Main image by Mitch Kendra

Welcome to Racerhead, coming to you from the busiest place in the amateur motocross world, the cool-down tent at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. We’re in the closing motos of the 44th Annual Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, and #1 plates, titles, and moto medals are being handed out every half hour. The weather has been hot all week long, though we finally got a cool one today. The week here is long, especially for those who come a week or so early to hang out and enjoy the Ranch and just spend time with their neighbors in the amateur motocross community. But come Tuesday morning, things got serious in a hurry. No sooner had that familiar tune “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and our national anthem ended than the starting gates dropped and everyone went racing. In fact, they’re racing right now, if it’s still daylight here in Tennessee, and you can watch the motos stream live at www.racertv.com or on our YouTube channel.

But the week didn’t start out so great. New England’s Chris Canning, a former pro and longtime NESC frontrunner and now a trainer, had a crazy crash in the opening Junior +25 moto. Canning had a very creative line around the corner roller that turns into the Storyland section of the track, using one braking bump to preload his suspension at the base of the hip turn, then another to launch himself over the angled face. The tree and the turn have been here for as long as the track has been here, and I’ve never seen a rider try to do what Canning was doing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t without risk. He came around early in the moto while running second and went for it again, but the bumps pitched him to the right, and his shoulder hit the knuckle of the tree and practically clotheslined him off his bike. Unfortunately, he was above the protective covers and hay bales that were on the tree, and the crash left him with two broken wrists, a broken scapula, and more. Needless to say, the track builders immediately moved the inside of the corner out and cut down the braking bumps as well as the whole off-camber. They also added hay bales higher on the tree.

Later, Canning posted, “Hit that line all day yesterday but the way the track formed had a bigger lip today. 🤷‍♂️ I hit the tree, not a branch, and was not out of control at all. Unfortunately, things happen fast on a dirt bike. Going to hang out and watch the students. Thanks for the concern everyone…”

It was an unfortunate accident, and MX Sports will do better at insulating the track as best as possible. Immovable objects dot pretty much every motocross track, and track builders and race promoters are always doing what they can to prevent these types of crashes from happening, but tracks can be dynamic and change quickly, especially with so much traffic like we have here. Had there been more hay bales on the tree, Canning still probably would have been torn off his bike, but it would have at least cushioned the initial blow.

The second thing that happened was MX Sports prohibiting Slowie Films from attending this race or any other that we organize. Last week, after the Washougal National, Conner “Slowie” Schmude posted a video of Jeremy Hand’s late-moto crash off the track, the one in which his bike bounced over a crowd fence, clipped a fan, and then bounced over another fence. Schmude accused MX Sports Pro Racing of covering up the crash, saying it was what caused an earlier red flag, which it was not. The TV announcers—James Stewart and Jason Weigandt—had explained that it was Anton Nordstrom, once they could identify him as he was down in the whoops and surrounded by officials and medics. Fortunately, Nordstrom was not seriously injured, nor was Jeremy Hand. Hand’s crash actually took place late in the race, well after the red flag that was caused by Nordstrom. The video was not a part of the TV show, and officials only saw it after the TV truck brought it to their attention after the race, so that Washougal can consider future changes to the part of the track and infield. There was no cover-up—the red flag and restart were caused by Nordstrom. When this was pointed out repeatedly to Schmude, he refused to take the video down, to the detriment of the series and the racetrack. It was clearly misinformation, and he knew it. But he wouldn’t take it down. It’s probably still up.

This was not our first go-around with Slowie Films, who hails from Pittsburgh, and you can probably tell by all of the nonsense he’s posted about me, Tim Cotter, MX Sports, and Loretta Lynn’s Ranch since he was told to leave that he has a personal agenda and it’s not helping the sport of motocross, nor the tracks that are struggling to find insurers. The insurance issue is a very serious one for tracks all around the country. One of his previous videos of an outdoor national attendee getting burned after looping out a pit bike into a campfire is a big part of the reason pit bikes are being banned all over the sport. Letting a guy like this onto the property to “do whatever the f&ck I want” (his words) is asking for trouble. Instead, we’re telling him to just stay away from our events altogether. Would you let someone come to your place of business to party, instigate trouble, and shoot videos of the ensuing mayhem to share online and monetize himself? Would you roll out the red carpet to a guy who’s there posting videos, mischaracterizing your event, insulting you, and lying about you? I don’t know of any that would, so then why should we?

Misinformation has consequences, and videos like these are not good for the overall sport of motocross, as Slowie has been told. He has refused to listen, though, in search of more clicks and views. Sometimes you have to accept those consequences.

Hey, just in case you didn't know, it's hot out here! A 115-degree heat index and a brutal track are what Loretta's Kitchen is serving up this week. We are lucky enough to have an Airbnb about 30 minutes away in Parsons, so cooling off near the Tennessee River in between motos isn't a bad thing. There has been a heat advisory all week in the Hurricane Mills area, so it has been a test for a lot of racers here at the ranch. Our son Aden had a good opening moto in 450B with a second, but the rest of the week has been a struggle with some crashes as well as some overheating issues. He did have the fastest lap for Tuesday, but since then it has been a rough go! Loretta's is a lot on the kids because they make it out to be the end-all-be-all of amateur racing. I see it in my kid, and I see it when I walk around the paddock of LL's.

Enzo Temmerman has impressed me this week with his technical skills on the bike along with his speed. Enzo has won every moto he has been in (at least at the time that I wrote this), and that is not easy to do with the conditions that Mother Nature has given us this week. Andrew and Hudson Short both won a moto on the same day, which is really special. Not very many father/son duos have been able to share the podium on the same day. John and Eli Tomac, myself and my son Aden, and now Andrew and Hudson have that to share too.

And Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Carson Wood hasn't had the kind of week some people thought he would have with crashes, but I do think he can still win a moto or two by the end of Saturday.

You know, some of us didn't make it to the ranch, so we stayed back to mind the fort here at Racer X. BTW, I got word that Jeff Matiasevich, who beat me at the Regional, wasn't able to make it to Loretta's, so, yeah, thanks Chicken. He told me he was going, but it's Chicken; who knows what could have happened, right? Anyway, yeah, back at it here watching the live timing with some thoughts on the amateur national championships.

-Keefer's bike going poo-poo after practice and not being able to make his first moto was what he deserved after switching from Yamaha to Triumph. BLU CRU, bro!

-Landen Gordon's having a good week there in his farewell to Team Green as he's yet another kid that Star Yamaha swooped up.

-Jake Weimer's gone 3-4 in his two motos; great to see him back there for the first time since he was a kid. In talking to Weimer, I don't think his prep was as good as he would have liked, but I look forward to talking to him next week about his week.

-I know nothing about Owen Covell, but man, he seems to be pretty good at coming from the back. When does Star Yamaha sign him?

-Also, on our Blair/Matthes Project show last week, Daniel Blair said this Deacon Denno kid would be a very big surprise, and I would say he's been just that, right? When does Star sign him?

-Our guy Barry needed a win in the final +50 moto to have a chance at bringing this thing home, but it didn’t happen. I don't think he's taken a title home at the ranch since he started coming back. But here’s a shoutout to RM ARMY BARRY!

-PulpMX’s Vince Wey has been steady all week; no wins yet, but he's led laps and been top three almost every time. Yay for our amateur program.

- And why are all the kids in the 450 classes riding 250Fs? Like, I know why, but if there's a 450 class, make it 450s. I'm sure there are some kids out there that would shine better on a 450 or kids that don't have the means to build full rocket ship 250s (and get more press) against other kids on 450s, and it's a 450 class, so make it all 450s, right? Doesn't that make sense?

Another weekend off has arrived stateside, but here in Europe, racing is in full swing. Last weekend’s GP in Loket, Czech Republic, was a great one as rain on Saturday gave way to an ideal racetrack on Sunday. A typically hard-packed surface had moisture worked through it and allowed riders to approach it a bit differently than normal. From line choice to tire choice to gate choice, Loket provided some variety to a GP that is usually very narrow in scope and in actual track width.

Moving onto this coming weekend, the contrast couldn’t be any more stark. Lommel is on deck and brings the toughest track on earth. The bottomless sand is legendary and separates riders in ways that most tracks can’t. Its rolling bumps are relentless and force riders to stand around the course almost at all times. It’s also a track that riders know intimately well. They spend countless days practicing at the infamous sand pit, honing their skills and punishing their practice machines. That doesn’t make the job any easier, though. Ask anyone not named Jeffrey Herlings, and they will grimace a bit when you mention Lommel. Even those that ride it well know that it’s going to be a hard day. There’s no way to finesse Lommel. It must be faced head-on. There’s a peace in that, though. If you’re in shape and have done the work, Lommel will reward you. If you’re vulnerable in any way, Lommel will expose you. This racetrack is a truth serum, and there’s no escaping the inevitable unveiling of who has the form and fitness.

News that Roger De Coster has stepped away from Team USA dropped yesterday, and look, I've been an advocate for this to have happened a long time ago. Too many conflicts with RD and all the Austrian riders over the years, plus behind the scenes, he wasn't as integral as he used to be. But let's never forget that he was THE reason Team USA got back into the MXDN in 1981; he's been a massive part of its success at this event ever since, navigating all the languages, working with the promoters, pulling the right levers behind the scenes. Thank you, Roger, for what you've done for Team USA!

Roger De Coster is the single most successful rider in the history of the Motocross of Nations, and the old Trophee des Nations. He is also the single most successful team manager in the history of the event. The MXON started out as a race for 500cc riders, while the Trophee race was for 250cc pilots. In 1985 the two events were combined to form the modern MXON. Here’s what The Man has done over the years:

-De Coster participated in the MXoN w/ Team Belgium 13 times, with the team winning six times, and Roger as individual overall winner three times.

-De Coster participated in the Trophee w/ Team Belgium 14 times, with the team winning 10 times and Roger winning the individual overall four times.

-De Coster has managed Team USA 36 times in the MXON, four times in the Trophee race. Team USA has won the MXoN 21 times with Roger as manager, plus the Trophee all four times. As a result, he has won 25 MXoN/Trophee races as Team USA manager.

Team USA’s success in this event is just part of De Coster’s legacy in the MXON. I think it would be a fitting honor to name a new trophy for Roger DeCoster. It would go to the individual overall winner of the race. After all, no one has won the individual overall at the Nations more times than The Man!

I did a Racer X Podcast with Chris Jonnum about his Cycle News days, DC hiring him for Road Racer X, Ducati PR, Honda PR, and much more. I know CJ pretty well, and even I was surprised at some of the things he's done! You can listen HERE.

POV: Keith Sayers for the Monster Energy FMX Demo at Loretta Lynn's

“His Name is Jesus. He is a Carpenter. ICE Arrested Him.”—The Bulawrk

“The Latest Weapons Against Wolves: AC/DC and Scarlett Johansson”—The Wall Street Journal

“His Name is Jesus. He is a Carpenter. ICE Arrested Him.”—The Bulwark

The Infront Moto Racing online magazine is out and newly-crowned 65cc World Champion Kannon Zabojnik is on the cover celebrating his win in France last month. The FIM Junior World Cup is covered inside, and it’s a free download: https://issuu.com/mxgpmag/docs/mxgpmag0140

Thanks for reading Racerhead. See you at the races!