How One Rider Saved America from Humiliation (Jeffrey Herlings vs. Eli Tomac)

It was a dark day in American motocross. European rider, Jeffrey Herlings had just come over for a one-off, guest appearance race in the AMA National Pro Motocross Championship… And won. Even coming from last place after a first turn crash, all the way back up to lead before the chequered flag, passing Eli Tomac and all the rest of them along the way like they were standing still! But the real reason he was stateside? To acclimatize himself in preparation for the next round of his MXGP World Motocross Championship, which was set to take place in Jacksonville, Florida the following weekend. In light of all that’d happened, Tomac and a number of other American riders entered themselves as exhibitionists, and the world watched on with baited breath as it seemed like we were finally about to get a definitive answer to the age-old question… Who’s faster, Europeans or Americans? SOCIAL MEDIAS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- @ashsowman   / sowmanfilms     / sowmanfilms     / sowmanfilms   CREDITS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Written, narrated & edited by: Ash Sowman Video, photo & audio sources (in order of appearance): ‪@RacerXIllustrated‬ (https://racerxonline.com) ‪@RACER_Network‬ (https://www.mavtv.com) ‪@RedBullMotorsports‬ (https://www.redbull.com) ‪@MotorsportsonNBC‬ (https://www.nbcsports.com) ‪@backfireproductions4362‬ ‪@vitalmx‬ (https://www.vitalmx.com) Ray Archer (http://www.rayarcher.com) ‪@motosport‬ (http://www.motosport.com) ‪@foxsports‬ (https://www.foxsports.com) ‪@Nico-en5pd‬ ‪@TWMotocross‬ ‪@tgomotocross3625‬ (https://www.tgomotocross.com) ‪@motocross‬ (https://www.mxgp-tv.com) ‪@MonsterEnergy‬ (https://www.monsterenergy.com) ‪@KawasakiUSA‬ (https://www.kawasaki.com) ‪@KTM‬ (https://www.ktm.com) ‪@BellHelmetsOfficial‬ (https://www.bellhelmets.com) ‪@TheMOTOCo‬ ‪@vurbmoto‬ (https://www.vurbmoto.com) ‪@aquarinard‬ ‪@FirstCoastNews‬ (https://www.firstcoastnews.com/) ‪@AnnieAlexandraA‬ ‪@Ciuski-dot-com‬ ‪@News4JAX‬ (https://www.news4jax.com) ‪@Mxvice‬ (https://mxvice.com) @_john_russell__ ‪@SupercrossLive‬ (https://www.supercrosslive.com) https://www.mxfotogarafie.ni ‪@martijnvanheerde‬ ‪@tomjournet7227‬ (  / filmguytom  )   / rezzysports   Christiane Munoz (http://photoscm.com) Rich Shepherd (https://alignwith.us) @nicocardona13 (  / nicocardona13  ) @corycrumley (  / corycrumley  ) ‪@AnswerRacing1‬ ‪@JesseDeanClark‬ @mxracer546 (  / mxracer546  ) ‪@Showtime‬ (https://www.sho.com/) @c.coates195 (  / c.coates195  ) @shane_jeffers (  / shane_jeffers  ) ‪@MotoHead‬ (https://www.motoheadmag.com/) ‪@RivistaMotociclismo‬ (https://www.motociclismo.it/) @jeffrey_herlings84 (  / jeffrey_herlings84  ) @antoniocairoli (  / antoniocairoli  ) ‪@AmericanMotocross‬ (https://promotocross.com) ‪@ufc‬ (https://www.ufc.com) ‪@skysportnz‬ (https://www.welcome.skysportnow.co.nz) ‪@dirtridermagazine‬ (https://www.dirtrider.com) ‪@LeTourDeFrance‬ (https://www.letour.fr) ‪@Olympics‬ (https://olympics.com) Outdoor Life Network ‪@GoProMX‬ (https://gopro.com) ‪@westernflyer66‬ @drmotogal (  / drmotogal  ) @simonesdg83 (  / simonesdg83  ) @conrasm (  / conrasm  ) Peter Pelobello @david_lando (  / david_lando  ) ‪@MXprofessor11‬ @logancreamer (  / logancreamer  ) ‪@MotoVision99‬ ‪@Sportbike282‬ ‪@TheMindChampion‬ ‪@motoverte2808‬ ‪@CusackCreatures‬ ‪@cultmoto‬ ‪@999lazer‬ ‪@20thCenturyStudios‬ (https://www.20thcenturystudios.co) ‪@motocrossaction‬ (https://motocrossactionmag.com) @LEGO.MX (  / lego.mx  ) My apologies if this list is missing one or two accreditations. Some of the video, photos and audio files were only available from illegitimate sources who hadn’t provided credit. CHAPTERS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0:00 A Dark Day in American Motocross 2:46 Second Chance 4:28 Intro 4:46 Tomac & Herlings’ Phantom Duel 7:20 Tropical Storm 8:04 A Sketchy Practice Session 10:09 Qualifying Race 18:15 Team Kawasaki Mobilizes 19:34 Moto 1 32:24 A Scorching Intermission 34:51 Moto 2 45:05 Our Answer 46:57 American Denial 49:23 A Unique Occurrence 51:44 Conclusion 53:05 Trilogy… 3:23 End Screen FAIR USE DISCLAIMER ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.