Davies sweeps up 250 class at Indy triple crown
Leigh Diffey, James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael analyze the 250 triple crown event at Indianapolis, where Cole Davies went three-for-three while Daytona winner Seth Hammaker struggled.
Video Transcript
Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis, the home of the Colts, plays host to Monster Energy AMA Supercross again, where Pierce Brown was trying to keep that red plate for the 250 East Division after a brilliant win and a podium to start the season off.
Yeah, look at Daxton Benik right there.
Man, he's having a great season so far, and I'm so pumped for him and that race team.
And you got Joe Shimoda getting a great start.
Man, his starts have been on point all of these th- first three rounds of the 250 East Division.
And Cole Davies, his starts are a little bit better this week, but man, he absolutely dominated.
If you don't like what you're seeing right here, you're not gonna like the rest of the three races that you're about to watch on these replays because really it was all him here tonight, but great racing beyond that point.
The biggest advantage that he had, was the whoops, and that's And, and then all the other sections of the track just complemented the, the advantage that he had in the whoops.
And I think the biggest loser tonight Well, I wouldn't say the biggest loser.
The, the person who struggled was, was Seth Hammaker.
He had a brutal second moto.
But look at this battle here early on.
Again, this is the opening race.
Joe doing great.
And just really, I mean, you, you think about Joe, and he wasn't even meant to be back yet, and he's out here- Up there fighting for the win doing a fantastic win, yeah.
So this set the tone of the night, and the first win of the season for Cole Davies after frustration in the first two rounds.
So we take it to the second race.
Davies gets a good jump, but nobody got the start like Triumph's Jalek Swoll.
That's right.
He'll get two of them tonight.
But, talking about a team and a rider that needed a shot in the arm, that definitely was this gentleman coming off a re-tear of the Achilles last season.
And really, the last two races were great for Jalek Swoll and that factory Triumph team racing.
But this is the- Watch this yeah, this is a mistake I was telling you about from Seth Hammaker, and, a bummer.
Little self-induced there, but at the end of the day, it kind of worked out because he would get a podium overall.
But he'll come back, he'll march up the field, make some quality passes.
Cole Davies almost went down right there.
That was a heck of a save.
But look at Joe getting in there, giving him the business, taking that position back.
And he raced Cole Davies hard, but e- a- in the, in the end, he just wouldn't have the pace that Cole Davies and this young phenom has.
It wasn't the overall headline, but you gotta give credit.
you just see that brutal whoops feat again from Cole Davies.
Gotta give credit to Jalek Swoll, who hung top out front for a good period of this second race.
Well, he really did, and he'll, he'll crash the second race, but then third race, he, he did a heck of a job as well.
But I tell you what, Hammaker, he marched back up there.
You saw him going down in the whoops and had a gnarly collision- Uh-uh look at, with G- Gavin Towers.
Wow, that was a tough, tough hit.
Hopefully Gavin's okay.
Gav- by the way, Gavin did go to medical and was released.
So what happened in the first happens in the second.
Cole Davies- Yeah victorious.
His podium interviews are just like, he didn't have much to say.
He was locked in and focused.
And this is the final race of the Triple Crown for the 250 guys here tonight.
And again, Jalek Swoll having a great start.
But how about Devon Simonsen?
This dude ran up front, and I think this is a breakout race.
I think from this race on, we are gonna see a lot more of this young man right here, and I was super impressed.
Racing Jalek har- Jalek Swoll really hard, and Jalek would hang on.
He'll end up fifth in this race.
A, a great ride by Jalek.
But the 37 will eventually start marching up here.
Again, Simonsen doing the best he can.
He is caught in a hornet's nest.
Look at that move from Cole Davies.
Goes around Shimoda, goes up the inside of Devon Simonsen just like that, like clinically.
He does.
He'll make up a lot of time early to get into the lead and a lot like what he's been doing all night.
This was his passing zone, using up all the real estate, just barely touching the tough blocks, getting to that real estate where a lot of riders weren't going, where the whoops are relatively fresh, I should say.
And, oh, Joe makes a little s- mistake.
Looks like I couldn't tell if he hit the rear brake and he, and he eventually stalls it, but gets it back going.
No harm, no foul.
And he'll, get into, I believe, what'll be the second position, right?
Yep, yep.
And I was gonna be interested to see what Joe is gonna be able to do right here, Lee, and see if he can make up any time on Cole Davies, but he wouldn't have enough.
And in the background, you see the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki of Seth Hammaker.
He joins the party.
Jalek Swoll loses some momentum, and Seth says, "Thank you, I'll take third place here."
And he goes to work on Joe Shimoda, and action is about to happen.
Watch this.
Yeah, Joe just kind of gets crossed up in the whoops right here.
Watch what happens.
He goes to the right, jumps off course.
He's gonna check up a little bit, make sure no one's there.
He doesn't wanna lose any time or no gain any time.
Just keeps himself in great- One, two, three.
Cole Davies, all business, all victories, all pumped, and takes the lead of the championship for the 250 East going into the break.
Doesn't get any better than that.
One, one, one.
For Shimoda, a really good night, two, two, three.
And for Seth Hammaker, what could have been if it weren't for that second race crash.
Right, but this is where the Triple Crown kind of helps him out.
If that would've been a regular main, it would've been tough.
But, yeah, he ends up third, so he's, he'll still right there.
All right, so how do the points look after three rounds of the 250 East Division?
There's one point in it.
One- Right between Cole Davies and Seth Hammaker.
Despite that tough race tonight for Hammaker, the Daytona winner is hanging tough.
And story is we got three ra- rounds, three different winners.
Yeah, w- So Pierce Brown, Seth Hammaker, Cole Davies have all had an overall win.
I have a feeling when we leave Birmingham, it isn't gonna be this close in points because it is gonna be a showdown, and this is really where you can take advantage of having the opposite coast in there and getting in between your competitors at, in your respective division.
Look at these amazing images of Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Missouri.
This is where the Monster Energy SMX World Championship finale will play out.
Are you kidding?
What a place.
It's a first, and to have the best off-road riders in the world there is gonna be something special.
That, of course, comes after, Columbus, Ohio, the first playoff race, September 12th.
A week later, Dignity Health Sports Park in LA, and then off to Ridgedale, Missouri.
There you go.
Manufacturer points, Yamaha has the clear lead.
Now, again, this is a 450 and 250 combined, and I was talking to you, Lee.
Like, the strength in numbers and the amount of Yamahas, just that the Monster Energy- A lot, yeah.
Exactly Star Racing Yamaha has, and their, and their riders are all doing well and running up front, so accumulating good points there.
