There was no OBS column last week in case you didn’t notice, my boss (Weege) said it was fine but that while he was knee deep in amateur MX at Loretta Lynn's Ranch, I had better produce something this week. I wish I had an HR department to complain to here at Racer X, but I don’t so away we go.

I’ll explain at the end of this column why there was no column after Washougal and also, I’ll skip a lot of my OBS from Washougal because, well, it’s long ago now.

So, here are some general thoughts on general stuff.

I like Hunter Lawrence to win this 450MX title and it might come down to a penalty from the AMA on his brother Jett to help him win this. The gap was going to be down to seven points as Jett passed and took off with the first moto win. But as we saw, Jett went off the track, didn’t show caution when he entered and was docked a spot. Those seven points with six motos to go (easy for Jett to make that up right?) is now 12.

The math doesn’t work out for Jett, the gap between first and second is three points so if they go Jett/Hunter the rest of the way (I know, Weege hates this and so do I mostly BUT I mean, the odds favor this happening right?) then sure, Jett wins the title.

Washougal was a “bad” track for Hunter, and he was gonna go 2-2 on it. If you’ve watched this summer, it’s hard to see Jett, even though he’s an alien, win five out of six these motos. He’s been, uhhh, crashing and stuff. If Jett does make five out of six happen, he should get the tiebreak and the title.

Keefer and I got into a debate on the PulpMX Show about Jett’s penalty and how he didn’t gain advantage and the one position was too much. Here’s the thing though and I have explained this on shows and such, but people don’t seem to care. The old-time penalty for going off track doesn’t work for the most part because riders could cut the track and still take the penalty and be ahead. All the AMA wants is some sort of caution taken by the rider who is entering the track. Haiden Deegan did it at Millville with his hand up after the collision with Barcia. Jett really didn’t look, didn’t appear to let off gas and just re-entered the track.

The AMA wants to avoid collisions to other racers and if YOU make the mistake and go off the track, then YOU can take some caution in getting back on. Jett didn’t do that. Also, the AMA has told us in the media that the teams do not want any “discretion” in penalties on the track. For about 28 of my 30 years on the circuit, there was A LOT of discretion used by the AMA over penalties so the one position for going off the track, even though we can see it cost Jett time, is now in the rules. No discretion used. Just like the teams want.

So, I get it all to be honest. I’m still not stoked on AMA’s handling of the flags in Texas at the Arlington SX months ago but in this case, I think they made, by their rules, the right call. Jett on the show definitely did not agree with me, BTW!

Speaking of Deegs, I know he crashed in the first turn of moto one (again after doing so at Millville too) after the holeshot but watching him out there, does anyone think Washougal was actually going to be a chance for him to beat the Lawrences like some of us thought? He was good, very good even, but he was beaten pretty badly in moto two after being right there off the start. And again, right behind Jett after the #18 crashed. A very good rookie year for Deegs but he needs to do some work to get closer to the Aussie brothers as it is right now.

After some great momentum from Factory Kawasaki with Garrett Marchbanks and fill in Cornelius Tondel, Washougal was right back into the pooper for Team Green. Marchbanks crashed and left the track in a sling, according to a person I spoke to, and CornDog, well he appears to like the softer soil tracks!

Oh well, at least they have the KX327 to unveil this week down at the ranch!

Well, that didn’t take long, huh? Cole Davies was down 24 points going into Washougal and after his dominant performance, he’s down seven! The 250 class is drunk I tells ya.

Want to know how drunk? We had MX Reference Nick on the Blair Matthes Show the other week to look back at some stats to speak to us about how the parity is this year in 250MX.

Lowest points through eight rounds:

• Levi Kitchen has 293 points through eight rounds. This is the second lowest amount for the 250MX points leader through eight rounds…ever.
• Lowest season: 2003: 282

36.74 percent of the laps led in the 250MX class are from riders no longer competing in the series:

• Seth Hammaker, Sacha Coenen & Jo Shimoda
• Hammaker and Sacha Coenen have more laps led then all other riders combined if you don’t include Cole Davies

Levi Kitchen has led 3.41 percent of laps through eight rounds. This is by far the lowest from a points leader thru 8 rounds dating back to 2004. 

• Cooper Webb is the next closest at 21.03 percent in 2016.

Average Holeshot position through first 16 motos: 

• Cole Davies: 6.75 (Best in the class not including Sacha Coenen)
• Levi Kitchen: 13.19

Cole Davies Average Holeshot position

• First 8 Motos: 7.25
• Last 8 Motos: 6.25 (Includes a 32 at Millville)

Levi Kitchen Average Holeshot position

• First 8 Motos: 12.86
• Last 8 Motos: 13.50

Net Positions gained/lost from Holeshot position

• Cole Davies: -4
• Levi Kitchen: +136 (Most in class) 

Most Net Positions Gained from Holeshot position 250MX

• Levi Kitchen +136
• Chance Hymas +99

Like we said, looking at the laps led by riders who are hurt, Levi Kitchen’s laps led percent compares to the next lowest (since 2004) and Kitch’s points total after eight rounds, safe to say that anything can happen in this class!

As I type this Loretta’s is going full steam and the first set of motos is about to be wrapped up. I’m in a group chat with Phil Nicoletti, Kris Keefer, and Zach Osborne (IDK how I got to be in it, I’m not good enough to make it to the Ranch: see last year) and the amount of banter was at an all-time high. From them complaining about the costs to get to the ranch to me complaining I’m not paying for Flo Racing to see them to Phil telling Zach to “calm down” after practice (spoiler alert, Zacko won the first moto over Phil), it was quite a scene in there.

Phil got Jake Weimer on the last lap and in the group chat, Nicoletti was complaining that Weimer was “too quiet” about his Ranch prep and expectations, so he knew he was gonna be good. In the end, Phil proved to be right as he got Weimer on the last lap for second.

Also, if things couldn’t possibly be MORE to plan, Phil picked gate pick 42 for his first moto and ICYWW, that was the last gate pick. Couldn’t have happened to a more fitting guy than our guy Phil! Also, Alex Ray’s bike broke on the first lap in this class and that was also very fitting. Is Loretta’s the WWE of moto? Please discuss…

So, yeah, anyways about that Washougal OBS column. You see, I got home Sunday afternoon and then busted out the Racer X Review with the two Jasons before flying to Minnesota Monday AM. Honda had some 2027 CRF450R machines for the media to ride and I was lucky enough to secure an invite. We did the PulpMX Show Monday night from the hotel with a couple of Australian Honda riders and pretty much the entire staff of HRC that was there that night. Fun show for sure and good for some laughs.

You guys all know my thoughts on Millville, best track on the circuit but, admittedly, I’m biased I’ve ridden and raced there since 1989. So, when it’s prepped perfectly for us media guys and we’re out there mostly by ourselves on brand new 450s, well that’s pretty sweet. Sometimes, our job is pretty sweet!

You can watch the video from myself and a real test rider, Kris Keefer here:

I told the Martin brothers that getting rid of the uphill before the finish was a bad move but other than that, track was awesome. The Honda staff went above and beyond the call of duty for us schlubs. Keefer and I had the legendary Drey Dirks helping us out, Drey was testing for Honda R&D in 1990 after his pro career wrapped up and he’s still helping out today. The man is a fountain of knowledge.

It was so much fun hanging out and BS’ing with all the Honda guys, riders and other media people. The weather was amazing as well and like I said, it was pretty cool. After that, the wife and I went to Cabo for a few days of R&R and so here we are.

Hope you enjoy this mini-OBS about, well, stuff! Email me at [email protected] if you want to chat about this or whatever else. We’ll be back after Unadilla for our regularly scheduled programming.