Round two of the playoffs is bound to be better than the first. That’s a safe bet, right? The interesting thing about that is that I don’t know if we can trust really anything we saw in Columbus. Sure, Davies is going to be great, Deegs will be solid, and Prado will get good starts, but on the results sheet, I don’t trust any of what I saw. That’s what mud does, though. It takes the expected result and throws it out the car window at 90mph. Just because Kitch bounced back and Hunter had his worst 450 race ever, I’m not ready to assume dogs and cats will sleep in harmony tonight. If there’s any reason to be excited about round two, it’s exactly that. For the first time, we got absolute randomness at the opener. Now, we see if there is any continuation. The race wasn’t an all timer. That’s fair. But, it did give us unpredictability and an uncertain future going into LA. If for no other reason, I am glad we had an atypical opener because I have absolutely no idea what to expect for round two.

The SMX Playoffs were back in Ohio, and it was good to be back at the races! Not only was this a return to action for some of the pro riders, but it was my first race in a few months as well. After getting banged up on Father’s Day (damnit, dirt bikes!), I eyed a return to action at this round specifically. This race is close to home (under three hours), so no plane rides or anything like that, I’ve been to Columbus multiple times before, and it’s a cool area. Even though I am not fully healed up yet, I figured I could sneak in one more race this year in the middle of my injury recovery. Plus, I could not pass up the opportunity to watch a legend of the sport, Eli Tomac, at one of his final three races before he hangs it up!

It has been quite the journey to get “back” to the races for the last several months, but I can tell you the day I took my arm out of my sling (only a week after surgery), I practiced typing and tying and typing. While I was away from the races, I was determined to continue cover the sport I love (yes, even after breaking my arm doing said sport). Luckily, Davey and Weege have seen an injury to two and told me to take my time and heal up, so I am doing just that. Like everyone mentions, injuries are the brutal side of the sport.

I will save you the time of my full injury and recovery, but it is odd being the one that is injured instead of covering the athletes that are injured, I can tell you that! Stretches and exercises take up a good chunk of my time throughout the day, but it is worth it. Thinkin’ big picture over here…

Anyway, it was great to be back in action, covering the sport I love, seeing the riders (and Ryders), and my coworkers, fellow media members, Feld Motor Sports and MX Sports colleagues, etc. It was great to get some in person interactions after a couple of months of Zoom meeting after Zoom meeting after Zoom meeting, phone call after phone call after phone call. By now, you know what happened at the race, so I do not have to cover that aspect of the day. I missed those in-person interactions and am thankful for those who checked up on me and took time to catch up. A handful of minutes here with this person or a sit down, 15-minute conversation there with that person, it was great and meant a lot to me. Oh, and my parents and my Uncle Bill made the drive up through the rain, so having them at the race was great too. Driving home together Saturday night after the race was the cherry on top of a long, odd, but damn fun, day. I have learned a lot going to the races, both about the on-track action itself but also about life in general and I will leave you with this: as Layup sang in his popular 2023 song, “Times and places, are all in who you share ’em with.” This time, being at the race was a little extra special.

Okay, now it’s time for some physical therapy: stretching and lifting some weights. Like Justin Cooper, my focus is on being fully healthy for 2027.

Check out our best post-race show with Tom, Weege, Ryder, and Mr. Deegan Glazer Enticknap for our analysis and a few good laughs.