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2025 Motocross Southwick 250 Moto 2
Transcript
00:00And there you see, as JT mentioned, Deegan and Miao line up next to each other.
00:08This is it. Roughest track of the day. Navy of the year. Prevs are up. Gates down.
00:17Unreal start out of the box for Deegan.
00:20What a great start, man. It's a great feeling to get a little, like, whip over just to let Tommy Alton know.
00:26Just close him off. And, man, hey, Deegan's out front again. Let's see what it is.
00:29But, Tom Diao, top five start. But he's also going backwards as well.
00:33But Joe Shimoda looks like he's up in that third place.
00:36Actually, Swole. Good to see him up there in that top three.
00:39Wow. Much better for Shimoda from down to the first turn in Moto 1.
00:43Third place start here in Moto 2. And he's already making moves.
00:48Yeah, Joe. Riding really good. He's been riding good all year long.
00:52So he knows that, look, man, I'm always strong at the end of the Motos.
00:56But as quickly as I do that, Levi Kitchen makes an inside move on him.
00:59Nice move by Levi. Try to get around him. He knows how good Joe is.
01:03And Tom Diao is the one guy that needs to start making some moves because we're already starting to see that number one get in the way.
01:08Yeah, that was surprising. Diao, a couple of those first couple of turns didn't work to his advantage.
01:14There he is, battling with Shimoda. And Kinshin, he might be the rider to watch now. He is hauling the mail.
01:20Yeah, what Levi said, he needed to get around those guys a little bit early. He kind of made it hard for himself.
01:25See if he can get up the inside. Yeah, Jalik leaned on him. Being too worried about him.
01:29I think that's where you've got to know which rider you're riding again. So, love it.
01:34He's got to really aggressive and early in this Motos. They like to smooth some of these tracks out.
01:39So, you've got to make it down before he starts spreading down.
01:42A little mistake by Swole. Can he hold it? Kinshin got a power around the outside.
01:48There you go. Throw a spatula at him. Let him know.
01:50So, yeah, Kinshin's sinking. Throwing it all at him right now and set him up on the inside of the next corner.
01:56All right. I was impressed with the aggressiveness early of Shimoda, but it's actually Kinshin who maybe wants to run with Deegs.
02:02Yeah, Levi actually made a few passes that first lap and look, it's probably the first time he's seen Hayden Deegan around since the Riders meeting.
02:09So, good to see him back up there. And Levi had a good pace to go in that first moto.
02:13And the one thing you have to do with Hayden, is we heard in the 450 class with Eli, look, you've got to be able to see these lines.
02:19And now they'll get a chance to see maybe where Hayden is really quickly, where Hayden's been fast all day long. We'll see.
02:27Swole right here in this group of riders that you knew would be quick. Kinshin, Shimoda, and Vial.
02:31He's in the middle of that fight on the triumph. Then Hamaker in the Kawasaki 6.
02:36DeFrancisco, Smith, Mosevin, Baxter, full top 10. Look at those results.
02:40Moto 1 for the triumph squad in their second year at this game.
02:445th and 7th with Harrapin Swole.
02:47And then it was 14th and 19th there for Smith and Fortner. Go ahead.
02:52Yeah, and I would say, like, Jaleek Swole, to his, you know, his credit, you know, the one place that he might struggle with is in the beginning part of the race that he's been injured all year long.
03:01So, it's not surprising that maybe some of these guys get around him because this is his third moto back or fourth moto back after coming off that Achilles injury.
03:09So, might struggle a little bit in the beginning part and then saddle in.
03:12But that 7th place, that first moto, was really good. Let's see what he can do to the second one.
03:19Shimoda on the Honda HRC Progressive Machine working on Swole.
03:23Returning from an Achilles injury, and that's honestly pretty early for that.
03:27It was November where he was injured.
03:31Back to the racetrack in the last event at High Point.
03:37And Swole told me that was a little early, but he knew any kind of fitness he could build before Southwood would probably be to his advantage.
03:43So, that's why he raced High Point.
03:46Figured it'd still be tough today, but he has been tough in his own right and not relenting to the 30.
03:52Yeah, I mean, I'm really impressed by Jalik ever since he's been on his triumph for the last couple of years.
03:57Like, I mean, he's obviously gotten better and better, but this year, to see how he came back in, excuse me, High Point, really impressed there.
04:06And today, just equally as impressed to be able to get that second, seventh place, that first moto.
04:11But he's got his hands full with the number three.
04:13You can tell Joe is trying to move forward, and the pass might be done right here.
04:18Shimoda on the outside.
04:19Long way around.
04:22Those lines that JT have been talking about all day long, that inside versus outside, it worked on the outside.
04:27Yeah, it worked.
04:28I mean, it is one of those things, once you go out there, Joe had to commit.
04:31That bike was jumping all over the place, but he knew he had to go.
04:35And we talked about the last two years, the second moto has been Joe time.
04:38So, for whatever reason, maybe it is that Joe time.
04:42He's only seven seconds back, but in Southwick, that's actually not too far back.
04:47Shout out to Levi Kitchen, keeping Hayden within three seconds.
04:50And, you know, Kitchen does not have a great record here at Southwick.
04:56Fourth overall is his best ever at this track going back to 2022.
05:01Will?
05:02He didn't, but I don't think that's what's playing into today.
05:07I got to have a good sit-down with Levi earlier, and we talked about confidence a lot.
05:11And he said, look, he's just waiting, he's building, and he's just waiting for that kind of breakthrough ride.
05:16And then he sort of freaked himself, said, waiting is the wrong word.
05:19He's like, because I'm going after it.
05:21He's like, but I know that that confidence boost is what I need.
05:24And he talked about starts, obviously initiating that.
05:26He didn't actually go on the first turn in a great position, but what he did do, which he said he wanted to do, was attack early.
05:33And he said, I know if I feel that, I'll be getting back to that race pace.
05:37I'll be able to keep that going throughout the moto.
05:40And, James, he's tackling two different things right now when it comes to confidence.
05:44He's getting back into racing after a very serious injury, a back injury at Daytona Supercross this year
05:49that took him out for the rest of the Supercross season, but also the mental side of that too.
05:54He said, I've got to get over that as well.
05:55So it's like physically getting back into race pace and mentally just getting past all of that
06:00and getting back into his spot too.
06:02But it's great to see him make the gains that he is today.
06:05Yeah, no, I agree.
06:06And those two, they come hand in hand.
06:10You know, the more confidence that you get, the back just seems better.
06:13But you go back to last year, Levi was really one of those guys that was giving Hayden.
06:17All he wanted was opening few motos.
06:20So he knows how to do this.
06:21As we saw Tom Vial finally make his way around Jalik Swole.
06:25Oh, Jalik made a mistake over there.
06:27But, yeah, I think Levi's rotten really good for him to be this close.
06:31It is that confidence.
06:32And I feel like when a guy doesn't get a jump, when they make those moves early in the moto,
06:36that's all confidence because, you know, again, you just got to be able to risk it
06:40and feel comfortable taking that risk.
06:41And obviously Levi did.
06:43And it's showing out.
06:44He's in that second place.
06:45But Tom Vial is probably going to be the one who got us a little disappointed on those opening laps
06:49because the way he rode that first moto, you can't be spotting Hayden Deegan 10 seconds
06:54and then thinking that you're going to close that gap up.
06:57And now Vial is going to try to go back after Shimoda JT.
07:00Well, Luigi, you and I got to speak with nine-time MXGP champion Tony Cairo and he said
07:07one of the toughest things for MXGP riders coming over to America is the early laps, the
07:11sprint speed, where riders in Europe, they like to settle in, they kind of build up like
07:16a diesel engine and they really get going late in the moto, where American style, they
07:20sprint early.
07:21They have so much speed at the beginning.
07:22And I think that's maybe what Tom Vial is suffering with a little bit is he's getting
07:27going late.
07:28We saw how much speed he had to wait in the moto.
07:29The problem is a guy like Deegan already has an 11-second lead by the time he gets warmed
07:34up.
07:35JT, we did see more of that from Vial, I feel like, in that first moto.
07:39And you had a discussion there with the guys in the booth talking about, you know, what
07:42did they work on here in this off-weekend.
07:45And Carlos Rivera, the crew chief, that was one of the things that he said he wanted Tom to
07:50focus in on.
07:50Was that first lap to fifth lap.
07:53He said, when we look at the lap times, that sprint speed, that up-front stuff isn't there.
07:58He says, they're late in the moto.
08:00That's not a problem.
08:01But we need it to be there up-front.
08:03And I think we saw some of that.
08:05Obviously, like you said, we didn't really sit here in the second moto as much, but it
08:08is definitely on their radar to work on.
08:11Yeah, and that's not an easy thing to change, RJ.
08:15Well, I was going to say, easy to say, hard to do, right?
08:17Yeah, I mean, because it is.
08:18I mean, it really comes down to, you know, especially if you've got the pace, you know,
08:23maybe that Hayden does, or at least the pace to run up front.
08:25And it's one of those things that you've got to start from getting up and breath.
08:30It's like everything that you have to do before you get on the track and once you get on the
08:34track has to be really everything has to be short.
08:37And for me, I would always go out there, and I wouldn't do any warm-up laps.
08:40I would just go straight out there, check the track out, look at it, and visually just go
08:44out there and attack it.
08:45And I felt like that helped me.
08:46So Tom Vial, he is working on that.
08:48But that is something to be able to overcome in a race.
08:53It's going to be difficult.
08:53It's going to take time more than a week.
08:55Well, Vial's got work to do now at that 11-second gap to Deegan.
09:04SMX World Championship playoffs.
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09:12That's at the races at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
09:17Rounds one and three.
09:18Spots are going quick.
09:19If you want to get trackside, reserve your camping area today at SuperMotocross.com.
09:26Has Deegan answered the bell?
09:27I think so.
09:28Suddenly the gap is seven and a half.
09:30Yeah, where he's answering is where you just saw right there.
09:32I mean, we just talked about, I'm sure we'll get a shot at other guys in that same section.
09:38Yeah, Joe's coming.
09:39But the gap where Hayden jumps out just seems like he has so much more momentum than those
09:46guys in that same thing.
09:47And Levi didn't even fight Shimoda there.
09:51Yeah, I mean, I think it was really more Joe had a good pace.
09:54Levi lost a toe with Hayden.
09:56So now he's starting to run backwards.
09:59And, you know, sometimes it's a risk getting up there.
10:01You want to get up there and you want to run with Hayden or whoever it is.
10:04And if you can't hold that gap and you're especially like Levi, who feels like,
10:07I want to win these races, you saw what happened at Eli in that 450 class, man.
10:11It's almost more demoralizing to be up there and watch the guy pull away from you than you're
10:16just starting fifth.
10:17And he was just gone in the beginning.
10:18And I'm sure it's tough for Levi, but Joe has a good pace going on at the moment.
10:24Well, you see the tails of the lap times here.
10:27Kitchener 2-12 at one point.
10:28He's keeping Deegan in sight and then a 18 last time around.
10:31So we'll see if he can rebuild.
10:33Was that a bad lap or is it just trending the wrong way all the way to the end?
10:36We'll find out soon.
10:37Shimoda not going to ask questions.
10:40They're trying to get away.
10:40Yeah, no, the one thing with Levi not saying that he's here, the one fear as a rider.
10:47Oh, wow, Joe, hold on to that.
10:51That's just Southwick.
10:52He won't even remember what happened.
10:54Like, what were you talking about?
10:56But I was mentioning the one fear that you have as a rider is that you get out front
11:01and you try to run that pace and then you blow up, you know, and then you look up,
11:04you've got 20 minutes left and you're like, oh, man, I don't even know how I'm going to finish this race.
11:08So there's always a risk and Levi's just got to refocus, settle down, let everything slow back down
11:15and then, you know, try to finish this ride out.
11:17Well, that's the opposite side of what we're saying with Vial.
11:20He had the sprint laps kitchen, but now Vial has caught him.
11:24Now, you say blow up.
11:25Is that arm pump?
11:26Is that heart rate too high?
11:27Are you just out of energy completely mental?
11:30I mean, it could be all above.
11:32Okay.
11:32It depends.
11:33I mean, arm pump.
11:34You've got to arm pump.
11:35Don't matter how good a shape he is, you can't hold on to it.
11:37And if you're out of shape, it doesn't matter how your arms aren't pumped.
11:40So, you know, it really just comes down to which one of these riders.
11:44And again, you can look at Levi.
11:45See, his mechanic is like asking what's going on.
11:49So there's your answer.
11:51Now, we all don't know, but, you know, I know Levi, you've got to give a guy out there credit.
11:55He went out there and he's trying to compete and, you know, maybe things are just starting to happen fast.
12:00And here at Southwood, as Tom Diaz goes around the outside, definitely frustrating for him.
12:06But at least he went out there and he went out there to fight.
12:08He did.
12:09And now back to fourth.
12:12Only about four seconds.
12:13So that's all a mistake by Kitchen.
12:16And that is going to unravel.
12:17They're going to be double question marks on the next time.
12:20Yeah, and I know that little slot out right there is just as bad as having to pick the motorcycle up.
12:25And as I like to say, sometimes you just go to start to fight and you realize the guy's big.
12:30Well, sometimes you just got to get knocked out.
12:32And so, you know, Levi is going to figure it out, JT.
12:35You know, it's deceptively humid down here, guys.
12:38And we've had a threat of rain all weekend and the sky's finally cleared and the sun came out.
12:42Well, that humidity stuck around.
12:44And, okay, it's maybe only 80 degrees, but you can really feel the thickness in the air right now.
12:50So whether it was AP and 450 Moto2 or Levi Kitchen here, I think it's taken a toll on these guys.
12:56You can see Kitchen laboring.
12:57To me, it just looks like the prototypical overheating.
13:01Yeah, yeah, no, I agree with you on that, JT.
13:03You can tell, like, things are really starting to happen.
13:06I believe this is more body and that mental fatigue, probably even more than, like, physical and all that.
13:13It's a combination of all things, but you can tell by Levi, the way he's riding, he's sitting down a little bit more.
13:18But you can recover from this.
13:20He's just got to just slow things down, maybe take a couple laps, because you still got a long race.
13:25You're in fourth place.
13:27Just recover, man.
13:32Well, the rider to watch that could be the next one to catch him.
13:36Swole is behind him in fifth, but Michael Moseman is back.
13:39And he is charging in sixth.
13:42And a few spots behind that, you've got Hamaker seventh, Jordan Smith eighth.
13:47And in this battle, Ryder D Francisco and Garrett Marchbanks.
13:50Ryder D down to the first turn of the first photo.
13:53And there's a move from Marchbanks.
13:56Yeah, another strong round by Garrett.
13:58Seen him coming through the pack a lot this year.
14:00It just starts to be kind of costing him, but he's been riding really good.
14:03And, yeah, going back to Levi, unfortunately, once you get down into your teammates' handmaker,
14:11then it seems like from there to almost Julian 14th, you're going to have guys that continue to come at you over and over.
14:19That's how deep this 250 field is.
14:21So they'll be coming.
14:23You've got to have something to fight with.
14:24Oh, yeah.
14:24You hear that from these riders all the time.
14:26It is no less intense back in 12th than it is in 1st and 2nd as Marchbanks makes a move.
14:31I mean, Marchbanks has been podium-level speed all year.
14:34And he is ninth today.
14:36D Francisco, 10th.
14:37Now, his teammate of the Rockstar Gascast, Casey Cochran, had crashed earlier today
14:42and looked like maybe a dislocated shoulder they were trying to get back in.
14:47So a get-well-soon to him is really showing some speed early this summer.
14:52Here you see the Alpine Stars medics trying to help him get that back in.
14:56Yeah, that's a bummer for Casey.
14:59He's riding really good all year long.
15:01So hopefully they get back.
15:03But, yeah, I want to say something.
15:05We were talking about the section right after the mechanics area where I was mentioning Jeff was jumping out,
15:10and so is Hayden Deegan.
15:11And we just saw, like, a shot of Marchbanks.
15:14And if we have him the next lap or another rider,
15:17you can just see the difference between the momentum that by not jumping out,
15:21how much time did he lose in that whole section.
15:23I bet he probably loses two seconds in that one area right there from not jumping out.
15:29And, again, it's a blind jump, and if you haven't seen it, you really wouldn't know.
15:33But just those little things, they add up.
15:35And especially here at Southwick, not only are you losing time,
15:37but it's a lot of energy to build that 250, especially on the 250 bike, really costing these guys.
15:43Well, I mentioned Michael Moseman on the chart.
15:45Second half of the moto could be his halfway through.
15:48A reminder, Monster Energy available now.
15:53Moseman has been strong here.
15:54He is closing on Swole about a second faster than him the last time around
15:59and nearly five seconds quicker than Kitchen.
16:03Moseman making a bid for it.
16:04Yeah, it's interesting to see what – to know what actually happened at first moto
16:09because usually if a guy drops off in, you know, that first moto the way he did to be able to get past
16:14by those guys those last two laps, he wouldn't come out the second moto if he fired, you know, like he is right now.
16:20So maybe it was a tip over or something that must have caught him
16:22because he definitely looks like a rider who got a bad start but is in shape and moving his way forward.
16:28And he looked like that the whole moto except for the last two laps when we was looking somewhere else.
16:34Yeah, he looks great on the motorcycle right now.
16:36Moseman, as he has Swole in his sights, that's for fifth for now.
16:41But they're circulating faster than Kitchen.
16:43You just saw on the head at the bottom of the screen, something has gone wrong with Kitchen.
16:48So they're in the hunt for the fourth-place spot actually.
16:52Yeah, but they – Levi was – those guys were a lot faster, five seconds.
16:57Right now, Levi brought it back down to 220, and Michael was still two seconds faster than him,
17:03but Levi went almost four seconds faster this last lap.
17:06So that's what I'm saying, that whole recovery part.
17:09And he's still only about five seconds behind Tom Bial as quickly as things look like they were coming to unravel for Levi.
17:16He hasn't lost that much time.
17:18And now they're going to battle each other, Swole and Moseman.
17:22This is going to be digging deep for Swole.
17:26Just coming back from that big injury in so much time where you cannot train at all with the Achilles.
17:31And it is late in the day.
17:32This track is rough.
17:33You watch Deegan dominant in the bottom box, and Moseman looking to make the move.
17:38Let's find out what happened to Moseman as he makes his pass.
17:41What did happen to Moto1?
17:42Will, do you get info on that?
17:43I did.
17:44I just asked, and apparently the bike got hot and started to lose power.
17:48So to what you guys were saying, it wasn't him.
17:51So that's why we're seeing sort of a strong showing here in Moto2.
17:57That's a bummer because that podium has been close from a couple of times this year.
18:00It might get away because of that.
18:03Southwick tough on the bikes, right?
18:04Yeah, Southwick really tough.
18:06And like I said, the way he was riding, to build a whole Levi off on that whole Moto,
18:10and then a drop, almost 10 seconds, you know, those couple laps didn't seem that,
18:14and the way he's fighting.
18:15So bummer, but you never know.
18:17He's moving up, and the way this field is, there's a lot of up and downs.
18:21The way these guys finish in the Moto, they might not have a chance.
18:25He's got the gap between he and Kitchen down to three seconds.
18:28Moseman told this story many times again, coming back to the broken deck
18:31and near retirement, really strong here in the sand.
18:34And Ken, he tracked down Kitchen as Deegan's lead is 7.7 over Shimoda.
18:41Viala's third.
18:43There's Kitchen up the road.
18:46A rough road.
18:48See if Moseman can get there.
18:51Yeah, Michael is about a second faster than Levi at that point,
18:55and, yeah, you know, you're going back up to the lead with Hayden Deegan.
18:58Yeah, it's seven seconds.
19:01Joe's been able to kind of close that gap.
19:03He actually got it down.
19:04Now it jumps back up to nine.
19:05I wonder if that was a mistake.
19:06But since Joe's been at second, that gap hasn't gotten any bigger.
19:10In fact, it was closing down for a while until I just mentioned it.
19:14But it's been the story of kind of Joe.
19:17When he's been able to be up front and he's on that podium, man,
19:20he's the only one that I would say that had the speed of Hayden Deegan all year
19:24to when he's into the race.
19:27He's just as fast.
19:28That's why he's actually second in the championship.
19:33Whoa.
19:36Whoa, a couple of woes there.
19:38Some of it good, actually.
19:39Yeah, I mean, that's just fun.
19:43But the only reason he's able to do that is because he has a lead like that,
19:46and that's an experiment that he's like, all right, well,
19:48because nobody's pressured me, I can slow down,
19:50and maybe if I can hop this and get this clean, then it's way faster.
19:54If not, I just almost fall, and I just want to be that again.
19:58Hop in the bumps, and almost lose in the front,
20:00and then blowing out the berm, but actually made it look cool somehow.
20:04Big lead there.
20:07We talked about it in Moto1.
20:09Is he chasing a little bit of the ghost of the 18 right now?
20:13I mean, all the viewers at home, you tell me.
20:15I mean, we just saw what Jet does, and we know Hayden's hopping.
20:20He was hopping over the bumps and doing all that stuff.
20:22Jet was really the one that recently we've seen do that,
20:25and now you're starting to see Hayden do that as well.
20:28So whether he's chasing him or not,
20:30he's definitely paying attention on how to go around this racetrack fast.
20:34But I just love this next section he does.
20:35He's so good at this.
20:38Oh, you want this big jump here?
20:40So we asked Hayden yesterday about,
20:42because he hits this jump coming up, about that.
20:45Is he thinking 250 class, or is he already getting ahead,
20:47I think, in 450s?
20:49Put him on the spot yesterday.
20:52Definitely on my goals set pretty high,
20:54and right now where I'm at the 250 class,
20:57I don't feel like there's someone that I still have to beat.
21:01I feel like I kind of placed that I'm the guy these last two years,
21:04and so now it's like, what's next?
21:06And I feel like that's the 450 class.
21:07So my goals are high.
21:08I just got to work towards it, though.
21:12You're seeing him do that in real time.
21:1510-second lead over Shimoda,
21:17and you knew Moseman was going to get to Kitchen.
21:20So it's a rematch of Moda 1, but in reverse order.
21:22Now can Moseman pass Kitchen?
21:24Kitchen was trying to get Moseman a little over an hour ago.
21:28Yeah, but, I mean, you look at Levi's body position
21:31compared to where it was about four laps ago.
21:33It's a nine-day difference.
21:34Yeah, that's where you've got to give Levi credit
21:37because it can really unravel really quick.
21:41So for him, knowing that position,
21:43I can't fight with Joe or even Tom at this point.
21:46I've got to be able to recover because it's a long moto.
21:49So shout out to him for being able to do that
21:50and at least put up a fight.
21:52And he's still running really good.
21:53He's in fourth place.
21:54Michael's been running really good all day long,
21:57so I wouldn't be too bummed if he gets around.
22:01Trying the outside.
22:03Yeah, now Kitchen's fighting for sure, but is it enough?
22:06Couldn't stay on that left side, and Moseman's got it.
22:09Look at this!
22:10Kitchen gets it back!
22:12Wheel to wheel!
22:14Yeah, and, man, I love that
22:16because that's the one thing as a rider you're doing.
22:18Michael probably thought, already, I got him.
22:20You know, fish on the hook, got him,
22:21and Levi makes that pass back.
22:23It's so frustrating for all these guys.
22:26And a lot rider now.
22:27Yeah.
22:28Get out of my way, son.
22:29Yeah.
22:30Oh, Moseman's got to be super frustrated then.
22:32Yeah.
22:33But again, these two were doing this, the first moto,
22:36so maybe Levi's doing a little bit of payback to him
22:38because Michael was, he was hounding Michael
22:40the whole first moto and couldn't get around him.
22:43That's right.
22:45I mean, just look at the difference when Shimoda got to him.
22:47He went right around, the out right around,
22:49but no question about it.
22:50Kitchin is back to fighting.
22:52So what is that?
22:53You take, oh, Bomair, he's had a rough one today in the sand.
22:56He has gone down.
22:58He is in 15th place.
23:00So, Kitchin, can you relax two laps, three laps,
23:04and get a little something back in the system,
23:06get the heart rate back down?
23:07Yeah, no, you absolutely can't.
23:09Because, I mean, truthfully, this is what we train for,
23:12these guys train for during the week.
23:13That's why they do those interval trainings,
23:15to be able to get the heart rate up to the 180s
23:17and then drop it down, you know?
23:18So that's why you do that,
23:21so your body can learn to recover in these situations.
23:25And so that's what you're watching with Levi.
23:27It's basically what he does during the week,
23:28those interval trainings.
23:29So his body, you shut it down.
23:31When things are starting to happen,
23:32there's no sense of even keeping it up at that heart rate.
23:36Shut it down, recover, and you're having to fight.
23:38Because four laps ago, five laps ago,
23:40Michael would have just rode around them,
23:42and they would have been into that.
23:43But that's why these guys train.
23:46Osmond has caught him again.
23:47Now, it won't affect the overall podium.
23:49It's looking like it's going to be Deegan Vial Kitchen in order,
23:54even if this pass is made.
23:56But these are just racers who are fighting for every position.
23:58Yeah, no, this is pride on the line.
24:01And, you know, upon Michael,
24:02I'm definitely getting frustrated at this point.
24:04And, you know, I was thinking when we showed the pitcher Julian,
24:06he's probably like, man, I don't want this sandbox anymore.
24:09I'm over it.
24:10No, absolutely.
24:13Yeah, some lessons are going to have to be learned there.
24:16Not his best condition for sure.
24:18Oh, my gosh, that track looks rough.
24:20Yeah, and if you're Levi, this is what you want.
24:23You know, Michael thought he had the pass,
24:25and then you get around him with a nice pass, I would say.
24:28Nice cut on the inside.
24:30Now he's starting to make mistakes.
24:32These bumps seem like they got ultra big over these last two laps.
24:35And you want Michael to be like, you know what,
24:37now I'm happy with a fifth place after that first moto,
24:39so I don't want the bike to overheat.
24:43Never doubt you can let Freep in.
24:45Because, yeah, he's got a little gap over him right now.
24:47And if you look right in front of Levi,
24:50Tom Vial is only a couple seconds right in front of Levi.
24:52So if he catches Vial, Vial is going to say,
24:56how?
24:57I saw what you looked like 15 minutes ago.
24:59There's no way you're going to catch me.
25:00Yeah, I mean, again, shout out to Levi to be able to recover like that.
25:06I mean, all these guys can do it at a certain point,
25:07but you've got to have that mental strength to be able to do it, JT.
25:11Yeah, and I was wondering a little bit, and I didn't want to doubt him,
25:14but Tom Vial put in such a charge in moto one.
25:17And, James, you've talked about, you know, saving energy for moto two.
25:20If you can rest the second half of the first moto,
25:23it's so valuable because you just save those energy stores for when you need it in moto two.
25:27And I just wonder if Tom Vial is struggling to carry this intensity
25:31after putting in such a heroic effort for 35 minutes in moto one.
25:35Yeah, I would say, JT, you know, I agree with you.
25:39The way Tom looked at whole moto, like he definitely put that effort in.
25:44But I don't think he's tired.
25:46You know, he didn't bring anything.
25:47And I'm not saying that you're saying that.
25:49I think what if he's down on the energy, you would see it in those opening laps.
25:53He didn't have that same intensity as you just said.
25:55And because of that, he can't see anybody.
25:58You know, Joe Shimoda's, you know, 25 seconds in front of him,
26:01or however long the map's not that great, 20 seconds in front of him.
26:04So he doesn't have that rapid chase.
26:05So I think he's more caught into maybe the beginning part and all that,
26:09the work that he did that first moto.
26:10He didn't have the fresh legs to jump out and hang with it, Joe Shimoda,
26:14and run that pace that Hayden had.
26:16But now he's caught in the spot.
26:18He's almost starting to race behind him rather than racing forward
26:21because there's nobody in front of him.
26:22So maybe that's what it is rather than, you know what,
26:25he put so much effort in that first moto, he doesn't have anything in the tank.
26:28Because to me, he still looks okay, the shots that we got.
26:31He's not like he's hanging on.
26:33I just don't think he has anything to push forward to, JT.
26:35But great point.
26:36Well, they can erase the question mark of the pit board
26:39because he's pulled back away from Moseman
26:42and, yes, has Vial in his sights.
26:45Now, I'll give you some stats that are crazy here.
26:47Deegan looking to go back-to-back at Southwick.
26:49For the first time in 11 years, 11 years in a row,
26:53we had had different winners for this 250 class.
26:56Go back to Tyler Rattray, the South African who owned this track,
27:00two years in a row.
27:03But that was over a decade.
27:04Someone's gone back-to-back.
27:05Deegan's going to knock that off if he can hold on.
27:09But the journey of Levi Kitchen is going to keep this interesting to the end.
27:14You know, that question mark that his mechanic put on the pit board
27:17might have been the thing that woke Levi up.
27:19Because usually, you know, mechanics, they're probably like,
27:22man, fight, hang in there, just keep grinding.
27:25Well, the mechanic puts question mark on there like, that's your guy.
27:29And he's like, dude, I don't know what's going on.
27:31I don't even know what to write on this thing.
27:32And it seems like ever since Levi saw that question mark,
27:35he's really answered it.
27:36And, you know, if he was tired, I think his mechanic would be putting more
27:40motivation on there to keep him going.
27:42He probably was wondering herself.
27:43So.
27:45You seem to always see teammates on this monster pro circuit Kawasaki team
27:48battling.
27:49Right now, it is Hamaker and Marchbanks.
27:52That is for seventh and eighth behind Smoll.
27:55Then it's Jordan Smith and Harrop.
27:57And they're right there with them.
28:01Yeah, you can see some of these shadows that are starting to creep in the track.
28:04Just makes another obstacle that makes this track really difficult.
28:08And, you know, the hard part is if, you know, what I love about this 250 class,
28:13you look at these guys and you look at Levi and outside of their top two,
28:18they look like they're riding exactly the same, you know,
28:20but that just shows you where to start is and that opening lap position,
28:23especially here.
28:25You know, you can ride just as good as the guys up and running third place,
28:28but you're back in, you know, seventh and eighth battling.
28:31Just deep.
28:33Oh, yeah, that's what's on the line right now.
28:36Teammate Pride.
28:37And Jordan Smith railing on the number 19.
28:41That's the triumph.
28:42See that high-vis, the yellow helmet.
28:45And he's got his teammate Harrop right with him.
28:47So two triumphs, two Kawasaki's in formation.
28:51Yeah, Jordan might have an opportunity to sneak up on Seth at the moment
28:55because Seth might have been thinking that he's still Mikael behind him.
28:59And you start to learn your guys' tendencies, especially with a guy behind him.
29:02Jordan might have a surprise attack as his lap rider doesn't really know where he wants to go.
29:07Maybe holds Seth up and looks like he might get a BOGO special off the racetrack.
29:11Oh, Harrop.
29:12He took advantage.
29:13He made the move on Smith.
29:15Yeah, I wouldn't say that was suggested, Mark.
29:17He just ran out of real estate right there.
29:20So now look at him.
29:21He's around him.
29:22So he just got passed while his teammate made two passes
29:25and ended up making up the position.
29:27So Southwick, baby.
29:28Oh, we love the BOGO special up here.
29:30So two passes made by Harrop.
29:32So that's going to put him in the overall eighth at the moment.
29:36He had a good run going for most of the first moto.
29:39And he's not done.
29:43Oh, no, he's already in front of him.
29:45Oh, this is back to Smith.
29:46Yeah, this is Smith.
29:47Yeah.
29:47A lot of bikes that are covered in sand.
29:49And they're the same bikes.
29:50Jordan Smith powering down.
29:52And it's just going to run him out of real estate.
29:58No.
29:59Hemmacher fights back.
30:00Oh, man.
30:00I can tell you, like, you question a lot of friendships
30:03after that move because you know,
30:05and you're George Smith, you're like,
30:06look, man, I know you're starting to labor.
30:08We just got passed by my teammate.
30:11I'm going to have to run you off the racetrack on that one
30:13because you're supposed to just give me that position.
30:14But he's got their all fighter.
30:16And you know, Seth, he ain't giving it up easy.
30:19Deegan there in the bottom box.
30:22Gap is eight seconds over Shimoda as we continue to watch.
30:25Jordan Smith and Hemmacher battle.
30:28Harrop has gotten away.
30:30And then March Banks is up ahead.
30:33And it's one of the great things, really,
30:35that maybe you don't get to see on the show every week.
30:38I mean, there are battles everywhere.
30:40You talk to these Provincial riders
30:41who are back in 28th and 30th.
30:43The battle for the top 10 further up.
30:46What we have going right now just inside the top 10
30:48Well, I believe the reason we created the battle box
30:52is because it's 250 class.
30:54There is battles everywhere.
30:55So, nonetheless, it's cool to get these guys out here shouting.
30:59And honestly, the way they're riding,
31:02I mean, they deserve to shine.
31:05Oh, yeah, they are giving you everything they have.
31:09And George Smith's actually been pretty darn quick outdoors.
31:11But for whatever reason, he's a great starter in Supercross.
31:14You never see the good starts outdoors.
31:16But, boy, can he come from behind
31:18and he might have a pass made right here.
31:20Yeah, I mean, Seth couldn't do anything about it here.
31:22There's parts of this racetrack that opens up to a four-lane highway
31:26and that was it.
31:27And you can't control the whole thing.
31:29And you see Jordan knew, once he got beside him,
31:31he stayed close to him.
31:32That mechanics there, he had it.
31:33Otherwise, you're going to have to bust out to 7-iron on him,
31:36give him the business.
31:37But see if he can get away.
31:39Otherwise, Seth would fight back.
31:42It's a four-lane, but this ain't no highway, so it's a sign.
31:45Yeah, you're right about that.
31:46You've got some potholes in there, for sure.
31:48I wouldn't disrespect Southwick like that.
31:49I apologize.
31:50Well, shout-out to all the legends of this track
31:53who helped work on it.
31:54The Johnson family, Keith and his dad, Rick, who run the track.
31:58And then, of course, you've got John Dowd and Doug Henry,
32:01former winners here, champions.
32:03They helped work throughout the weekend,
32:06got to see Doug this morning.
32:08So they want it to be rough
32:09because that's the legacy of this place.
32:11And only the strong can survive.
32:13And there have been very few doubts
32:14of the strength of Hayden Beegan.
32:19There's the mechanic, Brent Duffy.
32:21Seems like it's been an easy day for him.
32:26That beautiful.
32:27Brent, jump over that.
32:28So smooth.
32:29Wow.
32:30Now that looks fun.
32:32Yeah, it looks fun, but that's skills.
32:35And that's where Hayden, got to give him credit
32:37for learning how to ride this racetrack
32:39on the nice inside line right there.
32:41One corner, JT.
32:43Yeah, I just, finding some irony here, you know,
32:45I think that both Hayden and Jet Lawrence
32:48put in their most dominant days of the season.
32:50And you wonder if Hayden is responding
32:53a little bit to Jet,
32:54like you kind of hypothesized there, James.
32:55But, I mean, he's really been the class all day today.
32:59Two seconds faster in qualifying.
33:01Both hole shots are really, I mean, let's be honest,
33:04he's been uncontested this whole day.
33:05So, really, this is a world-class,
33:08just performance of Hayden Beegan.
33:10Yeah, no, it is world-class.
33:12And, man, this is a great shot from our drone pilot, Chris Budd,
33:18because you're really getting an opportunity to see
33:20what I've been talking about all day,
33:22how when you're out front and what Hayden is doing
33:25and what Jet was doing,
33:26really smoothed this whole racetrack out.
33:29I mean, our drone almost ran in the back of Hayden
33:30because of his lines going to the inside here,
33:33really far inside.
33:35Really?
33:35Noticing that he's making his track smooth.
33:38You know, he's going smooth,
33:40but the only way you can do that,
33:41you've got to be out front to be able to choose your own lines.
33:43And it's a weird situation to be in
33:46because the farther out front he is,
33:49the smoother this racetrack becomes
33:50because he'll actually start going slower,
33:52which will ultimately end up going faster.
33:54I know that makes no sense at all,
33:56but by his line selection,
33:58I mean, how can anybody ever come up and catch him?
34:01Because, one, he's saving energy
34:02and he's finding new lines around this racetrack.
34:04It's just really cool to see.
34:07As you say, when do you say Southwick,
34:09second moto, hot in the day?
34:11Man, that looks fun.
34:12You did right.
34:12Yeah, it's fun.
34:14We could go back.
34:14We were watching George Smith and Seth.
34:16We really wasn't saying that.
34:18No, it looked brutal for them.
34:20Yeah, and it really just came down to,
34:22you know, and have the vision to be able to see that.
34:25And, man, it's really cool.
34:26It's really one of his great strengths,
34:28the alternate lines, man.
34:29I would say he can run second and third best line
34:32as well as everyone runs the main one.
34:34I'm talking to his dad, Brian, about that after High Point.
34:37And, I mean, Brian could have taken the credit,
34:39said I taught him that, but he's like, I don't know.
34:41I think some of it is just innate riders
34:43that are able to look around, see things
34:45that other guys don't see.
34:48Some of it you can teach, but some of it you can't.
34:50Yeah, but I also think this is Hayden studying, you know?
34:53Like, he's got to be a student of the game
34:55to notice this because, yeah, he didn't always ride like this.
34:59And this comes from studying and working on how to get better.
35:03I mean, the kid loves to drive the fast cars, hang out, and danger zone.
35:08But this stuff right here, this is a veteran move, like, to be able to do that
35:12because, again, you're saving your body.
35:14You're finding smooth lines, but you're also saving your motorcycle.
35:17And the only way you can do that is by knowing and studying,
35:19Jett Lawrence, studying, you know, the student of the game.
35:22And Hayden obviously is that because, I mean,
35:25this is not normally what you see in a guy in a 250 class power.
35:29He's not just beating these guys with speed.
35:31He's beating them by line selection.
35:33And what do I say?
35:34Who does that sound like?
35:36You know, so.
35:38Jett Lawrence, absolutely.
35:39He's saying every week about him.
35:41And, again, that's no disrespect to this group or the group in the 450s.
35:45Certainly Eli Tomac, Hunter Lawrence is close.
35:48Get Chase Sexton back, hopefully next weekend at Redbud.
35:52But just another chapter in the, ooh, it's brewing.
35:57Deegan winning most weeks in the 250s.
35:59Jett has won every week in the 450s.
36:01What could the future hold for those two?
36:04But right now, focus on the time being.
36:06Deegan working on another win.
36:08Yeah, well, and as you mentioned, like,
36:10there's no disrespect to Chase Sexton and Eli Tomac
36:13because those guys have been in the same position.
36:15I think what Hayden's been able to do,
36:17he's got the luxury of being out front, you know,
36:19so he can work on these skills out front.
36:23Because if you're chasing somebody, you cannot route these lines
36:25because you're always pushing it, watching something special.
36:30This will be the third perfect day of the year for him.
36:32He was fastest qualifier, actually fastest in both sessions today.
36:37Then winning both motos, did it at Hangtel, did it at high point,
36:40and is going to do it for the second race in a row here at Southwick.
36:46Hayden Deegan building a legacy of his own in the 250 class.
36:52Deegan 1-1 at Southwick 2025.
36:54Joe Shimoda's second best in the championship,
37:01second best in the second moto.
37:05And for the third year in a row,
37:07a rough first moto in the sand is going to hurt him in the overall.
37:12Probably won't even be on the podium today,
37:14but he ran well in that second moto, 8.8 seconds, the final margin.
37:19Yeah, looking at it, lap time.
37:20It looks like we lost Jalik out there.
37:22He was running fifth.
37:23Oh, went to 10th.
37:24Yeah, now he's in 10th.
37:28South Vial, third place.
37:31Yeah, and through all this, I think he's going to end up second overall.
37:35Free three.
37:36Levi's right behind him, too.
37:40And Vial has been on the podium every time.
37:42He's raced at Southwick, and a nice recovery for Kitchin.
37:45He couldn't get Vial back, but he kept him honest right to the end.
37:49And for that, he will hold on to third overall.
37:53So the podium bonus money for the teams coming their way.
37:56They're big efforts.
38:00Say how hot it was out there.
38:02Because the dude was on fire.
38:05You got to use ice to put him out.
38:06Be right.

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