Jeff Simpson
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The final day of the Supercross portion of the program has arrived at the 2021 Thor Mini O’s! While some have had a less than stellar time in SX, others turned some heads showing just how competitive this sport is. That said, I wouldn’t take the results as gospel due to the ease of the track. The top 10 B riders were all within a second of each other while the fastest lap of the day came from an unfamiliar name, in traffic none the less. With that said, let’s get into what went down Monday at Gatorback.
Clough Goes
While Jayden Clough may not have gotten the start he was looking for, he proceeded to set the fastest lap of the day in traffic in the 250 Pro Sport moto. Clough came around on the first lap in 16th and started going to work. On lap 6 he laid down a 58.950 while batting for ninth. The next fastest lap was a 59.648 from Gavin Towers on lap 5, also coming through the pack in seventh after he went down early. Nick Romano would check out taking the title, while Towers would come back for a second with Matt Leblanc (welcome back) rounding out the podium for a Blu Cru sweep. Other quick notables were Brandon Sharer showing he can battle with the kids all day finishing fourth. Vurb Classic Hired Gun Christopher Blackmer put himself at the front off the start and stayed put finishing a fifth on a privateer effort. Love to see it!
85 (9-13) = The Next Generation
Get your notepad out because you will want to jot these names down. Canyon Richards, Seth Dennis, Chase Andersen, Kade Johnson, Cole Blecha, Deacon Denno, Brady Olson, Kannon Hargrove, Caden Dudney, Darren Pine and Christopher Harris. Sitting behind the gate bench racing with fellow media homies, our jaws were on the floor with the depth in this class. All of them could get a start and win at any given point. I’m as excited as Elf on Christmas morning watching this class play out on the outdoor track.
Ps. The fastest lap came from Kade Johnson on lap 7 in fourth with a 1:05.833; the next best was from your winner Richards with a 1:06.090.
“LilBlondeDog?” – Blake Keith
Let’s get straight to facts. The Schoolboy 2 main was quite intriguing. Now, I wouldn’t take the results here too heavy, which is why we are talking lap times. Evan Ferry, fresh off of his 450 B moto win, grabbed the holeshot and checked out leaving the rest of the class to sort itself out. Dax Bennick sat in second pretty much alone with a touch of pressure from Ben Garib until Garib hit the deck HARD on the back section of the track (get well soon). Gage Linville grabbed a top 5 start and stayed put, until moving Haiden Deegan out of the way on lap 5 to get into third. Deegan would finish fourth and Bryce Shelly rounded out the top five. These cats will go to war 6-9 more times this week. To the victor goes the spoils, and hotdogs.
Wood v. Smerlick v. Adams
Supermini 1 was a barn burner as (most) of the favorites crushed their starts and went to work. Tiger Wood would pass Drew Adams for the lead on lap 1 and never look back. Had he looked back, he would of seen Adams and Jude Smerlick absolutely sending it. The new kid on the black, Adams, was not going to make it easy for Smerlick as they pushed each other through the mid-point of the race. Smerlick set the fastest lap of the race on lap 5 with a 1:02.730 while Adams matched with a 1:02.755 until disaster struck on lap 6. Smerlick hit a kicker causing him to smash right into the face of the double, Adams had nowhere to go as their lines came together and would go down extremely hard as well. Get well soon to both of them.
With Adams and Smerlick going down, it left the door wide open for Tyler Mollet to capture second over Will Canaguier who rounded out the podium. Krystian Janik would get fourth and Will Campbell would secure fifth.
What To Watch For
All of it. No seriously, watch it all. Each and every class has had epic battles—some at the front, some mid pack. The competition is as deep as we have seen in some time. From 50s to Pro Sport, there will not be a bad moto to watch. Heck, Keegan Rowley came through the pack after getting a bad start in 250 C Limited getting a fast lap competitive enough for B. There are no bad races to watch, I promise you.
