Ken, tell us, what's the difference between Supercross and motocross, mate?

So Supercross racing is mainly in football and or baseball stadiums.

It's a track that's smaller scale, but it's a lot busier track.

So there's different obstacles, but you're basically jumping, jumping, jumping, turn, jumping, jumping.

Where motocross is more widespread out kind of like in the country, I guess you want to say the lap times in a Supercross track.

average usually between 50 seconds to a minute, where a motocross track is usually closer to two minutes.

It's a lot more widespread.

Keane, didn't you have a big arm injury in 2017? I

You've had just about every injury you could have in the game, haven't you?

Yeah.

Um, just like what he said, I mean, you know, we ride fairly often and I started when I was two and a half years old.

I don't know when you started cold, but I started extremely early as well.

And, uh, turned pro when I was 15.

And I mean, I kinda, I've always had the mentality of like, you can walk across the street and get hit by a car, you know, like there's other ways to get hurt.

And it's just part of it because my main focus when I go ride is not think about, yeah.

It's an action-packed racing and there's going to be some good battles.

But how's everyone been here? Have they been really supportive and welcoming for you? And what about our local talent? How competitive are they? Cole Davies.

Oh, I mean, Cole Davies, if you've watched him this year, I mean, this is all you need to know, you know what I mean? He's one of the greatest ones to do it so far, especially at that age, wrapping up two championships.

So far, I only got here actually last night, so I can't wait to... to meet up with the fans tomorrow at Sky City Hotel, right? At 4 p.m.

It's totally free.

Make sure you come out.

We have writer's autograph signings and everything.

But what I love about all of these overseas races, you know, it's really expensive to get on an airplane nowadays to make your way over to the U.S. and watch us race.

And for fans who have never been to a supercross event before, Ken, what can they expect from the afternoon and evening?

But how's everyone been here? Have they been really supportive and welcoming for you? And what about our local talent? How competitive are they? Cole Davies.

Oh, I mean, Cole Davies, if you've watched him this year, I mean, this is all you need to know, you know what I mean? He's one of the greatest ones to do it so far, especially at that age, wrapping up two championships.

So far, I only got here actually last night, so I can't wait to... to meet up with the fans tomorrow at Sky City Hotel, right, at 4 p.m. It's totally free.

Make sure you come out.

We have writer's autograph signings and everything.

But what I love about all of these overseas races, you know, it's really expensive to get on an airplane nowadays to make your way over to the U.S. and watch us race.

But why not do it the other way around, you know? For us racers to come over here, a lot of...

Ken, what can they expect from the afternoon and evening?

hey ken rox and carson really good night for you honestly some of the riding some of the laps were just incredible and a reminder of how good you are bummer to perhaps miss out on the overall though so where are you at

Oh, for sure.

Like, I want to win, especially after the first one, but I was just saying it at the press conference.

Like, it's really hard to just expect to dominate after taking a summer off.

Like, you've got to respect the riders that are out there, have been grinding, and, like, you know, I want to do good.

I'm proud of my effort and everything, like, but... you can't buy this kind of intensity.

That only is when you're out there racing, you know what I mean? So I think I will bank that pretty quickly and just improve right away.

talk to me about the setup throughout the day, what you were struggling with, what you found, what that feeling was.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.The thing I have to ask you, and it's something that I didn't notice particularly back in May, but I definitely saw it when they did the rebroadcast, and I'm just so glad that you're on now, was there was a point where your mechanic leaned over to you on the starting line of Salt Lake, and he, he whispered to you or said something to you, and then you did, like, the smallest burnout on the starting grid.

No one else did that.

And I just was wondering, did that contribute to your start that night? Is that something you guys talked about ahead of time? I, I think us listeners would really love to know.

Um, well, the camera may have been on me, but a- actually, quite a few people do little burnout stuff.

He was really just asking me if I wanted to, uh, if I wanted to do the burnout now, 'cause I told him ahead of time, like, "Hey, before we, before we get going, like, lift my wheel up." Mm-hmm.

So yeah, it was just a quick like that, and I had to, [laughs] I had to just think for a second 'cause it is loud and I do have earplugs in.

I don't know.

And it's hard to be right back on pace with the guys who haven't missed a beat.

Yeah, I mean, it's a bit of a unique situation because in 2023, I was never hurt.

I made it throughout the entire Supercross Championship.

Obviously didn't race outdoors, but won.

And then, you know, I just wasn't hurt.

So I was able to kind of jump right back.

And you always take that one race to get back into the intensity and stuff.

When are we going to get news about 27 and beyond? I know everybody out there speculating, wondering, and I don't expect an answer here, but is there a timeline that you're thinking about, about a go or no go for the future? Dude, I've been

You obviously knew where you were, but take us inside the helmet just the last three or four laps.

You know, I'm, I'm a little bit bummed, as physically I actually felt really good, but I, I may have tried to keep my heart rate too low, as in breathing super s- uh, super slow.And I think that made me hold my breath almost a little bit, trying to do it too calmly, and then my side ache in the last three, four laps was so bad, like, I couldn't even hardly ride.

That's why after the finish line, I was sitting over there just like, I couldn't inhale, you know what I mean? Um, I, and I knew the, those guys were coming and, and, and I just, I looked at Hunter and knew where he was at.

So I, I would have loved to pulled off the win, but with the side ache going on, I'm like, "Okay, let's just bring it home." It, you know, it was really, really special last few laps and, um, I was just putting around in the last one and, uh, I, it just...

I pulled a move really early on Hunter, um, which was, I knew it was risky, and then afterwards I was like, "Okay, just don't over-push, don't over-push.

We gotta, you know, settle in a little bit," because at altitude, like, it's just gonna be a long main event, especially with him being behind me.

I knew he was gonna try again towards the end, so I was trying to just balance the, uh, the push that I was doing and try not to go too hard.

How was it?

But just some of the challenges of being in championship contention coming down to the end.

Yeah, it's pretty crazy, honestly.

Now looking back, may have not realized it at the time because we're so locked in.

But now looking back, I think after being 31 points down, would have been easy to go, you know, just like how everybody else in the media was like, hey, it's probably over.

And I... for real, just truly believe that it wasn't done yet.

Like, I feel like I, you know, just because a couple of things happen, I just never stopped really believing.

But then with that comes that there are no more bloopers or Joker cards available.

Take us inside the helmet.

... picking up throttle response or ...

I would say it's all around the, all around the track.

So what I struggled with the most, for example, in Denver, which granted Denver is a tiny bit higher, I actually thought it was higher, or I actually thought the difference between Salt Lake Stadium and Denver was more than it actually really is.Um, but just coming up there and, and it's, uh, all the con- connection that you get from a typical 450 out of the turn, they just feel extremely flat.

They don't rev quite as quickly.

So even being in first gear, like in Denver, I seriously was shifting more than I needed to just because I was confused sometimes on what gear I was in.

You know what I mean? Like leading up to triples, it feels like you're in second just based on what the power band kind of gives you, but you're actually in first.

So I was shifting around quite a bit just to kind of, you know, leading up to whoop section.

Mm-hmm.

best for the motorcycle

or whatever you know what i feel like is best for the motorcycle that i need to be at my my best and that you know we've done that from day one and i feel like anybody can do it, you know, but it's, again, you need the people that are in that mindset.

And like I said, everybody just needs to pull on the same string.

And, and I do believe that just having the team that we were at, you know, it was, let's call it a B team, you know, and, and, um, At that very moment, I would almost say I was a B rider because from how good I was and then where I ended up leaving Honda and then coming there, I wasn't at my best by any means.

So I think we found each other all at the right time and they had nothing to lose.

And I mean, I... kind of i had a lot to lose i feel like because i was still trying to hold on to that like the the ideal me in a sense and i wanted to get back there and but yeah in the end um i i believed in the program i believed in the bike i said it from the beginning on but then you still have to get there and you know i've we talked about it before blood sweat and tears have gone into that motorcycle and that's why it feels so home to me because we have built this from whatever we had like stock version whatever the package was and then we just we took this whole thing to another level but Man, it all has to work out, right? You have to trust your gut and it has to work out because you change one part that feels good and you change another part that can all interfere with each other.

So, man, making the right moves and it's...

ripping starts back and forth you know what i mean like

Did you look at that on track walk or anything? Did you think it was possible?

Yeah, for sure thought it was possible.

But the problem was like setting something like that up in practice, the track was so wet.

And that was actually particularly an area where I think they put a...

Like during press day, there was a lot of sand in that section that they tried to mix in.

So it was just really wet and soft.

And I knew that it was possible when the track would have been good.

So talk us through the selection and why you went so far inside.

More of a question, why now? Like, can you pinpoint that?

D- honestly, I, I don't know.

I, I really truly believe it's, uh, it's hard to pinpoint one thing.

It's a combination of I have been on the same motorcycle, you know, we've, uh...

I truly believe, like, effort-wise and riding-wise and mentality, I had the same last year and the year before.

But unfortunately, the, the injuries kind of faked all of that, you know what I mean? I just couldn't, couldn't keep going, but at the same time, like, I am really, I am really dealing with, uh [laughs]

Yep, yep

... really just dealing with the situations and, and try to, to do what I need to do, and just hone in when it just matters, you know? I feel like throughout the entire, all these weekends, like, you need 6+1 and 20+1.

Do you remember going on off one lap in the main event?

Yeah, it's crazy that you caught that because I only did that one time in the main event.

Just like you said, I couldn't get the lift off.

It was too heavy on top.

And then when you clip that, because the landing after the tabletop was pretty big, it wasn't just your usual three footer, even though the tabletop was, you can't see it in the mud, but it was slightly slanted up.

So you actually were taking off uphill basically a little bit that helped.

But because that landing there was so tall, you just couldn't get that pop over.

But how was the lap traffic situation for you? Obviously, you were able to navigate it pretty well.

We've been

talking about retirement, I mean, for the past literally six years.

I would get over it and I'm like, man, maybe I'm just done with this sport.

You know what I mean? You would always have to talk me off the ledge.

So it's happened many times.

the truck racing thing is interesting like I'm kind of I guess testing the waters if that makes sense because in the end it felt very similar to racing supercross I mean it you're under a semi under a tent unless yes you have four wheels but there's so much similarity and it and it definitely gave me a a bit of fulfillment because I am a little bit afraid of retirement because we always have something to work on.

We always, we've been in this, or I've been a professional racer since 2009.

My one question is, after all these gnarly injuries, how do you keep finding that extra gear to come back and keep being the bad that you said you wanted to be all those years ago?

Were they that difficult to skim, or was it more so the rhythm lane after was hard to get when you skimmed them?

Um, honestly, I was slow there.

I committed to jumping before the main event even started, to be honest.

But I was terrible.

I honestly should have gone over to the right side.

Like, I was talking to somebody after and they're like, man, you should have done it on the right side because they were so I guess I think the way it set you up or the way you jumped in and there was a low one, it really shot you forward and where I did it.

I don't know that the starter whoop had this like cup at the bottom and I was really just muscling it through, but I was slow and that's probably my worst section.

You mentioned being obviously be happy with second, but still third is pretty good.

It was like you had to be stuck, right? Because it was like you were taking your sweet time to get the bike off you, but I'm like, you had to be stuck.

couldn't yeah my leg i fell just perfectly it was just a really small tip over but i fell perfectly to where my bike uh my leg was stuck under the bike and then the top of my knee brace was stuck on my hot starter like literally it was like perfectly wedged in there so i'm like i'm trying to even because i was laying slightly downhill from the berm and i'm like what do i do like i have no leverage to kick the bike or kind of like get it off and it was wedged in there like i was so stuck i'm like well I guess I'm going to wait until somebody helps me.

So that was a funky one.

It didn't bother me by any means, but where it got tricky was due to the tracks difficulty.

And it was very busy.

I mean, you had the open areas by the mechanics, but realistically to go fast there, you have to push really hard, which makes it really tough to, especially with how sticky it is.

Right.

So it's like if you don't downside everything perfectly, you have to back it down and double instead of triple.

So just walk me through that, like your thought process there.

Yeah, definitely a bit of a sense of urgency.

I wanted to pass him a bit quicker.

I tried right off the start when we got back to the mechanics area.

I ran it in pretty tight there, tried to get as much speed as I can to see if I can make something happen.

But because some of the tackiness, but it was – at the same time, if that makes sense.

So you just, I don't know.

Press conference, what you did until you went to sleep.

So you have to be smart.

It was...

During practice, it was strange.

It was a different strange just because half of the track was pretty wet.

You know, the bull turn before the whoops after the finish line jump.

Honestly, that's what made me feel a little rusty in the first qualifying session because I went out there and, you know, you go zero to five ruts in a turn.

But we were never even really able to go in the bull turn because the ruts were so deep.

it almost looked like i don't know if it's a throttle control thing or what but so many guys like in that turn after the whoops kept losing their back end spinning it around spinning it around and what's funny is you're not even a guy that is on the clutch that much either So the fact that you look like one of the only guys that wasn't really struggling for traction somehow.

But, dude, race one, that was unbelievable.

Crazy.

It felt good.

I mean, those kind of rides, like once I got to the front, things were just clicking for me.

Actually, not even when I got to the front.

I feel like right off the bat, I put on some really good passes in the beginning of the race that – were not essential, but like in a short, let's call it short, in a shorter than regular main event, you don't have much time.

So anytime I can get a clear track and ride my own lines, it's the way to go.

like

How'd you feel about it?

Yeah, obviously we all want to win, but I've said it multiple times this year.

A couple of years ago, I would have done a lot of bad things to get on the podium.

So I want to stick with that positivity.

Podiums are really hard to get.

So the fact that it wasn't a win even after leading...

Yeah.

Was there some things? Yeah, go ahead.

well transferring over to to your weekend we came by friday night in your bus and you were a little stuffed up when did you start feeling sick

So I flew back after Seattle and I was at the Daytona 500 and midday on Sunday, I felt that I was getting a bit of a sore throat.

And, you know, you do anything you can to try and keep it at bay, you know, loading up on vitamin C, but like those kind of home remedies when something is really going on, hardly ever do they take everything back and then you just kind of come out of it.

So I wasn't stressing about it by any means, but I did do very minimal writing just because I could feel a bit of exhaustion in me.

Like I was sharp mentally.

And I was able to do some pretty intense bursts for short periods of time.

But then immediately kind of came the exhaustion where you just you don't necessarily want to dig too deep in the middle of the week when you know that, hey, this could get a bit worse coming towards the weekend.

I mean, I don't, I'm done with people saying this is their favorite dirt because this is, that's not good dirt.

And you were the fastest guy on the track through the whole middle of that race.

Yeah, I agree.

I think after I got off to a pretty good start, I was really content where I was at.

I think I was in around fourth, fourth or fifth, something along those lines.

Um, knowing that it was going to be a long main event, just purely from the track changing so quickly, like lap by lap.

Um, and I was just rolling, you know, I, I was trying to, uh, not calculate, but staying content and just, okay, let's get these few laps in the beginning under our belt, maybe get a little bit of separation in from the guys behind me.

And you're really just trying to find your feet.

I get that would bother me, too.

What were you looking for and did you find it?

Yeah, so if I'm quite honest, I've been doing some clutch testing because I have been on my slipper clutch, the setup that I've been riding for multiple years now, never ventured away from it.

it's been working out for the most part but at the same time i am usually a pretty good starter And it's kind of fizzled away a little bit.

And not necessarily my average position over multiple races, but more so that I have to be too perfect to be in the top five.

And that happens seldom when you have a lot of riders next to you.

So I feel like I wasn't getting off the gate very well and just didn't have enough jump.

And we've kind of been talking about it for a little bit.

You were up on the wheel the whole time.

Like that was a big section.

It was.

And actually coming race day, excuse me, they actually took that as we went over the tabletop and three onto that banana.

I feel like the transition was almost a little bit shorter and they definitely manipulated it from press day to race day.

But then also that five footer landing, kind of like what we call that reverse ski was much taller and steeper too.

I don't want to call it much taller necessarily, but I think it was steeper and they did take about this much off the top.

But that makes a massive difference when you look at it.

But when chase got into second, did you see that he was there? Because once you, it was almost like once you realized that you picked up the pace again, and then you kind of dropped him towards the end.