Grab another cup for this week’s Monday Morning Coffee opinion column where we talk about some Motocross and more from the weekend
By Billy Rainford
What a weekend in Quebec for Round 3 of the 2026 Canadian Triple Crown Series Motocross Nationals at Motocross Ste Julie. The weekend started and ended with stories.
When I got there on Friday, the question I kept getting asked was, “Did you hear what happened to Wyatt Kerr?” Oh no, I kept thinking. By the time I’d made my first loop of the pro pits, I must have been told the story 4 times. Without having details straight from the horse’s mouth, all I could post at the time was that Wyatt had taken a very violent crash while mountain biking in Bromont and he gone to the hospital to get checked out.
It was bad enough that we never saw him over the weekend, but he has since made a post on his social media:
Tough one, Wyatt. Heal up and we’ll see you when you’re ready. See you back on the XC trails!
So that was how the weekend started.
The outro on Sunday was a wild crash by #377 Daniel Elmore early in the 2nd 450 moto. He’d gotten a great start and was ready to mix it up at the front when he over-jumped a downhill and landed in the braking bumps which sent him all “cattywompus” and to the ground. He stopped fairly quickly but his bike flipped and rolled right into a deep creek off the track at the bottom. With all the rain we’d received the night before, it was pretty swollen in places.
His younger brother and mechanic, #338 Orrin Elmore, got there as I was standing there. He looked at Daniel first to ask if he was OK and Daniel basically said yes, but get the bike!
Orrin waded in and started fishing around for a piece of the Husqvarna 450 to grab hold of. He’d asked me where it was and I told him to head for those bubbles as they slowed from a boil to a stop.
It was an AVL Husqvarna that went into the deep water at Round 1 in Calgary when #158 Nathan Snelgrove got out of shape in turn 1 and tried to skim over what ended up being a deep puddle and swallowed them both up.
I saw Daniel later on during my Race Tech ‘Walk and Talk’ and he told me his wrist was sore and that his foot was starting to swell. Hopefully, he’s good to go this coming week for Round 4 at Gopher Dunes.
Here’s the video I captured. I swung around as the bike was still careening down the hill but it showed nothing but bushes when I took a look later.
So, what happened between these two incidents, you ask? Here’s a summary before I get to work on my videos from the event that will include the Walk and Talk, MTB Lap (on Eve Bourdeau‘s Sur-Ron again), and the Callus Moto Highlights.
WMX (26 entries):
- #301 Jordan Jarvis didn’t race the days before this round and she got around #1 Jamie Astudillo to go 1-1.
- #1 Astudillo, although getting caught and passed by Jarvis, stayed on her rear wheel and battled hard in both motos.
- #2 Kaylie Kayer looked like she was going to go with them but lost the tow and finished 3-3.
- #7 Brandy McLarty is easily the most improved rider near the front of the field and was close to Kayer most of the day, finishing 5-4.
- It was #141 Eve Brodeur who was 4th in moto 1 ahead of McLarty. Eve is definitely “part time” at this now but will return for MX Deschambault in a few weeks. Eve finished 4-8 for 6th.
- Ahead of Eve was another fast-improving rider. #4 Kiana Kurtz was 5th with 6-5 motos to tie Eve in points.
250 Pro/AM (55 entries):
- #64 Wyatt Kerr will be out for a bit, as described earlier.
- There were a lot of new riders this week, both from Canada and from the USA. It was an off week in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, so many made the trip north. Some will continue east with us.
- #762 Kelana Humphrey raced a Stark electric bike in the 250 class.
- #20 Jeremy McKie raced a National in Canada for the first time in 3 years, he said. He should continue to get faster as the series continues.
- Another fast American rider we got to know last year, #29 Kyle Murdoch, is back to race our series.
- I didn’t know who #33 was out there but then checked timing and scoring to learn it’s our old friend Joe Tait!
- Definitely one of the most impressive rides of the day went to #35 Nathan Germain from Quebec. 4-6 tied him for 4th but he took 5th.
- #27 Josh Boaz also turned a lot of heads out there going 6-4 for 4th overall.
- Keep an eye on #247 Tegan Kortenbach. He was fastest in the first qualifier and is on a steady rise right now. He’ll go race the SMX Next on Friday at Red Bud. He was stalking Boaz but ran out of time. 13-5 put him 6th.
- #24 Dylan Rempel looked like he was going to be the Canadian to mix it up with the top 3 young American riders. Unfortunately, he crashed pretty hard in moto 1 and was 8th because he took 2nd in moto 2. Watch for him to be in the mix for the win at his team’s home race this weekend.
- #31 Ryder Malinoski swapped positions with the overall winner. He said he must have been on the ground 5 times in the 2nd moto. He was down so often, I was told by someone (I shouldn’t mention Chris Pomeroy‘s name) that he was a lap down, so I don’t think I concentrated on him much in moto 2 🤦♂️ 1-3 put him 2nd.
- #177 Kade Johnson is the full privateer at the front end of the 250 class. They pay SSR Kawasaki to take their bike from round to round and they pit under an EZ Up beside them, but they are on their own. Dirt Care USA‘s TJ Lanphear stepped in as his mechanic for the day and they took the win. 3-1 got it done. They also won a 65 title together at Loretta Lynn‘s a few years back. TJ is batting 1000!
- Unfortunately, 2 Kawasakis went into a section early in moto 2 and only 1 came out. #227 Vincent Wey crashed at the top of one of the hills and was down for a few laps. He eventually rode off under his own power, but his day was done. Hopefully, there is no major damage done and we see him this week for Round 4.
- #25 Cole Pranger looked like he was going to continue his charge toward the front of this competitive field but hit the ground in moto 2. 5-15 dropped him to 11th. If he can continue to get the good starts, he should be in the mix as we head east.
450 (41 entries):
- Well, #9 Dylan Wright hasn’t lost a moto yet this season. He sits at 6 for 6 heading into his team’s home race this week. Unless Jeffrey Herlings shows up, my money would be on unblemished score to remain the same as we head to River Glade.
- #151 Harri Kullas looks so good on the bike. Every photo I take of him looks pretty much perfect. It’s really cool to watch. Unfortunately, he said he was feeling a little ill somehow and hopes to have all his strength back for this week. 2-2 put him 2nd but he definitely lost the tow from Dylan in moto 2.
- #2 Preston Kilroy suited up and went to work in the 450 class. We knew he’d be good and he was. His style suits the big bike and I hope we see some good battles for the podium moving forward. 3-3 for 3rd.
- #12 Sebastien Racine seems to have separated himself from the rest of the podium hopefuls in the class. He was closing in on Kilroy and is just missing a tiny piece of the puzzle that will see him going for wins. It’s coming. 4-4 put him 4th.
- #15 Jess Pettis was on site. I never got to chat with him but he looked to be in good spirits each time our paths crossed briefly. It will be interesting to see what happens.
- #84 Tanner Ward was in his own timezone in moto 2. You know he’s not happy getting caught and passed by Racing, so let’s see what he can muster this week in the sand. 5-5 for 5th.
- #268 was Gage Stine out there. It was cool to have him up here and he finished 9th (10-9).
- #11 Noah Viney made his 450 debut in front of what is sort of becoming his home crowd. I didn’t get the chance to talk to him so I’m not sure how he feels about his 14th (17-12).
- #37 Payton Morningstar left moto 2 early so I’m not sure what that was about. He ended up 9-DNF for 15th.
*There’s something a little off in the 450 series points because Kullas went 2-2 at Round 3 and that doesn’t equal 37 points, so we’ll wait to see when this gets figured out.
Check out some of the data from the weekend. It’s a cool extra from Live Laps HERE.
I’ll leave this one here and get to work on all the video content. Have a great week, everyone.
Oh, a few notes for Gopher Dunes this coming week:
From Derek Schuster:
• Tuesday practice on the sand track will have 3 Pro only sessions in the afternoon for 30 minutes. 12:30pm, 2:30pm, 4:30pm. (There is also practice on the sand track on Wednesday and GP track on Thursday for those that are staying here and plan to ride.)
- fireworks show on the night of Wednesday, July 1.
• we have a Bike Night happening at Frank’s shop on Friday evening. We want to invite pro riders to come to it with their bikes.
• on Saturday afternoon there will be a beach party from 4pm to 7pm which will be followed by amateur awards.
OK, now I”m gone…
No comments!
There are no comments yet, but you can be first to comment this article.