Slaw Dog
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Cooper’s Pass on Kenny
As a former D Class hero myself, Slaw tends to not Monday Morning Quarterback anything in regards to why one rider did this or that in the heat of a battle. I refer to people with, you know, actual racing experience at a high level.
So, with that said, former pro Jason Thomas had a great explanation, I thought, on why Kenny went wide late in the race on the Racer X Podcast:
“He (Roczen) was anticipating Webb’s inside move. He knew he didn’t have a way to block it. If you were watching the whoops after that, Cooper was going far left and Kenny was going far right and Kenny knew that and Kenny’s plan was I’m going to let him go inside and I’ll square back down the right side and pass him back, but that’s the thing. Webb is too smart. Webb was a move ahead of that. It’s the age old cliche where Webb was playing chess, he knew that’s what Roczen was doing.”
Watch it again and you’ll see what he’s talking about.
Blose Doing Good
Scary moment for Chris Blose in the 250 main event on Saturday. The veteran was caught up in the first lap chaos and went down super hard and had to be airlifted to a local hospital. The race was obviously red flagged.
Thankfully, Blose appears to be okay, as he said he sustained a broken thumb and a couple fractured ribs.
“Good news is I am back home after a big crash that wasn’t even my fault. After taking a helicopter to the hospital and getting scans to my head, neck and chest everything turned out to be ok with those. I got lucky enough to only get a broken thumb and fractured a couple ribs.”
Marchbanks Issues Statement
Look, I have no idea what Marchbanks was doing here. He was obviously in the wrong. With that said, good on the kid for owning up to his mistake. Marchbanks and Club MX team owner Brandon Hass both put out statements providing some clarity to the incident.
“I felt very good in qualifying, and running upfront in my heat race with the leader,” Marchbanks said. “As we got off to the first main, another red flag restart and more crashing is something no rider wants to be a part of. I found myself in the back on the restart and was trying to work my way forward, very frustrated with myself. The 31 was riding erratically all night and at that point in the race he was next on the track to pass. I fully intended to make an aggressive pass and get away quickly, not wanting to ride near him. I thought I was closer than I was after I landed the double. I wanted to get under him and stand him up in the bowl turn, then be clear of him before we got to the next section. That clearly didn’t work. I miscalculated my angle, then pushed the front tire all while having no chance of pulling it off. What a mess. I’m disappointed and sorry that it happened. I take full responsibility for the incident and should not have allowed my emotions to get the best of me. I should have just waited until we got to the next section to pass even though it was one line for the majority of the following lap. I have gone the whole season fighting at the front with no issues and I feel like people know I’m a clean racer. Yes, I have a lot to prove and I think I’ve done that all year but it’s never been at someone else’s expense – that’s not how I ride and time will show that as I continue to improve my race craft and decision making.”
Team Owner Brandon Hass followed up the conversation with, “We’ve had conversations as a team all season about our goals and aspirations. We talk about integrity, hard work and commitment. We also talk about our brand and the public perception of it. Garrett’s move on McAdoo was a poor choice and we will make sure he learns from this. He’s an aggressive racer and wants to be at the front. If people think he has something to prove with the PC team, that is simply not the case – that was done and over with at round one. Even though we continue to hear on the broadcast that Garrett has a “chip on his shoulder” or that he has a vendetta in mind that is simply not true. It makes for good TV but the fact remains that he is happier at ClubMX than any of his past teams and his results will show that. We have a goal to stay healthy and get a full year under his belt, even if that means not winning races. We have remained healthy and consistent, which was our primary goal and the McAdoo case was simply poor judgement. We will learn from this to help Garrett grow and mature.
“People may think that ClubMX is just a stepping stone until he can return to a factory team – also not true,” said Haas. “In early April, Garrett re-signed a long-term contract to ride for us well into the future. There are dramatic moments in the sport that get everyone’s attention, and as a team we work together with all of our athletes and personnel to learn and improve from these experiences. We are not buying results; we are building these guys up on and off the bike. The burdens that come with that I’ll happily accept regardless of what anyone has to say about Garrett or ClubMX. He’s sorry that it happened the way it did, we’re all sorry. We never want to disrupt someone’s bid for a championship – that’s not how we operate.”
