Swapmoto Live Podcast

Presented by Pro Taper Round two of the MX Nationals went off last weekend at Prarie City OHV Park in Rancho Cordova, California, and the Dirt Diggers MC did a fine job of promoting one of our favorite events of the year. The Lawrence Brothers swept the 250 and 450 classes again, but Hangtown saw the arrival of Haiden Deegan as the 17-year-old earned his first professional moto win in convincing fashion aboard his Yamaha YZ250F. We talk about everything that we saw and heard at Hangtown...this is a good one!

Last week's kick off for the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship gave us a glimpse of what's to come through the summer, as the motos at Fox Raceway had a who's who of names cycle through the top-10 in the 250 Class and the first of many head-to-head battles for the win in the 450 Class. For this episode of the Midweek Podcast presented by Yoshimura R&D, we'll go over race day for the top-three finishers in both classes, from the way it played out on track to what they said in the post-race press conference hosted by Broc Glover.

Presented by Pro Taper Man what a way to kickoff the 2023 Monster Energy MX Nationals! The Fox Raceway track was challenging and unforgiving for the racers who lined up at yesterday's first National MX of the summer, and there was some great racing in both classes. The Lawrence brothers left with both red plates, but there was a lot that happened that the result sheets don't reveal. Enjoy this special Sunday edition of the Pro Taper Kickstart Podcast and enjoy Memorial Day with your loved ones!

Presented by Pro Taper We enjoyed an off weekend as the dirt bike circus took a one-week hiatus between the conclusion of the Monster Energy Supercross and the National Motocross Championship Series. ARay drove to Kentucky to pick up his bride-to-be, we did a lot of tire testing, and all of us are really looking forward to the Fox Raceway National MX kickoff this weekend!

The Salt Lake City Supercross went off last weekend in Rice-Eccles Stadium and although there were no real surprises, the racing did provide some excitement worth talking about! After a fun-filled five days in Utah, the SML crew reconvened at our SoCal office and went over everything that we saw and heard at the series finale.

Presented by Pro Taper There are almost no words to describe what went down in Denver at the penultimate round of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship! From Eli Tomac's shocking injury while leading, to RJ Hampshire's gritty, come-from-behind win, the Denver Supercross left all of us with our mouths wide open. On this week's Kickstart Podcast presented by Pro Taper, we recap all that we know about the race that went down inside Empower Field.

Nick Wey stopped by the Swapmoto Live HQ today to sit down for a new installment of the Yoshimura Midweek Podcast. A few months ago we sat down with the guys from Hammer Nutrition to learn more about their philosophy on sports supplements, and this is a follow-up of sorts as Wey is a partner in ARMA Sport, the fastest-growing supplement company in our sport. We picked Wey's brain about the benefits of supplements, his personal experience, his business partners, and much more. It gets really good at the end!

Presented by Pro Taper The Nashville Supercross was, for all intents and purposes, the end of the excitement that has built up around the 450 Championship championship battle between Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb. Treacherous track conditions and hard racing took several riders out for the remainder of the series and sadly, one of them was Red Bull KTM's Cooper Webb. We recap the carnage, the rumors, and the results in this week's Kickstart Podcast presented by Pro Taper. Enjoy!

Presented by Pro Taper What a race the East Rutherford Supercross turned out to be! Two new winners this late in the series? too good to be true! When the skies in New Jersey opened up and drenched the track, we all wondered what the outcome would be after the lightning-induced delay in the program, and we were rewarded with some of the best racing of the year! From Max Anstie's amazing first-career Supercross win to Eli Tomac's awesome performance after his practice crash, we cover it all in this week's Pro Taper Kickstart podcast.

Presented by Yoshimura This week, we are joined on the Yoshimura Midweek Podcast by Charles Dao, founder of ICON Fitness Studio, a gym in Murrieta, California, that has played an integral role in the success of many motocross, Supercross, and freestyle motocross riders' careers. From the early days with Ronnie Faisst and Jeremy "Twitch" Stenberg, to the present with racers like Austin Forkner, Vince Friese, Josh Hill and more, Dao has a history in the sport that dates back to the early 2000s.

Presented by Pro Taper Atlanta Motor Speedway hosted the Monster Energy Supercross Series last weekend and the racing was fast and furious, for sure! The track was brutally rough and challenged racers every step of the way. We go over what we saw and learned at Atlanta, and also cover some other activities that we've been up to in this week's Pro Taper Kickstart Podcast.

Presented by Pro Taper Last weekend was full of action as the Monster Energy Supercross Championship visited Glendale, Arizona, for the final Triple Crown of the year, while in SoCal the premix crowd gathered at Glen Helen Raceway for the Fasthouse Two-Stroke World Championships. We cover it all in this episode of the Pro Taper Kickstart Podcast!

Presented by Yoshimura The crossover between motocross and mountain biking has existed for decades, and Intense Cycles is one of the first brands to get involved with motocross, dating back to the Jeff Emig era. Jeff Steber is a mad scientist of sorts, and the brand's founder has conceptualized frame geometries, suspension systems, and more, throughout its 30-year history. Steber was gracious enough to take some time away from his fab shop to join us for a sit down to talk the moto/MTB crossover, new trends in bicycling, business models, and more! Enjoy.

Presented by Pro Taper It's been four years since we launched Swapmoto Live and it has been an absolute blast! With no race last weekend to shoot the breeze about, our content team sat down to reminisce about all of the great times we've had. Thanks for joining us on our journey! Enjoy!

Presented by Yoshimura Ever wonder what goes into developing a new motocross bike? Takeshi Katsuya is one of Kawasaki's most important pre-production test riders, and he also serves as the official Kawasaki MXGP team test rider too. That's right; in addition to working on next year's KX models, he helps set up the race bikes for Romain Febvre and Mitch Evans! A four-time All Japan IA2 Champion himself, "Taka" is one of the coolest guys we've sat down to do a podcast with. Enjoy!

Presented by Pro Taper Seattle produced some great racing last weekend and while it was good to see Eli Tomac back on the top step of the podium, it was painful to see Chase Sexton again fall victim to a front-end crash while leading. We cover that and a whole lot more in this week's Pro Taper Kickstart Podcast.

Mike Emery is responsible for many of the images you see posted after every round of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. Born in Pennsylvania, hardened by years of work as a mechanic on the West Coast, and now leading the charge with Align Media, Emery has a perspective on the sport that's all his own.

Presented by Pro Taper The Detroit Supercross had it all: a runaway leader, a heartbreaking last-lap crash, nail-biting battles for second- through fifth place, teammate drama...you name it, and we got it in Motor City USA. We recap all that, and more, on this week's Kickstart Podcast presented by Pro Taper.

Presented by Yoshimura If you're an eagle-eyed race fan, you've already spotted the Loma Linda University Health logos on the side panels of the Red Bull KTM factory race bikes. A hospital sponsoring a dirt bike race team? Well, that's a first! We were fortunate to have Loma Linda Health's CEO Trevor Wright and Director of Business Development John Level in our office for this installment of the Yoshimura Midweek Podcast, and we found out exactly why a hospital would want to sponsor a race team, and lots more!

Presented by Pro Taper Without a doubt, the Indianapolis Supercross inside Lucas Oil Stadium produced the most popular results in recent memory, with Progressive Insurance/Ecstar/Suzuki rider Ken Roczen scoring the win over a hard-charging Justin Barcia and giving Suzuki its first 450 Supercross win since 2016. Our very own Alex Ray returned to action after a few weeks off with a broken thumb, and he had some great first-hand insight about the super-challenging track conditions. Tune in for a great time!

Presented by Pro Taper The Daytona Supercross was a wild one with some great racing and some big crashes. Typically the toughest race of the year, Daytona treated us to spectacular performances by Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb, while Hunter Lawrence topped all comers in the 250 class. We recap all of that and a lot more in this week's Kickstart Podcast!

Presented by Yoshimura Jay Clark is one of those behind-the-scenes players in the motocross industry that everyone knows, and he's represented multiple brands over the past three decades. I first met Clark in 1992 when he began representing Wiseco Piston, and I was an assistant editor at Cycle News. These days, Clark's client list is extensive and he also runs a popular YouTube channel, Dirt Bike TV. We had a great time discussing our 30-year friendship in this installment of the Yoshimura Mid-week Podcast.

Presented by Pro Taper The Arlington Supercross marked the second Triple Crown of the year and as did the first, this one yielded some exciting racing and new results. Our man on the scene Michael Antonovich was joined in the pits by our injured cohost Alex Ray and the two bring an interesting set of insights to this week's Pro Taper Kickstart Podcast!

Presented by Pro Taper The rain-delayed Oakland Supercross went off in Ring Central Coliseum last weekend and the track was amazing! Big ruts, huge combos....it had it all. Eli Tomac bounced back from his "off" fifth-place finish with his fourth win of the series aboard his Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha, and Jett Lawrence scored another seemingly effortless win in the 250 West Coast main. Join us as we recap the second round of Supercross and even chat about last weekend's Mini Major by Seven MX.

Presented by Pro Taper The Tampa Supercross was one for the record books with a challenging track, crazy racing action, hit-and-miss weather conditions, and more! Join the SML team as we recap the whos, whats, wheres, and whys of round six of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship Series.

Presented by Yoshimura The Eighth Annual Mini Major West by Seven MX is upon us, and next weekend hundreds of minibike racers will converge at Glen Helen Raceway to compete on a special track, designed just for kids. In this week's Mid-Week Podcast, we invited CMXRS President Aaron Cooke and his son, Reegan, to join us to talk about everything racers and parents need to know about the upcoming race weekend. Lots of information in his podcast if you're a SoCal mini racer or parent, as well as some big, breaking news about the Mini Major franchise in general!

Presented by Pro Taper The Houston Supercross was a wild one! The start of the Eastern Regional 250 Supercross Championship, the debut of several rookie pros, and. the classic Tomac vs. Sexton showdown. This week's podcast was a good time, so grab a snack and hit play!

Presented by Pro Taper Anaheim Two marked the first Triple Crown Supercross of the year and it was a wild event that was full of thrills and spills. The track proved to be quite technical and it provided some great racing that produced two different winners than we've seen thus far in 2023. The results columns provide a lot of information, but in today's show we talk about a lot of stuff that you won't see in the results.

Presented by Yoshimura R&D Sean Brennen, Senior PR Manager at Feld Motorsports, stopped by the SML office during the downtime between the San Diego and Anaheim Two rounds of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship. The launch of the SuperMotocross Championship has led to a number of new initiatives within the company, which includes the hiring of New York communications firm DKC, outreach to non-endemic media, and getting the word out about the two rescheduled rounds.

Presented by Pro Taper Round three of the Monster Energy Supercross Series is in the books, and man what a great time we had at the first SX inside the new Snapdragon Stadium! We had plenty to bench race about in this week's Kickstart Podcast as ARay made his first main of the year, and much, much, more!

Presented by Pro Taper The second round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series in Oakland, California, was postponed until February 18 due to heavy rains in Northern California, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't plenty to talk about in today's Pro Taper Kickstart Podcast. To start the show off, Carson Mumford called in and told us all about his fill-in ride with the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team, and the steps he took to secure the opportunity. We also cover the ins and outs of the postponed race, the Arenacross many privateers raced instead, and much more!

The postponement of the 2023 Oakland Supercross is a milestone moment, as no race in the history of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship had been moved from its date due to weather. Heavy, persistent rains have soaked California's Bay Area for nearly three weeks, and with another few inches set to hit the RingCentral Coliseum this weekend, officials decided it was best to run the race to February 18th. We spoke with Mike Muye, Senior Director of Operations for the series, about the efforts by Feld Motorsports and Dirt Wurx to build the track, working with the stadium to find a replacement date, and what comes next for the series.

Presented by Pro Taper It's raining again in Southern California, so Alex Ray used a dry Monday to get in one last day of practice at the Yamaha Supercross track before the skies opened up again. That said, the Pro Taper Kickstart Podcast is a Tuesday edition today! Hear all of the things we saw and learned at Anaheim One...which was the best race of the year!

Presented by Pro Taper Can you believe that Anaheim One is already this weekend? The off-season has flown by and we can't wait for the first gate drops of the new season! Today's show was chock-full of interesting stuff, predictions, contests, and more. Thanks for listening!

Presented by Pro Taper It's hard to believe that Christmas is this weekend! Our week thus far has been jam-packed with activities - including the 2023 250 Shootout - and that is why the Kickstart Podcast is coming to you this week on a Wednesday. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

It's been about a year since I first talked with Adam Bailey about the FIM World Supercross Championship. In the 357 days since, he helped the series launch and run through a pilot tour, moved his family up the coast of Australia, and got promoted to CEO of SX Global. The twelve months of work and travel gave Bailey a glimpse into the next part of his motocross career. He knows that directing WSX's plans for the sport will be an ambitious effort, one that'll rely on everything he learned from Australia's small but mighty motocross industry and will take a few years to see through. But he's ready for it all, motivated by the teams involved and feedback from fans that were in Cardiff and Melbourne.

Presented by Bell Helmets Colt Nichols has been putting in tons of work aboard his new Honda HRC CRF450R since signing with the team a couple of months ago, and according to those who have seen him in action, the former 250 Supercross Champion is looking quite comfortable aboard his new red dragon. Nichols has always been a personable, easily approachable personality in the pits, so we thought he'd be a great candidate for the inaugural House of Bell Podcast, presented by Bell Helmets. Listen in for some candid information and news from the Oklahoma native.

Presented by Yoshimura Racing Brandon Hartranft's world was turned upside down a few short weeks ago by a freak crash at the Supercross track that left him with a long list of injuries, including several fractures in his back, broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a severe concussion, a dislocated hip, and a broken scapula. The HEP Suzuki racer was in the early laps of a training moto at the team's private testing facility in Northern California when his engine locked up and send him into the ground. Hartranft underwent a lengthy surgery to repair the damage to his body and was eventually transported by private jet to the Casa Colina rehab facility in Pomona, California. While Hartranft's prognosis is very promising, he has a long road to recovery ahead of him. He and his new wife plan to return to his home state of New Jersey once he is released from the rehabilitation facility, and whether or not he returns to racing someday remains to be seen. "For now, I am just so thankful that I have a second chance at life," he told us. We caught up with Brandon on the phone for this installment of the Yoshimura Midweek Podcast, and were amazed at how upbeat and positive he is...he even had the energy to tell us some funny golf stories! Road to Recovery has established a fund to help Hartranft, and we encourage you to contribute if you are in a position to.

Presented by Pro Taper It's been dumping here in Southern California for a couple of days now and that means no riding! That doesn't mean that there isn't plenty of bench racing to be done, though, and this week we cover the Honda HRC team intro, Justin Cooper on a 450, AC's elbow, ugly riding kits, and more!

Presented by Pro Taper For an off-season week, we sure have been slammed here in SoCal. This week's Kickstart Podcast is a few days late because of all of the activities going on in our neighborhood. From a top-secret press conference to Red Bull KTM and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna inviting us out to their private test tracks, to suspension testing with Alex Ray on his new 2023 Yamaha YZ450F; our week has been jam-packed already! Add on top of all that the news about Ken Roczen and the HEP Suzuki team, and we have a recipe for a great KSP by Pro Taper!

The AMA has posted a Competition Bulletin highlighting changes to the rulebook for the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship, which has clarification for on-track procedures and penalties, adjustments to the National number system, and how riders will advance through the 250 Class.

It's been a busy week for Zach Osborne. On Monday, he and wife Brittany welcomed their third child to the family. Then, on Thursday, he announced a return to professional racing with the AM-Pro Yamaha team, a two-year agreement that will put him on the starting line at GNCC and Sprint Enduro events on the East Coast. Everything about off-road appeals Osborne: strategy, physical fitness, and bike time hit at his competitive side and will be put to the test by the hours-long races, while the easygoing atmosphere that comes from everyone hanging out together at the campground is something his wife and kids can enjoy.

Presented by Pro Taper Sometimes when there is no racing to talk about it is hard to fill the Kickstart Podcast with conversation, but so much has been going on in our sport lately that we had an absolute blast on the show today. Between Ken Roczen rumors, our SML 450 Shootout, ARay's new 2023 Yamaha YZ450Fs, and much, much more; we had a heck of a great time flapping our lips. Enjoy!

Presented by Pro Taper Sometimes when there is no racing to talk about it is hard to fill the Kickstart Podcast with conversation, but so much has been going on in our sport lately that we had an absolute blast on the show today. Between Ken Roczen rumors, our SML 450 Shootout, ARays new 2023 Yamaha YZ450Fs, and much, much more; we had a heck of a great time flapping our lips. Enjoy!

We've been logging hours and hours on all of the 2023 450cc motocross bikes since they first started showing up at our offices, and yesterday we converged on Cahuilla Creek MX with support from all of the manufacturers to give all the bikes one last head-to-head comparison. Afterward, we gathered at Blackmore Ranch to shoot the shit about the 2023 Gas Gas MC 450, Honda CRF450R, Husqvarna FC 450, Kawasaki KX450, KTM 350 SX-F, KTM 450 SX-F, and Yamaha YZ450F. Enjoy!

Eric Perronard is one of my favorite people in the industry. A part of the pit area for longer than I've been alive, the well-connected Frenchman stays busy with roles like a global advisor for Fox Racing, competition director at Red Bull's Imagination and Straight Rhythm events, and rider coordinator for the Paris Supercross. Last weekend's race at the LaDefense Arena was Eric's thirty-fifth, and with Xavier Audouard, they put together a championship-caliber lineup that drew two nights of massive crowds and worldwide attention. We grabbed some time with Eric on Sunday afternoon and talked about everything from the essence of the race and its place in European motocross to the next step for electric motorcycles and what he sees from his place in the sport.

Presented by Pro Taper The biggest off-season Supercross of the year went down last weekend in Paris, France, and one-half of our staff was there to participate and document it, firsthand! Some surprises for sure, and lots learned in the City of Love, and we recap it all in this week's Kickstart Podcast!

Presented by Pro Taper Last weekend was a sad one for the motocross community, as the sudden passing of Coy Gibbs has left the industry stunned. JGRMX changed the face of motocross and Supercross racing with Gibbs' all-in approach to racing and running a team, and we reminisce about some of our best memories with Coy. The Dubya USA World Vets also went down, and two of our guys are headed to France this weekend for the Paris Supercross. Thanks for listening!

Presented by Pro Taper What a peaceful weekend! With no professional racing on our calendars last weekend, the SML staff got to enjoy time with friends and family. That said, we bounced around between a bunch of different subjects on today's Kickstart Podcast; from where is Roczen going, to Friese-gate, to big dudes almost killing others at LACR last weekend! Enjoy!

Presented by Pro Taper The inaugural WSX World Championship wrapped up in Melbourne, Australia, last weekend, and our man on the scene Michael Antonovich and last-minute racer Alex Ray were there to give today's KSP a first=hand insight into the eventful race. From Ken Roczen and Shane McElrath wrapping up the titles, to the spectacular crashes, to the rumored take-out bounties, we cover it all!