Monday Morning Coffee Opinion Column

By Billy Rainford

Well, I’m not just saying this without thinking about it for a little while. Round 5 of the 2025 Canadian Triple Crown Series Motocross Nationals at Sand Del Lee was the strangest day of racing I have ever seen…ever…anywhere. What started out just like any other race day turned into a drama-filled few hours of chaos, injury, and drama.

First off, the humidity was through the roof, so everyone was already a little off their games. I know myself that I drank more liquid than I normally do in a week and I still didn’t take a trip to the Porta-John! Everyone was soaking through their shirts by the time first practice/qualifying hit the track at 8!

Every time I feel heat and humidity like this there’s just one time in my memory that I use as the ultimate measuring stick and that’s Loretta Lynn’s way back in 2010. If you were there, you know what I’m talking about. Every other outdoor sporting event in Tennessee was cancelled that weekend.

It’s funny because I hung out with the DaSilva family a lot down there that year. When Jay DaSilva and I crossed paths Sunday at the track, without saying anything else before it, he simply said, “It was still hotter...” and I knew exactly what he was talking about.

So, we were heading into the day knowing it was going to be one of those gross summer days at the races where the best thing you could do was to simply try not to dwell on how hot and sweaty you were. We all were.

I need to get to all the video stuff I did, so let’s look at some of the things we’ll be talking about in point form:

  1. #1E Jamie Astudillo tried to race WMX and qualify for the 250 Pro Am. She was 49th but she actually ran lap times in the WMX races that would have gotten her in. She’ll try again.
  2. #74 Alex Gatt was out there in both classes and made it in. He only raced the 250 class though.
  3. Timing messed up during the first 250 Group B qualifier so they lined them all up in the first turn and had them do 2 laps.
  4. #80 Preston Kilroy was the points leader in 250 and he blew up a motor in first qualifier.
  5. #1 Jess Pettis was going to try and keep the 450 red plate he shared with #29 Phil Nicoletti after beating himself up in the qualifying crash at Gopher Dunes. He’s basically got a broken shoulder blade and some rib damage he was trying to ride through. He qualified 2nd!
  6. It was fun watching young #224 Jeremy Bellefroid grab a holeshot from the DaSilva line on the outside gate. Unfortunately, he crashed in turn 1 of Premix moto 2 and he ended up messing up his shoulder. It will keep him out of Loretta Lynn’s and the TransCan. Heal up, Jeremy.
  7. #6 Ryder McNabb wasn’t on the track for 250 Q2. He is dealing with an illness and was having difficulty breathing, I was told. They went to the hospital but he was cleared to race using Q1 time.
  8. #700 Bobby Gravel pushed his bike off the track in 250 Q2. 40-DNS was a rough day he’d like to put behind him.
  9. #185 Max Sanford was here from Maryland and pulled the moto 1 250 holeshot.
  10. #54 Dylan Walsh had a DNF-DNF day. He was up in 3rd early in moto 2.
  11. #32 Josh Clark showed up from Connecticut on a 250 2-stroke and finished 7-10 for 7th in the 250 class.
  12. The day had the feel of a New England Regional!
  13. #85 Joe Tait also from Connecticut put his 250 2-stroke up in 4th place in the 250 class (10-4). I Had some fun in the Race Tech Walk and Talk pretending it was search for the elusive Joe Tait. Never did find him.
  14. #226 Jonathan Bergeron finished Premix moto 2 in 3rd with a flat rear tire.
  15. #50 Crayden Dillon got beat in the overall in the Premix class by young #667 Tyler Kirby.
  16. Both #73 Noah Viney and #37 Kyle Murdoch were dead last after problems in turn 1 in both 250 motos. Noah ended up 14th (11-17) while Kyle from Massachusetts made it up to 5th (8-5)!
  17. #12 Sebastien Racine won his first-ever 250 overall with 2-1 motos on the team’s home track.
  18. #34 Blake Davies is still just 16 and he landed on the moto 2 podium in 3rd.
  19. The 2nd 250 moto podium must have had the lowest total age we’ve ever seen? It was Sebastien, #24 Dylan Rempel, and Blake.
  20. In 450 moto 1, it was #25 Evan Stice pulling his first official holeshot on his Triumph.
  21. #9 Dylan Wright was closing on #84 Tanner Ward in 2nd when he took a spectacular fall. He managed to get up and finish the moto in 9th.
  22. Jess Pettis toughed it out and was opening a nice lead in 450 moto 1 when his bike let go not long before the 2 lap board came out giving Tanner the win.
  23. We had a storm come in after 450 moto 1 and we were 5 minutes away from cancelling the rest of the day due to lightning in the area when it finally moved away.
  24. #64 Wyatt Kerr suffered a DNF in 250 moto 2.
  25. Young #427 Alek Guadagno was running way up in 4th with just 2 laps to go in 250 moto 2. Unfortunately, he crashed in the back section and dropped to 19th.
  26. The sun came out before 450 moto 2 and the humidity somehow went up!
  27. #29 Phil Nicoletti, Pettis, and Wright were all down in turn 1 of 450 moto 2!
  28. As Jess got going again, Dylan tried to squeeze between a downed rider and Jess and made contact, taking them both down again! It was bedlam for a few seconds as tempers flared and small shoves were shoved. Dylan got going again in last while Jess was out of the race.
  29. By the 20:00 mark, Dylan had made it all the way up to 5th place but then slammed into the hay bale after the finish line and seemed to be out. Oddly, Chris Pomeroy came up to me early in the day and said they track looked like it narrowed in that spot and he was worried someone was going to hit one of those bales. And then we went back to Seinfeld references…
  30. Dylan actually got going again and got by #28 Sam Gaynor with just 2 laps to go to take 9th place. However, the moto is under appeal and we are currently awaiting the official 450 results and updated points.
  31. Let’s not forget that #71 Preston Masciangelo led the 2nd 450 moto for over half of it!
  32. The 450 podium looked like a local amateur race from a bunch of years ago. It was Tanner Ward, Quinn Amyotte, and Preston Masciangelo!
  33. What we do know is that Preston Kilroy retains the 250 points lead while Tanner Ward has now taken over in the 450 class.

Those are just a bunch of things I took from my little notepad. I’m sure I missed several other wild things that took place on the weekend. It’s like nobody wants to win these titles this year!

What will happen in Moncton to top this?! Nothing. Nothing will ever top this.

I jumped in the new #DMXVan and headed home as quickly as I could after doing the Race Tech Walk and Talk and the MTB Loop of the track. I was absolutely soaked in sweat and it was pretty gross.

I’ll end this MMC here so I can get to the other stuff as quickly as possible. Thanks for reading and have a great week. See you at Riverglade! (I still never know whether to make that 2 words or not…)