Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Nate Thrasher raced to a season-best finish of fifth (4-6) at the penultimate round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana. In addition to his top result, Thrasher also earned his first holeshot of the season in Moto 1, along with his best moto finish of the year in fourth. Justin Cooper finished just behind his teammate in sixth (6-5), while Guillem Farres and Levi Kitchen were just outside the top-10, finishing 11th (9-16) and 12th (8-38), respectively. Matt Leblanc returned to action to finish 21st (20-17), and rookie Haiden Deegan finished 31st (34-24).
Thrasher has enjoyed some bright moments throughout the season, but his ride at Ironman Raceway was his best yet. He started the day with fifth place in qualifying, giving him a good gate pick for Moto 1. Thrasher used that gate pick to turn out his first holeshot of the season, quickly pulling a gap on the rest of the field. He maintained the lead for the first half of the race before moving back to fourth after experiencing some arm pump. The fourth-place Moto 1 finish was Thrasher’s best of the season, setting him up for a good overall score. At the gate drop of Moto 2, Thrasher got out to a fourth-place start and had good pace with the rest of the field. He fell back to sixth on Lap 12 but was able to bring it home and score fifth overall.
The day started out extremely well for Cooper, who once again found himself at the top of the qualifying time sheets. He enjoyed a decent start in Moto 1 in seventh but quickly pushed up to fifth on the second lap. The New Yorker held on there for many laps, eventually finishing out the moto in sixth. As the Moto 2 gate dropped, Cooper led the field around the first turn, giving the team both 250MX holeshots for the day. He held onto second for several laps before falling back a few spots, finishing the moto in fifth for sixth overall.
After a great first showing last weekend, Spanish newcomer Farres wanted to make another good statement before returning to Europe next week to race in the German championship, where he is leading the points in the 250 class. He had a decent qualifying in 11th as he learned the technical track. His first moto was off to a great start and slotted into second behind his teammate. He was fourth after the first lap before falling back a few spots to sixth and continued to ride strong to earn his second career top-10 moto result in ninth. Farres faced a tough second moto after his rear brake went out after contact with riders during a hectic mid-pack start but still managed to fight and turn out a 16th-place finish.
Kitchen returned to racing after suffering a wrist injury and turned out a great opening moto ride for eighth, but ultimately his wrist wasn’t quite ready to stand up to two rough and rutted motos. He pulled in during Moto 2 and called it a day, giving him 12th overall thanks to his solid Moto 1 performance. The Washington rider will most likely sit out of the season final in Pala, California, to focus on returning to full fitness for the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season.
Leblanc was also returning to the starting gate from injury and struggled to find the intensity needed to face the stacked field of 250MX racers. He finished in the points in both motos (20-17), scoring him 21st overall.
Deegan made his debut at the penultimate round and faced a rollercoaster day. He started the day learning the track and qualified 16th. After coming around the first lap of Moto 1 in 12th, Deegan quickly realized he had a rear brake issue, but that didn’t stop the young rider from pushing forward. He had closed in on the top 10 when he had a big crash and was unable to continue the moto. Deegan lined up for the second moto a little banged up but ready to go, only to go down when he and another rider came together just after the start. He rejoined in last place but didn’t give up and pushed the entire moto to make his way back up to 24th, awarding him 31st overall.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team will head back west to Fox Raceway in Pala, California, for the final round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship on Saturday, September 3.
Jensen Hendler
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 Team Manager
“I feel like Ironman went well. Overall, Nate had a really good day. He continues to improve, and we’re happy to see it, as he’ll be a key player on the team next year. Justin had a rough day after qualifying first and showing speed. I just think he’s not up to 100 percent health-wise, so hopefully, another week off leading into Pala will help get him back to his winning ways. Guillem’s overall performance with us has been really good, and we were happy to have him with us.
“With Levi coming off an injury, we weren’t sure how he was going to be, and he was able to get eighth that first moto. In the second moto, his wrist was still not good enough to go racing, so he’ll likely not be with us at Pala. Matt had a very rough day. We’ll get back to work on some stuff, and hopefully, he’ll be better at Pala. For Haiden, we learned a lot this weekend. The whole point of bringing him in was to gain experience. It is good for him to learn the everyday workings of a professional class, from the schedule to racing. I think we all took away what we wanted from this first race.”
Jensen Hendler
Nate Thrasher
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was a better day, for sure. I was able to get good starts two weekends in a row and got my first holeshot today. Last weekend at Budds Creek, I ended up going down, but this week I was able to lead for a good part of the race. I felt like I had the speed to be up there today, but I ran into a little bit of arm pump and rode a little tight. For the second moto, I didn’t have much left in the tank for that one. We’re making strides in the right direction. It’s a stacked field with a lot of people back from injury, so we’ll take it.”
Nate Thrasher
Justin Cooper
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“I’m getting really tired and flat mid-way through the motos. I just can’t keep the intensity up; I don’t know if it has to do with my illness or not. The pace is really high, and the top guys are riding really well. Maybe it’s just an off weekend for me, but either way, I have some homework to do for sure.”
Justin Cooper
Guillem Farres
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“The day started well. I think I was 10th in practice, and the track was looking good. I struggled a little more in the second practice but had a really good start in the first moto. I finished ninth and struggled a little bit in the middle of the moto, but the end was better. I didn’t get a good start in the second moto, and on the first lap my rear brake went out. It was really hard to ride without the brake, so I just tried to ride safe and not make any mistakes, and I ended up 16th. I’m not happy with the second moto, but that’s racing.”
Guillem Farres
Levi Kitchen
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“I did everything I could to race this weekend, but it just wasn’t enough. I’m still in a lot of pain, and I was dealing with it, but it really set in by Moto 2. I’m going to rest up and get my body back to 100%.”
Levi Kitchen
Matt LeBlanc
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was kind of a rough day. I just struggled a little bit on the bike – more mentally than physically. I just wasn’t comfortable all day and rode a little scared. We’ll get back at it this week to see if we can improve for Pala.”
Matt LeBlanc
Haiden Deegan
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It started off well in the first moto and just tried to work through the pack a little bit, and I felt like I was riding super well. I lost my rear brake on the second lap, though, which was unfortunate, but I felt like I was flowing and could run the speed with those guys. I made a little rookie mistake trying to do a little double and went over the bars. That was it for the moto. I was a little banged up but lined up for the second moto and ended up getting taken out a little past the start. From there, I just tried to make my way back up through the pack. It was a big learning experience for me, and I know what I need to work on to get into the top 10.”
