During Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / KTM’s Jordon Smith‘s highly decorated amateur career, he was known as arguably the fastest amateur in the country, but he was also known for hitting the ground hard and often. That trend followed the youngster into his professional career. While there were flashes of that incredible speed over his first two years as a professional, he spent more time on the ground and recovering from injuries than he did impressing. Even with that, his original team GEICO / Honda knew something was definitely there and tried to extend his contract, but the #44 surprised everyone when he left GEICO and signed with the TLD / KTM squad for 2017.
Over Jordon’s first two years of Supercross, he scored just three top five finishes and one podium so it has to be a little tough for his old team watching him thrive in 2017 on the KTM. In his first six races on the TLD / KTM squad, Jordon has scored five top five finishes and three podiums, and on Saturday night in Detroit, he broke through with his first ever main event win as a professional. Not only has Jordon brought that balls out speed with him in 2017, he has also somehow settled down and figured out how to do it consistently night in and night out.
Jordon’s first-ever win in Detroit not only peeled a huge monkey off his back, it inserted his name into the conversation on who will be the 2017 250SX Eastern Regional Supercross Champion. With the former red plate holder, Zach Osborne, crashing in the first turn and finishing 18th, Jordon moved himself up to second in the Championship—nine points behind Joey Savatgy, one ahead of Osborne and two ahead of Adam Cianciarulo. It is now a four-man fight, and Smith is smack dab in the middle of it with a head full of steam.
After main event and before the celebrating could begin, Jordon sat down for a press conference. Check out what the #44 had to say about his big night in Detroit.
Jordon, last weekend you made a bold statement and said if you would have got the start, you thought you could have beaten those guys. You got a better start tonight—from the outside was a little bit difficult—and got the win. Are you very happy?
Yeah, for sure, it was a crazy night, a lot of up and downs with having to go to the LCQ. I had a really good jump from the outside, and I think I started a little carnage in the first turn. I had to cut over pretty hard from the outside. It was a crazy race with a lot of people making mistakes and Joey [Savatgy] and I going back and forth a lot. My adrenaline was going out there. I’m super happy to get the win.
This is your first win. What’s the pressure like out there, especially when it’s close? What was running through your mind the last couple of laps?
I’ve been leading some laps this year and I just had to focus and keep pushing the whole time. That’s where I’ve focused behind me in other races that I’ve led laps in. I just kept looking at the lap times on my board, tried to keep those down and kept pushing. I didn’t even know Joey was there coming around to the white flag, and he got up the inside. I knew that I had to make a pass back pretty quick, and I was able to do that. It was crazy. (laughs)
What’s been the difference this year? You’ve been good at all the races, not just when you’ve had podiums. You’ve been consistent. Can you talk about the changes—switching teams and all that?
I’m really getting along with everyone over at Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / KTM really good. I had a really good offseason and stayed healthy. I was able to put in a lot of work at MTF [Millsaps Training Facility] and was able to progress the full offseason. Even once we got into the season now, I started out the first race and rode good, but I don’t think I had the speed that I do now. I’ve kind of progressed throughout the season, learned things every weekend, and I’m getting better and better.
This was a really hard-fought win. The class you’re in or the series you’re in, there’s a lot of intense racing. I thought it was cool that after you took the checkered I saw a lot of teams and riders coming up to congratulate you.
It’s definitely been pretty aggressive this year in practice and in the races, but afterwards, everyone was happy for me. A lot of people came and congratulated me, and I would like to thank all the people that did. It’s a cool feeling, and to be able to share it with everyone is really cool.
It looked extra slick tonight, even all day. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Usually slick tracks like that aren’t my strong suit. (laughs) I wasn’t super pumped on it in practice, but I adjusted pretty well I think. We made a couple of changes, and like you said, the corner after the finish line was pretty treacherous. You could barely get on the gas there; it was almost just like glass. It was definitely tough, and I think that’s why people made mistakes.
How much did you need those first couple of rounds to go well? Did that build the belief and the confidence to get there? Did you need those good rounds to get to this?
Yeah, for sure. I felt really good all off season, and like I said, I had a really good offseason and was able to progress the whole time, but you really don’t know where you’re at until you line up at the first round. That was really reassuring—getting second at Minneapolis. I didn’t have the best rounds after that, but I knew that I rode good, and if I eliminated the mistakes, I’d be on the box more. The confidence definitely helps when you’re able to have really good nights. Even the nights that aren’t so good are still better than the ones in the past. It definitely helps, the confidence, for sure.
Photos Courtesy of KTM
