Slaw Dog
Swoll Patrol
Earlier this week, we wrote about five under the radar 250 riders through two rounds of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. One of those riders was Jalek Swoll. Is it a coincidence that after said article Swoll not only went out and won his first career moto, but captured his first career overall? We think not.
Swoll got some help in the first moto when his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna teammate RJ Hampshire suffered a bike malfunction while leading, which allowed Swoll to take the moto win. But he still had to back it up in the second moto, and he did just that taking third to claim the overall via 1-3 motos scores.
“There’s just so many people to thank but I’m at a loss for words right now,” he said after the race. “I can’t even explain what I’m feeling right now.”
Seeing his celebration after the race is the kind of vibes we’re here for.
Tomac Is Back…?
After arguably the strangest five motos of his career, three-time Pro Motocross Champion Eli Tomac went out and laid it on the 450 field in the second moto at High Point. Prior to that moto, Tomac hadn’t sniffed the podium through the first two rounds, going 9-8-11-10 to start the year. A sixth in the first moto at High Point certainly didn’t change much, but dang, he came out swinging in the second moto and take the win, giving him his first moto win of the season and first overall podium. Strange we’re saying that about Tomac through three rounds, but that’s where we are.
“I want to call it like a five-moto slump, but I don’t know what was going on,” he said. “I was just getting tight during the motos, struggling a little bit physically, and just wasn’t feeling comfortable on the bike. It was a whole different world that time and excited to feel it again and I feel like I can keep it going. So, this was huge for us.”
The 450 Class Is So Damn Fun
Seriously, if that second moto battle between AC, Roczen and Ferrandis didn’t raise your bun, you don’t like Pro Motocross. I seriously don’t remember the 450 Class being this much damn fun in a long time. Let’s enjoy this!
Ferrandis Continues to Shine
Man, the kid has showed so much poise through three rounds for just a rookie and he retook the points lead after capturing the 450 overall via 2-2 motos. Watching Ferrandis hold strong against a HUGE charge from Roczen in the second moto was amazing!
“It’s amazing. What a race. The crowd is amazing today, I love it,” said Ferrandis. “Yeah, I don’t know. I got a good start and I kind of followed on Ken for a little bit. I didn’t do it on purpose but I’m glad I did because he was really fast today. It was just a war. Eli was on rails and he kind of gapped me and then it was a big fight with Ken. He passed me, I repassed him, we kind of got bar to bar but without being dirty I think so that was really fun, at least for me. After was crazy. We came back on Adam and passed him and then Ken tried to pass me, and it was gnarly. There was one section after the start where he was a little faster than me. I needed a little more traction. Every lap was crazy. I tried one lap to make a gap in that section and then he got me and then I tried again. That was just crazy. Getting the overall here is a dream come true again and stoked to get the red plate back. I’m really happy to see the crowd too, that’s really good.”
The Track
The last two rounds, the tracks have been absolutely amazing and we’ve been rewarded with some of the best racing I’ve seen in a while. Moto after moto has been fantastic. Please just rinse and repeat this going forward. Thanks!
Main image: Husqvarna
