Frid’Eh Update #16 | Cole Thompson | Brought to You by Race Tech
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #16 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update this week brought to you by Race Tech. I took a day off on Thursday to be full-on tourists with Emily in New York City. As I drove north from Atlanta last week, Em flew into Newark and I picked her up so we could spend some time in the city. We actually ended up getting a hotel in Brooklyn and rode our bikes into the city.
You can ride down to the water and hop on a ferry for 4 bucks and then there’s a bike path around the entire island of Manhattan. We’d done the East River side the last time we came to the Supercross in Rutherford, so this time we hit the Hudson River side.
We’d just pop in to check out various things we wanted to see and then get back on the path and keep riding. We used Central Park and a coffee at a place beside the Guggenheim as a turnaround spot and headed back down the other side, stopping at Sam’s Falafel at the 9/11 Memorial for lunch.
We grabbed a ferry back to Brooklyn and got ready to take the subway back into the city where we were going to a showing of the new Jimmy Chin documentary called Wild Life at the Angelika Theatre in SoHo.
We had some of the best tacos and horchata at a place around the corner and then headed back to Brooklyn on the subway.
As we were walking down the street to our hotel we noticed a bit of a scuffle starting ahead of us across the street. No big deal, it’s literally in the parking lot of the 72nd precinct of the Brooklyn Police, right? Wrong! Big sticks came out and there were about 30 people fighting around parked police cars! I’m not exaggerating.
We stood there watching fearing guns would be pulled out, but they just had long poles and “rumbled” all over, literally in front of the police station! It was wild.
Finally cop cars and police showed up from everywhere and people were cuffed and the crowd started to disperse. Our hotel was across right beside the station and we walked by and headed up to our room.
I think it’s pretty safe to say we got the full NYC experience in one day!
But that’s now why you called…
Cole Thompson is #16 and is currently racing 250 West on the Heartbeat Hot Sauce Team Solitaire team which means we’ll be seeing him this weekend in New Jersey at the East/West Showdown.
He’s been a staple at our races for 10 years but has stepped away from racing the MX series the past couple years and concentrates on the SX side of racing which has always been a strong-suit of his.
Direct Motocross: Hey, Cole. I saw you a lot back in January in California, but our paths haven’t crossed much lately. You’ve shown some good form in 250 West SX this season. How happy are you with the way it’s been going?
Cole Thompson: I’m happy with how everything is going, it’s a competitive class and sometimes the races haven’t always gone my way. But at the same time, when you look at the list of riders in the class, it’s just awesome to be among them.
From your perspective, what’s been your best race and why?
I felt great at both Triple Crown events, results show otherwise but overall raw speed was the best of the season at A2 and Glendale.
The thing that seemed to get the most attention was the incident with Hunter Yoder in Glendale. You guys came together and he got stuck in your rear wheel. I know you’ve been over this a lot by now, but could you take us through it from the way it happened to you?
It was a weird deal, we came together and unfortunately he fell into my rear wheel, getting his bike and foot stuck. At first glance I only saw the bike in my wheel and then I saw him still attached on the other side. I was like, “Oh, shit!” and stopped to help him out. As I was getting back going again, he walked over and shoved me, which I didn’t really expect. But on the final lap he waited up and tried to clean me out. It felt unnecessary, especially since we were getting lapped by the leaders and could’ve cause a crash in front of them.
You also gave racing the 450 class a shot this season. How did that go?
I raced my 250 and felt good in Houston but struggled with getting a good start. In Tampa I was off the pace all day and missed the Main by 1 position. Overall, it was good to get my feet wet but results weren’t awesome.
I was hoping to see you on the east coast in the 450 class more often. What made you to decide against it?
I got injured before Daytona while training on the 450 and after that happen I decided to just focus on the 250 west.
Do you and Chris Elliott bench race over hockey? Do you guys have any playoff bets going? If not, you should! What are your teams?
Unfortunately, no hockey talk with Chris. This might sound bad but I didn’t even realize it was playoffs right now.
You’re at Shoals MX again in North Carolina. Does being around Steward Baylor get you thinking about racing some off road stuff in the future?
Yes, I’ve considered doing it this year, we’ll see if it actually happens. That sport is next level and honestly if I could even finish the race, it’d feel like a win.
Have you every tried something like that?
Never. I’d say the closest I’ve come to GNCC would be racing a mud moto at Walton.
It’s the East/West Showdown this weekend in New Jersey. Is this something you look forward to like we do in the media?
It’ll be good to see where I stack up against the full field of 250’s. At the same time, it’s extremely competitive and I’d rather just race the west coast guys. Haha
In your opinion, who’s the odds on favourite to win?
Hard to bet against the Lawrence brothers at this point. They’ve nearly won everything in the 250 class this year.
When you’re done SX this season, what’s next for you this spring? Time off?
Hopefully, keep racing somewhere, I’ll be bored if I take time off. Haha
Will you go back to SX in 2024? What about talking Chris Elliott into getting you on a full 450 class program?
If the opportunity to race next year is available, you’ll see me on the line again. As for the full-time 450 program, it’d be great to race all 17 rounds but have to wait and see what comes my way.
What about World Supercross? Is that something you’re looking at?
Yes, I think it would be a great series for me. Give me an opportunity to keep racing and stay in shape.
Will we ever see you on the line in the Canadian Triple Crown Series MX nationals again? Do you still have the 2-stroke?
I’m pretty sure those days are done for me, it’s really tough to race motocross without support. I still have the 125 in the garage, maybe I’ll dust it off when I get back home this year.
OK, thanks for taking the time with us this week. Good luck and I’ll see you this weekend.
Sounds good, see you at the races!
Can you believe we’ve only got 4 rounds of Monster Energy AMA Supercross left to go? We’re at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, this week for the SX Futures, East/West Showdown, and the battle for the title in the 450 class.
I think just about everyone will agree that #96 Hunter Lawrence and #18 Jett Lawrence have shown they are a step above the rest of the competition in both 250 regional classes.
Hunter has a 45-point lead in the 250 East series. He’s shown he can win from the front or coming through the pack. Interestingly, we’ve got young #238 Haiden Deegan sitting in 2nd place ahead of #at 63 Max Anstie in 3rd spot. Max was a big part of the conversation earlier in the season but he seems to have simmered a little the past couple rounds.
#29 Nate Thrasher sits just 2 points behind Max but his injury in Atlanta will keep him away. He dislocated his hip, which I’ve always heard is about as painful an injury you can have, so that must have been pretty tough for him. He also cracked his collarbone. Fortunately, this will give him time to also have his ACL repaired. Here’s the situation from his Instagram page:
Jett has a 26-point lead over #24 RJ Hampshire in the East and #43 Levi Kitchen looks good and is gaining speed and confidence in 3rd, 26 points behind RJ in 3rd.
The Lawrences are definitely the fastest right now, but will one of them win the Showdown or will they back it off to not jeopardize their titles allowing someone else to step in?
In the 450 class, #1 Eli Tomac is now just 6 points ahead of #2 Cooper Webb, who managed to keep the Yamaha rider behind him last week in Atlanta.
I also think we all agree that #23 Chase Sexton is probably the fastest 450 rider right now but he sits 17 points behind Eli in 3rd place. Time and math start coming into play for the youngest of the 3 top riders. Something will likely have to happen to either Eli or Cooper for him to overtake them in the points, but it can happen!
#51 Justin Barcia has sort of become the DMX Darling of late. Every time we post a video or photo of the rider from Jersey, the place lights up and we have some of our most engaged posts of our social media history! He’s a great sport and has had some laughs at a few of the things we’ve put up as jokes. He and #94 Ken Roczen are 1 point apart in the battle for 4th place in the championship, so watch for them to be going at it tooth and nail the next 4 weeks.
Let us know who your money is on in this title chase too.
Unfortunately, #551 Guillaume St Cyr had that terrifying crash in Atlanta that will keep him out of action at least for this weekend in NJ. I had just arrived at the track as he was heading out for first timed qualifying and met him as he entered the track. I was clicking photos of everyone and happened to see someone getting out of shape in one of the rhythms sections, noticed it was #551, and turned and started clicking. It was a scary crash and he hit his head hard. Here’s his IG post:
Take your time coming back, Guillaume. The racing will be there when you’re ready.
#622 Preston Masciangelo was set to race the Supercross Futures event here in New Jersey this weekend but they made a family decision to wait until he gets more Supercross seat time. Coming back from injury and then a couple other issues (like waiting for bike parts) have kept him from being on the SOBMX practice tracks as much as they would have liked, so they will wait until he’s ready before they line up.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the racing this weekend. There was talk of a mud race but I don’t think that’s going to happen from the latest forecast and from what the locals are saying here in the lobby of the hotel. We’ll see…
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