FINAL Round 11 Preview: Ironman — Rip It Ron's Picks
Ironman rewards grinders and Hard Chargers — Ron’s loading the gate with movers, not parkers, for a late-season fantasy hammer.
FastMoto_Rider · 27 August 2026
🏍️ Intro
Hey legends, it’s your boy Ron here, rolling into Ironman Round 11 hotter than a clutch on LaRocco’s Leap weekend. We’ve got late-season form, Hard Charger bonuses, and some wildly underpriced grinders ready to rip your league to shreds. Strap in — Ron’s cooking a roster built on Hard Charger heaters and handicap value, not name-brand comfort picks.
📍 Round Overview — Ironman, Where the Grinders Eat
Crawfordsville’s Ironman Raceway is everything we love about late-season Pro Motocross:
- Big elevation and long uphills that reward fitness and late-moto pace
- Deep ruts and technical corners where racecraft actually matters
- Usually softer dirt with lines for days — perfect for Hard Chargers slicing through lappers
With two motos per class and this series running Hard Charger scoring off holeshot positions, you absolutely cannot just pick the holeshot heroes. We want:
- Riders who qualify mid-pack but race forward
- Low tip-over risk over 30+2 in choppy ruts
- Strong recent form specifically at Budds/Unadilla/Washougal-style rough tracks
Ironman is one of the best rounds all year to get paid for riders who dig deep the last 10 minutes. We’re targeting dudes who don’t panic if they start P20.
💥 450 Class Breakdown — Big Dogs & Big Movers
#38 Haiden Deegan — +1 HCP
Look, Ron knows this sounds wild, but on numbers only, Haiden is the 450 anchor this week.
- 29.1pts/main with Hard Charger baked in is the best raw production in the class
- Avg HC/Rnd: 10.8pts — that’s elite. He’s consistently gaining from his gate pick, not fading.
- Recent: 29.5, 26.5, 24 — steady, no massive blowups, even as tracks have gotten rougher
At +1 HCP, you still get a tiny adjusted boost without needing him to completely dominate. With his aggression and late-moto fight, Ironman’s ruts and long hills actually suit his style — plenty of room to scrub, rail, and make passes late.
Ron’s been wrong before, but it’s hard to fade the combo of top per‑moto average and double-digit Hard Charger in a scoring system like this.
#1 Jett Lawrence — +0 HCP
If you’re playing safe with one blue-chip, this is still your guy.
- 26.6pts/main with a solid 5.1 Avg HC/Rnd — even from good gate picks he still moves forward
- Recent: 30.5, 25, 27.5 — that’s winning/ podium-level fantasy output
- Zero HCP means you’re paying full retail, but it also means no fantasy “math tricks” — you’re betting on straight speed and consistency
Jett’s not the Hard Charger monster that some mid-pack guys are, but he doesn’t need it. If he goes 1–2 or 2–1 around Ironman like he’s done at similar tracks, you’re sitting on massive raw points with almost no DNF risk. Perfect cornerstone.
#54 Benny Bloss — +11 HCP
This is where we start printing.
- 25.9pts/main, which is already strong
- But the big one: Avg HC/Rnd: 11pts — he’s one of the best Hard Chargers in the entire 450 field
- Recent: 35.5, 36, 36 — that’s absurd form for this stage of the season
At +11 HCP, if Benny qualifies somewhere in the teens (very realistic) and races into the top 10, you’re getting:
- Strong adjusted finish bump from the +11
- Double-digit HC bonus on top of that
On rough, technical tracks like Budds and Unadilla he’s already shown he can claw through. Ironman is basically a copy-paste for his style. He’s the perfect mix of safe minutes + massive ceiling.
#36 Garrett Marchbanks — +10 HCP
Marchbanks is a little spicier, but the profile fits Ironman perfectly.
- 25.6pts/main, top tier for a +10 guy
- Avg HC/Rnd: 9.2pts — very strong mover from his gate pick
- Recent: 34.5, 40.5, 0 — that zero is the only red flag (likely DNF/issue), but when he finishes, he crushes
On a round with two motos and Hard Charger scoring, you’re betting that the Washougal-like DNF is the outlier, not the norm. If he stays upright, his combo of +10 HCP and nearly double-digit HC gains is ideal.
If you need pure upside and can live with a touch of risk, Marchbanks is your guy.
#31 Mikkel Haarup — +12 HCP
Quietly one of the sharpest fantasy plays in the 450 class right now.
- 24.7pts/main, which is already great
- Trend: up — 28.5, 30.5, 33.5 over the last three rounds
- Avg HC/Rnd: 2.2pts — small Hard Charger profile, but that’s fine with +12 HCP
Haarup isn’t the wild hard charger some others are, but with +12 HCP, he doesn’t need to be dramatic. If he just rides to clean 9–11 range raw results, the scoring model bumps him right into podium-level adjusted results.
He’s the type of rider who survives chaos at Ironman, keeps it on two wheels, and quietly stuffs your league from the back end of your lineup.
🔥 250 Class Breakdown — Hard Charger Heaven
#47 Levi Kitchen — +0 HCP
Kitchen is tailor-made for Hard Charger scoring.
- 28.1pts/main — best in the 250 field
- Avg HC/Rnd: 16.5pts — read that again. He’s basically a guaranteed Hard Charger check every round
- Recent: 15.5, 39.5, 26 — one off round, but two legit league-winning scores
He often doesn’t qualify right at the top but races forward every time. In this format, that’s gold:
- Mid-pack gate pick → forward march → big HC bonus
- No HCP, but his Hard Charger alone can outscore most +HCP guys
At a track like Ironman where flow and lines matter, Kitchen’s ability to choose creative ruts and keep momentum is massive. He’s almost impossible to fade.
#29 Chance Hymas — +0 HCP
Hymas is the steady outdoor hammer.
- 27pts/main, second only to Kitchen
- Avg HC/Rnd: 10.1pts — strong Hard Charger, he consistently beats his gate pick
- Recent: 31, 23.5, 29 — nothing scary, no zeroes, just workmanlike podium-level fantasy results
He’s not as flashy as Levi on the charge, but the numbers say he’s still banking a double-digit HC bump most weekends. Add in the fact that he’s clean, rarely DNFs, and handles rough technical tracks well, and you’ve got an ideal high-floor play.
Hymas is the kind of pick you don’t think about twice — lock him and let everyone else stress over boom-or-bust kids.
#37 Cole Davies — +0 HCP
Davies is sneaking into proper outdoor guy territory now.
- 22.2pts/main — not elite, but trending exactly where we want
- Trend: up — 23, 28.5, 33 the last three
- Avg HC/Rnd: -0.2pts — not much Hard Charger upside, he’s more of a “qualify well, finish near there” type
So why play him with that profile?
Because as he settles into the front group pace, the risk of big blowouts is dropping. At Unadilla/Washougal-style tracks he’s been solidly in the top group, and Ironman is in that same technical, flowing family.
He won’t win you the HC column, but he can absolutely sit on raw points efficiency from strong finishes.
#42 Dilan Schwartz — +12 HCP
This is where the real fun begins.
- 23.4pts/main — healthy enough
- Avg HC/Rnd: 6.2pts — good Hard Charger profile
- Trend: up — 12, 34.5, 39.5 over the last three
At +12 HCP, Schwartz has two paths to nuking this round:
- Qualifies mid-pack, races to just outside top 10 → you profit from HCP + HC
- One moto where it really clicks and he runs with the top group → adjusted result is insane
He’s been getting better as the season goes, and Ironman’s rutty corners reward exactly his kind of grinding, never-quit riding. Ideal fantasy combo: improving form, big HCP, and legitimate Hard Charger history.
#65 Marshal Weltin — +17 HCP
If you like watching your fantasy guys bully forward from bad gate picks, this is your dude.
- 22.8pts/main — decent
- Avg HC/Rnd: 6.6pts — very nice in a +17 profile
- Trend: 25, 21, 33 — there’s clear upside when it all comes together
At +17 HCP, he doesn’t need to do anything crazy. Even a raw 14–16 finish can turn into a top‑10 adjusted result, and the Hard Charger bonus often lands on top of that. Weltin’s veteran savvy in the ruts at a place like Ironman makes him a sneaky league-winning depth play.
💡 Sleeper Picks of the Week
450 Sleeper — #50 Lorenzo Locurcio (+16 HCP)
- 27.3pts/main — that’s higher than a lot of bigger names
- Avg HC/Rnd: 9.1pts — consistently gains from his gate pick
- Recent: 23.5, 20, 36.5 — that last round shows the ceiling
At +16 HCP, if Lorenzo qualifies around 18–22 and races into the low teens, you’re stacking:
- Huge adjusted result bump from HCP
- Strong HC bonus from positions gained
He’s a classic Ironman fantasy weapon: under the radar, fit, and not scared to charge the whole moto.
250 Sleeper — #43 Lux Turner (+10 HCP)
- 21.7pts/main — solid
- Avg HC/Rnd: 7pts — strong Hard Charger profile
- Recent: 31, 12.5, 24.5 — the 31 shows what happens when the starts aren’t terrible
With +10 HCP and a reliable habit of moving forward, Turner is tailor-made for a track like Ironman. If he keeps it upright and finds his flow in the ruts, he can absolutely outscore some of the bigger names on pure HC + adjusted result combo.
🤙 Signing Off
This is it, legends — late-season Ironman, where the fit, smart, and stubborn get paid. Stack your squad with Hard Chargers and HCP value, not just the posters on your wall, and you’ll be roosting your league all weekend.
Stay pinned,
— Ron 🤙