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00:00Well within reach to get it back here in one night, he's just going to have to stay calm and
00:04go about his business.
00:06And in a similar vein, it's now or never for the champ.
00:10The three-time and defending champion, Cooper Webb.
00:12He is 26 points behind the leader, Eli Tomac.
00:18Cooper went on a really nice run where he had five podiums in a six-race span.
00:22But the last two races, he has finished outside the top five.
00:26He's got to deliver tonight to stay in touch.
00:28Well, he does.
00:30And another guy that I want to see keep the momentum going off of a podium last week is the
00:34number four here, Chase Sexton.
00:36The guy is super talented.
00:38Salvage the season.
00:40Put another run in.
00:41Believe in yourself.
00:43Things might not be great, yourself, the bike, whatever.
00:46But go out there and just maximize yourself and the performance.
00:50I think good things will happen if you do that.
00:54Here we go, Lee.
00:55Man, I am so, like, I just never know the suspense right now.
01:00Wow, this could be an incredibly pivotal round in the complexion of this Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.
01:094.50 main here in St. Louis.
01:12It's on.
01:14Great start.
01:15Hunter Lawrence on the inside.
01:17He got the whole shot in his heat.
01:19Gets the whole shot in the main.
01:21Roxen's there.
01:22Prado's right there with him.
01:23Here comes Kenny.
01:24See what he did right there.
01:26He ran Prado wide.
01:27He did not want Prado to get in front of him.
01:30Now he has clean air.
01:31But, like you said, Kenny is there.
01:35Hunter Lawrence is able to clear them for now.
01:38Roxen on the inside.
01:39He's setting Prado up for a move already.
01:41Oh, look at Kenny.
01:42It's going to be crucial for Kenny to get by Prado early.
01:46Oh, look at Prado's on the inside.
01:48He's taking it to Hunter Lawrence.
01:50And takes the lead with authority.
01:53Here comes Roxen on the inside.
01:54And Hunter responds.
01:57Yeah, these guys fighting hard.
01:59It's championship time.
02:01To the lead.
02:02That shows you how much Ken Roxen wants this.
02:06Kenny is locked in.
02:07Rarely do you see Kenny make moves like that.
02:10This guy wants it.
02:11He's saying and doing all the right things.
02:14In 13 years in the Premier Class, maybe this is the year.
02:21This is, this is, I'm not sure if this is vintage Roxen.
02:25Maybe this is special Roxen.
02:27Maybe he's never ridden like this.
02:29Well, you heard him in the, after the heat race.
02:33You just, you know, the highs and lows.
02:35He's not trying to get too high.
02:36Not trying to get too low.
02:37Just take it one weekend at a time and not get ahead of himself.
02:41He gave us a little glimpse of what he is trying to do.
02:44And I agree with him.
02:46That's what you have to do.
02:47You can't look too far into the future.
02:49And it's hard to do it.
02:50But I think he's ready for it, finally.
02:53Good battle going on.
02:54Bottom box, a little further back.
02:58Malcolm Stewart in eight.
03:00Chase Sexton ahead of him.
03:02Then Eli Tomac in six.
03:03Meanwhile, Prado and Hunter Lawrence are going at it for second.
03:10Look at Roxen.
03:11Not only did he get that lead, he has skipped away.
03:13Yeah, this dude's checked out.
03:15And right now, this is absolutely killing any chance that Hunter Lawrence has of reeling Clint Roxen in.
03:22If he continues to let Prado stay in front of him, Prado's riding really well.
03:28Look at the updated points as they run.
03:30We go from the top three being blanketed by 14 to the top three being covered by six.
03:36Keep your eye back here on the bottom box and where Eli Tomac is.
03:42Man, if Eli Tomac struggles to keep these guys behind him, he's going to lose some serious points.
03:48It's going to be interesting to see what can happen these next couple laps.
03:52If Eli can unlock beast mode.
03:59That's Justin Cooper immediately ahead, running in fourth place.
04:03And there's Sexton, certainly within touch.
04:07Meanwhile, Roxen's opened up a three-second advantage out in front.
04:13Here he is.
04:16What do you make of this, JT?
04:18Pretty special stuff.
04:20It is.
04:20And you guys are kind of wondering, like, where does this fit into the lexicon of Ken Roxen's career?
04:26I think maybe this is the Kenny that would have been seen had he not gotten hurt in 2017.
04:32The guy that could take advantage of any start, any race, and be the dominant force.
04:37And I just look at the form he's on.
04:40I have not seen this guy.
04:41And I know we're almost ten years removed from that pivotal night.
04:45But this feels like that guy finally back on form.
04:49He's running away with this thing, guys.
04:51Yeah, there ain't no one in his zip code right now.
04:54The dude is strolling, and it doesn't even look like he's trying.
04:57Now, listen, this track is going to get beat up as they continue to go.
05:01And Prado doing a great job of keeping Hunter Lawrence behind him.
05:04And that just allows Kenny to continue to build that gap.
05:07And Kenny is one of the best guys that I've seen in this field to be able to maintain a
05:14gap.
05:15He's so good at that.
05:16Always has been.
05:18Oh, look at this.
05:19Hunter Lawrence and Justin Cooper.
05:20Prado's been able to skip away from Hunter a little bit.
05:23And Cooper is putting the move on for third.
05:27Nice inside move there.
05:30Justin Cooper, second fastest on the track right now at 56.0.
05:36Kenny had a 55.7.
05:40Hunter is doing his best and trying to fight back.
05:43Oh, look at that.
05:44Good drive for Justin Cooper through the whoops.
05:46And listen, man, if Hunter isn't feeling comfortable, he's still doing a great job from a championship perspective.
05:53There's those inside lines working out well.
05:57Will?
05:58You talked about a lack of comfort potentially there, Ricky.
06:01Well, I spoke to the team here just before we got going for the main event time.
06:05And they said it's just he's taking it on himself.
06:07He hasn't asked for anything from the bike since earlier on today.
06:11They said he's just kind of struggling, just getting the flow, as they described it, and just piecing the track
06:15together a little bit.
06:17And sometimes these tracks, right, sometimes they're just not your friend.
06:20And I think tonight, from what the team said for Hunter Lawrence, it's just not his setup.
06:25Hey, guys, I have a question for Ricky because you've been in this spot.
06:29Uh-huh.
06:29You've watched the races from Eli Tomac the last few weeks.
06:32I know he was under the weather in Birmingham, but now you're kind of watching this ride from Hunter.
06:36Is there any form of championship pressure that you think could be, like, settling in with these guys?
06:42I think so.
06:43I mean, they all know what's at stake.
06:45And, you know, JT, as you're asking me that question, I was thinking about Eli Tomac right now, and he
06:50can see what's going on in front of him.
06:52And I don't think that there is any better opportunity right now to save this championship.
06:58Now that you see Hunter coming back to you, now is the time where you have to do everything you
07:03can to reel him in and stop the bleeding right now.
07:07As you see Justin Cooper working on Prado, Justin Cooper looking very good right now.
07:12But, yeah, this is an opportunity where I think that Eli has got to get going right here.
07:18These two guys have one podium on the season each, one for Prado.
07:22He started the year at A1 with his return to Red Bull KTM.
07:28Said it felt like going home.
07:30And he went straight to the podium at A1.
07:33It was a great way to start this season.
07:35Of course, missed two races, threw injury, came back.
07:38He's been absolutely stunning with his starts and hole shots.
07:43And here he is running in a fine second.
07:45We'll start to feel the pressure more from Justin Cooper here in a moment.
07:49Yeah, and it's going to be frustrating for Jakub sitting here behind Prado.
07:54Prado is just fast enough.
07:57Creates a little heartburn for you to get by him.
08:01Oh, man.
08:02Meanwhile, should talk about checking out.
08:05Roxen is more than six seconds out in front now.
08:09Malcolm Stewart runs in seven.
08:11That's Joey Savace immediately behind.
08:13And Cooper Webb up ahead.
08:20Man, this track is so gnarly right now.
08:23Those ruts in between those jumps.
08:27Dragging their foot pegs up the face.
08:31And we aren't even halfway yet.
08:34You see all these riders.
08:35See how many lines there are coming out of these corners right here.
08:48So, where is the championship leader?
08:51Eli Tomac.
08:52Here he is running fifth.
08:54But it is a distant fifth.
08:56He is more than 11 seconds behind the race leader.
08:59Yeah, he's holding on by a thread.
09:01And he's kind of been off in this particular rhythm lane right there.
09:07All night long.
09:09I mean, obviously, it's not the superb ride.
09:13But from a points situation, I mean, he's still the points leader as it runs right now.
09:20Three points in the lead.
09:23No harm, no foul.
09:24But not ideal, JT.
09:26Ricky, you know, we've been talking about this for a few weeks.
09:29And we really don't have any answers yet.
09:31It's all speculation at this point.
09:33But the same things that we've been seeing are still true.
09:36There's simply just a lack of intensity that Eli's driving.
09:40Like, mid-corner, seems like he's not able to pick up the draw.
09:43Do you see a little mistake there?
09:44Yeah.
09:45I don't know if it's another mistake.
09:46Something is just off.
09:47I don't know if it's him.
09:48I don't know if it's a motorcycle, if it's a combination of both.
09:50But something is still there.
09:51Here's the teammates.
09:53Chase Sexton, Garrett Marchbanks.
09:55And Chase just whips on by.
09:58I wonder if Chase went down.
10:00Yeah, because he went backwards.
10:00Yeah, he went backwards because he started 10th.
10:03And there's no way that he just got into 8th now.
10:05And I remember him.
10:07I thought I saw him in 7th at one time.
10:09Yeah, he was up ahead of Malcolm.
10:10Yeah, he's laid it down at some stage.
10:16Yeah, he went down before the finish line.
10:19So we're getting reports of.
10:20So, yeah, it didn't.
10:23Oh, that was a hard impact.
10:27Oh, that was nasty.
10:30He came up so short.
10:35Oh.
10:36That was like hitting a concrete wall.
10:38Oh, it was.
10:41That was brutal.
10:43This is going to hurt to watch a second time.
10:46Okay.
10:47It crosses up right there.
10:48It's crossed up.
10:50Then he goes for the triple and just not even close.
10:53It's almost like he got confused about where he was in the rhythm.
10:58JT.
10:59Ricky, he did get confused where he was because that would have been a quad.
11:03He went over the tabletop to the next single, which nobody has done all weekend.
11:08So that's 100% right.
11:09He forgot which part of the rhythm section he was in.
11:12Oh, that was brutal.
11:14What a ride by this guy.
11:16I mean, he just on cruise control.
11:19Yeah, so what JT was talking about, check it out right here.
11:22He goes double, gets crossed up right there.
11:26And then he's going to go from this single.
11:28No one has went from that all the way over that I've seen, like JT said he saw.
11:33And I think he just, again, he got confused of where he was.
11:37Now, it happens.
11:38Doesn't happen often.
11:39But when you do, man, that was a tough one.
11:48So the race leader, Ken Rockson, aboard this Progressive Insurance.
11:56Suzuki is 5.7.
11:59It fluctuates.
12:00It's been over 6.
12:00It's been down to 5.5.
12:02He is out in front and in control.
12:04Last time he had back-to-back wins.
12:06He's got to go back some five years during the residency at Indianapolis.
12:13It's been a long time coming, Will.
12:15He hasn't got it yet, but it's certainly looking good.
12:18It is just building.
12:19I got to speak to him after the win on the podium, obviously, last weekend.
12:23And then I got to speak to him this morning after the heat win.
12:26And it's palpable, the confidence that is coming off him.
12:30And he attributes it all to just being incredibly happy and at peace with his whole program.
12:35The word he used for me is he's stress-free.
12:38Now, incredible that you can stay stress-free when you're chasing down a 450 championship.
12:44He's found the key to it.
12:45And right now, guys, it is working brilliantly hard.
12:49Look at the bottom box right here.
12:51Hunter Lawrence still in a really good spot.
12:53He's got two guys in front of him, Prado and Justin Cooper.
12:57He's reeled him back in.
12:58Look at Coop going for the transfer.
13:01Got it.
13:02No, not yet.
13:03So close.
13:04He's got a charge.
13:06That's some resilient riding from Prado, too.
13:08It is.
13:09But I think if you're Justin Cooper, man, you got to hang it out a little bit.
13:13Just make the move.
13:15Getting by Justin Jordan Smith aboard the Factory Triumph.
13:20Meanwhile, I can tell you that Chase Sexton has left the circuit.
13:24He's gone back up the tunnel.
13:25Here comes Hunter Lawrence.
13:27This is now going to be a three-way fight.
13:31Prado, Cooper, Lawrence.
13:35Oh.
13:37Yeah, it's so difficult to get by these guys right here.
13:40But this could be huge for the championship points if you're Hunter.
13:46It's critical.
13:47Yeah, well, it's critical because he would gain.
13:50Big move from J. Cook.
13:53Oh, this is so frustrating if you're a guy like Justin Cooper for an even Hunter.
13:57But what's so difficult is it's so ruddy they can't get out of the way.
14:01This is where he needs to go.
14:02Gotcha.
14:04Nicely done.
14:05So, Cooper, the second.
14:06Go back.
14:07Sorry.
14:08Go back to Indianapolis with Hunter and Prado.
14:13Hey, we're going back and forth.
14:15Let's see what happens here.
14:17A quick reminder to stock up on Monster Energy drinks and on the run.
14:25And on the run.
14:26On the run is race leader Roxson.
14:29Ken Roxson's out to a 13-second lead while this is the fight for the final spot on the podium.
14:37I love the varied lines.
14:39They're searching.
14:40They're looking.
14:41What's working better?
14:46It's a determined ride by the man aboard the 96.
14:49Look how gnarly that rhythm lane is.
14:51Oh, yeah.
14:52I mean, there are ruts all over.
14:53Here you go.
14:54Here's Hunter Lawrence.
14:55Yeah.
14:56He's had enough right there.
14:58Now, if he's able to keep Prado behind him, yeah, Prado's over it.
15:02He's done.
15:03Guess what?
15:04That just got him.
15:04A share of the lead of the championship again.
15:08And he's earned it.
15:09He has absolutely earned it.
15:10That was a gnarly crash that he took.
15:13And again, like I told you guys at the top.
15:14Oh, man.
15:15I told you at the top of the show that when I talked to him, he's like, he's stoked with
15:20his riding.
15:21Yeah.
15:21He's okay.
15:21Just a little sore.
15:22His wrist was a little sore.
15:24So, man, it shows it's good.
15:26I hate that for Chase.
15:27Got a feel for Chase Sexton.
15:29That was a hard, hard hit.
15:33All right.
15:33No response.
15:34No response from Prado.
15:36So, Hunter Lawrence has checked out on him with five and a half minutes plus a lap to go.
15:45I'll tell you what, man.
15:46On a track like this, it's so difficult.
15:49We talk about arm pump sometimes with all these ruts.
15:52And JT, you know how it is.
15:53It's almost like you're trapped.
15:55You can't move around.
15:56You can't do anything.
15:58It makes it so much more difficult.
16:01Look at right there.
16:02These are the best guys in the world just having extreme difficulty.
16:08Ricky, you heard Seth Hamaker on the podium.
16:11He said that's the most difficult racetrack he's ever ridden.
16:14Right.
16:14And it's due to the conditions.
16:16You know, it is just one of those races.
16:17And I hate to be that guy.
16:20You know, we walked up hill to school both ways.
16:23But we had a lot of racetracks in our day that were like this.
16:26And it is just full court press holding on to the motorcycle to get around us.
16:30Right.
16:30It makes it difficult, too, for the lappers to get out of the way when the tracks are like this.
16:35RC, you don't talk about it a whole lot in your role as an ambassador for this sport and as
16:42a broadcaster or whatever.
16:43But this guy rode for you in your team.
16:46Yeah.
16:46What does this mean to you to see him riding?
16:49It's like a renaissance of Ken Robson.
16:52Well, I'm happy for him because when I watch Kenny and I think about what it was like when he
16:57rode for Kerry and I when we had RCH.
16:59I mean, we had some great years and we never got the Supercross championship that we won.
17:05But, you know, that was over 10 years ago.
17:08And when I watch Kenny Diff, I think that this is a guy that has taken so much knowledge from
17:14all the teams that he's raced for and all the people that he's had giving him advice, whether it's on
17:21bike, whether it's on training.
17:22And he's taken what I think he believes is the best of all those versions and has combined those.
17:29And it was a collaborative effort.
17:31And it's all coming to fruition right now.
17:35And big, big life things, right?
17:37He and Courtney have two children.
17:39They have a terrific family life.
17:41He became a naturalized American citizen.
17:43And, like, big lifetime, you know, bucket list check items and just things are flowing beautifully.
17:51He's in a happy spot.
17:53Well, he is.
17:53And if you guys listen to him really, really closely, what he'll talk about is, you know, controlling those highs
17:59and lows.
18:00And Kenny knows that.
18:03Like, and what I mean by that and what I think he is trying to say, too, is that, you
18:09know, if things aren't great, that's all right.
18:11Don't let the low get too low.
18:13If the bike isn't perfect or he's struggling, that's okay.
18:16Just go out there and do the best that you can.
18:19Don't let it ruin your night.
18:21And that's what he's doing.
18:23And when he's riding extremely well, like, don't get overconfident.
18:27Be confident to a certain extent, but just, yeah, keep it even keel.
18:33And he saw his pit board.
18:34He knows the margin.
18:35He knows he's got plenty of breathing room.
18:38Two and a half minutes to go.
18:39He's got a 12-second lead plus a lap after that.
18:42Now, as far as Eli Tomac, he has drifted back to sixth place.
18:48Cooper Webb is up into the top five.
18:51And with Hunter Lawrence gaining a position, that's why this championship is tied at the top.
18:56Let's take you back a few moments ago to show you how Cooper Webb got by his old teammate and
19:02rival.
19:03Yeah, he's hanging on by a thread right here.
19:05Eli is.
19:07And it's just crazy to see that.
19:09I hate it for him.
19:11Right up the inside, no contest.
19:14Maybe he's pumped up a little bit as well, but I don't know, JT.
19:19What you got?
19:21It's the same as last week for me, Ricky.
19:23The most concerning part is he's unable to fight back.
19:26You know, earlier in the season, if Webb tries to make that move, he's immediately thinking, how can I strike
19:31back in the next corner?
19:32You can just see he's basically, you know, in a situation where the bike is riding him.
19:37He is not riding the motorcycle anymore.
19:41How about Hunter Lawrence?
19:43Sits in third.
19:45There you go.
19:46The three-time winner this year.
19:48He's got his eyes on Justin Cooper.
19:51Justin is just under four seconds up the track.
19:54And remember, late in the race is prime time for Hunter Lawrence.
19:58Well, I believe right now, Lee, that Hunter is going big picture right here.
20:03I think in the grand scheme of things, this is a good finish, especially considering what happened last week and
20:10where Eli Tomac is.
20:12I think that, you know, he should be happy.
20:16He knows where Kim is good, knows where Eli is good.
20:19And I think from the championship perspective, he's in a good spot.
20:25It'll be his ninth podium of the year, the most of anybody in this field.
20:32It'll be really fun to watch this play out in the last five races.
20:36And what it's like, JT, for these guys to race when we talked about it on our calls this week,
20:43like for Kenny,
20:44if you get into that points lead and you have everything to lose, does that change your mindset rather than
20:50racing with nothing to lose?
20:52Yeah, it is going to be interesting, Ricky.
20:54And I'm just watching kind of Hunter's body language here and watching him off camera.
20:58He was still chasing Justin Cooper, and that might be the end of it.
21:01He kept looking over, trying to find Jakub.
21:04Can he close the gap in the last couple laps?
21:06That big mistake there was probably the only one.
21:08Yeah, I think you ride it into the sunset right here.
21:11And, you know, your championships are won on your bad nights.
21:14And I think this is one of those nights that you have to accept the third place.
21:18And you go on to next week in Nashville, and this is still a great ride on a very, very
21:24difficult racetrack.
21:25Very good comeback after last week, after that fall at the end of the whoops.
21:29So to rebound from that, from your worst result to your ninth podium of the year is just the way
21:35to do it.
21:36We talk about consistency with Hunter Lawrence.
21:39That's going to be the key.
21:40That's going to be the storyline.
21:41The other two storylines of the year is the mystery that continues with Eli Tomei.
21:47The big story of recent races is this, the form of this man here.
21:52The 31-year-old German-American Ken Rockson aboard the Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear X-Star Suzuki.
22:00It's just phenomenal.
22:02Yeah.
22:02This will be his third win this year, and two in a row.
22:08What an absolute ride.
22:10Only five points back of the championship lead.
22:16We started this show tonight, Ricky, talking about this man turning this championship upside down with that win last weekend.
22:24Now he's rocking this championship.
22:27Five points out of the lead with five rounds to go.
22:31Do you want to talk about starts?
22:32He is so consistent on the starts.
22:34You asked when he rode for us at RCH.
22:37We would do stuff.
22:38Oh, no.
22:40What happened?
22:41What happened here?
22:43Yeah.
22:43Mike had a slip up.
22:45Meanwhile, final lap and a whopping lead to Ken Rockson.
22:51It's been the joke for a while about kickstart, Kenny.
22:55Forget that.
22:56It's comeback, Kenny.
22:58Rockson does it again.
23:02This place has special memories for Kenny, and that theme continues.
23:07For Justin Cooper, it's an equal career best second.
23:12Nicely done.
23:13A heat win and a runner-up, and it's a rebound and a return to the podium for Hunter Lawrence
23:20to be in a tie for the lead of this championship.
23:23Yeah, what an incredible ride.
23:26I mean, Ken just absolutely looking like he's feeling it.
23:31The other man in the lead, in the tie for the lead of the title championship, is Eli Tomac.
23:37He comes across in sixth.
23:41Kenny has done it again.
23:43I'm stoked for Kenny.
23:44His teammate Colt Nichols just pulls up there.
23:46Look at how much this means.
23:49This was the venue where he broke a three-year drought after that serious injury in 2017.
23:55He came back to win in 2020.
23:58Could this be the place where he gets a pivotal win in the landscape, the complexion of this year's championship?
24:10This was a dude like a year ago when he would win, and he didn't expect, like, he's like, I
24:15wasn't even expecting to win.
24:17It's like, sometimes I can't even believe I still do it.
24:19Think of that.
24:20I want to take...
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