Morning Espresso: 5 Things You Might See at High Point

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Round 4 of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship and round 21 of the SMX World Championship. No matter how you slice it, the season is over a quarter of the way in the books and the storylines are starting to develop. The High Point National in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania has been a hallmark of the series for decades with many historic championship battles taking place there. Back in 2006, James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael fought tooth and nail until JS7 K.O.’d himself in a hellacious crash. I highly recommend finding that one on YouTube.

Anyways, here’s 5 things you might see at High Point this weekend.

The Wood

A feature as odd as it is iconic, the white painted stack of wood that serves as a barrier in one particular corner actually went away for a little over a decade. Last year, the wood was back and here to stay. Years back, the feature was one single stack that racers would pivot off of but in its new iteration is more of a wood barrier around the outside of the berm which admittedly is more for show nowadays than a feature that the racers use to get turned around. This falls in the category of “Things you’ll definitely see at High Point” but let’s not let facts get in the way of the word count of this article.

Ruts and Square Edges

When it comes to hard pack, square edged bumps are guaranteed but it always comes down to how much moisture is in the soil prior to the race haulers rolling onto the premises. The forecast for Saturday calls for a perfect sunny and 75 but press day looks to be pretty wet which will leave the soil saturated and set up perfectly for deep ruts and square edged bumps. If that seemed to play into the hands of a privateer setup in Colorado, then expect more of the same at High Point.

Battle of the Pre-Mix

Matt Burkeen and Jared Lesher are both on the entry list and set to do battle. Both two-stroke superheroes will put their Yamaha YZ250s to the test and I honestly don’t know who I’ve give the edge to in sport. Both Burkeen and Lesher grew up on the East Coast so neither guy will look like a fish out of water. If these two end up in a battle or even riding together in qualifying, I can guarantee a great reaction from the crowd. They mix gas. They haul ass. Keep your eyes on the #820 and #412 in your program.

The Boys Are Back in Town

Ken Roczen and Phil Nicoletti check back into the 450 Class which may bring more of a sense of normalcy to the top 10 of that class. Not that we don’t love seeing privateers driving the factory boys insane. The insertion of a former AMA 450 champion and a podium finisher in Nicoletti will make the depth of talent in the 450 Class more robust. I don’t think you can guarantee all three automatically in the top 10 but you just might see the pace at the front turn up a notch.

Rise of the Kids

With Loretta Lynn’s off the in the not-so-distant future, High Point will serve as a tune up and a chance to get their feet wet in the pros for some young guns. Matti Jorgensen (250 Class) and Ayden Shive (450 Class) are both racing this weekend. Youth, talented and pressure free, I would not be surprised to see one of these youngsters get a good start and get a feel for race pace at a National. That being said, while these hot shots are moonlighting, I wouldn’t tie my fantasy team to one of these kids because with no pressure to finish, if things go a bit sideways, you might also see some fast kids head back to the truck.

Main image: Kawasaki