The Curious Case of Nate Thrasher

A lot of things confuse me. Are eyebrows considered facial hair? What hair color do they put on bald people’s driver’s license? And if a number 2 pencil is the most popular, why is it number 2? And after watching Tampa Supercross, I’m now adding Nate Thrasher to that list.

The caption “win or bust” has started to follow Thrasher around, but that’s not a fair assessment…not yet anyways. Does he need to build a more consistent approach to his racing, yes. But the timing may be perfect.

The light bulb for this fire blog flickered when I saw how pissed off Thrasher was to get second. That’s the sign of a dude that doesn’t settle, and while the fashion in which he lost justifies his reaction, a LOT of riders in his position would have been hyped playing bridesmaid to Hunter Lawrence.

But not Thrasher. The look in his eyes was of someone who truly believes he can win and win on a consistent basis.

Despite having won three times already, you’d be hard pressed to find a ton of headlines touting Thrasher as a potential threat this year. And for good reason. Looking at his results over the last few years, they’re spotty at best. He had a 7.6 finishing average in 2021 and showed negative improvement in 2022, with an 8.2 average. Sure, a few wins in ATL and the impressive finish at Salt Lake for the East/West Showdown were noteworthy, but outside that it’s not like he’s lit the world on fire or really shown much ability to crack the top five. 

During a recent conversation with Triumph team manager, Bobby Hewitt, he said something that may have me believing in Naughty Nate. I’ll paraphrase here, but the jest was that it’s always year four (or maybe he said three?) before a rider is ready to win. He had the data to back it up, and if I’m buying what Bobby’s selling, Thrasher is right on time.

He’s won, so he’s proven capable. He’s in year three of his pro career, so the timing is right (or at least close to right). And he’s got a cool last name, which means absolutely nothing.

One thing’s for sure, tossing another name into the hat of potential race winners will make the 250 East series that much more intriguing.

Main image: Jessica Reed