After weeks of racing east of the Mississippi, we head west, and I do mean west. Seattle is round 11 and about as far as riders can get from their practice tracks in Florida. The long flight is a strain on weary bodies and in many seasons, they would go to California after the previous round to cut down on multiple cross-country flights. With Birmingham on the front end and Foxboro on the back end, though, there's no ideal route other than to buckle up and take the long ride northwest. This round also signifies the first singular 250SX West Division round since Arlington and the feel to the series has shifted, hasn't it? Haiden Deegan has grabbed momentum (even amongst off-the-track chaos) and will look to continue that points lead extension. Let's see what initial layout the SMX track crew has in mind, shall we? (Note: this is version two as the updated track map changed in several ways and is markedly shorter than the original.)

The first few corners of the layout are identical to Birmingham. The start straight bends into a long 180 left and into 6-7 jumps depending on how they build the first one. With rain in the forecast, all these rhythm sections need to be toned down as far as expectations. If riders can put triples together in any form, that will be considered a win. Having this plan in mind beforehand is key; riders need to know what they alternatives are when the conditions break down. On this first rhythm, if riders can triple from small to small, that's the optimal route but I expect the bottoms of the jumps to be treacherous at best. Modern mud races are usually trademarked by harder jumps (covered by tarps) and nasty transitions where the water settled.

A 180 right brings riders down the home team sideline and a long rhythm section. The likely path is to step over the tabletop and then go 3-3-tabletop over single. If conditions go sideways (likely), watch for riders to simply put doubles together here at speed and try to manage the ruts.