Monday Morning Coffee

Grab another cup for this week’s Monday Morning Coffee about some of what happened over the weekend in our sport of Motocross…

By Billy Rainford

How’s the weather, you ask? Sunny and heading up to 20C today! It’s about time. The Yamaha YZ250 2-stroke is all ready to hit a track, so we’ll see when I can get some time to head somewhere and spin some slow, vet-rider-style laps. Enjoy riding well while you can. As they say, “us it or lose it” and with all the time I’ve taken off the bike, it shows very clearly when I do finally manage to get somewhere and try to ride. “I thought my elbows WERE up!!!”

Anyway, I hope things are warming up wherever you are and that you’re able to get back to doing what we all love. I managed to get out on the Scott Spark MTB for a couple rides this past week. Although I’m just now starting to feel better after that bout with pneumonia, I forced myself onto the saddle and hit the local trails and bike path. Speaking of using it or losing it…

I headed to Detroit for Round 11 of the 2026 SMX World Championship at Ford Field. I was surprised to learn that Detroit is 3rd on the all-time list of cities to host an AMA Supercross event behind Anaheim and Daytona. I told an old story from back when I raced Amateur Day at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987. It’s funny when you start typing these stories how the memories just start flooding in.

Oddly enough, it’s the one race I don’t have really any memories of the race itself. You know how you can think about pretty much any race you’ve ever done and get yourself right back behind the bars and remember the racing? Well, for some reason this biggest race I ever did is lost. All I can remember is the flat tire, the start, that big jump, arm pump, and the “Tuck your shirt in!” pit board sign. I have no recollection of where I finished or anything else from that day and night. Weird.

I tried looking online for results from that race and came up empty-handed. It’s also the one race where my mom wasn’t there keeping lap scores or that my dad didn’t take any photos of me racing! I wish I could ask them what happened.

I was surprised at how low the racer entry was for Detroit this year. If you entered the 450 class, you were automatically in the night show, as only 38 riders turned up. 42 riders entered the 250 class. We also had the KTM Junior SX race which had Canadian #5 Jettsen Anderson from Kendal, ON on the line. More on the that later…

In the 250 class, #25 Nate Thrasher grabbed the holeshot with #141 Nick Romano and #22 Coty Schock in 3rd. Thrasher would go down hard in the whoops on lap 2 and drop back.

#10 Seth Hammaker, #30 Jo Shimoda, and #89 Devin Simonson moved up to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th on lap 1 before Thrasher crashed.

Schock got by his teammate Simonson forcing Devin to make one of the wildest saves we’ve ever seen! Check it out:

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Unfortunately, Devin would crash with #77 Derek Kelley in the whoops and drop well back.

By the halfway mark, Davies had caught up to leader Hammaker and was looking for a way around, which we all knew would come with his speed in the whoops. He managed to put some time on Seth and took the win. Hammaker was 2nd and Shimoda was alone in 3rd to round out the podium.

Maybe most impressive was the ride put in by #53 Max Miller who finished his best-ever 5th.

In the 450 Main, it was no surprise that #26 Jorge Prado grabbed the holeshot ahead of #94 Ken Roczen, #4 Chase Sexton, #1 Cooper Webb, and #27 Malcolm Stewart. Points leader #96 Hunter Lawrence was sitting in 7th and was about to show that even these riders are human.

Webb went for an inside move on Prado and ended up taking them both down.

Around the 15-minute mark, Lawrence crashed hard at the end of the whoops, which were taking no prisoners, and then crashed again soon after.

What was also weird was watching #3 Eli Tomac look like he was struggling out there in 4th place at the half with #32 Justin Cooper all over him. Cooper would actually make the pass with 3:30 to go and take 4th at the flag just ahead of Tomac.

Hunter came into the mechanics area after one of his crashes (I think there were 3 in total). All he had done was have his front brake lever loosened, rolled up, and then tightened again. It was weird to see him come in just for that, so I have to assume part of it was that he was taking stock in how he was actually feeling after the first hard hit because it didn’t look like something the points leader would come off the track for.

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GNCC Racing Result from Round 4 in South Carolina

Tyler Medaglia was lined up in XC1 Pro and was listed as 14th at the end of lap 1 and then disappeared. I feared the worst and gave him a call to see what happened. If you watched any of it on RacerTV, you would have seen just how dusty it was on Sunday in South Carolina.

Tyler said he could smell some oil and/or coolant coming from his bike and he knew he was smashing blindly into things as he tried to run the pace with the best in the business.

As he’s just doing these races for fun and isn’t in the running for the series title, he weighed the pros and cons of pushing it for the rest of the race and decided to call it a day.

Camp Coker Society Hill, SC – Round 4
01. XC1 Open Pro – Bike – Class Results Show All Classes 02. XC2 250 Pro – Bike 03. Open A – Bike 04. Open B – Bike 05. 250 A – Bike 06. 250 B – Bike 07. 150 A – Bike 08. 150 B – Bike 09. 4-Stroke A Lites – Bike 10. 4-Stroke B Lites – Bike 11. Junior A (25+) – Bike 12. Junior B (25+) – Bike 13. Vet A (30+) – Bike 14. Vet B (30+) – Bike 15. Senior A (40+) – Bike 16. Senior B (40+) – Bike
Place	Nbr	Name	Hometown	Brand	Laps	Elapsed
1	002	GRANT W DAVIS	MESHOPPEN, PA	KTM	6	03:06:04.970
2	198	LIAM DRAPER	WAYNESBURG, PA	YAM	6	03:07:56.530
3	001	BENJAMIN M KELLEY	HARWINTON, CT	KTM	6	03:08:47.212
4	099	CODY J BARNES	STERLING, IL	BET	6	03:09:36.210
5	003	JORDAN P ASHBURN	LIVINGSTON, TN	HON	6	03:09:47.659
6	342	CRAIG B DELONG	WAYNESBURG, PA	HQV	6	03:09:50.610
7	007	JOSH V STRANG	DENVER, NC	BET	6	03:11:04.210
8	008	MICHAEL WITKOWSKI	CATAWBA, NC	HON	6	03:11:33.100
9	314	GRANT R BAYLOR	HONEA PATH, SC	KAW	6	03:11:42.019
10	989	THADDEUS DUVALL	WILLIAMSTOWN, WV	HQV	6	03:14:18.352
11	336	RYDER LAFFERTY	MOCKSVILLE, NC	HON	6	03:16:52.171
12	514	STEWARD BAYLOR JR	DONALDS, SC	KAW	5	02:35:51.810
13	206	JOSHUA M TOTH	HICKORY, NC	KAW	4	02:08:58.137
14	995	TYLER D MEDAGLIA 🇨🇦	CANADA, //	YAM	1	00:31:08.713

Camp Coker Society Hill, SC – Round 4
17. WXC – Bike – Class Results Show All Classes 18. Women – Bike 19. Women (30+) – Bike 20. Women C – Bike 21. Warrior – Bike 22. 150 B Schoolboy (12-17) – Bike 23. 150 C Schoolboy (12-16) – Bike 24. 150 C (17+) – Bike 25. Open C College (16-24) – Bike 26. Open C Junior (25+) – Bike 27. 4-Stroke C Lites – Bike 28. 250 C Schoolboy (14-17) – Bike 29. 250 C College (18-24) – Bike 30. 250 C Junior (25+) – Bike 31. Vet C (30+) – Bike 32. Super Vet C (35+) – Bike 33. Senior C (40+) – Bike 34. Super Senior A (45+) – Bike 35. Super Senior B (45+) – Bike 36. Super Senior C (45+) – Bike 37. Masters A (50+)  – Bike 38. Masters B (50+)  – Bike 39. Masters C (50+)  – Bike 40. Silver Masters A (55+) – Bike 41. Silver Masters B/C (55+) – Bike 42. Golden Masters A (60+) – Bike 43. Golden Masters B/C (60+) – Bike 44. Elite Masters (65+) – Bike 45. Platinum (70+) – Bike 46. Open-E – Bike 47. Sportsman A – Bike 48. Sportsman B – Bike 49. Sportsman B (30+) – Bike 50. Trail Rider – Bike
Place	Nbr	Name	Hometown	Brand	Laps	Elapsed
1	261	DANIELLE MCDONALD	PARKES, NA	YAM	4	01:54:37.895
2	713	TAYLA JONES	CHESTER, SC	HON	4	01:56:40.420
3	001	KORIE STEEDE	BELOIT, OH	HQV	4	01:57:45.180
4	777	JOCELYN BARNES	HONESDALE, PA	HQV	4	02:06:57.254
5	504	LILLEY G SHEETS	FISHERSVILLE, VA	YAM	4	02:08:01.717
6	482	CARLY LEE	MILLVILLE, NJ	KTM	4	02:08:12.839
7	198	BRANDY RICHARDS	LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ	KTM	4	02:12:08.739
8	924	ADDISON J ELLIOTT	LASCASSAS, TN	KAW	4	02:15:34.258
9	527	ELIZABETH A ALLEN	COLUMBUS, OH	TRI	3	01:55:38.299
10	216	ADDISON HARRIS	SMITHFIELD, RI	KTM	1	00:34:12.975
DNF	365	EMMA S SMITH	DONALDS, SC	GAS	0	00:00:00.000

Talon Medgalia race the 150 B Schoolboy class in the morning and finished 7th after having to come into the pits to take the skin off his filter after it was causing his bike to barely run.

Camp Coker Society Hill, SC – Round 4 22. 150 B Schoolboy (12-17) – Bike – Class Results Show All Classes 17. WXC – Bike 18. Women – Bike 19. Women (30+) – Bike 20. Women C – Bike 21. Warrior – Bike 23. 150 C Schoolboy (12-16) – Bike 24. 150 C (17+) – Bike 25. Open C College (16-24) – Bike 26. Open C Junior (25+) – Bike 27. 4-Stroke C Lites – Bike 28. 250 C Schoolboy (14-17) – Bike 29. 250 C College (18-24) – Bike 30. 250 C Junior (25+) – Bike 31. Vet C (30+) – Bike 32. Super Vet C (35+) – Bike 33. Senior C (40+) – Bike 34. Super Senior A (45+) – Bike 35. Super Senior B (45+) – Bike 36. Super Senior C (45+) – Bike 37. Masters A (50+)  – Bike 38. Masters B (50+)  – Bike 39. Masters C (50+)  – Bike 40. Silver Masters A (55+) – Bike 41. Silver Masters B/C (55+) – Bike 42. Golden Masters A (60+) – Bike 43. Golden Masters B/C (60+) – Bike 44. Elite Masters (65+) – Bike 45. Platinum (70+) – Bike 46. Open-E – Bike 47. Sportsman A – Bike 48. Sportsman B – Bike 49. Sportsman B (30+) – Bike 50. Trail Rider – Bike Place Nbr Name Hometown Brand Laps Elapsed 1 747 LUCAS SKELTON ATHENS, GA KTM 4 02:00:29.879 2 740 CALEB M JOHNSON GRAND VALLEY, PA KTM 4 02:02:43.518 3 538 GAVIN ABBOUD APPLE GROVE, WV YAM 4 02:02:59.893 4 355 GAGE STRONG CHIEFLAND, FL KTM 4 02:03:08.795 5 442 GRANT J MEACHAM WALES, MA KTM 4 02:03:33.338 6 575 TREVOR S HARRIS SMITHFIELD, RI KTM 4 02:03:34.028 7 386 TALON MEDAGLIA 🇨🇦 BROOKFIELD, NS YAM 4 02:05:29.940 8 737 COLT LACKEY HIDDENITE, NC YAM 4 02:06:41.010 9 256 AUSTIN L BURNS PEORIA, IL KTM 4 02:11:11.510 10 213 DYLAN J CARTER NEW PLYMOUTH, OH HQV 4 02:14:26.172 11 588 CAMREN RAY LADSON, SC YAM 4 02:14:30.198 12 715 NICOLAS A PARES ORLANDO, FL GAS 4 02:16:04.278 13 607 BRAXTON JACOBSON RIDGEWAY, WI YAM 4 02:18:24.378 14 891 AUSTIN MEADS ELIZABETH CITY, NC YAM 3 01:29:37.337 15 763 ABRAM J SHIELDS MORGANTON, NC KTM 3 01:57:45.018 DNF 353 EDWIN JACOBS PEMBROKE, NC HON 0 00:00:00.000 DNF 411 NOLAN HUDSON JACKSON, OH YAM 0 00:00:00.000 DNF 796 TYLER TRUE WEST BEND, WI YAM 0 00:00:00.000

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OK, we’ll leave this week’s Coffee there. Emily went to work this morning after taking some time off due to the illness I brought back from Daytona. I brought her something to the hospital this morning, so this one is a little late. Sorry about that.

Have a great week and enjoy the improving weather.