Don’t look now but Jo Shimoda is doing Jo Shimoda things again. While the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki boys and their bikes are very fast, Jo has ridden consistency right back to the front, notching the overall win at Thunder Valley with 3-2 finishes and closing to within six points of Levi Kitchen and Seth Hammaker, who are tied at the top of the standings.

Jo doesn’t even care about points right now, though. First step for him was to get a race win, which he had not done since a career-threatening neck injury suffered during the off-season. That injury was a big story, but faded as soon as Jo came back for Monster Energy AMA Supercross in race-winning form. He coulda’ shoulda’ won immediately if not for a confusing caution light scenario in Arlington, but he was on the podium, at least. Then his supercross campaign started to bog down, he hurt his leg, and he was back on the sidelines.

It took until now to actually get a win, and it was a big one. So while this does look like just Jo as usual, he does not feel that way.

“I know people are saying I’m a title contender and I’ve been through this before, but it is not easy," he explained. "There was  a moment there where I almost quit. When I crashed my arm was a little bit numb, it was pretty scary to be honest. We just always keep chasing, little by little. Today wasn’t a moto win but it’s a confidence booster for sure.”

Jo’s win also helps boost Honda HRC Progressive’s 250 program, which seemed a small step off in the first two rounds.

“We need to get our starts better,” says Team Manager Lars Lindstrom. “We’re searching high and low to figure out why they’re not where we want them to be, and where they were last year. Today, it didn’t matter. We knew this whole class would be inconsistent, and we knew we had to be the most consistent in this class even if our starts weren’t there. Jo gave us that today. Jo came from way back in that first moto [after a crash] to get third. Second moto he got a somewhat decent start, it was a little bit of that upgrade that we needed, and he was able to take advantage of Seth and Levi being back in the pack [first turn crash] and then he was able to make his way up and make enough points to get the overall. We’re looking for everything we can to make them [250s] better. They have to do everything perfect to get a good start, and it’s probably the most difficult thing they do during the whole moto.”

Shimoda’s teammate Chance Hymas, who went 1-1 at Thunder Valley a year ago, had a rough day going 20-13 for 18^th overall.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s a secret, he [Hymas] came into this weekend under the weather so it was going to be a struggle for him no matter what,” said Lindstrom. “Unfortunate because this has been his strongest race. We had high hopes and he had high hopes to repeat that, but it was going to be tough for him no matter what. First moto he had a bad start and couldn’t really move up, second moto he had a better start and was able to grit his way up to 13^th. Yeah, not his best day.”

Shimoda, at least, was happy to make some gains.

“Compared to first two rounds, my pace was better today and my riding was better,” he said. “We made some suspension changes and we found something that, you know, I could push to another level. So, just keep working on that. Overall, I think my riding was a lot better today, so I was able to come back. We just have to keep improving.”

Jo’s biggest issue was a washout in a turn that set him back from the lead pack in the first moto. He expended a lot in that one and really had to dig to get third.

“Yeah, and I think I cramped up a little bit, too, just dehydrated,” he said. “And I think in the first moto I had my bike too soft, I had to kind of muscle the bike around and spend a lot of energy. Second moto, the bike was a lot better but I was not as energized as normal.”

In the second moto, he made his way to second, a good distance back from the dominant ride of guest Sacha Coenen, the MX2 points leader in MXGP, who dominated that race. Coenen crashed twice in moto one, though, so he never had a shot at the overall. Shimoda had to work his way past Nick Romano to secure the overall and hope that first moto winner Levi Kitchen didn’t get too close. Kitchen only got to eighth, which made math easy for Jo.

“I think I knew I was in a [good] spot but I wasn’t sure where the PC guys were,” he said. “It happened right in front of me. Once Levi’s front wheel got tagged by Hammaker, I locked up my brakes so I could avoid it. I saw everything. Seth kinda keeps going sometimes, and I knew that was kinda happening so I just locked it before that happened. I was like sixth or seventh.”

With the two boys in green down, Shimoda was in position to secure that big first win, and also make up some points. Right now, though, he just wanted the victory. Points? He’s not sweating it.

“To be honest I don’t ever care about the points until later,” he says. That strategy might work out well for him.