Davey Coombs is very much a man who has achieved a lot since his days of cleaning up rubbish at his father AMA Nationals round back when DC was a kid. A leading person in the media World with his RacerX magazine and website and one of the main ingredients in the Mxsports company, who run the AMA Nationals.

A huge fan of the sport since his youth and probably the best person if you need to know about the history of our sport, from AMA to GP. There isn’t a lot Davey Coombs doesn’t know about the sport and his current relationship with both Infront and Feld have helped make the sport a better place to be in recent years.

A long-time friend of us here at MXlarge and somebody we have huge respect for, not only for his talents in the media World, but also his love of the history of our sport, as mentioned, both in America and Europe.

We gave our old friend a call today, chatted about family life, the changing of the media World and of course, that young talented Aussie, called Jett Lawrence.

MXLarge: Congratulation on the Nationals, it’s been fantastic to watch and even though Jett has won every round, it has been really riveting stuff. I think anyone who has been in the sport for some time can see that Jett and his brother Hunter are special, with Jett really looking to break a lot of records in his climb through the all-time lists. I think he is the best ever, whether he is going to be the best ever statistically, that is something only time will tell. How has it been for you watching him?

Coombs: We have run out of superlative and compliments to describe Jett. He is just so much fun to watch. I was asked yesterday, to compare him and Haiden Deegan and I laughed and said this feels like 2002 to 2004 when Ricky (Carmichael) was dominant in the premier class and James Stewart, was coming up on the 125 and we just couldn’t wait for them to meet. Whereas, Haiden is more like Ricky, more like a bulldog and Jett is more like James Stewart, just literally, riding above the track. Like doing really creative, cool little things. Tracks like Southwick and Redbud, it was really apparent. I was lucky enough to see Jeremy dominate supercross and Ricky dominate motocross, and I really enjoy watching Jett and Haiden right now. The cool thing is Geoff, Jett Lawrence is just 21 years old, which is crazy. He isn’t that much older than Haiden. So, the looming battle we are starting to think about, the 2025 season, in both classes, has been incredible.

MXLarge: As amazing as Jett is and how many races and championships he has won, when you look at the stats in what he needs to get to Ricky for that GOAT role, he really needs to keep winning a lot and over a long period of time. It really reminds us; just how good RC was?

Coombs: Yes, and not only how good Ricky was, but also how resilient he was. In his entire career, he never missed a single outdoor national. He did miss a full season of supercross in 2004, with a knee injury, but he never missed an AMA National and came back from that injury and didn’t lose for two years, outdoors. 2004 on the Honda and 2005 on the Suzuki. It is mind boggling and personally, I never thought anyone would catch Stefan (Everts) and his GP wins tally, but Jeffrey came along and did it. Jeffrey Herlings is just extraordinary, as far as pure talent goes, but his injuries, it cost him at least four titles and maybe more. He would already be there (as the GP Goat), if he was a resilient as Ricky was and he probably would have had 150 GP wins too.

MXLarge: That is also something I wanted to ask you about, because from 2012 at the Lommel MXoN, until recently, it seemed the Grand Prix riders had an advantage over the AMA guys, and I think that all comes down to Jeffrey Herlings making everyone faster in Europe. Now, you have Jett Lawrence, and in my opinion, he has raised the speed of the AMA guys, and you guys will probably enjoy that for a number of years, when coming up against the GP riders at the MXoN or anywhere else. What is your opinion on that?

Coombs: I think no matter who has the fastest guy, you are correct, it does go back and forth. I think the addition of supercross and supermotocross, it makes it imperfect conversation, but in staying that, I do think that Jeff Lawrence is the fastest man on the planet. Not too long ago, when he was healthy, he lost to Gajser.

MXlarge: Yes, it is definitely close between the two series.

Coombs: Incredibly close. You have heard me say this before, but I am not a big fan or making guys move up when they are 23. I think that has allowed guys like Tony (Cairoli), Jeffrey, Tim (Gajser), Romain (Febvre) stay at the top longer. You tend to lose a couple of guys, who might not be ready for a 450 or might not have a ride on a 450, or might move to America, where they can keep going. Right now, I would say we have the upper hand, but you have injuries, that we have had in previous years. Right after Antonio retires, Jeffrey gets hurt, Tim gets hurt, Romain gets his injuries and maybe why the fastest kid is from Australia.

MXLarge: We have both been around the sport a long time, you in America and me in Europe, and it seems like both series are getting respected more and Giuseppe and you are not getting as much negative comments. Both series are really rolling along nicely and complimenting each other?

Coombs: I think that goes back to, and I have told you this before, was when the day after the 2016 MXoN and I was having breakfast next door at Dennys restaurant and my phone rang. It was a number from Geneva, and I only knew one person from Geneva, and it was Giuseppe Luongo. He reached out and said let’s stop arguing and working against each other and work together. It is a much better atmosphere, and we are really happy to host the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations this year, and it was Giuseppe, who ended that cold war. We were able to run the USGP in Jacksonville and the Motocross des Nations at Redbud in 2018 and 2022 and I have a really good relationship with David Luongo and Daniele Rizzi. I don’t get to see Giuseppe much anymore, but I am really happy he reached out and said let’s work together. We kind of followed the same thing with Feld, when they came to Daytona in 2020 and said the same thing. Over here in America we have an excellent relationship and it’s been really great for the riders; Jett has made a couple of big pay cheque and all of that is part of people all over the motocross World working together. It has gotten rid of the silliness and speaking badly about each other and even you and I are getting on again. Social media has gotten to where there are some outrageous customers out there, that want to insult and argue and do things for clicks, but that is up to them.

MXLarge: Obviously the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations in America this year and I spoke to Giuseppe Luongo a couple of weeks ago and he mentioned he wants that relationship to continue to grow and Infront and Mxsports have some great ideas coming up. Obviously, the schedule in America is so full, it is hard to fit in another race, but there is something in the pipeline or not?

Coombs: It is a little on the backburner on the moment, but we have a plan and breaking some news here, we think a race in early summer, which would be in America and count for both AMA and GP points would be great. Turns out, our race, the High Point national, at Mount Morris, which is in June, and we could work that into the schedule. It doesn’t decide a championship, but David Luongo and I are still quietly talking about that and figuring stuff out, and we will talk more about that at the MXoN in October.

MXLarge: How is the Nations looking for October. Ticket sales and everything else?

Coombs: It is going wonderfully, and we are very pleased with where we are. Just last weekend Infront people came to Redbud and then on the Monday, we visited Ironman. We did a sight visit with track changes and the set-up and it is so much better working with Infront and not fighting with Youthstream. We already know that the MXoN will return to America in 2028. What we do know, whether you are the American’s the French, the Dutch or whoever, everyone has their hands full with the Australians. I loved your Leisk to Lawrence piece, that you put up earlier this week, because he doesn’t get enough credit and I know Stephen Gall and some others were travelling the World, but that article, which mentioned about Jeff Leisk winning the Finnish GP wearing number 18 and low and behold, you are going to Finland this week and the number 18 is being worn by Jett Lawrence this weekend, going for a perfect season.

MXLarge: Aussies are grateful to have him.

Coombs: You know, when this series started, Jett was in a precarious situation. He was coming off an injury and so much outside noise with the falling out with his agent and for him to be able to phase all that out and just ride his dirt bike and ride it better than anyone before. His mental resilience is every bit as solid as Ricky Carmichaels was. If he stays healthy, we might be talking about 150 wins and 15 titles.

MXLarge: I did actually want to ask about the media at the moment, because sometimes I find it pretty comical and for old guys like us, not that you are as old as me, but old school media guys maybe don’t get it. The younger media, I find some of it hard to watch, because it seems like it is starting to become more about the media, than the racers. Media interviewing media and asking questions that really only riders should be answering. How do you find the media at the moment?

Coombs: We are going through an evolution, the media, and it is hard to find somebody who can write a feature length story these days. Kids are so used to writing a caption and doing social media, that it is hard for them to sit down and bang out a 2000-word magazine feature. The thing is, sometimes you get the real outrageous ones, who make shit up and don’t even go to the races. What I really do like, is the riders themselves doing so much media stuff. Also, the teams, some really good media. This is Lawrence is really good, the things the Deegan’s do. It really helps and now you have RV and Ricky doing Title24 and Adam Cianciarulo and Justin Brayton doing their podcast and I really do think that Jason Weigant, Jason Thomas and Steve Matthes for us do a great job. I am lucky to have them on our side, and they do excellent work. It is nearly 24/7 media now and its hard for old school media like you and me, who used to type out stories in the media room late at night, but I think a lot of the current media is really growing the sport.