KR Kracks!

Martin Davalos...Hangs Up His Boots

Martin's words

Here it is guys. I am sitting here with my eyes tearing up thinking about how amazing my career has been...how I came to the states when I was 15 years old— alone and as a nobody from such a small country. I left my family behind to do what I loved the most which was to race my motorcycle. I am so grateful that my family sacrificed so much to help my dream come true. And I am proud of all I’ve achieved. With that being said, I have decided it is time for me to hang my boots up and step away from racing. My plan was to retire after the last round but unfortunately during press day today I had a crash that caused a broken collarbone and concussion. This career has been full of highs and lows, but I have accomplished things I never thought or dreamed of doing and I’m so thankful to the Lord for allowing me to do so.

2021 Monster Energy SX Series

Roczen blinks and Webb pounces. The fat lady is singing!

Tony Cairoli Back for MXGP

He might be in his mid-30s but Antonio Cairoli is still a world title contender and chasing his tenth world championship. Episode 2 of MX World looks at one of the greatest of all time as he chases one more title to equal Stefan Everts record haul

McAdoo explains his crash

He didn’t win but Cameron McAdoo was the most impressive and talked-about rider after Atlanta 2 due to his immense bravery to come back from a huge crash to take a a seemingly impossible podium in the restart to keep his championship hopes alive. In the press conference McAdoo explained the crash and still racing the main event.

Can you take us through that whole sequence with the crash and then the recovery and how you felt in the early laps of the restart? You were actually leading for a brief bit.

The crash was obviously crazy. I just re-saw it. I hit my leg really, really bad and I couldn’t move it. I was struggling to get my leg back moving. I was doing my best to get up. I was wanting to go back to my bike. I had the medics kind of tell me, “You probably shouldn’t.” I was like, “No. I want to go back.” Then they helped me down the jump. I was telling them stop. But I got back to my bike after they red flagged it and rode back and just told them I want to race, I’m okay. Obviously [Doctor] Bodnar came over and they checked me out thoroughly because they were concerned about my head. I passed all the tests. My bike was mangled, so the mechanics did the best they could. [Laughs] They were taping shrouds on, zip-tying stuff because everything fell apart. My bars were really rolled back and pretty bent, but I didn’t even really realize that so much until I came around the first turn. I don’t think I got the holeshot, but I was leading. It was tough. It was a tough race. About five minutes in when the adrenaline kind of wore off, I really realized how beat up I was. I’m pretty sore now.

You kind of mentioned your leg was hurting before you got restarted. Then your hand looks kind of taped up now. After the race did you get checked out again? Can you talk about what the recovery is going to be like going into Saturday?

I haven’t had my hand checked out yet. It’s pretty big and swollen and it’s sore, obviously. I know I can ride with what I’ve got. I’ve got a pretty beat up leg and my groin is not good. So, we’ve got three, four days to do as much therapy as possible to get back going. I’ll go have x-rays done tomorrow and try and get the swelling out of my hand and my legs and go fight for it on Saturday.

I don’t know if you know this at this point or if you were told after, but Peacock caught you on a hot mic pleading with the AMA guys or whoever it was – I think maybe it was one of the medics on the line to get you back on the gate. You were talking about how Doc Bodnar said you were good. First of all, what did Doc Bodnar say to you? Were you more in a sense where you weren’t sure the rules were going to let you, or if they didn’t think you were physically okay to race?

I got off the track and Bodnar was over there. He asked if I was okay. I told him, “Yeah, I’m okay. I want to race.” I ran back to my bike and he was like, “Okay. Do you know what happened?” I was like, “Yup.” So, I ran back to my bike and then I got back over there. I was like, he let me go. It was kind of a heat of the moment thing. I was wanting them to understand, the medics let me go. Then the medics came back over obviously to actually evaluate me totally. So that was good that they did that too, because I don’t want to put myself in danger going out there if there was something that was not safe for me to race. So obviously as a racer and a competitor, I’m in the heat in the moment. I wanted to do everything I could to get back to the starting line and race. Then they did a bunch of eye tests and all the things they do. I think they were mostly concerned if I might have had a concussion or if my neck was okay, and stuff like that. So, once they approved me, I lined back up.

Your team owner there, Mitch Payton, he’s been renowned for being tough on his riders in the past and that sort of stuff. When you got back to the truck, what did Mitch say to you about digging deep, getting back out there and putting in a performance like you did?

Honestly, I think he was mostly just concerned, making sure that I was okay. My teammate, Seth [Hammaker], had a rough night too. So, he ended up going to the medic rig as well. I think he was mostly concerned for making sure our health was good and stuff. That’s cool because it’s not just the result or grinding it out or whatever. They actually are concerned about our health, too. So, I think once he realized that I’m okay and what’s going on – obviously, I’m going to be banged up. They’re happy I did everything I could to maximize the night on how horrible it could have been. We’re just all happy that I’m okay.

How did the crash happen? Did you hit neutral, just scrub too hard? I don’t know if I ever got clarification on how the actual crash happened.

I’d have to go back to really pick it apart, but I think really what happened was I over-jumped the triple in a little bit, and the pocket to the face of that next double was pretty steep. I think my bike was still compressed and I tried to push through that double while my suspension was still compressed, which obviously gave me the kick over the bars. I think that was just kind of how it went. That was a pretty steep little transition, and I didn’t catch that pocket just perfect. Supercross is obviously gnarly, and you have to respect it.

Roczen Still In It!

Don’t give up on this Monster Energy Supercross title chase just yet. Ken Roczen sure isn’t. In a puzzling bounce back, Roczen rebounded from arguably his worst ride of the season with arguably his best, as he dominated the proceedings at the second Atlanta supercross of the season. He was ninth on Saturday.

“Every time we go race, first off, the sport is freaking hard, you know what I mean?” said Roczen in the post-race press conference. “There’s different variables all the time could be track could be bike. We kind of threw a lot at me with the bike, tried to make some changes throughout all three practices, found something that was good and better. But also, at first, it’s unproven until you race it and race good on it. In general Saturday was just a tough one, I was just struggling and couldn’t really do anything on the track. This is not an excuse it just is what it is. Today things turned around. I just never lose hope. You see the points fizzling away but at some point, I have to look away from that. I’ve had some tough times, in general, and at some point, you have to just let go of that as well and regroup. Mostly, I’m just trying not to get over my head and stay calm, even though this win came at just the right time and we really needed it.”

 

Further helping Kenny’s cause is another sub-par riding night for points leader Cooper Webb, who, like on Saturday, didn’t have race-winning pace and hence lost a few positions after starting up front. On Saturday Webb ended up third, this time he was pushed back to fifth. Webb fought back late and tried to get back into fourth but ended up bumping into the back of Justin Barcia and going down. Eli Tomac snuck by, pushing Webb to sixth. This leaves Roczen 13 points down with three races remaining.

Fun Riding but for Whom?

TM 300EN

The TM EN300 can rightfully take its place beside anything made it Austria when it comes to off-road capability. It combines an aluminum frame with a modern two-stroke motor incorporating an electronic power valve. It’s also available with or without fuel-injection. Enjoy the sights and sounds of a 2021 TM EN300 as it rages around Glen Helen’s 6-Hour Endurance course.

The Buzz #17

The Buzz

Podcast Episode 017: Steve Matthes, Founder of the Pulp MX Podcast Network and Editor-at-Large for Racer X

On this episode of the Dirt Buzz Podcast, my guest is Steve Matthes, Founder and Owner of the Pulp MX Network, Editor-at-Large for Racer X, and freelance contributor to motocross websites and publications worldwide. He is a pioneer in the podcast segment with one of the first dedicated motocross podcasts, the Pulp MX Show, where he’s produced weekly live shows for over ten years. Listen in as we swap stories, and Steve shares how Pulp MX has grown to become a powersports podcast empire from its humble beginning over ten years ago.

Click on Steve's picture to hear podcast

Thrilling win for Tomac in Atlanta residency opener

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Section: Competition Post: Anthony Sansotta

The Team Green rider keeps his championship hopes alive.

Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac grabbed the first win of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross residency in Atlanta after a last-lap pass on Chase Sexton to take his 37th premier class win.

A rain-soaked afternoon in Atlanta left riders with just one timed session for the day, as mother nature let loose near the end of the opening qualifying session, forcing a cancelation of the final rounds of qualifying.

As the rain cleared and the sun came out, racing got underway with Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) launching out to the lead in the 450SX main event. It looked to be all Plessinger as he gapped the field early by over five seconds.

On lap six it all changed for the Yamaha rider when he lost the front end in a corner, dropping him to the ground and back to seventh place. This gifted the lead to Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) who looked poised to grab the first 450SX win of his career, leading the next four laps.

Eli Tomac who had recovered from a rough start began to close though, lapping over a second faster than Sexton as the race dwindled down to three laps to go, the defending champion chasing Sexton as the two worked through lap traffic.

With a lap and one corner to go, Sexton caught the back of a lapper, subsequently handing the lead to Tomac who jumped out to a three-second lead and never looked back, taking his 37th career main event win.

Third place went to points leader Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM), who didn’t quite have the pace to run with the lead group, but will walk away from the round with a 22-point advantage over rival Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC).

After taking his third heat race win of the season earlier in the night, fourth place went to a hard-charging Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna). Rookie Dylan Ferrandis took fifth place after a battle with his teammate Plessinger in the closing laps.

Plessinger’s run ended in sixth place after his heart-breaking crash, the Yamaha rider was followed by Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin who put in a solid ride for seventh. Eighth went to Joey Savatgy (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM) who continues to show solid form through the later half of the season.

Championship contender Roczen had a day to forget, a mishap on the start saw him cross the line in 19th after turn one. He managed to get inside the top 10 by halfway, but was never able to mount a charge to pass the riders ahead of him, ending the day in ninth.

10th went to TLD Red Bull GasGas rider Justin Barcia after a horrific crash while leading the heat race resulted in stitches before the main event. Malcolm Stewart ran inside the top 10 for much of the race but ultimately crossed the line in 11th.

Max Anstie had an impressive night, running up from in both the heat race and the early stages of the main event, but unfortunately ending his night in the Alpinestars Medical Unit after a crash early on in the main.

The stage is now set for two more rounds of racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with racing continuing Tuesday night for round 14 of the series.