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Transcript
00:00Be ready for the first one of the night. The world title in the balance. Let's go racing.
00:09Deegan a good start, but he's too far outside. Levi Kitchen had it. No. It's Shimoda to the lead.
00:16Yeah, I liked it. That position of Joe being on the inside, Ricky. He was able to block it,
00:20let Deegan push forward, and it was Levi. So great start by Joe Shimoda.
00:24Yeah, definitely. Great job by Joe starting on the inside and putting in a clutch performance,
00:30getting that whole shot key on a track that's going to be very tough to pass on,
00:34especially early on in this race. Track has been watered.
00:38Hevaker in second, the third ranked rider in the championship standings.
00:42Has to win the race tonight to have a shot. Then it's Kitchen.
00:45So controversial last week with the aggressive pass on Deegan.
00:49Then rider DeFrancisco, and Deegan is fifth.
00:51Yeah, I think if Joe Shimoda, I'm going to try to go around.
00:55We see Kitchen goes down. He buries that front end and that sand.
00:58Easy to do on these opening laps with it being a little bit worked on,
01:01but tough break for him, especially coming off last weekend.
01:04Well, we talked about what's going to go down with Hayden Deegan and Joe Shimoda,
01:09but remember, this guy right here, Seth Hammacher,
01:12has a shot to win the SMX World Championship.
01:15Maybe he does something crazy, or not nothing crazy, but maybe he pulls a punch by chance.
01:22Yeah, well, he might, but right now, Joe Shimoda is pulling a punch by running away,
01:26and you kind of start wondering how Joe is going to race this race.
01:30If I'm Hayden Deegan, I want to be behind him, but if Joe continues to ride four,
01:33that's what he needs. You can see that gap he has over Hayden Deegan now.
01:37Deegan working on DeFrancisco on the rock star, GasGas.
01:40We have not seen Ryder D with the starts.
01:43He's had speed in qualifying throughout the year,
01:45and that's what makes this race so intriguing.
01:47There's big money on the line for all the positions.
01:50So even though DeFrancisco is probably not a title contender
01:52between the three title contenders,
01:55he has no reason to do anything but try to stay up front.
01:57No, absolutely, and he comes back to a place that he had success last year,
02:01so I think for him, you know, Pierce Brown, excuse me, his teammate,
02:06I think they feel good, and obviously Ryder D has that speed,
02:09but right now he's got his hands full with Hayden Deegan behind him.
02:14There's the gap.
02:15Deegan in fourth and only 10th quickest qualifying.
02:19James, do you think that was the difference?
02:20He had a good jump, but he only had the 10th gate pick.
02:23Was that why he ended up wide?
02:25Well, yeah, I mean, you could say that.
02:26I think Hayden was in a good spot, but, you know, watching that qualifying
02:30and considering all the things Hayden has done,
02:32I think he was laying up in qualifying just to make sure
02:35he wanted Joe Shimoto to pick first and maybe get on the inside of him,
02:38so nonetheless, he pushed a little bit wide,
02:40and Joe Shimoto's taking full advantage of that.
02:42Well, Hayden on the gas here.
02:43Yeah, what do you think of that 10th in qualifying there, RC?
02:45Yeah, I mean, I think what James was saying is, and he's exactly right,
02:49one thing we do know is that he's better than 10th place as far as fast lap goes,
02:55and I'm not taking any respect away from the guys that he races against.
03:00Oh, Cole Davies, who had a huge crash in qualifying.
03:04He has gone down again.
03:05Well, look at his handlebars on the right side.
03:09It definitely tweaked down.
03:11Yeah, Cole Davies has had a rough day, and unfortunately for him,
03:14he's coming back from injury, won a couple of Supercross,
03:17one of Hayden's biggest threat in that championship.
03:20So bummer to see him out, but his teammates are running in fourth right now.
03:24Hopefully Cole's okay.
03:25Yeah, a young rider out of New Zealand,
03:27so a tough close to what was a breakthrough season for him as a rookie.
03:30The focus still on Deegan.
03:32He's got to make a couple of moves to even get Shimoto inside.
03:35He's about five seconds off the lead early.
03:38Yeah, this is, I will say, somewhat surprising.
03:43When I'm watching Hayden, I anticipated him to kind of move up the field.
03:47I mean, he knows exactly what's at stake.
03:50I mean, he has to win, and he's got a lot of work to do.
03:54Shimoto, if you ever was questioning his mental capacity, this guy has shown up here.
03:59Here's the start.
04:00Watch Deegan next to that starter's box with the number one in the middle.
04:04Looks like he might have the hole shot.
04:07Yeah, he wanted to lean in there, and they had that little roller going into it.
04:11So Hayden was smart by not trying to cut those guys off
04:14because he would have instantly got hit.
04:15And last weekend, he probably sensed that number 47 on the inside of, probably didn't lean.
04:20But overall, I think he's in a good spot.
04:22It's a long race.
04:23He's still got 15 minutes left.
04:24And that lead of Joe Shimoto is stabilized, and Hayden can see that.
04:28I don't think he's too worried at the moment.
04:31RC, you mentioned the mental capacity there for Shimoto.
04:34Talk about you have to get that start that he did.
04:36Yeah.
04:36And what does it show that he did get it?
04:38Yeah, I mean, it just shows the confidence of how he's not phased with the pressures
04:43of possibly winning an SMX World Championship.
04:46If there's ever a time that pressure could get to an athlete, one of these great racers,
04:50it would be in that situation.
04:52He's out front right now, Will.
04:54Yeah, and those attributes, Ricky and Joe Shimoto, that you were talking about
04:57when I was talking with the Honda HRC team about him and where that comes from,
05:01they said, like, this isn't just kind of his race mode.
05:04This is who Joe is.
05:05So that's kind of an easier situation because he doesn't have to try to be anything.
05:09He is just an even-heel kind of guy.
05:12And they said it's partly cultural.
05:13It's just he's calm.
05:15He goes about things very methodically, and that's who he is.
05:17So it's very easy, they said, for him to stay in that mode when race time comes.
05:21Well, and I've spent a lot of time, just like you have, around the Japanese culture,
05:26racing for Japanese brands.
05:28And, I mean, being around the engineers and management, I mean, they are really cool.
05:33You know, they don't get overly excited, and I think this has helped.
05:37I think this is what you're seeing in that part of Joe.
05:40I think it's helping him in this situation.
05:42Yeah, I agree.
05:42He's going to have to beat Joe Kuhl today.
05:44Kuhl is the backside of the pillow.
05:46So far, so good.
05:47But, you know, Ricky, it's a hard position to be in where you are, where Joe Shimoto is.
05:52But so far, so good.
05:53Mom and dad there watching, and I remember being on the infield for the first SMX World
05:58Championship back in Los Angeles, 2023.
06:01Shimoto and Deegan battling for it there and seeing the emotions of both families.
06:07His family was there that night, but Joe was not able to get the championship.
06:11We asked Joe yesterday about being the point leader and potentially the favorite coming into
06:15this year's final.
06:16I did.
06:19I'm excited to get the red plate again, even though it was kind of gifted last weekend.
06:24And also, I was really sick, so kind of just wanted to get through and still got the red
06:29plate for this round, so I'm excited for that.
06:31But my goal for this weekend is to just go and win.
06:36I think it's a triple point, so really, red plate doesn't actually matter that much.
06:41You just go out there and win.
06:43Yeah, Joe, I spoke to him yesterday at the press conference, and he was,
06:46he was exactly like that, really cool.
06:48And he told me that he actually rode a 450 during the break.
06:51He felt better on that Sunday.
06:53He rode a 450 because he's racing to motocross the nation.
06:55So when you think about the pressure, most guys wouldn't change anything.
06:58Joe was thinking about the future and riding for his country.
07:01Right now, he's riding for his team, and so far, so good.
07:05Yeah, motocross the nation is coming up in a couple weeks.
07:07That's the team championship.
07:08You race for your team, and he'll race the bigger 450 at that event.
07:12But it was impressive with this much on the line that he did also keep mind on that,
07:17then gets back on the 250 for the race, and what a ride he's putting together right now.
07:21He's pulled back away from Hamaker.
07:24Man, what a finish it would be if he's able to hold off and get this win
07:27and that the field stayed the way that it was.
07:29I know we have a lot of racing left, but that would definitely give him some insurance
07:33going into that final moto.
07:37Now, how about Hamaker in second?
07:39This is the rider that was in this situation earlier this year,
07:42the end of Monster Energy Supercross in May,
07:44battling for a title with Tom Vial and R.J. Hampshire.
07:48He got knocked down by Hampshire.
07:50It was a desperate championship situation.
07:52That was a heartbreaker for Hamaker, and as they were on the ground together,
07:56that allowed Tom Vial, who's running fifth right now, to roll by them and steal that title.
08:00That was a heartbreaker and a lesson learned for Hamaker.
08:05Could he be the aggressor tonight, JT?
08:08Well, for Seth Hamaker, Jason, I think he comes in here in a really nice five.
08:12Yes, he lost those five points for jumping on the Red Cross flag in Charlotte,
08:16but other than that, he doesn't have the pressure that's facing a Joe Shimoda or Hayden Deegan.
08:21He can really approach this race loosely, ride forward, not think about the points so much,
08:26and we talk about how can he attack this race.
08:29Oh! Deegan has gotten into the back of DeFrancisco.
08:33DeFrancisco down hard.
08:35Deegan back to the motorcycle, and that's shaking things up.
08:39Oh, Ryder D.
08:40Francisco's leg is hung up in the back of the tire.
08:43Yeah, and he's in a bad spot.
08:45He's in the middle of the racetrack, so I'm curious to see what happens here
08:48because I don't know if they can move him if he's moving around, but that was a tough hit by him.
08:53Oh, wow.
08:54Oh, man.
08:55Well, certainly, but hope the 25 there, DeFrancisco, who is riding so well in third, is okay.
09:00And then how will that affect Deegan?
09:03How many positions did they lose back there?
09:06Deegan, you can see, is back up to speed.
09:08Let's look at this again.
09:10Well, he tries to jump.
09:11Hayden does.
09:11And as he tries to jump over into that single, there's nothing that he could do
09:16because Ryder D. Francisco loses the rear end.
09:19Watch.
09:19He's going to come out here.
09:20He slides out.
09:22And that was just, oh.
09:23Yeah, that's tough.
09:25And the way Ryder D. falls off, I hate to speculate, but that's not good.
09:29Hayden didn't do anything, as you mentioned, Rick.
09:31He lost that traction.
09:32He was already committed at that point.
09:34And there was nothing he could do there, and I, oh.
09:39Well, that's tough to watch.
09:40Certainly, we hope the best for the young man out of California, DeFrancisco,
09:46who was, like many, like we said, was maybe not quite at reach the title,
09:52but there's money on the line in every position.
09:53So he was going for it up there in third, 90 points coming into this race.
09:58As for Deegan, he actually lost a spot just to Tom Vielle.
10:03So he's fourth.
10:03But the problem is, at one point, he was about four and a half seconds behind Shimoda.
10:09It's nearly nine seconds down now.
10:14And one other thing to note, if those red cross flags are out in a do not jump safety scenario,
10:20because it's a triple points race, they actually triple the penalty as well.
10:24That would be a 15-point penalty.
10:26And Ryder DeFrancisco is up, and you can hear the crowd respond.
10:30Unbelievable.
10:32Yeah, that's good to see.
10:33Yeah, you heard the crowd going now.
10:35You know, he'll be all right.
10:36He's walking off.
10:37But, Ricky, if I'm hating Deegan right now, I'm so focused on just getting back up to second at this point.
10:42I got to at least finish second to have a hope.
10:45Because, again, it doesn't matter.
10:46But I got to have that second in case Joe Shimoda goes on to win this race and have a shot at this overall.
10:51And hopefully chaos.
10:53Yeah, I agree 100%.
10:55And I think one thing that is really challenging about this track is we're not seeing a lot of passing going on is because of the long straightaways and the 90-degree corners.
11:04It's hard to make up time.
11:06And that's why, you know, every single weekend, I know people get tired of hearing about it, but the stars are so important.
11:12And this is why.
11:13I mean, it's almost impossible to, you know, almost impossible to make up time on those long straightaways.
11:20But R.C. Deegan's going to have to.
11:22It's 10 seconds now.
11:23The damage done almost doubled the gap that he was in before that crash.
11:28Shout out, by the way, to a couple of privateer riders.
11:31Lux Turner, Gage, Linville running fifth and sixth.
11:34They want to make some money tonight with the triple points.
11:37But Deegan has work to do.
11:39There's DeFrancisco.
11:41Yeah, good to see that.
11:42And, you know, in the last lap, Hayden Deegan went 131.9.
11:47He was the second faster than the leaders, Joe Shimoda.
11:49So he didn't lose any positions.
11:51He's in the same spot, but that time, as you mentioned.
11:53But good thing for him, Seth is only a few seconds in front of him.
11:56Right.
11:56With only eight minutes left, I do believe Hayden Deegan can get back up.
12:00You can tell the way he's riding.
12:01He's ready to go.
12:03Man, I just want to talk about Joe Shimoda as well.
12:06I mean, with authority.
12:09Hole shot, checking out.
12:12Deegan pressing the owl, the two-time Supercross champion, the Frenchman, JT.
12:16Yeah, JT, for Hayden Deegan here, there's so much pressure coming into this race and so
12:21much to think about, the strategy and the points.
12:23I can tell you, as horrific as that crash was, it eliminates all of that.
12:28He's not nervous anymore.
12:29He's not thinking about points anymore.
12:31He goes into full instinctual mode here about, I have to get to the front at all costs.
12:36So, thankfully, we saw Ryder Deegan up before Hayden.
12:38If he can move forward, I can promise you, as a former racer, it eliminates all of the
12:43pressure he was feeling before that gate drops.
12:45Yeah, JT, you just crushed right there.
12:47That's the next thing I was going to say as we were watching this battle for seventh down
12:50here.
12:50Hayden Deegan.
12:51He's trying to come back through.
12:52Yeah, go ahead.
12:52Yeah.
12:53Because of that thing, it does allow, man.
12:55You can see by Hayden's body language, he is moving forward.
12:58He caught Tom really quick.
13:00He's really loose.
13:01And Tom better watch out.
13:02Hayden Deegan's going to slide up.
13:03Oh, I thought he had it.
13:04That was sneaky, jumping on the top, onto that tabletop right there.
13:09This is where he tried to make a move.
13:11He's giving it everything.
13:13Trying to make passes even where you can, Deegan, right now.
13:16Yeah, that line's going to work out if Tom wasn't there.
13:19Unfortunately, he went on Ryder Dee, but that line's going to be really fast because he
13:23doesn't stop that momentum.
13:24So, what we saw with Ryder Dee spinning up, losing that traction, Hayden's not going to
13:27have to worry about that.
13:29Guys, he's rolling now.
13:30He's everywhere that Vial is.
13:32Inside, outside, outside there.
13:34And now, up to third.
13:36Power move on the outside right there.
13:38He took the inside on the corner before.
13:41He's been running the outside, goes to the inside, sets himself up perfect, able to keep
13:46the momentum passed.
13:47These next couple laps are going to be crucial.
13:49Like you were saying, James, he's at least got to get to that second position.
13:53Yeah, but making his way around Tom Vial, he's going everywhere.
13:57He didn't lose any time to Seth Endmaker.
14:00So, that just shows you how quickly Hayden Deegan is rolling at this moment.
14:03And I got to believe in the next lap or two, he's going to be back up on that 56, Kawasaki
14:08in the set.
14:09And the reason we're saying he needs to get to second, the overall format, they take
14:12the two motos that they'll race together.
14:14If you finish second in moto one and win moto two, you're still the overall winner of the
14:19event, and Deegan would score maximum points.
14:21So, this is a critical juncture.
14:23If he can get to Hamaker and get to second by the finish, he could win moto two and still
14:28win the race and maximize at least his attempts to catch Shimoda in the standings.
14:33Hey, Deegan, he's rolling right here.
14:35Watch this line go back in there.
14:37So, he's going to come out, swing out wide, set this corner, take a little break and then
14:40jump out.
14:41You're going to watch him close in.
14:43And if he's close to these guys, he's going to get around them.
14:45Oh, he's taking that mega time.
14:49He's the fastest guy on the track, last lap by, in traffic, mind you.
14:54He was at 131.1.
14:56Second fastest was Joe Shimoda at a 132.5.
15:01So, he's definitely picked up the pace tremendously for the first half of the race.
15:07He has set in sight already.
15:10Will.
15:13Guys, I was talking to Brian Deegan, Hayden's dad, there earlier today.
15:16Hey, there's been so much talk this week about strategy.
15:19How is everybody going to handle, you know, the point situation moving forward?
15:23And he said, look, Hayden knows.
15:25I know that Hayden knows.
15:27He doesn't have five championships for nothing.
15:29He's like, so we could talk about it.
15:30And he's like, but the fact is, he's done this before.
15:33I trust that, and he makes his own decisions.
15:37And that was the message from his dad.
15:39And, you know, the sort of riding of a sing here, right, guys?
15:42This is why he is who he is, and he's in the position that he is with those five championships.
15:47And, yeah, he's doing what he wants to do right now, making his own decisions.
15:51He's going under Hamaker, Will.
15:54There's no doubt about it, but time's starting to run out.
15:57Four minutes left.
15:58I don't know if there's even a shot to get to Shimoda.
16:01There's a couple sections.
16:03He's going to need some help.
16:04Yeah.
16:04I just say it straight up, but definitely second is possible.
16:10Yeah, he's got, if you don't make another mistake, he's got second at this point.
16:14I mean, clearly, and it's hard for a rider like Seth and even with Joe to try to pick up that pace now.
16:19Hayden's in a row, so to all of a sudden find that speed, you don't know where it's coming from.
16:24And Hayden at this moment, he's got nothing to lose.
16:26And one thing he can do by at least closing that gap on Joe, maybe Joe start looking back,
16:31and things might happen.
16:33But I love what I see from the Star Racing Yamaha Hayden Deegan.
16:37Oh.
16:39And it's a really cool shot in the back, the motocross section.
16:43High speed.
16:44Love the drone shot right there, especially going into these corners.
16:47You can see the contrast in lines, even if it's just like by five inches, eight inches, inside, outside.
16:55He's making some serious time.
16:58Seth, of course, but also Joe Shimoda.
17:02Yeah, it was an 11-second gap to the lead at one point.
17:05It's now about seven.
17:07Yeah, he's made up time on everybody.
17:09He's definitely clicking gears for sure right now.
17:11But this is where it gets tough.
17:13To make passes.
17:14And when you're on a track like this, James, you know, to make a pass,
17:17you almost have to get out of your comfort zone because it's so tight.
17:21Yeah.
17:23All right.
17:24This is as Deegan would say to his fans, time to lock in.
17:26Chat.
17:27Standing on business right now.
17:29Handmaker still has a shot at the title as well.
17:31So he wants to hold him off.
17:33But Deegan's got a couple tricks up his sleeve right here.
17:35This is one of them right here.
17:36If he gets on the inside.
17:38There it is.
17:39Deegan takes second.
17:40Yeah, there it is.
17:41And he set that up after the finish line by Swing and Watt.
17:44And quality pass.
17:46Quality pass at a crucial time of the race.
17:49Listen to the crowd.
17:50There are so many Deegan fans everywhere you go.
17:54Southern California native, maybe even more so in Las Vegas.
17:58So I know I ask you, James will go to you first.
18:00Second.
18:01Does he play it?
18:02I'll take second in the moto, trying to win the overall next time out.
18:05Or does he try to run down?
18:06Oh, he's going to try to run down Joe at this point.
18:09Because I don't think he can slow down.
18:11Once the rider gets in his own, it's just easy.
18:13And watch.
18:13Hey, Deegan's going to pop in the screen.
18:15He is making a lot of time on Joe.
18:17And he's probably got two laps after this.
18:19Yeah.
18:19But you never know.
18:20At least send that message.
18:22Oh, he is sending in for sure.
18:25Send that message.
18:26JT.
18:28Well, you know, the funny thing about momentum here is that it's a two-way street.
18:32And you can see Hayden Deegan has it on his side.
18:35He's found new lines.
18:36He's opened up the racetrack.
18:37And he is on form right now.
18:39For Joe, it is so critical to maintain his best lap time.
18:43Because if the gap starts coming down, it starts working against him.
18:47Hayden will start feeding off of it.
18:48And Joe will start riding behind him.
18:50So these next two laps are so critical to keep Hayden at bay.
18:54To where he's not thinking win anymore.
18:56And he's going to have to lay up and get second.
18:58Interesting.
18:59Joe's still going 100%.
19:01He's able to take a look at his peripheral vision, you know, on some lanes where he goes
19:06back by the previous lane to see and just mark where Hayden is.
19:12Although I wouldn't be rolling out too much if I was him.
19:15No, he's not.
19:16And you can see that line where Joe rolled that double.
19:20And then you can see how much time it took him to build that momentum up where Hayden's
19:24jumping out.
19:25And I bet he's making a lot of time.
19:26Trey Adams is down there, the rookie.
19:29What do you see, RC?
19:29Well, I'm looking at timing and scoring, everybody.
19:33Hayden ran a 130.4 to Joe's 132.1.
19:38He's only four seconds behind him.
19:40If he continues on that pace, he does have a realistic shot to pull up right on Joe with
19:46a lap to go.
19:47And he's doing all the damage back here.
19:49He literally took it from five seconds to 4.1 in those sectors out back in the motocross
19:55section.
19:56And Joe has some traffic in front of him.
19:58So hopefully, if I'm Joe Shimoda, I've got to get past these lap riders before I get to
20:02that tight section.
20:03That's saying I'm going to lose it.
20:05And then that gap's going to come down really quick.
20:08Once Hayden sees him, you're going to see that 3.9 seconds go to zero really fast.
20:15Max Anstey would be the next rider that Shimoda has to get by.
20:18This is the rider that won the supercross race and led the points earlier in the year.
20:23So they're getting into the thick part of the field here.
20:26Oh, white flag out.
20:28And the clock worked in Shimoda's favor there.
20:31Big time.
20:32It's just expired.
20:34Joe's got to just stay focused right here.
20:35Make sure he gets by these lapers in the back section.
20:40It's going to be very difficult to do it here.
20:41Oh, here's Hayden.
20:42No.
20:43Yeah, that's one of Deegan's teammates there in Anstey.
20:47Oh, Hayden's coming.
20:48Yeah, right there.
20:49I mean, even Hayden made a mistake.
20:50But if I'm Joe Shimoda, if I'm winning this race, hopefully the guys from HRC are going to tell me about that line.
20:55Because Hayden is making a lot of time.
20:57And you don't want to think about it.
20:58But that is Hayden's teammate, Max Anstey, right in front of him.
21:01I don't think Max would do anything.
21:03Besides, he might not move out of the way just easy.
21:05But Hayden's right there, Ricky.
21:07Yeah, he is.
21:08It's going to be really close.
21:11Again, Joe doing an incredible job.
21:13Getting that whole shot like that.
21:15Check it out.
21:18Very, very impressive.
21:19Oh, Hayden went off the track right there.
21:21He saved it.
21:23Probably when he asked Joe after the race, if he wins this, he'd probably say he's won the hardest race he's ever had because of what's going on.
21:29But he's executed so far.
21:30Just a few more corners left.
21:31Also, an incredible comeback by Hayden.
21:34You know, you think about what that crash looked like at the beginning.
21:37And, uh, Anstey giving way.
21:40Made it easy on Shimoda there.
21:41This is it.
21:42Last lap.
21:43So the clock told the story.
21:45It could have been two to go.
21:46The clock expired.
21:47One to go.
21:48Not enough time.
21:48It appears for digging to get there if Shimoda can hang on.
21:53Won't it be a huge and clutch first moto win.
21:57Joe Shimoda answers the question.
21:59He comes through and wins the first moto in Las Vegas.
22:04Very, very, very impressed by Joe Shimoda right now.
22:08Great job from both these guys.
22:09One step closer to the world title.
22:14The rider out of Japan, Joe Shimoda.
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