Good, Bad, 'n Ugly: Glendale 3

Who thrived in the desert, and who struggled? Let's peek and see who Grant selected.

250 Class
The Good: Jacob Hayes | 5th Place Overall

He hasn't gotten much time on the broadcast each week, but Jacob Hayes is quietly putting together a fantastic season for a non-factory rider. He started the year with an 11th place finish at Anaheim 1, but since then, he has finished inside the top ten at each round with a season-best finish of fifth place this past weekend in Glendale. The real kicker is that he's putting in consistent great performances despite only having a couple of weeks on the bike before the start of the season. He got injured during the offseason in Australia while riding for a Yamaha team, so he also had to adjust to the Husqvarna he's riding now in no time flat. 

Interestingly, he also started the 2019 season with three top-ten finishes in four rounds, but then he suffered a hand injury, which affected him quite a bit, and he didn't finish within the top ten again. Assuming he's able to stay healthy this year, I'd imagine we'll see him finish inside the top ten more times than not all the way to the end of the season. And if he can keep the good finishes coming, the factory teams will have to consider him for next year. I could see him following the same path Colt Nichols did: race Arenacross, ride for a satellite team (both raced for Rock River, now Jacob rides for Gas Monkey/AJE Husqvarna), and then land a spot on a factory team. 

Jacob Hayes.

The Good Bonus: Michael Mosiman | 3rd Place Overall

I'm not sure if anyone else thought this as well, but for whatever reason, I was certain that Michael Mosiman scored a podium finish in Supercross last year. I didn't even think to fact check it until Sunday, where I quickly found out that his career-best Supercross finish up to this point had been a fourth. He did land on the podium during the outdoor season last year, though. 

Anyway, this was a fantastic finish for Michael, considering how rough he had it through the first three rounds. On paper, he has two fourth-place finishes and one throw-away result. But due to struggles with starts and crashes, he's also had to qualify twice via the LCQ. I'm sure the pressure had started to mount for him to land on the podium, too, as it was pretty clear that both he and his team had big expectations for this season. It's his third year in the class, he showed tons of speed last year, and he is Husqvarna's sole factory rider in the 250 West division. It's all on him to deliver for the team. So for him to finally get the team a podium has to feel great for everyone involved. And once he figures out the whoops, which appears to be his biggest weakness, I think he could contend for much more than third place. I'd be shocked if Michael doesn't score another podium or two before the end of the season. 

Michael Mosiman (28).

The Bad: Justin Cooper | 9th Place Overall

This was exactly the kind of night that Justin Cooper could't afford to have. Yes, he still has the red plate heading into Oakland, but he also lost nine points to Dylan Ferrandis and even more to Austin Forkner. This was essentially his throwaway race. His cushion is completely gone, and now he cannot afford to let Dylan Ferrandis beat him again. It was also odd to see him have two crashes entirely on his own (three if you count his crash in qualifying). It makes me wonder if his need for a bounce-back race this coming weekend is going to cause him to try too hard, and possibly end up with a similar result. Oakland will be a real test for Justin's mental state. 

Justin Cooper.

The Ugly: Christian Craig | 17th Place Overall

Oof, what more is there to say? Christian's season started great, began to tumble down a hill, tumbled a little further down a hill last week, and now it has fallen off of a cliff. He ended up with a broken bone in his hand after crashing out of the second Main Event, and he'll have to sit out until Seattle (which is after the West Coast guys have their break). It's better than being out for the season, but it's still not good. I hope things turn around for him when he comes back. 

Christian Craig (62) and Michael Mosiman.

450 Class

The Good: Jason Anderson | 3rd Place Overall

I must say it seems a little weird that a rider who just won the title a couple of years ago could be considered a dark horse, but that's the position Jason Anderson has found himself in. To be fair, Jason seems like the kind of guy who doesn't like a lot of attention. He has his Team Fried stuff, but apart from that, he seems to thrive when the spotlight isn't on him. He was a dark horse throughout most of the 2018 season, and even when he had the red plate for multiple races many folks doubted that he'd hold onto the points lead until the end. It's hard to evaluate his 2019 season since it ended with an injury, but his performance at Anaheim 1 sure did appear to be impacted by the spotlight he was under. Now he's back to dark horse status, and while I'm not here to say that I expect him to go on a crazy run here soon and win the title, I do think that he has put together a solid first four rounds of the season. He has gone 5-3-5-3 and sits 14 points behind Ken Roczen in the standings. With how things are currently trending, I could see him taking over the third spot in the standings from Justin Barcia very soon and becoming the guy who is "always there" until the end of the season...waiting to pounce on mistakes by Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac. He could also turn out to be a distant third place if Ken and Eli sprint away from the rest of the field, but it's something to keep an eye on. 

Jason Anderson (21).

The Bad: Zach Osborne | 18th Place Overall

Jeez, what a night it was for Zach. He took the lead on the opening lap of the first Main Event but crashed on his own a few sections later, then he was involved in a first turn crash with Justin Bogle in the second Main Event that was later red-flagged. That was followed by a first turn crash with Chad Reed in the third Main Event that was later red-flagged, and then I believe he was disqualified from the restart of the third Main Event because he had left the stadium to get bike repairs. The only good news is that he wasn't seriously injured in any of the incidents. I hope he punched enough holes in his Crash Rewards Card to redeem it for a crash-less night in Oakland this coming weekend.

Zach Osborne (16).

The Ugly: Justin Bogle | 21st Place Overall

Justin's season went from bad to worse in Glendale as he hit the deck extremely hard at the start of the second Main Event and sustained a concussion. I'm sure he was hoping that Glendale would be a turnaround race for him, considering he had started off the season with 15-16-15 finishes and seemed to be a little frustrated with how things were going. But instead, he'll be in concussion protocol leading up to Oakland, and honestly, I'd be surprised if we see him out there this coming weekend. It was a hard hit, and this isn't his first concussion. In fact, I believe this is his third or fourth concussion in less than two years, and with that in mind, I hope that he and his team take a very cautious approach to this situation. He should take the necessary time to fully recover, regroup, and then make his comeback to racing.

Justin Bogle.

You can check out my personal Power Rankings here.


Words by Grant Dawson
Photos by Steve Giberson

3 comments

View replies to: Good, Bad, 'n Ugly: Glendale

Comments

In reply to by G Foster

The Latest