Troy Dog
Five Things We Learned…is a new-ish installment to the Vurb line of race coverage. It’s a quick hitting piece where I break down five trending topics from the weekend. We’ll put facts behind what happened and break down how it will play out. As always, please feel free to give your thoughts on these topics in the comment section. If you’d like to discuss any of these topics further or have a question for me you can reach me at [email protected].
Is Sexton Stew.0?
I hate to even give this headline and then go so far to explain all of this. Sexton, when he’s on two wheels, is the fastest rider on the track. So was James Stewart. Sexton makes a lot of mistakes whether due to the bike or mental mistakes. So did Stew. We’re getting to the point where Chase has even admitted that he doesn’t know why he’s crashing and that has to be the most frustrating thing for him. Given all of these mistakes Sexton is tied for second in the points, only seven back from Tomac. If he can clean up these mistakes we’re going to see an insane title fight. Yes, Sexton is Gumby.
250 West Title Hunt
Watching the 250 press conference after the race I saw two riders that did not want to be there and Jett Lawrence. It’s got to be frustrating to race with a guy like Jett. Hampshire and McAdoo are both elite level racers, who have also had their fair share of injuries to deal with this season. In both of their cases, it was actually amazing that they were each able to race on Saturday. In their minds they know they have what it takes to beat Jett, but how do you make that a reality?
CC28
How about Christian Craig with a season best seventh in Oakland? I think a lot of people were too quick to make assumptions on Craig and his change to Husqvarna. I think Craig was even too hard on himself. Obviously he knows that he can be better, but at the same time he’s been on a Yamaha since 2021. I don’t think that switching bikes is an easy task, especially to the Austrian technology that he’s never ridden before. This top ten was a step in the right direction and some of us that had him on the podium at Anaheim 1 are now rubbing our hands together.
Tomac
Championship management seems to be a skill that Tomac has mastered on the Yamaha. After his fifth last weekend on a night he may not have been feeling it, a win was just what he needed in Oakland. He’s got a small seven point lead over Sexton and Webb in the standings as we head into the East Coast swing where he hopes to win Daytona for the 27th time. He’s going to be consistent on his off nights and get those 7-10 wins on the good.
Walsh
One of the surprises of the 250 West has been the New Zealand’s Dylan Walsh on his Revo Grindstone Kawasaki. He’s gone 11-11-10-11 and sits tenth in points at the moment. It’s cool to see a rider like him progress from the GPs to racing Supercross and now being a legit contender in the top ten. He’s doing it on his own smaller program too, which makes it even more impressive!
Main image: Yamaha
