SuperMotocross Playoffs 2024 EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS: Round 2, Texas | 9/14/23 | Motorsports on NBC

Got the pointers on Deegan and Shimoda, two of the contenders. Let's bring the revs up and put the gate down. And Deegan is going to elbow his way to the front over Tye Masterpool and Shimoda. Yeah, he didn't get there first, but he made his way around those guys. And this is exactly what they did not want to see, that number one up front. But good to see Joe Shimoda in that second position. He was second in qualifying practice, so let's see if he has the pace. Well, extremely good ride for Joe Shimoda, number 30 there. Jumping into the lead, there's that rhythm lane, James. Yeah, it's important, and this is what all these guys need to do, especially Joe Shimoda. But here comes Tate and Deegan, see if he can get back right before the finish line. Joe missed that triple, Ricky. Yeah, he made that triple, and it's pretty tricky coming underneath the tunnel right there. You're kind of at a 45-degree angle, not getting lined up just right. If you know how the bike performs with a certain tire on, regardless if people think that it's a positive or not, that's all that matters. Look at this battle right now, Vial and, oh, Vial and Hampshire going at it. Nate Thrasher, who was coming back from injury last week, injured himself, couldn't race. Back again this week. Calling him out on that. And we have, I think this is Jordan Smith. Yeah. Looking to make the move on RJ Hampshire and puts Hampshire down. He takes him down, goes straight from the inside line to the outside line, and takes that front end out. Little sweep of the leg, if you will. I'm laughing because we had them in the press conference yesterday, and they said, yeah, we've been racing for about 12 years now, and RJ's like, I'd be lying if I didn't say, sometimes I'm a little worried when I'm racing him, because those guys are aggressive. He did. Yeah. I am getting it. I feel good on both, and I will figure it out. Oh, he didn't figure it out that time, Will. Ah, the over-under jump got Masterpool costly. Yeah, we talk about this track being slippery, and that was a perfect example. It's very shiny, slippery. The bike is leaned at an angle and loses the front end. Now, same jump. This is Nate Thrasher on the first lap. We saw him down, and here you see what happened. Yeah, same thing as what happened with Ty Masterpool, as we saw. Those guys are leaning over, as you were saying, Ricky, going off the face. I mean, he can't even really walk off the track, and both tires slid out. No, this is further back, yeah, because Ty went down. That's Kitchen making the move on Masterpool. That's Kitchen on the 47 on the outside, able to make the move on Masterpool. But Kitchen, only seventh, not where he wants to be. 6.6 seconds. The gap on a track was really hard to put separation in, and he just keeps stacking the resume bullets every week on this 250. Oh, Hampshire never gives up. We told you. Closing on Beaumare now, 4th, 5th. Yeah, RJ made me eat my words right there, because I didn't think he had a chance to catch Juju. I wonder, did Juju make a mistake, or... That's a lot of time that he made up on Juju. A ton with a short amount of time to go. And speaking of that, clock has expired. So next time around, Deegan got there before the clock expired, so then he'll get the white flag. So we're looking at two laps left for Hampshire to try to get to the rookie. We always say their confidence builds with a win, but nothing quite like Deegan. There might not be anyone in this paddock that is more confident than the 18-year-old out of Temecula, California. And yet another win in SMX. Moodle win goes to Deegan. And Hampshire still fighting Beaumare. Yeah, we saw RJ had this inside line. He's gonna get him. Beaumare fights him off with a triple through the middle. Yeah, but RJ, if Julian goes outside, maybe he can pivot towards the inside. No. It's the final section. Beaumare holds on. Not a podium like last week, but 5th. Definitely showing he continues to improve. Several steps ahead of where he was for most of his rookie campaign. And Hayden Deegan, several steps ahead of the competition, didn't have to do it through the pack today. I'm sure he's happy about that. But the result's the same. Anywhere we go, any type of track, Hayden Deegan, the man to beat. The best in the business, about to do battle. Let's go! Eli Tomac leads him in, but he drifts wide. I believe that's Hunter Lawrence to the lead with Cooper Webb second. And there's Jett trying to get second from Webb. Yeah, Eli got there first, but he ran deep. He was trying to get in front of Jett Lawrence and just pushed it out. But looks like the brothers, one and two, if Jett can get around Cooper Webb. Yeah, that was a good run for Jett Lawrence to get around Cooper Webb. That was a very crucial pass. So progressive hole shot goes to Hunter Lawrence. And that's exactly the way they did it in qualifying as well. Crazy to think that we're in a position where two brothers can beat the rest of the field. You know what? But not surprising for Hunter, because Hunter really rides this 450 well. He has really good throttle control, a lot like Ken Rockson. So these type of conditions should cater to him. As we watch Jett here in second, trying to go after his brother JT. What are you thinking on number one? Well, last weekend, I think Jett was still trying to sort out where he was. He had to continually ask himself questions, fitness, speed, all those things. Was he ready to go back and fight for the lead? And about the halfway point in both motors, you see him really start to turn it up. And I think he was basing off that off. How did he feel in the moment? Was he able to go push? But if you look at this particular situation, I think he's very content to sit here. We're 13 plus minutes left to go in this race. There's really no threat coming from behind him. And he has his brother in front of him. We've seen how difficult it is for these guys. Once they get super close, he's going to have to try to make that pass and continue that momentum before those two out front get in the lead. Oh, nice move by Tomek outside to inside. And he's going to be in the inside for the next turn. Can he hold it? No. Man, that was a teammate-like love pass. And oh, he shoots right back in front. That's why I said Eli is back, baby. Man, nice pass. Two of them. I think if it was his teammate, he would have had to pass. If it wasn't his teammate, he would have had to pass earlier, but gave him a little bit more room. But I want to talk about one thing about the SMX playoffs and what I love about the seeding coming into the playoffs. You take a guy like Eli Tomek, who is 13 points back. That shows you the importance of coming into these playoffs. Yeah, he got a little buffered in Sexton. Now making moves on Roxan right around him before we get to the sand. So an SMX points leader starting to stir halfway through this one. Reminder that Monster Energy is available at Kroger and Cooper Webb not too far ahead of Sexton. You think about the lap times of... Oh, a mistake by Hunter! And just like that, Jett shoots into the lead, Ricky. Oh, that's what Jett wanted right there. It's going to be sayonara for this dude, 100%. Sexton looking for running room. That's that sense I was telling you about Cooper Webb. Cooper Webb can feel the number four of Chase Sexton going to tuck underneath him. Checks up. Oh, and just able to get it done is Sexton. But he can't do the triple. Webb fights back. Not enough. Sexton's up another position. Yeah, I mean, you felt like that was coming. He had no choice. But man, that was what you were saying about Cooper Webb. They always say he's got eyes in the back of his head. Look at Roxan. Yeah. Catching a little second wind here. Almost gets to the inside of Cooper to get by one of these guys. If the opportunity. Oh, Jett stole the motorcycle. Hunter Lawrence to the lead. Can Tomac make the move for a second? He does. Tomac has a shot at the lead now. Smart move by Eli. I was like, you better go inside because you know Jett was going to do that. Oh, no. A mistake for the three. All right, break it. Can Jett get to the inside? He does. Oh, he almost goes down. Tomac, the triple holds him off. That's respect right there because Jett couldn't easily push them out. Talk about a track that you can't ride aggressive on. If there was more grip, I think that Lawrence would have got by Eli by coming back underneath the inside, but the grip just isn't there. And it's inside. It's been great for Jett. Side by side. Now Tomac has the triple though. Watch this. Eli's tripling out over that hump and he's pulling away from these guys. Meanwhile, Hunter's doing a fabulous job defending his position. Let's see if he goes to the outside. Stick with it. Wheel to wheel into the split lane. See if he can keep that momentum around. Oh, a little mistake. It helps him right here. This is where it really helps him. Great footage by the drone. Being able to see the line developing. Triple. He's getting close. Checkered flag now in sight. Will Hunter Lawrence come out on top? Biggest names out there and Hunter Lawrence gets the win over Tomac and Jett. What a race, RC. What a race. Incredible ride by Hunter Lawrence for the win, but also Eli Tomac. Being able to reel these guys in from five seconds back is so hard to do. And put the gate down. Deegan again using that inside to grab the progressive hole shot. He's got Hampshire and kitchen behind him. Yeah, Deegan Hayden leaned in on those guys. Joe was right there. But yeah, Hayden wanted that number one spot. He got it. This dude said he worked on the starts this week. He was not happy whatsoever with that start performance last weekend at Concord. And man has he made a huge improvement based off of last week. Venom drone shows you look at this kitchen putting pressure. He does not want Deegan to get away. Yeah, Levi heard me. I told him what's up. Probably where he wants to be at after last weekend. Hayden ran him down after being out front that whole race. Now a little time for redemption. Decent start in order to beat. Oh, oh, no. Masterful off the track and down. How did that happen? Yeah, well, there's some holes in there. And what I did, he didn't see that hole once he went off that racetrack. And this grass is slippery. He's having a hard time. It's easier on the racetrack. Yeah, he slid out coming in that corner. We're going to show you the start of this race right here. Watch number one. Joe's right there. He's got it just leaning in on you. And yes, that progressive hole shot. We asked Deegan about the starts and what he was trying to fix yesterday. Well, he's two. He's two for two. Yeah, it worked. Yeah, Ricky. That was a great observation. RJ is really sitting down a lot on here around this racetrack. You got to wonder, is that just being tired or maybe he's still bothered? But looks like. Oh, here it is. The owl. Can he walk that tightrope on the inside and get a Hampshire? No. And they are starting to catch kitchen. Oh, no. Hampshire is down hard. Oh, man. Oh, what do you see from Shimoda? Well, a couple of the guys double before. OK, but not until they got to the red cross flag. Yeah, yeah. They have lights on there in the red cross. If they see those red lights on the beginning of that rhythm, then what they just did, they would be getting penalized. But I think they were off and they had to slow down. Either way, it's good to see RJ get up. That's right. Yeah, I was really more concerned with that than anything. Now we'll let this battle unfurl. It is going to be kitchen leading the group. Here's the crash of the 24. Yeah, you can see Tom Vial on the inside and RJ just gets in here. He started off. Yeah, it kind of looks like his tire slid in that. He had the wrong angle. Yeah, just, oh, there's nothing he could do. Came out of that corner. He did the double. And as he was going to triple, he just had the wrong line. He's angled the wrong way. Right at the last second, he goes on defense mode. Yeah, but I liked it. These options right here. Actually, Tom probably would have went on the opposite. But Levi went down the middle, which had Tom confused. And there's Tom. There it is, James. Well done. Yeah, you're going to see that one coming. Now this line has had multiple. Man, you can't tell. Sometimes the outside better. Sometimes the inside better. Work for Vial. See if you can get away. Well, this racetrack, I mean, the berms are starting to get a bit wider. The dirt is starting to get pushed out a little bit more than they were five laps ago. Rough, dry. The rest of these three, though, this track fits into exactly what they do best. Yeah, nice move. You saw that one coming, but Levi, he wasn't giving up. And what Hayden did was brilliant. I mean, he wanted to be out front and then get a couple seconds so he could run his own lines. Yep, it's exactly where he wants to be. Put the spotlight on the heat, the pressure, whatever you want. Throw it at Hayden Deegan. Hayden Deegan wins again here in Texas. Four straight Moto wins to start SMX in 2024. Now we take it to another level. The final race from Texas. Dylan Ferrandez fighting for the progressive hole shot. He's got Plesinger. Oh, and a pileup. Yeah, it looks like Malcolm Stewart, my brother, gets caught up with another guy. Both going for the same line, but. But his teammate actually, Craig, down with him. Jason Anderson fighting from third. There is Sexton. Oh, man. Bill Nicoletti. Yep. And he's not happy here. Malcolm are locked up. So Ferrandez with the Phoenix Honda out front and chase Sexton trying to make moves. Top three for the first model. All bad starts. Yeah, that was weird that he couldn't even get rid of that double. That just shows you how slippery it is. And we said this during the motocross chase. Sexton is a different rider out front. So here's this opportunity. Let's see if he can put his head down. We saw what happened to motocross when he's out front. This dude knows how to ride a motorcycle and normally he's gone. He's to do that. Oh, just shoots right by Ferrandez. Slingshots coming out of that corner. Yeah, you can see. I was about to say Dylan was just spinning up, going in all these corners. So they don't start making some moves. Jet had a wheel on Hunter. There wasn't quite able to complete the pass. Yeah. And now they've caught Ferrandez. Yeah. And not only that, you're going to see that urgency because they saw what Eli Tomac did that first moto. He was able to catch them. So, yeah, chase Sexton's gone. But you got to worry about that number three behind you as these guys are trying to get around Dylan Ferrandez. Let's see if it's outside. Works for Hunter around the 14. No jet coming from the inside. Then he gets stuck behind Ferrandez and Hunter Lawrence passes him back. It is a complete inverse of the first photo earlier today. Now jet has the line on Hunter. Yeah, no, you got to see. I don't know how much Hunter is going to force because Jeff's clearly faster. Maybe he wants to follow his brother. But this is for a big overall, correct? Well, it's going to be all sorts of this map. It's going to be hard to figure out. We take both photos together. And whoever has the lowest total score is the winner for the day. Yeah, still a lot of racing left. I mean, we got 12 minutes plus one lap left. Anything can happen. Jet and Hunter right there. You can see in the distance saying that, dude, the guy's riding really good. He needs to just figure out what happens once he gets around. But he's out front and he's yarding these dudes just like what we saw during the motocross series going some two seconds a lap faster, making it look really easy. So Jay Sexton, that's why he has that defending motocross champion. He's looking great. Hunter Lawrence makes the pass on his teammate. Yeah. Halfway through this moto. Monster energy available now at Kroger. So Hunter has a shot at the overall win as well and get the double points victory. Into the rhythm section. He's got it. That should be enough for the 96 to get the overall win. Nice move. Actually, I think Cooper meant to actually roll that first jump. Wanted to get on a different office, different rhythm than those guys. Maybe it was more traction, but not as quick in the beginning. But he ain't giving up as Cooper Webb never does. Yeah, fighting back feisty as always. Jay is always feisty, but give a little rev. Get some really good sprint laps. Really just control the lead from here on out. Roxon looking to make the move. RC here on Plessinger. He's got the inside split lane. Plessinger, despite the shoulder injury, is fighting back hard. Yeah. Kenny has the inside line, but no. It's shut down by the cowboy. It's cowboy country here in Texas. That's right. Yeah. He knows what that number seven belongs to. Oh, okay. The Texas crowd can't do his rollover, but yeah. Nice move by him. Just keep fighting. Oh, I can't wait for next week, man. Well, I can tell you, I'd wreck my mom for the championship. So I know my brother. Yeah, he's done. Hunter almost goes down. He's off track. Remember, he saw Ty Masterpool go down in that grass. He was lucky to keep it upright. How far back? He had a six second gap between he and Cooper Webb. And the frustration there shaking his head. He's got to shake it off. That will be the overall win. Drifting away if Webb gets to him. Oh, that's close. Nice rebound. That's that jackhammer thing we're talking about. He came in there, that suspension, which is so rigid. Now he rebounds, regroups. That's what he had said. It's like slick too. Yeah, like riding a road cycle on a mountain bike trail. He's probably like, just help me. Let me just get here. He's got it. If he can avoid one more mistake. Chase Sexton on the last lap is headed for daylight. Answering a lot of questions. If he can get out front, he might not be able to be beaten. Chase Sexton, a very dominant second moto win. Jet Lawrence is going to take second in the moto, but only third overall with 3-2 scores. And it is going to be Hunter Lawrence with a 1-3 with his first win in a 450. And the biggest win perhaps in his career because it puts him in position for a world championship next week. And those are the three that are going to settle it in Las Vegas. Huge win for Hunter Lawrence. Huge win for all these guys. Hi folks, Lee Diffie from NBC Sports here. If you truly enjoyed what you just watched, you can get more news, interviews and highlights by subscribing to the Motorsports on NBC YouTube page. You can get it all. So go for it.