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I think Tomac retires in 2026.
The rest of the older guys probably retire in 2027 or 2028.
Age doesn't matter when you're a super fan. I feel sorry for the normal fans. All or nothing, baby!
Incredible
Unfortunately, I think it will come down to a health issue that will see the first on that list retire. Coming back from another injury, just wouldn't seem to be in the cards for these guys at this point.
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Well - since he is doing west 250's I think we will see him on some east races. I am looking forward to see him on the 450 at Daytona. I think that will be his best opportunity to get a top 5 and might be on the box. But the best thing will be to watch him push as hard and as fast as he can.
I think this is the likely scenario, hopefully not, but the possibility cannot be ignored.
I don't think Eli is going to have much fun this year and wouldn't surprise me at all if he retired.
Webb seems like a guy who isn't going to leave money on the table so as long as someone is paying him to do SX only plus WSX or off season races I can see him racing several more years.
Damn I love me a good bedbug!!! 🤣 the cringe lord lucky to have fluffers like u
What? Look at how many races he was in those seasons. The Achilles was maybe age related, but the broken leg was fluky IMO. Dude still has top 3 speed with a full field, just got to get the bike where he likes it, fingers crossed
Well, injuries are what happen when you get older. Prior to the year listed he didn't finish outside the top 2 for like 6 years straight. I agree with you he has the speed.
You know....
There's no HIPPA type laws when it comes to message board disclosures 😀
cough cough....its magoofan isn't it?...cough cough
I see Barcia riding no matter how bad his form gets.
True, but how old is Jett?
Jett has always been injury prone, which is what will keep him from getting up to RC and M on all time championships. He has never made it through a full 450 season.
Eli hasn't been injury prone. He's getting older and now they're piling up.
A 12-16 y/o wouldn't even know who tf Maverick is...
And notice how really none of them are very dominant... It's turned into business ideology. And I can't blame them at all! But, they're maximizing gains on managing the input while investing in themselves long term. It's brilliant really... gone are the days where the raw desire of winning fueled the fire... Right now, they're all capitalizing on STILL being better than (most of) the younger crop, but the same younger crop has also paid attention and is now following the same business model, so the turnover rate has slowed. The last generation worked harder than EVERYONE else, and kicked everyone else's ass, but, burnt themselves out. Invest all and win or bust, or invest cautiously but guaranteed ROE?
It's amazing watching these guys still battle. I was on the inside for the early years of most of their careers and watching them now, maturing into veterans of the sport from the outside is just awesome. The respect is through the roof, it just makes ya feel good seeing these guys still battle with passion. If you don't get it... it's like a beer league kinda feeling... youre just stoked old buddies can still play hockey together and then get a little passionate at times and boil over but at the end of it all these are just dudes still havin fun with old buddies.
What a post!
I understood the basic principle, but wasn't able to articulate and expand on it like you did.
Great insight!
Yup. Jett is going to Bayle to the GP. ✅
Pit Row
Unpopular opinion: Eli goes the Chad route and says “1 more year” for the next few years.. he was supposed to retire like 3 years ago and keeps saying “we will do one more and see where we are at”
Don't see it happening.
I think Deegan will grow into a great 450 rider. But look at how Jett did in his first 450 SX and how Deegan did in a much easier ,less pressure 450 SX. I know its not apples to apples . But Jett has been amazing from the second he got on a 450. Deegan learns quickly and I'm sure he will get up there. But I don't think he's going to be a title contender with a full healthy field his first year in 450 SX or even MX.
I could be very wrong, but unless he picks up a good amount of speed between now and the first 450 round he runs . I see Haiden starting out top 10 in the first National , then top 5 second, and shooting for a podium then working on going for wins. He took a similar approach to the 250 class. And unless he's somehow totally on another level like Jett was in his 450MX rookie season, I see him doing the same thing in the 450 class as he did in the 250 class.
I just hope that Jett's foot heals well and he doesn't have any lingering issues. I broke mine similarly , same bones but I did a few more, and crushed my Navicular . I was told 3 months recovery too, and even though I was cleared to ride I had pain after the first time I dabbed my foot kinda hard. and it turned out it didn't heal, and that turned into a 10 year long journey with some of the best surgeons in the Boston area helping fix it and going to a rehab that worked on olympic level skiers, some of the Red Sox, Pat's etc. I had really good Dr.s and trainers and I was around Jett's age. I wasn't in as good of shape, and I'm sure more could have been done if I had millions riding on my ability to ride again. But Jeffrey Herlings had a similar injury and I remember saying similar things about him at the time. And it turned out that he had issues too and has not been the same since. Jett has his style working for him, and knowing what happened with Hearlings may help him too. Jett is so smooth that he might not be impacted as much as Hearlings was. I just hope that we get to see Jett back at 100% to race with Haiden when he's up to speed whenever he gets there. I don't doubt that Haiden will be a 450 title contender at some point , I just don't think it will be in his first season IF Jett, Tomac, Sexton, and Hunter are all or mostly healthy .
Kenney looked really good in off-season races tomac looked good despite his bike looked bad. Barcia is the oldest guy and had a lot of injuries last few years
MOST 450/250 smoke champions did not win their first title in their debut year. Only Mcgrath, Dungey, and jett did that. I may try and run the numbers later, but i think most of them took until their 3rd year or later.
Young fast talent just isn’t coming up thru the ranks. No need for anybody to retire if they are still at the fast end and cashing checks.
I wasn't saying it as a negative( if anybody took it that way I'm sorry) thing towards Deegan. Just based off my observations and history of other riders moving up. Plus we have the insight of his WSX races he did. He looked decent, and like he was just playing around . I feel like they ( the Deegan's) are playing the long game. And not trying to rush anything. Taking the safe approach and not trying to just go out and ride over his head and get injured.
It is pretty wild how few of the greats won big bike titles in their first year. RC got an outdoors title his first year on big bikes but it took him a while for SX to click. Mcgrath's rookie season was amazing to see. I was a kid at the time, and just getting into following pro racing. I had started following it a couple years earlier when Bradshaw started racing . As a kid, I didn't expect MC to do much in his first year. I figured Bradshaw and Stanton would have him covered. And he just came out and blew them all away. And came the closest I can think of to having a perfect season in SX .
James Stewart and Jett remind me a little of each other in how fast they are but injuries. James seemed to somehow take some of the hardest hits and get back up, both he and RC were some of the most durable riders I've ever seen.
Jett has combined some of Stewarts and Windham's styles together and is amazing at both SX and MX. I know the results do not show it right now, but in my opinion he is the most skilled ride as far as both SX and MX goes I have ever seen. Tomac has always been a better MX guy and while hes amazing at SX , he seems a tick better outdoors.
It would be interesting to see what the average number of seasons it takes for a 125/250 title winner to get their first 450 title. It would also be interesting to see how many small bike champs never get a big bike title . I feel like the small bike champs that win the outdoor titles too have had better 450 results than the guys who only won SX titles on small bikes. Mcgrath being one giant exception to that.
The Racer-x Vault makes it possible to put together stats like that. It sucks that the results that are deeper in the pack are filled with mistakes. Hopefully someday they fix those too. I've found issues with a few of the Local Pros results that are in the Vault, I tried Emailing them about them and gave them the riders contact info for them to confirm. But they never reached out to me or the racer. I figure that if 2 guys that I know personally and was at their races have info messed up, that there must be others. I could be very wrong on that. Overall its so cool to have a single database that has all the stats in one place. Even if some of it is a little off.
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