00:0050 class, you know, the highs aren't too high, the lows aren't too low.
00:03He's very even, and I feel as though that's what you need to have
00:07to be a Supercross champion at the elite level.
00:11We were just welcoming Chase Sexton back.
00:13Look who else is back.
00:15Red Bull, Troy Lee Design, Ducati rider Dylan Ferrandez.
00:18And you wouldn't think that this guy's a divisional champ in the 250,
00:22and he's a 450 pro motocross champion.
00:25So he's back from that thumb injury,
00:28and also returning, we say welcome back, to Joey Cervacci.
00:32He had a broken left foot, so recovering from that,
00:36but recovered well enough to be back on the bike.
00:38Yeah, great to see Joey back,
00:40and this is a guy who has had a lot of success across the years
00:43and had some great momentum going before he had that little hiccup at Indy
00:48and hurt his foot.
00:50So a great start from his quadlock Honda teammate in Christian Craig
00:54earlier in Heat 1.
00:55Let's see what they can do here.
00:56Hey, let's not forget the champ either.
00:58Cooper Webb is in this one,
01:00sandwiched in between Hunter Lawrence and Dylan Ferrandez.
01:10Oh, you're going to love the sound of that gate drop.
01:14Good start.
01:1696.
01:16Justin Cooper, Hunter Lawrence,
01:19Cooper Webb on the inside.
01:20Jorge Prado has a look around.
01:23So easy for these guys if you get in too hot in the first corner to fade to the outside.
01:29Hunter Lawrence, you have to think, anticipating that to happen and sneaks up there.
01:33And what happens if you're able to go up that inside like that?
01:36And it sets you up perfectly for that next right-hander.
01:40Oh, Justin Cooper coming up short.
01:42And Prado did too as well.
01:45He was kind of all out of his rhythm.
01:47Malcolm Stewart is right there with Justin Cooper.
01:50It's Cooper Webb.
01:50Chases down the points leader.
01:52Had a nice conversation with Cooper Webb earlier this week and just talking about everything.
01:58And, you know, he had a great offseason and felt like he was in a good spot
02:03and just, you know, was a little discouraged.
02:06And I'm like, man, just go back to the basics.
02:08Do what you know how to do and don't overthink it.
02:11There's still a three-time Supercross champ.
02:14And you can do this.
02:15But this, while saying that, it's an important weekend, I believe, for this man.
02:20Cooper Webb sitting in second.
02:22He is in fourth in points.
02:24He's been on the podium five times this year.
02:30As they had to scramble there and take evasive action.
02:33But Cooper said, look, my points position.
02:37He told us this yesterday.
02:38My points position doesn't really reflect how well I've been going.
02:42And I've just missed out a few times, not by much, but it's been enough to deny me a win
02:47or a better podium position.
02:49And he's like, I'm not counting myself out of this thing yet.
02:52There's still seven races to go.
02:54Right.
02:54I mean, listen, anything can happen.
02:56And like you said, mathematically, he is still there.
02:59And he's frustrated.
02:59He's doing everything.
03:00He's working on the whoops.
03:02He's working on that intensity early on in the race.
03:05It's kind of eluded him this year, and it's definitely not from the lack of effort.
03:09He's just off a small little tick.
03:14Justin Cooper, Malcolm Stewart, and then Jorge Prado.
03:19But let's go back to the 32 of Justin Cooper, JT.
03:22Yeah, just watching him there in the whoops.
03:24I kind of think this is the most challenging time for Justin Cooper that he will face
03:29because the whoops are in a condition where you still need to blitz.
03:32They haven't deteriorated enough where he can fall back to what he wants to do,
03:36which is jump through them.
03:38He's an expert at that craft.
03:39And in the main event, I think they will come in.
03:42But right now, blitzing is the way you have to go.
03:44And it's not his proficiency to see him struggle there.
03:48And if Malcolm Stewart can get a run, it might be a place he can make a pass.
03:51Well, and right here, you can see how he loses the time.
03:54Now he's reverted, like Jason was saying.
03:56That was a good run.
03:57I feel that the whoops, they get to a certain spot to where you have to blitz and jumping is
04:03slower.
04:03Now I think that Justin Cooper has recognized that.
04:06I think it's good to go to jump.
04:08So this next lap is going to be interesting to see what he's able to do
04:11from a speed comparison to what it was the lap before.
04:15A little further back, Joey Savace, Vince Friese, Kevin Morans all in transfer positions.
04:22So Hunter Lawrence has had an interesting day.
04:25Check this out from earlier.
04:27This was a close call and a lucky escape.
04:30What do you make of what happened here?
04:32Well, let's see here.
04:33He does that rhythm.
04:34Yeah, it just opens, just overjumps that triple there after the tabletop.
04:38And as he does that, the bike rebounds back up.
04:43He isn't able to stop.
04:44Goes into the catch fence there.
04:48Tell us more, Will.
04:50Well, that crash is a little unusual.
04:52We're not used to seeing those kind of mistakes from Hunter.
04:54But what we are used to seeing, and I spoke about at the top of the show, is the consistency
04:58that he has.
04:59And that has been, while he's still kind of gone through these 10 rounds, sort of developing
05:04the motorcycle.
05:05And they haven't been making huge swings by any means.
05:08But just week by week, they've been making improvements and trying to get Hunter the sort
05:11of comfort feel that all these riders are chasing.
05:14Well, talking to Cameron, his mechanic here last weekend, he looked at me and said, hey,
05:19we found it.
05:20And then I checked back in with him today.
05:22And he said, yeah, we're in the same place.
05:24And Hunter's been able to put in just a week of regular motos, which he's really enjoyed.
05:29So bad news if you are the rest of the field, to know that this is him now coming into
05:34his
05:34good spot, Ricky.
05:35Well, I think when you watch right here, Hunter, it doesn't look like he's taking a lot of chances
05:41and his lap times are phenomenal.
05:43And that is a sign, kind of like what Will is alluding to, the comfort in the motorcycle.
05:48Doesn't look like he's over trying and he's just clicking off those laps.
05:52I want to remind you, tickets to the 2026 SMX playoffs are now on sale at supermotocross.com.
05:59Be there in person, that'd be unreal for the three historic playoff races in Columbus,
06:03Ohio, in L.A. and the beautiful venue, Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Richdale, Missouri.
06:11Supermotocross.com, that's where you need to go.
06:13Best destination for SMX news, schedules and content.
06:16And of course, your tickets to be part of the playoffs where you can see this guy
06:21race for an SMX world title.
06:24I almost feel like this heat race right here is probably a little bit better for these guys.
06:31Because the track would be a bit more realistic.
06:34Oh, whoa.
06:36McElwrap.
06:37Big move on Vince Friese.
06:38That was for eighth place.
06:40Yeah, that was a transfer position.
06:43Oh, Vince is looking back.
06:45He needs to be racing in front of him, not behind him.
06:47That's Kevin Moran's right behind.
06:49And it was Kevin's teammate, Grant Harlan, who went down earlier in this heat.
06:53So that's going to force Grant to the L.C.Q.
06:58Kevin's going to try and push his way past Vince Friese so he can just automatically go
07:04through to the main event.
07:07Boy, McElwrap's brave.
07:11Putting a move on that, like, to Friese.
07:14That champion tool storage, KTM.
07:18Moran's and Harlan, by the way.
07:19We were talking about the Club MX boys earlier having a great intra-team battle.
07:23Well, Kevin and Grant Harlan, the new combination for this year, they, too, are really close in points
07:28and their results.
07:29And about how many mains they've made and points they've scored.
07:33So pretty cool battle going on between those two teammates this season as well.
07:37Well, and that whole story with Kevin and what he's been able to create with his own team
07:41is a pretty remarkable last lap.
07:46Transfer position on the line.
07:48If I'm Kevin Moran's, I'm going to absolutely send it through the whoops.
07:51Here we go.
07:52Here we go.
07:53This is to go straight through to the main, the simplistic way.
07:57Or do you have to race even harder through the LCQ?
08:00Well, considering who, again, who he's racing against.
08:03Oh, he stalls the bike.
08:06Bottom box.
08:07What a bummer.
08:07He had it, too.
08:08He was so close.
08:11Race leader, race winner, Honda Lawrence.
08:14Over Cooper Webb and Justin Cooper, the star Yamaha teammates.
08:21And then Malcolm Stewart and Jorge Prado.
08:23But for Kevin Moran's, unfortunately, he's going to get pushed into the LCQ with his teammate
08:27Grant Harlan.
08:28There's your race winner.
08:30He's done it again.
08:31He is in a very special place in his career.
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