after his Kawi contract is up in ’25, hopefully he is willing to take a Frenandes or Kenny type of deal.
What did I say? 3 starts for the 250 East Class, there had to be drama! Of course there was, and it shook things up big time. It wasn’t until the final 250 main that we got our first turn pile up. But it was a big one. You had Deegan starting one on the inside gathering Hymas and Anstie (bad call on him doing well at the triple crown) then also McAdoo ran Hammacker wide in the first turn causing an entire separate pile up on the outside. The difference between those two causing the pile ups was that McAdoo didn’t go down in the one he started.
Deegan causing that crash was the end of what was starting to be a great 3rd main event. McAdoo and Deegan each had a first and a second entering the final main. Cameron, Tom, and Deegan were all right there off the start in the first race. It was good close racing, all close in speed. Tom made 2 mistakes in the whoops in 3 laps, then on the 4th lap he finally went down in the whoops handing second place to Haiden. Deegan was starting to really apply the pressure to Vialle though when he went down.
The second race was similar to the first, but also with Hammacker added into the mix. Like I said, he has been sneaky fast this year. I thought he might end up helping Deegan edge out the overall by holding off Cameron at the beginning of the second main. But also like I said, he finds drama and cannot stay off the ground. So, in acrobatic fashion, he flat lands one triple in a section and still tries the next triple, only to frame case it and go flying through the rest of the section. If he figures out the consistency, his speed is undeniable. This second main of the 250’s may have been the most boring race of the night besides Seth’s wreck. Deegan was the fastest by far, Cameron just rode it in for second, and this Tom guy who is going to be the guy soon took third. We can’t move on from the second main without mentioning Deegan’s podium interview though. So, is he not pandering to the metal mulisha types anymore? Is he now trying to be humble? I have to admit, I appreciated his press conference much more. But just because the “Danger Zone” isn’t for me, doesn’t mean those weren’t the fans he was after. I guess I’m still confused.
The last main was interesting for the overall win because of Deegan’s wreck in the first turn. Cameron rode smoothly behind Brown in third while Tom checked out out with the moto win and earned himself second overall on the night. Deegan was hauling though. He came from wayyy back to get 6th. That was one of the most impressive rides he has had since turning pro. Another two laps and he may have ended up in 4th on the moto and second overall. That ride was super impressive. As impressive and fast as he may have been, it didn’t matter because the consistency of Cameron McAdoo won him his first overall of the season AND got him the red plate. Now that is astonishing and I’m fired up for the dude. He must have one of the best outlooks on being a factory motocross racer. He can be long winded at times, but his attitude is how most of us could only hope we would act in the same situation. Him and Tom are only separated by 2 points for the championship, and I couldn’t think of 2 other people I would rather win it.
There are some track snacks for people from Indy! Great city, great race, great environment. If you haven’t made it to a supercross there before, I recommend putting it on your bucket list. I have never been to a louder supercross anywhere else before. Cheers!
