Pro Motocross canceled Washougal moved to Loretta Lynn's

The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship has canceled the Washougal National and moved the Aug. 22 round to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, which will play host to the 2020 season opener Saturday.

Race and series organizers decided after meeting to move the location of the season’s second of nine races.

The event had been approved on the local and state level, but Roy Janson, director of competition at MX Sports Pro Racing said “circumstances surrounding the spread of COVID-19 can change dramatically in a matter of hours.

WATCH PRO MOTOCROSS ON NBC, NBCSN: Broadcast schedule for Pro Motocross

NBC SPORTS GOLD SCHEDULE SATURDAY: Qualifying (11:10 a.m. ET), Moto 1 (2 p.m. ET), Moto 2 (6 p.m. ET)

“We did not reach this decision lightly and the circumstances are entirely out of Ryan’s control. We look forward to bringing the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship back to Washougal for the 2021 season.

Here’s the release from Pro Motocross:

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (August 14, 2020) – With hours before the start of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, series organizers MX Sports Pro Racing have announced the cancelation of the MotoSport.com Washougal National, presented by Peterson CAT, originally scheduled to serve as the second round of the amended 2020 season. Following a meeting between the Race Leadership Team (RLT) and the series’ OEM partners a collective decision was made to move the location of Round 2, on Saturday, August 22, to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, the site of this weekend’s season-opening event.

The Washougal National had been previously approved for 2020 at both the local and state level in Washington, based on the COVID-19 Health and Safety Plan that had been submitted by the organizers several months ago to the necessary regulatory agencies. Continuing approval of the event had been reiterated from Clark County, within which Washougal MX Park is located, as recently as this morning, August 14. However, based on newly imposed restrictions within the state of Washington as it relates to COVID-19 infections, the RLT, in consultation with the sport’s OEM partners, have collectively decided that in the best interest of series participants, the event will be canceled.

“The decision by the Race Leadership Team and our OEM partners to cancel the Washougal National is both unexpected and disappointing,” said Roy Janson, Director of Competition at MX Sports Pro Racing in a statement. “The comprehensive Health and Safety Plan, prepared specifically to address COVID-19 issues and related prevention and mitigation efforts, submitted and approved both at the local and state level, provided extensive directives designed to address every concern raised by these officials. The Health and Safety Plan, which is based on state policies currently in place under orders by the governor, is fully compliant with all CDC, state, and county health department guidelines, and provided for pre-admission screening of all pro athletes and their crew members, including non-contact temperature testing prior to being allowed to access the venue.

“Ryan Huffman, the event organizer of the Washougal National, did everything within his power to organize a safe event for both professional and amateur competitors,” added Janson. “We commend him for the extensive efforts and sacrifices made to make the 2020 Washougal National a reality. Unfortunately, as we have become increasingly aware, circumstances surrounding the spread of COVID-19 can change dramatically in a matter of hours. We did not reach this decision lightly and the circumstances are entirely out of Ryan’s control. We look forward to bringing the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship back to Washougal for the 2021 season. In the meantime, out of convenience to our teams and competitors, the logical decision was to return to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in one week’s time.”

Tickets for Round 2 at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch will go on sale tomorrow and will remain limited to 5,000 spectators. It will be a single-day event featuring professional racing only, with no amateur support competition.

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

Pro Motocross cancels Washougal; moves second round location

Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan after controversial block pass at Detroit

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