Bird Dog
All Aboard the Colt Train
Don’t act like you called this, because you didn’t. We’ll be honest, if you asked us where Colt Nichols would have ended the season we’d have said fifth, maybe fourth. At best third. But after reeling off three straight wins, we’re jumping on the Colt Train along with everyone else.
His overall standings since 2016 are 20th, 7th, 14th and 7th, respectively. I wrote after his second place finish at H2 that he looked different this year. I also wrote that he would probably screw it up, and for that I’m sorry. This dude looks like a young Kobe in complete control of his game. We’re now waiting on Justin Bogle’s new rap song highlighting Colt’s accomplishments to drop in the next few weeks. Bogle, hit us up, maybe we can collaborate on this one. We’re writers. Give us a shot.
Anyways, most people will probably talk about the premature checkered flag on Tuesday night, when reality is it could have come out two laps late and it wouldn’t have mattered. Nobody was tracking down Nichols. We’re looking forward to see if Craig has anything in the tank to make this a close series, because with Lawrence crashing his way out of Indy 2, this may get out of hand quick.
More Mosiman!
When GasGas TLD signed Justin Barcia the small corner of the internet where moto fans hang out broke. The news was huge. The ad with Bam Bam holding an Easton bat came out and people lost their minds. And for good reason. But what a lot of people didn’t notice was 250 signee Michael Mosiman. He didn’t get the same headlines as Barcia, but we’re not sure he cares. He’s a straight shooter who obviously has been putting in the work.
While we don’t want add flames to the fire, it was almost refreshing watching Mosiman take Lawrence high as payback for Houston 3 when Lawrence did it to him. He’s been improving over the weeks and looks to be transitioning from a fourth or fifth place guy, to a potential winner. Hell, if not for a mishap with a rider going down in front of him, we think Mosiman would have stolen the top headline from Indy 2. We’re excited to watch him finish out the season and feel like he could throw a wrench into things before all is said and done.
New Suits for the Crew
Todd Harris and Ricky Carmichael are doing a great job. Sure, we all miss Ralph the Mouth, but unfortunately no one asked our opinion before telling him to kick rocks. Internet trolls are always going to slam SX announcers, but the commentary is fluid and overall good. And while we still think Jason Weigandt should be the man behind the mic, again, no one asked our opinion. But who is in charge of their race day attire? We’re all about being professional, but those suits look like they pulled them out of my Grandpa’s closet from 1983. RC’s wasn’t so bad, but Harris needs a stylist before the next round or we’re going to be starting a GoFundMe to help raise money for some new threads.
Plessinger in Trouble, Wait What?!
Everyone loves AP. He’s funny, approachable and down to earth. But being a dude you want to kick beers and play ping pong with doesn’t equate to race results. After a great start on Tuesday we were all eyes on Plessinger to see if, after a tough start to his 450 career, he could put a race together that lived up to expectation. Then he got passed. Then he got passed again, dropping to fifth.
With Malcolm Stewart lurking in sixth and Cooper Webb in seventh, it appeared to be only a matter of time before AP clocked another eighth place finish. Hell, we were actually writing about it prematurely to try and beat deadline. Shame on us.
AP dug deep and, to be honest, did what we didn’t think possible and tracked down Adam Cianciarulo for fourth. He got passed by the always strong finisher of Cooper Webb late, but it was still the ride he needed. It was impressive, surprising and nice to see that AP wasn’t all talk when he said he was ready to surprise some people this season. Well, sir, we are officially surprised. Well done.
WTF Oldenburg?
What a bizarre situation that played out in the 250 Class last night. We don’t even really know what happened yet in full detail, but here is what we do know.
Mitchell Oldenburg was in qualifying position in his heat when his bike locked up and he went down hard. According to sources, the team made an engine swap before the LCQ and Oldenburg was ready to roll. Not so fast!
According to Steve Matthes at Racer X and Anton at SwapMoto Live, the AMA pulled Oldenburg, because they thought he had a new frame, which would have been illegal.
So, Oldenburg DID not race the LCQ, basically ending his night. Wait, it doesn’t even come close to ending there. Apparently, they DID NOT use a new frame and the AMA felt bad, so they said Oldenburg could be the 23rd rider on the gate, starting behind everyone else. Well, Jett Lawrence pulled out, giving Oldenburg a spot on the gate. I swear, we are not making this up (we don’t think). Never change.
Main image: Yamaha
