VOLUME 56 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 13, 2019 P57
started the AMA Supercross sea-
son with Honda and won the first
two rounds going away before he
crashed out of round three and
famously destroyed his left wrist.
His performance at Unadilla is the
official return to the form he used
to show all the time. The ques-
tion now is whether he can hang
onto it.
But what about Eli Tomac who
won the previous race at Wash-
ougal? The points leader might've
been playing it safe, but he later
said he was just a little bit off all
day, going 7-3 for fourth overall.
It was the first time he's finished
off the podium this summer. As
a result, he saw his points lead
shrink by 10. He still leads Marvin
Musquin, who was second over-
all at Unadilla, by 40 points.
YOUNG GUNS
A handful of up-and-coming racers
showed up for their first pro races at
Unadilla this year, having concluded
their amateur racing careers the
previous week at the Loretta Lynn
Amateur Nationals. First, there was
18-year-old Jalek Swoll (Rockstar
Energy Husqvarna). He went into the
race just hoping to get his feet wet
and then build, and he went 22-19.
There was also a trio of pro debuts
under the Geico Honda awning,
with 17-year-old Carson Mumford,
17-year-old Jo Shimoda and 16-year-
old Jett Lawrence. Mumford scored
points in both motos with a 16-20
score, while Shimoda didn't score
any points, crashing out of both mo-
tos. Shimoda, who won last year's
250cc Amateur All-Star Event at the
Monster Energy Cup, pledged on his
Instagram page that he would calm
down for Budds Creek.
LAWRENCE IMPRESSES
Speaking of Jett Lawrence, the Aus-
sie caught a lot of attention in 2018,
going 1-1 at the final round of the
EMX250 series on a Suzuki at only
15 years of age. The Geico Honda
team signed him (they had already
signed his older brother, Hunter)
for 2019 and 2020, initially hoping
he'd make his pro debut in 2020,
but it seems he was ready for bigger
things. At Unadilla, he qualified less
than a second off of Dylan Ferrandis
Briefly...
ROCZEN SOLID
Ken Roczen
looked like
his old self at
Unadilla after
dominating
both 450MX
motos.
