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00:00Houston, he ends up third, so for him, he knows how important this race is to get this overall and
00:04also cut in that 96 points lead.
00:07Well, speaking of that 96, he has been so good at getting out front early and putting himself in position
00:14to succeed.
00:15And you saw what happened in that race, too, where he didn't do that.
00:18He got stuck in traffic. That led to a subpar position.
00:21So he knows what he has to do, execute the start, and the rest will fall in place.
00:25Let's show you the Uphoplast moment of the race. Well, it was actually pre-race.
00:31It was earlier today. Eli Tomac went down hard in the whoops.
00:37He went to the Alpinestars medical unit, got checked out, and was gutsy enough to come back out for the
00:43next qualifying session.
00:44It was all too much. Injured him.
00:49And that's a really hard scene to watch.
00:52And unfortunately, Eli is now out of the championship discussion, and he was unable to race at all today here
01:00in Cleveland.
01:02I get anxiety before these gate drops, James.
01:05It's just, I don't know, it's like we can't control it.
01:07Well, at least when we were racing, we controlled what we did.
01:10And watching this, I just, it's so nerve-wracking for me.
01:14Just like, drop the gate, please.
01:16Drop the gate.
01:17All right, let's go.
01:17Let's get on with it.
01:19Watch Roxen.
01:20This could be a defining race in his quest for a championship.
01:24Cleveland, 450s.
01:26It's on.
01:27Great start, Roxen.
01:28He looks to his left.
01:29He knew he was there.
01:30He sneaks up, and Kenny gets the whole shot when he needs it most.
01:34Roxen in front of Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper.
01:39Great start for the 94, Ken Roxen, Cooper Webb.
01:43Hunter Lawrence did his best.
01:45He got pinched off.
01:46He was trying to get everybody on the inside, but got pinched off.
01:49Oh, it's game over for this crew right here.
01:52Kenny rising to the occasion.
01:54He's going to have a couple good laps here.
01:56If he's able to pull out a lead, I just feel it's going to be similar to a lot like
02:02his other wins.
02:03He's so good at managing.
02:06Wow.
02:06Yep, I agree, and you know everybody knows it.
02:09In the mud races or races like this, what you try to do if you're in Kent Roxen,
02:12you try to hit all the rhythm sections, get through the whoops, and get you a gap.
02:16And then what you'll see is that gap is starting to stabilize,
02:18but it'd be too far for these guys.
02:20So far, he's executing it perfect.
02:22Points leader, Hunter Lawrence, is way back in the top 10 with work to do.
02:27Roxen has already skipped away from Cooper Webb quite substantially just on the opening lap.
02:33Here is the task at hand for Honda's Hunter Lawrence.
02:38Yeah, he's messing with his goggles a ton right there on every single jump that he would take off of.
02:44He kept fiddling with his vision there.
02:48He's going to get by Jordan Smith.
02:50Did it again?
02:51He's way back.
02:53Yeah, you can tell he's having visual problems because he probably should have got past Jordan Smith at that moment.
02:59But it's going to be an important race for Hunter Lawrence at this moment.
03:03I think he's going to have to just try to methodically make his way up as he tries to get
03:07there, what we see so far, JT.
03:10Yeah, I'm just wondering.
03:12I can still see tear-offs there.
03:13I was thinking if he maybe pulled all of his tear-offs on accident there.
03:16But it's so unusual for him to keep wiping.
03:19Not that motion he was doing.
03:20He was wiping water away there.
03:22So, yeah, really peculiar.
03:23That would be a huge issue if he didn't have vision.
03:26Well, James, you talk about it a lot.
03:28There's times where you just got to make it happen.
03:30And I will tell you, this dude has done it all season long, any time where he's been in that
03:35spot.
03:36And I think right now this is one of these moments because Ken Rockson is going to make up a
03:41lot of points here this afternoon if he don't march up the field.
03:45Yeah, absolutely.
03:45This is one of those, as you mentioned, those moments for Hunter.
03:49But he's also got to be careful of the difference between the pass that this is a triple crown.
03:53It's a shorter race, it is wet out there, it's easy to make a lot of mistakes.
03:57But you can tell by his body position, he's a lot more aggressive than he was that first race, that
04:01second race.
04:02Meanwhile, this guy here, Ken Rockson, aboard the number 94 Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear X-Star Suzuki,
04:10has ran away to a four, five-second lead.
04:17Incredible in such a short amount of time.
04:19He's playing with fire on that rhythm lane right there, getting so close to the tough blocks, Will.
04:27Ricky, this version of Ken Rockson that we are seeing here in 2026, I don't know about you because your
04:33history goes a long way back with Kenny.
04:35I've never seen him in the zone that he's in.
04:37Just his confidence, how he acts under pressure, that whole shot there in that situation.
04:43Third race of a triple crown, Hunter Lawrence Geis is down.
04:46Oh, no.
04:49Let's have a look at what happened to Lawrence.
04:51It is all going the wrong direction for the points leader.
04:54Oh, it's a big moment.
04:56You can tell by the end of the whoops.
04:57I'm assuming he probably got cross-rutted here.
05:00Tough gets in here.
05:01Oh, it looks pretty good.
05:03Now, there's a long run going down there.
05:05So, you can tell Hunter gets, yep, there he goes.
05:07Starts losing the rear end, front end goes and kind of gets off lucky.
05:11But that's going to be costly, Ricky, in these points.
05:13Big time, you can see right there, he was flirting, trying to go in between the ruts.
05:18And that is a very, very interesting decision because it's so narrow right there.
05:24And the margin for error is just so thin.
05:27And he goes sideways, like you said, James, and hits the deck.
05:31It was the whoops in Detroit that brought him undone.
05:34It's the whoops here in the final race in Cleveland.
05:37So, his fuel hose has come off.
05:40And you can see fuel from his gas tank cover coming out and popping up into his chest
05:46and probably up underneath his helmet.
05:49Watch closely.
05:50They have a vent tube that comes out of the gas tank cover.
05:54So, he looks down.
05:57Again, reaching for a tear-off.
06:01Yeah, great call, Ricky.
06:02And also, what would happen is if he's getting enough of that fuel to get on his seat,
06:07make his bike slippery for a hold on.
06:09And you look at the points as they run right now, championship-wise,
06:13Ken Roxen is only two points back if it ended the way it does today.
06:18One thing here, I mean, going back to win.
06:21So, Hunter Lawrence has four wins.
06:23Eli has four.
06:25And Ken Roxen only has three.
06:28So, now they're going to be tied in wins, most likely, after this race.
06:34It's going to put even more pressure on both of these riders to go out and win these next three
06:41races.
06:41Because you don't want to go to a tied scenario.
06:44Boy, that would be crazy.
06:45Three races to go when the checkered flag drops here.
06:48Again, pulling another tear-off.
06:51I mean, just in one lap alone, he's gone for four, JT.
06:56Yeah, and just wondering if that fuel is splashing up there.
06:59Is that getting onto his goggle lens?
07:00You've seen him pull so many tear-offs, which is unusual,
07:03because the rain has stopped, and he really has no roost in front of him.
07:06So, you wonder if he's getting gas splashing into his goggle lens.
07:09And, guys, I've been in this situation.
07:11That fuel burned so badly over time, and there's still six-plus minutes to go in this race.
07:17He's in a really tough spot here.
07:19And that just shows you, JT, how valuable the time is.
07:23He don't want to stop and put that hose back on the gas cap,
07:26because he don't want to lose those positions.
07:28Yeah, no, he's committed at this point.
07:32Watch this as far as the gas leaking.
07:36See it coming out of the top there?
07:38I mean, that is, it doesn't seem like much.
07:41That is a lot.
07:42It really is.
07:43Yeah, that's a lot.
07:46He ain't stopping.
07:47No, he's not.
07:48And it just kind of goes back to big picture.
07:51This is, it's uncharacteristic for Hunter to make these mistakes.
07:57I mean, he's been so clutch all season long.
08:00And I'll be straight up.
08:01I think I'm shocked by what I saw.
08:04I mean, it can happen.
08:05Everybody's human.
08:06But he just, I mean, I feel like he's just that good.
08:09Well, at this stage, every single pass is going to mean something big,
08:14because the points as they run, there's only one between Hunter Lawrence
08:20and Ken Rockson.
08:21It started out as 10th before this Triple Crown began earlier today
08:26here in Ohio.
08:27So there's three races to go, three rounds to go in the Supercross portion
08:31of the Monster and GSMX World Championship.
08:34Philly next week, followed by Denver, Colorado,
08:37followed by the championship in Salt Lake City.
08:40We couldn't ask for things to be any closer in the Premier Class.
08:45Full-blown pressure cooker.
08:46Oh, my goodness.
08:47It's just coming down to the wire where basically you're going to have to win
08:50to win this championship.
08:52And I did not see this coming.
08:55But this is what I love about Monster Energy Supercross and SMX World Championship.
09:00You just never know.
09:01And this has been one for the ages.
09:03He gets by for the second time, gets by Triumphs, Jordan Smith.
09:08So that was for 11.
09:11But Hunter Lawrence, now he needs to set sights on Kawasaki's Garrett Marchbanks
09:17to break into the top ten.
09:22Yeah, we saw Justin Cooper.
09:24He was up a lot higher, and then he had a 107, so he obviously went down.
09:28But he also needs his pass on Dean Wilson to be able to get back up on the podium.
09:32As you can see, he's tied with Chase Sexton.
09:35We've got Garrett Marchbanks trying to make it difficult.
09:37And who this is helping is Hunter Lawrence.
09:39As they slow down, brings him back in the game.
09:42As he's a little farther back, he's going to need every position he can get.
09:46And let's not forget about the man out in front aboard his trusty Suzuki.
09:51Roxen is a whopping nine seconds in the lead.
09:56He's just cruising right now.
09:58This is such a great position to be in.
10:00James, you know it better than anybody.
10:02I mean, you can just maintain.
10:04You can play around.
10:05You can, you know, look to see where your competition is.
10:10Before time gets away from us, a quick reminder to stock up on Monster Energy drinks
10:14at True North Convenience Stores.
10:18So, the man in control, the man in the lead, and the man in the chase for the championship.
10:23What are Ken Roxen's thoughts on it?
10:26To be honest, the biggest thing is focusing on myself and control what I can control.
10:31So, starts, obviously no mistakes, no crashes or anything.
10:34But, yeah, it's time to be ahead of Hunter.
10:37And, um, either win as many points as possible or lose as little as possible.
10:43You know, there's always the possibility of anything.
10:45So, I feel like that's the fun part about being in this, um, situation.
10:48Just the unknown and the excitement about it.
10:51The day that started so well with a victory has turned into a nightmare for Hunter Lawrence.
10:56This third race of the Triple Crown has just been brutal.
11:01Now it goes a lap down and it is unraveling in front of our eyes right now.
11:07Never saw this happening, James, and this is crazy.
11:11Yeah, it's going to come up, but Marsh Banks, on off, gets in here, triples.
11:16I wonder if he catches back tire right here.
11:18There you go.
11:19Gets down.
11:20He wanted to slow down and try to get underneath Garrett, but Garrett goes down.
11:26This is earlier in the race.
11:28Ooh.
11:28Justin Cooper.
11:29Oh, my goodness.
11:31Oh, that one could have been way worse.
11:33Right there is he gets off somewhat lucky, but costly as far as the, um, having a shot at winning
11:40this thing.
11:41But it looks like he's back in a position.
11:45This is going to be a massive points day for Ken Rockson here tonight, JT.
11:50Massive.
11:51Yeah, and there's one other risk here that I don't even want to speak into existence.
11:55But if he lost a lot of fuel here, they optimized for these Triple Crown races with fuel.
12:02I don't even want to mention him, but the fact that he could be running low on fuel late here
12:06has to be somewhere in the mechanic's mind.
12:08It's already gone so poorly.
12:10Let's just hope he has another minute 15 left in this thing.
12:13Very good point.
12:14Yeah, and remember, like, when he has fallen down, the gas tank has been on the lower side.
12:20So you have to assume that fuel was coming out as the bike was laid over as well.
12:27Try to see if we can see some still coming out.
12:29That'll indicate and give us a good gauge as to is there plenty in there for probably another three laps.
12:36Just sort of splash out there.
12:37That's a good sign.
12:38Yeah, I was starting to think that maybe as it got lower, it wouldn't come out as much.
12:42But the only silver lining in this is that he did get lapped by Ken Rockson.
12:46So if he stays here, he's not going to lose any more positions as far as the way it is,
12:51unless he doesn't finish this race.
12:54I think we're going to this is...
12:56Well, the thing about it, with fuel injection these days, back in the day, you'd be able to tell if
13:02the bike was going to run out of the gas.
13:04It would start to run very, very lean.
13:07It would make a certain sound.
13:09Whereas with fuel injection, you get no warning.
13:13It completely shuts off.
13:14So let's hope that that won't happen.
13:17I think we're going to be all right.
13:19Not a lot of drag on the motorcycle.
13:21Back up front.
13:22Ken Rockson.
13:25What a job done, man.
13:27Time is up.
13:29Two to go from here.
13:31And if Kenny can hang on and get his fourth main event win of the year, it will be his
13:3827th career victory.
13:41That ties him for 10th overall with Bob Hurricane Hannah.
13:47One to go for Kenny.
13:50Great, Rod.
13:51You go back to that opening triple crown.
13:53You know, the way Hunter won that opening race in a triple crown looks very easy.
13:59Norm Ball stated that ship.
14:02Kenny stayed there.
14:03And then look at where we have right now.
14:04Here it is, crowd.
14:12That is incredible.
14:15Justin Hill.
14:16He almost got on the podium last weekend and it went away from him later in the race.
14:20Now he's surging late in the race on the Team Tedder KTM and just passes former factory KTM rider Chase
14:28Sexton.
14:29That podium is there.
14:31Look at Kenny.
14:32He knows the win is his.
14:35And here he is looking at it.
14:38Ken Rockson wins the triple crown in Cleveland and is right in this championship.
14:46Turn down for what?
14:47He did a motto for you, Lee.
14:49That's right.
14:49He popped a motto.
14:53Great job by this dude.
14:54He told us.
14:55He told us he could run with these guys.
14:58It's a tough day at the office for Hunter Lawrence.
15:01But Kenny has done it again.
15:07It's the first time in 10 years that he has won three races in the second half of the season.
15:15People doubting his second half performance was the catalyst for him to turn things around when he was annoyed.
15:23He was angry.
15:24He said, just watch me.
15:26And now he's just got his fourth main event win of the year.
15:30And is one point out of this championship chase.
15:33What a race.
15:34And one of the first people to come up and congratulate him was Hunter Lawrence.
15:38See him come by.
15:45And there it is tying for 10th on the all-time win list with Bob Hurricane Hannah.
15:52You know what I love about this, boys, is I love the amount of pressure it puts on Hunter Lawrence
15:59and Ken Roxton.
16:01You know why?
16:01Because whichever one of those guys went in, Cooper Webb still isn't out of it.
16:05But these guys have the best chance.
16:17Because whichever one of those riders went and comes out victorious is going to mean so much.
16:24Because they were able to handle the pressure.
16:25They were able to do it physically.
16:27And it would just, there is no debate whatsoever.
16:30And that's what it's about.
16:34Well, while we're looking at the winner, let's hear from the man who had the toughest third race of the
16:40day.
16:40Here's Hunter with JT.
16:42Thanks, Lee.
16:43And Hunter, that was brutally difficult, race three.
16:45First off, are you okay?
16:46We can see the fuel splashing out of there and just walk us through it from your side.
16:50Yeah, that was the least of my worries.
16:52Bad start.
16:54And, yeah, just made it tough on myself.
16:57And then another rider checked off and I went down.
17:00Bit of a shitty night in the office.
17:02So, we'll come back next weekend, Philly.
17:04And, yeah.
17:06All right, go get dried off.
17:07We'll see you in Philly.
17:10Oh.
17:11Wow.
17:13There was only one winner in the main event.
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