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00:00The riders are coming and going as we look towards and forward to this second 450 race.
00:05Sorry about that.
00:06Oh, this man right here is the man of the hour.
00:09Listen to this.
00:09He's won the Triple Crown race, won six times now, but only once has he gone on to win the
00:15overall, and that was way back in Glendale in 2020.
00:18I like the momentum here.
00:19You think about he won here with that, let's start to call him Kickstart Kenny.
00:24Epic win.
00:25I think he can do it here tonight.
00:30You got Hunter Lawrence there.
00:31What's that saying?
00:32You want to be the man, you got to beat the man.
00:34Well, he did just that in race one there.
00:37He passed champion Cooper Webb.
00:38He passed Eli Tomach.
00:40And no, he didn't get to Ken Rockson, but that is the kind of step that Hunter and Lawrence
00:43needs to take if he wants to win this championship, is to be able to come from behind and pass
00:48the championship contenders.
00:52And what kind of a response, JT, are we going to see from the number three, Eli Tomach, because
00:58that pass that you talked about chatting to Eli yesterday before racing got going, I asked
01:03him about the championship chase.
01:04He said, my eyes are on Hunter.
01:06He knows who his closest competitor is, and he would not like that pass that happened in
01:11race one.
01:12He'll be looking to correct it here in the second 450 of the night.
01:15If you didn't see this on social media or you weren't with us for the SMX post-race show
01:20presented by Bass Pro Shops last week, Eli Tomach's night couldn't get any better, but
01:25then it couldn't get any worse as the trophy broke, smacked him right in the face, in the
01:29mouth, and broke his tooth.
01:32That's what happened.
01:34Well, let's hear what he said about it and how he got it remedied.
01:39So Daytona, I lifted my trophy up the first time from the photos, and the second time
01:43we went up there to do another photo op.
01:46I picked up the bike, and it popped off the base of the trophy, and I broke my tooth.
01:53Somehow, my tooth chip is bonded back on now, so now it's like nothing happened.
01:58The dentist said, hey, this thing could last a month.
02:00It could last 15 years.
02:01I've seen both outcomes.
02:02I'm hoping for the later.
02:05Oh, my goodness.
02:06His mechanic found.
02:07Jay Dungey, his mechanic found his two.
02:10Good job, Jay.
02:11We should give a shout-out to Daytona International Speedway President Frank Kelleher as well.
02:15Frank said he will get him a new trophy.
02:17There you go.
02:20All right, finishing out around the berm, Cooper Webb.
02:23Let's keep this in mind.
02:25He finished fourth in race one here earlier tonight.
02:28Well, he also finished fourth in Arlington at the triple crown, and won overall.
02:37So, sorry, Houston, pardon me.
02:39Houston, not Arlington.
02:40I think my Texas City is mixed up, but you know what I meant.
02:42Yeah, that second race in the 450 was pretty wild at Houston, so if that's any consolation
02:49of what might happen here, time for a treat.
02:52And the championship rivals going at it in.
02:56Honda Lawrence and Eli Tomac.
02:58Let's see what's going to play out race two here in Indy on a night of triple crown action.
03:04Honda Lawrence with a really good start.
03:07Tomac with an even better one.
03:08It's the championship contenders, and then Cooper.
03:12Justin Cooper on the inside.
03:19Oh, it's going to be key right here for the 96 to stay right on the rear tire of Eli
03:25Tomac,
03:26not letting get away.
03:30Talk about these whoops, how they're become.
03:32Oh, look at this.
03:33Inside, Honda Lawrence is saying, yep, I don't want to give up this red plate.
03:38I'm happy to have it, and I want to keep it.
03:41He's tried a couple times to make a move there.
03:44Oh, no, Kenny goes down.
03:45Roxen on the ground, and Plessinger.
03:48No.
03:49Oh, Plessinger's hurt, too.
03:54Oh, massive blow for Kenny.
03:58Race one winner on the ground.
04:00Rarely do you see Kenny make a mistake like that.
04:03You just have to wonder if he had help there.
04:08Oh, such a bummer.
04:11Now, these whoops become in jumpers right there.
04:15That's going to help Justin Cooper.
04:19You know, this is going to help, actually, if Justin Cooper is able to kind of slow up Eli.
04:25That's going to allow Hunter Lawrence to close the gap here.
04:33This is really good stuff for Justin Cooper.
04:37How long can he stay out in front?
04:39How long can he sustain this pressure?
04:41Let's have a look.
04:41Center of your screen.
04:42Oh, Kenny messes up.
04:43Oh, he looked around for Plessinger.
04:46Oh, my goodness.
04:49Wow.
04:50Kenny was looking back.
04:51He knew that he had made a mistake, and there was nothing, nowhere that Plessinger could go.
04:57Oh, he gets sideways.
04:58That's what happened.
04:58So, he slows down.
05:00He's like, I'm not jumping.
05:01And look at this.
05:02Oh, goodness.
05:04Just nowhere for AP to go.
05:08Thank goodness no one hit Aaron after that.
05:10That was tough.
05:12It was shades of A1 between Malcolm Stewart and Justin Barsha.
05:16Meanwhile, this goes on at a really high rate of knocks.
05:20This fight for the lead between Justin Cooper and Eli Tomac.
05:24Tomac's been able to gap Hunter Lawrence just slightly
05:27to give himself a bit more breathing room
05:29as he works on the lead of this race.
05:31Again, these are old teammates last year.
05:35Eli looking good.
05:36Let's see if Eli can rail this berm and make a move down to Whoops.
05:42Ah, look at that.
05:43Great riding by Justin Cooper to guard on that
05:46and block Eli's run through the Whoops to make a pass.
05:51Point for Justin Cooper.
05:52These are his first laps that he's led this year.
05:54It's a big confidence boost.
05:56He's Tomac.
05:58Look at him square that up.
05:59He's been working this line right here for three laps in a row.
06:03A little bit of hip and shoulder and get out of my way.
06:07The crowd love it when that famous number three hits the lead.
06:16Nice pass by Eli Tomac.
06:20Redemption from that first moto.
06:23Her first race, he is not going to be denied.
06:27Now the pressure will shift to Hunter.
06:30See what Hunter can do.
06:31He's lost some ground.
06:33They're the top two runners.
06:36Meanwhile, let's not lose sight on the fact that Cooper-Web Sport,
06:40Joey Savace is in the top five.
06:42Prado, after another really good start, is sixth.
06:45Then Malcolm Stewart, Christian Craig, Garrett Marchbanks,
06:50to Mitchell Harrison in the 10.
06:52Really impressed by Prado.
06:54Again, just coming back after a couple weeks off
06:57and to really just jump back into where it didn't even look like he lost anything,
07:02picking up where he left off.
07:04Will?
07:05And he talked earlier, we heard that soundbite, Ricky,
07:08where he talked about kind of being good enough, if you like,
07:11after the shoulder injury, that AC separation to ride.
07:13But talking to him earlier, I mean, he's not healed from it.
07:17There's still pain.
07:18He talked about some pain that developed a week after the initial injury
07:22that led to another MRI.
07:24He said he's got a little bit of instability in that shoulder,
07:26so he's going to have to sort of sit on the bike a little bit more sensual,
07:29as he put it, to not put too much pressure on that shoulder.
07:32So what he's dealing with now, he even surprised himself with.
07:35He told me, I wasn't expecting that out of qualifying.
07:38So to get through the night and to do it the way he's doing,
07:41I think it's surprising everyone he's doing with himself.
07:43I mean, well, another thing too, Will, is, you know,
07:46he's been pretty open about how he needs to get this experience.
07:50You know, a lot like last year.
07:52Listen, I know it was a rocky road with the team he was on last year,
07:55but at the same time he got hurt at round two or three,
07:58and those are lost opportunities that he could never get back.
08:01So even though he's 100%,
08:03I normally don't think it's great if the riders don't come back,
08:06if they're not 100%, but in his case,
08:09I feel like he has the ability to ride at 80% and not overdo it,
08:14but still, again, get that much-needed experience in Supercross.
08:17This is on his 12th Supercross race, right?
08:20That's what we have to keep in mind.
08:23Man, how about Justin Cooper, JT?
08:27He's sticking with it.
08:29I'm so impressed by this ride, Ricky,
08:31because, you know, his whole career, it's been about getting really good starts.
08:34He has so much sprint speed that that typically leads to a good result.
08:38But in this 450 class,
08:39he struggled at times to match pace at the very tip of the spear.
08:43Not so much right now,
08:45because I really figured the way that race one went,
08:48Hunter Lawrence would be able to close and put pressure.
08:50He hasn't been able to,
08:51but that's really credit to Justin Cooper's face.
08:53He really hasn't let Eli Tomac get away.
08:55Not, and he's closed it up, in fact,
08:57at this last half a lap or so.
08:59By the way, points as they run.
09:02Tomac leading the way over Hunter Lawrence.
09:06This is going to be interesting.
09:07There's still six minutes left in this, plus a lap.
09:09Tomac missed that very inside after the finish line,
09:12and look at the 32 just reels him right back in.
09:16And again, I go back to the whoop section.
09:19I mean, it is going to be super important,
09:21and it's going to become very difficult later on here in this race.
09:27Look at Justin.
09:28Check this out.
09:29Here we go.
09:30Cooper saying, hey, power move.
09:33He might have been the hero at Daytona last week,
09:35but I'm not done with it here.
09:36I want to get a race win.
09:38I don't want to speak for Eli,
09:40but I don't think that Eli could ever have seen that move coming.
09:43I wasn't anticipating that as well,
09:45but Cooper is absolutely,
09:47Justin is absolutely feeling it right now.
09:50Wow.
09:51And look in the background.
09:53The longer this race goes on,
09:55the closer Hunter Lawrence is getting as well.
09:58Let's talk more about the leader.
10:00Will?
10:01You guys talked about the confidence
10:03that Justin Cooper needs,
10:05and the team were talking about exactly the same thing earlier,
10:08and they said this might be the one that gives him that.
10:11And they cited the fact that he'll be able to jump through the works,
10:13and that's kind of his more comfortable option.
10:15And as he said, Ricky,
10:16that's kind of happening to most of the riders here.
10:18But they also said that ruts are something that he's used.
10:21He's a very technical rider,
10:22very intelligent rider,
10:24and that he talked after qualifying about
10:26how he's able to pick the ruts.
10:28He's able to see it and finesse the bike
10:30with that technically good form that he has
10:33and put his will right in it.
10:35So just a lot of reasons why this is going to be
10:37a confidence-boosting weekend for Justin Cooper.
10:40Never won a race in 450 competition.
10:43That a triple crown race,
10:44and of course not a main event.
10:46So this is huge.
10:47For him to go past Eli Tomac,
10:50he's got four minutes left.
10:51If he can hang in there, this would be incredible.
10:55There you go.
10:56Look at the left side of your screen.
10:57Justin Cooper, fastest man through Sector 2,
11:00that three-pack of jumps.
11:04Look at that.
11:05Oh, now Eli Tomac starting to jump through the roofs.
11:08Whoops, where do you see that?
11:11And again, I think they just become too difficult
11:14and too risky to blitz them like that.
11:17Incredibly hard to keep your balance
11:19and stay in a straight line.
11:21And I think this is going to help Eli in this situation.
11:24Oh, he misses that inside again.
11:26I think the way that also that Justin Cooper rides
11:30is he doesn't push the bike super hard
11:32compared to a rider like Eli.
11:34So in these difficult conditions
11:36where you have to kind of be patient
11:39because of all the ruts,
11:40the bike actually works better in that situation,
11:43which I think tailors to how Justin Cooper rides.
11:46And look, think about last year
11:48when he was teammates with Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb.
11:52He's the kind of the quiet guy in the background,
11:54but he's a fighter.
11:56And it's like, just because I'm the quiet guy in the background
11:59doesn't mean I can't be on the podium,
12:00which he was multiple times,
12:02or I can't win.
12:03Whoa, Tomac!
12:04Dude, that was close with Vince Friese.
12:07Friese has been taking up the main line
12:10after the whoops all the way through.
12:13That could have been super ugly.
12:15Oh, man.
12:16Great save by the three of Eli Tomac.
12:20And that just bought Justin Cooper a ton of time.
12:23Well, and it helped out Hunter Lawrence as well
12:26a little bit.
12:28Man, that was close.
12:32In the first race,
12:35oh, Hunter Lawrence is down.
12:38How bad is the damage?
12:40How far has he dropped?
12:41Uh-oh, he's looking at his,
12:42something, he's looking down at his bike.
12:45Looks like the shifter's good.
12:48See here, keep it.
12:50He had time to play with.
12:51What happened?
12:53Oh, oh, my goodness.
12:55Wow, what a save that was.
13:00That could have been way worse.
13:02And that's, again,
13:04it is a tough racetrack
13:06for the best in the business,
13:08and especially the lappers.
13:10I talked about it a little bit on the first race.
13:12It makes it so difficult,
13:13these ruts,
13:14for these guys to move from one side of the track
13:17to the other and give way.
13:19Vince Friese was on the inside.
13:20Cole Thompson was the bike
13:22immediately ahead.
13:23Have another look at that.
13:26And again, for him to get away with it,
13:28that could have been super ugly.
13:29Watch this.
13:30Boom, just smashes into Cole Thompson.
13:33Yeah, Cole Thompson just goes right to the inside.
13:35I don't think that Hunter was anticipating him to do that.
13:41I certainly wasn't either.
13:43And wrong place at the wrong time.
13:46Meanwhile, let's rejoice this special moment
13:49for this 28-year-old Justin Cooper
13:53aboard his Monster Energy Star Yamaha.
13:55He has about two seconds over Eli Tomac
13:59with a minute left on the clock.
14:02As this track continues to go away,
14:06remember what Kenny said
14:06about how fast it gets ruddy
14:09and gets torn up?
14:11I think it's going to play
14:12into Justin Cooper's hands.
14:14So as long as he is able
14:15to maintain this pace right here,
14:17navigate the lappers,
14:21he is going to be in a great spot
14:23to possibly bag his first 450 Supercross win.
14:28Bottom box, Ken Rockson coming back
14:31after that early race fall
14:33and awkward incident with Aaron Plessinger
14:36as he is working on Shane McElrath.
14:39Yeah, for the overall though,
14:41this is really going to hurt Kenny,
14:43sadly enough,
14:44because he looked so good in that first race
14:47and looks great now.
14:48Just too much time spent down,
14:51picking his bike up.
14:52Luckily, he was okay.
14:53And then these races being abbreviated,
14:55only 12 minutes plus one lap,
14:57just not enough time to get the job done.
15:00This is such a special moment
15:02as the clock goes to zero
15:03for Justin Cooper.
15:05What a ride.
15:06He's been on the podium six times,
15:08but he's never in the premier class
15:11seen that checkered flag first.
15:12He's got one more lap to go
15:15and then he will.
15:18I can tell you,
15:20if I'm any of these front runners
15:22coming into that third race dip,
15:24I am lobbying these lappers
15:27and just saying,
15:28hey, be aware,
15:29be aware.
15:30But look at your screen
15:31on the left-hand side.
15:33Look at how close the points are
15:35right there.
15:36I mean, it's anybody's race.
15:39It's setting up for a beautiful third race.
15:41And that's why these Triple Crowns,
15:43they are just undisputed.
15:44The drama and the excitement
15:46that they bring.
15:48And the riders have openly spoken about
15:51the mindset factor
15:53of going into that weekend off next weekend
15:56in the best possible position,
15:57the highest note.
15:59Well, it doesn't get any higher
16:00than this.
16:01Justin Cooper,
16:03you're finally a race winner
16:05at the highest level.
16:07And he did it
16:08with a beautiful comeback move
16:10on Eli Tomac.
16:12Eli finishes second.
16:14Cooper webbed third.
16:16Hunter Lawrence recovers for fourth.
16:18But the spotlight
16:20and the attention
16:21is finally
16:22on this man here.
16:25Justin Cooper.
16:26What the fuck?
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