ChapMoto 2018 Supercross Race Recap Week 10
Last year we started a new series called the ChapMoto Supercross
Race Recap, where several Chaparral Motorsports employees gave
their thoughts on the past weekend's Supercross event. That series
was so fun and popular that we decided to keep it going. It's a
pretty simple concept; we pose about 8-10 questions to the group
regarding the evening's activities, highlights, and lowlights and
they reply with their thoughts. This is meant to be a casual, fun,
and lighthearted series.
The Chaparral Motorsports staff (and one outsider) consist of:
Travis Snyder (TS): Chaparral Motorsports Offroad Products and
Apparel Manager. Travis is one of our in-house moto racers. A
Honda
guy, Travis is either at one of the local tracks or prepping his
bike for his next event.
Mike Medina (MM): Chaparral Motorsports Technical
Advisor/Communications Specialist. When Mike's not at the office
he's in the pits spinning wrenches for the Enticknap brothers, #722
Adam (The Seven Deuce Deuce) and #723 Tyler.
The Outsider (TO): N/A. The outsider is not a Chaparral employee
but he is an industry veteran with a good perspective on the
inside.
Kyle Bradshaw (KB): Chaparral Motorsports Marketing Department. The
newest team member, Kyle is a highly experienced offroad/ADV/dual
sport rider who splits his seat time between his stable of KTMs and
his custom Honda VTX1300.
Eric Ellis (EE): Chaparral Motorsports Marketing Department/Social
Media. Eric is just a Harley guy who likes to watch Supercross.
Who had the best night?
TS
: Justin Brayton for sure!! who happened to lap
Chad Reed <--side note / Jordon Smith in the 250 class got his
first win of the year as well!
MM: Justin Brayton of the Smartop / Motoconcepts
team for taking his first ever 450 win.
TO: Jason Anderson. He just keeps plugging away.
When it looked like Marvin Musquin might make up points, he crashes
twice and Anderson leaves Daytona with a huge points lead
still.
KB: Well, Justin Brayton for sure. First main
event win of his Supercross career - 131 starts.. Way to go Mr.
Brayton! All I have to say is that it was a good thing the race was
two minutes (and 2 laps) shorter than last year or Tomac most
likely would have ridden away with it. But for this week Brayton,
you get the spotlight.
EE: It's a three way between Justin Brayton,
Austin Forkner, and Jordan Smith. Obviously Brayton comes out on
top for multiple reasons which I'm sure everyone has already
listed. Smith is close behind for getting his first 250 win of the
season and he did it in style by qualifying first, getting the hole
shot and leading the entire race. Forkner is right up there close
behind for surviving the night without getting mixed up with
Osborne to rided to a third place finish for an overall tie in the
points lead with Osborne. But more importantly Forkner took the red
plate away from the Osborne-Forkner better have his head on swivel
because you can bet Osborne will be coming for him.
Who had the toughest night?
TS
: All the riders that didn't line up had a tough
night! I'm sure it's tough to watch since Dayton is a race most
racers look forward too.
MM: The Rockstar Husky team with El Hombre and
Deano going 7 and 8 in the main event. Sub par results for the
series leader which I am sure he is not happy with either.
TO: Tomac and Musquin. They both had the speed to
win and both crashed out.
KB: I'd give the toughest night to Musquin. He has
been working hard and had the fastest lap time of 1:12.6 but after
several crashes he finished in 5th place. I guess toughest night
should go to a rider who did not finish at all (say RJ Hampshire &
Decotis who both broke vetebra!)... but for someone with a 1:12 lap
time to finish 5th, that's just no fun. "I was faster than
everyone" does not matter if you can't hold onto it...
EE: Autotrader/Yoshimura Suzuki rider RJ Hampshire
and GEICO Honda rider Jimmy Decotis, both of whom suffered
fractures in their backs along with other injuries. Rough
night.
Did anyone surprise you?
TS
: Justin Brayton! I knew he had a Triple Crown
win within him, but I never thought he would win a 20 min main.
Especially at Daytona!
MM: Jordan Smith of the TLD KTM team for leading
the whole 250 main event to the checkered flag, impressive.
TO: Tomac. He is the fastest rider on the track
every week but continues to throw wins away. Tomac is almost the
modern day James Stewart. Win or crash!
KB: Actually, I was surprised to hear Tomac voice
his anger and frustration publicly, "I got pissed off. I went for
the takeout. That's all there was, plain and simple. That's my side
of the story." That is not normal, nor so professional.
EE: JB on the CRF 450R. I really was pulling for
Reed to put another notch in his historic career by being the
oldest rider to win a 450 race, but Brayton winning, and doing it
for his first time ever...IN DAYTONA is pretty awesome!!
Who had the worst spill?
TS
: Jason Anderson took an unexpected teflon block
from his buddy MM25 after the start of the 450 Heat. Surprisingly
he caught up to 9th after being dead last and qualified for the
main. JA21 has NEVER been to an LCQ since he's been on a 450.
<--Impressive
MM: RJ Hampshire of the Geico Honda team had a
pretty gnarly get off which caused the 250 heat race to be red
flagged and scored as an official race. Honorable mention to Jimmy
D of the JGR Suzuki team as well.
TO: Musquin's first crash was scary. He is very
lucky he didn't get hurt.
KB: RJ Hampshire & Decotis both broke multiple
ribs, broke multiple vertebra and had talks of needing surgery to
heal. No fun! Heal up guys.
EE: Hampshire and Decotis. But how about that
weird get off that Musquin had in the main? Glad to see he was able
to remount and salvage some points.
Best pass of the night?
https://youtu.be/wAYdVIq3QXk
TS: No answer.
MM: Wacko Osborne passing the 250 field coming
from last to 4th in the 250 main event.
TO: Tomac passing thru the field. He made so many
passes, it was crazy!
KB: I really liked Tomac taking Web around Malcom
Stewart with just two minutes left in the Main. The chase down and
pass was great.
EE: Everybody that passed Eli after he took out
Webb.
Best battle?
TS
: Osborne vs. the entire 250 class, that kid's a
beast.
MM: ET3 and Brayton was cool, JB did not lay up
for ET3 and came back after em. Good Stuff.
TO: Tomac and Webb in the heat race.
KB: Tomac from last place to 2nd place. Nice
battle with the entire team Tomac. Nice ride!
EE: Tomac and Webb. Tomac battling to chase down
Brayton after taking a spill on the first lap of the main.
In the post-race interview Tomac when asked about the incident between him and Webb in t heat race Tomac stated: "there was a little bit of cross-jumping going on, coming across that rhythm lane. I got pissed off. I went for the takeout. That's all there was, plain and simple. That's my side of the story." What did you think of the move Tomac made on Webb in the heat race, was it called for? Was it dirty or just part of racing?
TS
: I think cross jumping is un-called for! But
taking a rider out (yourself as well) doesn't look good from the
spectators point of view. 90% of the spectators only saw Tomac take
Webb out. No one knew about the cross jumping until after the
fact.
MM: I do not care for straight take out moves
because your upset with a rider, just beat him in the race when you
know you're faster than them. Just frustration.
TO: It seems like certain riders get caught up in
the drama every week and Cooper Webb is one of them.
KB: Tomac went for the takeout, but it was slow,
it was easy... I personally like the fact that Webb fell onto Tomac
and Tomac was not able to lift his bike. Take that! It was a heat
race... it was one guy getting his point across. At the end of the
day, it will always come back to haunt.
EE: I wouldn't say uncalled for but definitely
wasn't necessary to do in the heat race since they both we in prime
position for transfer spots to the main. I'd say it was just racing
and his emotions got to him-I like to see this from riders, I mean
I'm not looking for anyone to get hurt but I like riders to have
some emotion out on the track. Then again, when you let the
emotions get the best of you and yo go for a move like Tomac did
and it backfires on both of you, you have to live with that. I'm
just glad he owned up to it.
With Forkner and Osborne now tied in points and Forkner taking the red plate from Osborne, the 250 East series and the riff between the two factions has really heated up, what are your predictions.
TS
: It's starting to brew up a lot like last
year's East coast! Almost the same riders as well. Only difference
is Forkner. Last year J.Smith/Z.Osborne/J.Savatgy went into Vegas
two points apart! This should get interesting.
MM: This is not turning out to be the cake walk it
was supposed to be for Wacko Osborne. The green machine is in it to
win it. I still think Osborne's raw speed, experience, and
consistency will pull him through to the number 1 plate again by
Las Vegas.
TO: Osborne is going to ride to the limit to take
the title. It will either work for him or be his undoing. I'm
impressed with Forkner and how well he's handling the pressure.
Mitch Payton and the whole Pro Circuit crew will be happy when
Osborne moves up to the 450 class full time next year. It's been a
trying two years .
KB: Forkner has been looking really good, but my
vote will go to Osborne.
EE: Someone will be in the dirt and I don't think
it will be Osborne-unless he pulls a Tomac.
Kudos to Brayton on his monumental win. In regards to older riders, the conversation has typically centered on Reed. Did you expect to see Brayton win a race this season? How long do you think his record of oldest rider to win a 450 race will stand?
TS
: I would have expected Brayton to win a race
before Reed, but not at Daytona! This record will stand for a
while. If RV2 continued racing, I could see him winning as the
oldest, but that's out of the picture.
MM: I expected a couple of podiums sprinkled in
here and there from JB but I did not expect the win to arrive for
him. This record will stand for a very long time and I do not see
it being broken, not even by Chad Reed.
TO: I didn't expect Brayton to win a race this
year, especially Daytona. I was very happy for Brayton and the
whole Smartop/Motoconcepts team. With so many riders getting hurt
this year, Brayton winning is one of the bright spots for our
sport. I hope he can carry the momentum thru the rest of the
series. I do believe his record for the oldest rider will stand for
years to come.
KB: I am still waiting for Reed to take a win here
sometime soon taking that record. Most starts and Oldest winner. If
the younger guys keep taking each other out... it might become a
reality. That is my pipe dream. I actually think that Brayton will
keep it for a while.
EE: Brayton wasn't even on my radar, but I guess
he should have been seeing as how he hasn't finished outside of top
10 all season and is now sitting third in overall points. I'm happy
for him and his win. I'll absolutely be keeping an eye on him now.
Fortunately for Brayton and unfortunately for Reed the way the
season has been going for Reed I think Brayton might have it for
quite some time.
SIDEBAR: Not to put a jinx on anyone and hope
nothing happens to him, but with only 13 points separating Musquin
and Brayton, and Baggett and Tomac lurking only a few more points
behind that, can you imagine how crazy things will get if Anderson
were to get injured?