Daytime Program: Glendale
Today at 12:31 AM
The first triple crown of the series came to Glendale, Arizona and boy was it a good one! A lot of stuff went down out in the desert so let's break down some of it right here shall we?
Chase Sexton: Number 4 was the fastest of the night, which is not a hot take considering he won the overall but from my standpoint, he had the most RAW DOG speed out of anyone on the night. It looked like the KTM is working well in these hard pack west coast conditions and that is probably a big relief for Chase and the team. From what I was told, Chase hasn't had many setting changes since his arrival to the west coast. KYB internals still grace the front end of the KTM and while that evolved somewhat in the offseason, it isn't far off from where they ended last season. Comfort was the biggest issue for Chase last year and it looks (as well as from what I heard) like the Red Bull KTM is glued to the ground much better than it was this time last year. I know a lot of media has him guessing he’s not staying at KTM after his contract is up, but there is something to be said about sticking around on a team that got you comfortable to win races. Also, switching to a new bike (again) when you're at the peak of your career probably isn't a great move in my opinion. From what I am told, the 2026 KTM will be unchanged so another year on a chassis that you're familiar with is a good thing. Like Lisa Loeb once sang, “Stay”.
Jett Lawrence: Ehhhhhhhh boy. At the time that this goes up, we don't know the extent of the knee injury and I hope it's just a sprain. However if it is an ACL injury, Jett could still stick it out for the season and nurse it as he is NOT out of this championship yet. As good as this kid is, I could see him sticking it out and still winning the damn thing. However, I will say the way the knee hit the ground and the pain he felt instantly is the same way my kid did his last month. It happens that fast! If he is out for a bit with injury it opens the door for an insane series. Not to say it wasn't already, but you could see that Jett was building and getting momentum so if he is out, it really puts the emphasis on Chase, Eli, Cooper, and Ken to execute their starts. These first three riders haven't been great on getting good starts (Ken is probably the better starter between these riders) so (to me) the importance of getting to the first corner first just became even more paramount.
Cooper Webb: Number 2 lives off of people saying he "won't" or "can't". Sure Phoenix hasn't been great to him in the past but this year he silenced all of that didn't he. Cooper has Ricki Gilmour to help him with bike set up this year and you can see that Webb is taking full advantage of "Gilly's" knowledge. Next time you watch Cooper's bike, look how tall it is in the rear compared to the previous year. It looks higher in the rear on acceleration compared to last year and this could be a direct reflection of Gilly's influence.
Eli Tomac: Eli's new suspension tech John Yamada (KYB technician) has been around for years and "JY" is also another tech that I have had some time with that is also a smart human. Sometimes having a fresh set of eyes and some different perspectives on suspension can help a rider and Eli has been benefitting from some of JY's years of KYB work. Eli's old beast mode is back and it showed at Glendale. Eli's starts needs to be cleaned up but if he gets a start, it will take a near perfect Chase, Cooper or Ken to beat him. NO ONE rides a bike harder than Eli does!
Justin Hill: This dude is FLYING! If you're in the top eight, you’re within one second of the leader and in today's age of racing, that is INSANE! Imagine being in eighth place and see Cooper Webb or Eli Tomac right in front of you, but this is what Justin is doing! He is in the mix with the factory boys. Ross at Enzo has Justin on KYB suspension and Hill was quoted saying that this new KTM frame suits his style so much better than the previous version he was on last year! Hill was the first one to jump that huge triple in the middle and was also the one that jumped the San Diego quad first so to say that Hill can't get on a podium this year with ALL the riders still intact, isn't a far stretch.
Kyle Chisholm: I want to start by saying there is a reason why Chiz is in this week’s Daytime Program so this is PEACE AND LOVE, PEACE AND LOVE! But, let’s be real, when you watch Chiz ride, it doesn’t scream FAST AF! His style/technique is not that flashy, he doesn’t necessarily scrub anything, his whoop speed is decent, but what he does do insanely well is simply put it into the main event! He has the type of speed that doesn’t translate to the eye. I can respect this because this is the “working man” type speed that doesn’t get a lot of credit. His roll speed in corners is also VERY GOOD and I think this is where he makes up more time, especially this weekend in Glendale. Chiz is from Florida so he’s supposed to be great at sand but honestly I feel he’s better at hard pack tracks. He’s a smooth rider that delivers the throttle nicely on slippery surfaces. He also can still jump off a bike mid air correctly without hurting himself too bad. From an A2 mid air ejection to straight to the main at a Triple Crown race is down right impressive! I don’t care how you look on a bike, Chiz! You’re a bad ass!
Jordan Smith: This is huge. The first win for Triumph and the first win this season for Jordan Smith. Everyone thinks leaving Star Racing Yamaha is a death sentence but Jordan moving on from the blue team to the Triumph team shows there is life after Star Racing. I don't think people realize how fast the Triumph engine really is or how much comfort is within this chassis. Dudley (engine builder at Triumph) comes from the KTM cloth and knows how to build a fast engine! Ivan Tedesco as well as Dave Arnold have helped make more comfort within this chassis so this bike as a whole has a wide window of forgiveness to it. That's what a professional rider needs! Jordan has been more solid on this bike than he has in the past and his mistakes on the track have been less than in years past. The whole team as well as Jordan should be proud of what they have done because winning a race with a new manufacturer and only 13 starts underneath the team is something that might not be done for a long time. Congrats to all the guys on the team and of course to 19 for doing the damn thing!
Cole Davies: My mind is blown. Two years ago I watched Cole racing in Futures and I was like, "meh". Last year, I was like "ok, this kid is pretty good". This year, I am like "WTF"? Calm on the bike, good starter, doesn't rush things, isn't bothered by others and has top three speed. This is very uncommon for a young rookie. I don't think he will be this good in outdoors though but in SX he was better than Jett was in his rookie season. That is not an easy sentence to type but to me it looks to be true. If it wasn't for his uncharacteristic bad stat in the third race then he would have won this whole damn thing! Cant wait to see how he does when we do some of these East vs. West races!
Hunter Yoder: Shout out to Hunter Yoder who has been in the top ten this season on a privateer based team. Yoder who almost quit at one point is finally putting in some solid results with some real speed shown. His 13-13-9 scores doesn't show how good he really was in Glendale. Riders like Yoder, Parker Ross and Lux Turner have been really good this season in the west which shows that you don't necessarily need a huge amateur career to make it in SX.
