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