by Andy Bowyer
One Industries Rev Up: Toronto
Friday, March 25, 2011 | 12:30 PM
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Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Rev Up. If things haven’t gotten ridiculous enough, we’re going to take the show up to Toronto to begin the sprint to the championship. I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but holy rusted metal, batman...I can’t remember a series like this, well, ever. Just when I was beginning to think that I was making some calls that were coming to fruition, dude, Jacksonville shows up and just leaves all of us shaking our heads like Lee Trevino in Happy Gilmore. Seriously, this gig has become quite the carnival of mayhem.
And how sweet it is, my friends.
As it stands right now, there are six races remaining, and there are five men standing tall with a chance at the title belt. You would be a fool to think that anybody within thirty points of the lead is out of the fight. Recent history has shown us that even when we see an alpha male emerge, he is just teetering on the brink of going ass over tea kettle, and not, (survey says) make...the main!
Things are beginning to get crowded.
Photo: Garth Milan
How does this even happen?
I’ll tell you how. It’s because the boys are twisting it. They are all riding on the razors edge of either winning or carting huge and getting a ride on the mule. The bar that we see today was set by Ricky Carmichael back in 2001, and since then everyone has been trying to figure out how to go completely psycho for twenty laps. The trick of it is, nobody can do it. RC remains the only man that can hold it at the rib cage and keep it somewhat together. And, as you recall, Carmichael had highlight reel crashes all the way until he hung it up.
So, with six races to go, who is really the favorite for the 2011 championship? Well, we’ve all been riding the Villopoto express for much of the duration, but ole boy went out there and didn’t even make the main event last weekend. And, bare with me for a moment...that isn’t right. There are a few things that are, ahem, “behind” in our sport, and when we have all cylinders firing and people are really into what is going on, we can’t have “The Man” not in the main event.
The points leader of American Supercross got cleaned in his heat race, then got swept up in the LCQ. Look, Ryan Villopoto makes as much money and creates more hype than anyone on the starting line and by dumb luck he doesn’t make the main event.
Even with failing to qualify for the main in Jacksonville, RV still has a seven point lead over Chad Reed.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
Ah, but you “purists” will rejoice in the calamity we arrive in right now. The rules are the rules, and when all of the teams entered their riders into this championship, they all knew the deal.
I’ve never been a fan of “everything happens for a reason,” but the way things have gone down thus far, we all have a reason to be jacked up to see the boys finish the game.
There’s a lot of noise right now. Some serious juice and adrenaline on the line and like I said, I’ve never seen a storm quite like this one. Be that as it may, look at the consistency of Chad Reed. Respect the fact that James Stewart can come back and string together 3-4 victories in a row. Do not forget that 2010 champion, Ryan Dungey has yet to win and is within striking distance. And you would only be a fool to think that the darling of 2011, Ryan Villopoto will not come back ready to eat steel and spit razors. Then, of course you have Jacksonville and now, two-time winner, Trey Canard aiming his stare at the championship.
This is why we run the races, folks.
Thanks for reading, see you next week.
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GO REED!!!
Good read. This season is just insane. 5 way battle for the championship. Doesn't get much better than this. WOooohoooo!!!
Looking forward to being there - courtesy of BTO Sports.
ROCK AND ROLL!!
Go Reed as well. The article doesn't say anything.
uh
"dumb luck" didn't cause Rv2 to miss the main...
if you are in front of people they won't have a chance to mess up in front of you...he didn't have his starts dialed at all...paid the price...
not luck, bad starts...can't control Boni's Bike, but can't blame the whole deal on it either...
or how about this, build a track that isn't 44 seconds and rv2 would have made the main in the lcq, barely...
what happened to us getting excited at someone dropping below a minute...?
I always wondered whats making the biggest difference than say 10 years ago. Are the tracks 10 seconds shorter, are the bikes 10 seconds faster, or are the riders 10 seconds gnarlier?
Acejas, all of the above happened. Everything is getting better except the viewing for race fans. I agree with other posters that 20 min + 2 laps is a good idea for the fans and the racers.
Racer X Takes a stand against Racism ... Very COOL thing to do ....
Leave in 1 hr for Toronto!!! Have paddock - industry seating pass!!! Courtesy of a friend.
I wish they could have a "A" and "B" main, 10 guys in the "A" main so we don't have guys getting lapped on lap 7!! and 20 in the "B" main. More guys get to race and the "A" main would be a dog fight!!
The question is, will Stewart crash and end his season or will he crash and make it to another race like the last couple of weeks?
That's uh, BEAR with me, not BARE with me... one o' these days I'm gonna educate you so-called SX/MX 'writers'.
Picone,,, thats a good question. Its obviously time for him to get with it ...
All though I am pulling for RV to take the title, there have been a few times this year when I am wanting to see JS7 annihilate everyone and show he's still the boss like he did at A2. Atlanta was going to be the first I thought but Reed screwed that one up cuz he won in the mud and got G-REEDY then Daytona when it was happening right in front of everyones eyes, even RC and FRO were amazed at the speed JS7 had and that he wasnt riding over his head...but bad luck struck and we saw what happened...last week was another bad night..JS7 looked better than anyone and was having fun in the Heat after smoking Reed and the rest of the folks and then more bad luck in the main.He wasnt riding over his head and he was down again. So is this JS7 bad luck storm over...everyone knows its possible he can come out and win the rest of the races like he had to do in 2009....but going off the history of the season so far, hopefully he stays in one piece and can take it outdoors and then charge back in SX next year on a new bike, Yamaha sucks..
We've had four winners so far, I'm ready to see number five tomorrow. Also, I'm all for whatever outcome pulls the "top five" closer together in points, don't want this to end until lap 20 in Vegas!!!
Your right Carlsbad...It certainly looks possible to be a Vegas battle and not one of those " so and so needs to finish 17th or better"....A "must win" to win the title would be epic !!!..If JS7 is out of the points come Vegas and I am Reed who is going for the title, I would be watching my mirrors thats for sure...
I'm going to go waaaay out a limb here and mention one obvious trait SX & MX have in common: like SUPERCROSS, not a single OUTDOOR NATIONAL MOTOCROSS SERIES track is the same length as another track (there probably is a 'stat' somewhere out there to prove it too).
The point is, MOTOCROSS has always been a TIMED RACING EVENT. Originally 40 min. +2 laps (if only we could go back...) and now 30 min.+2 laps.
SUPERCROSS NEEDS TO SWITCH TO A TIMED (+2) FORMAT.
It's painfully obvious that an overwhelming majority of fans who follow both series feel this issue needs to be resolved.
In addition to BETTER RACING for the riders and fans, LONGER MOTOS would be more useful in prepping the riders for the transition to the longer format MOTOCROSS series motos that follow the Supercross season.
And- like in the OUTDOOR MX Series, the 250's should also run the same distance as the 450's. 20+2 laps seems the least amount of time they both should run. Maybe 30+2 for Daytona to break it up some...
Finally, can we stop using 'lites' and 'Premier' to describe which class we are watching?
250 class, 450 class..., is that so hard to say?
Sanctioning body, are you listening to the fans of your sport?
@ All who are looking for a timed format -
I'm on the fence about making Supercross something like 20min + 2 laps. While I don't particularly enjoy watching a 14 minute main event and wish it could be rectified, I can't help but wonder why it's been that way since the start of the sport. It's for a myriad of reasons, I'm sure, but here's a couple of thoughts I had as to why its not a timed format:
1 - The track condition. We've seen races this year and in year's past where it turns into a complete mess, rutted and slick. If the races are longer, this will only make the situation worse. I know what your're thinking, outdoors gets nasty ruts & bumps - but that's outdoors. Underneath a Supercross track is a floor consisting of plywood and cement - dirt bikes don't do well on those.
2 - Track build & tear down. Dirt Wurx already works day and night to set up and tear tracks down, moving from one location to the next with really no break. If the races are longer, going into the night longer, that means they work deeper into the night and get a later start on the next week's track. Not to mention longer breaks for intermission between main events to repair the track from the deterioration.
3 - The appeal. Part of the reason I think it's a 20 or 15 lap race is the appeal of an "all out sprint" to the checkered flag. Where you get one chance to make your move and win. In outdoors, you play the strategy game, especially the first moto; getting a solid first moto finish while scoping out the track, your competitors, your bike and your fitness. You take all of that info. into the second moto and leave it all out to dry. Not so in Supercross - its once chance to get that #1 spot.
All that being said, I do think something need fixing to make the tracks safer, more unique and fan friendly. The system is far from perfect, but what sport is?
The lap format works best in SX, just need either longer tracks or slower tracks so there is atleast 20 minutes of entertainment and guys have a chance to move up after bad starts. These 40 second laptimes are crazy.......Heck, if pulled the holeshot in a main, I'd probably still get 17th :) cause the other guys would be to far behind and by the time they did catch me, RV2 would have finished the race already...
its just one of those things.....
One things for certain, the races need to be longer and the ama is sitting on there hands ignoring the fans instead of implementing changes. I for one will not stand for this and will not watch another supercross until something is done. Haha yeah right.
One things for certain, the races need to be longer and the ama is sitting on there hands ignoring the fans instead of implementing changes. I for one will not stand for this and will not watch another supercross until something is done. Haha yeah right.
ride over your head, go faster than anyone, then land on your head. just bad luck i guess
yeah lets make the main event a one lap -winner take all -dash for cash.we dont want to make the track crew work too hard.
Sombody help me !!! Why do people STILL call a riders mistake bad luck ??? James Stewart made a mistake at daytona and went over the bars, had NOTHING to do with luck !! What happened at Jacksonville could be explaned as bad luck, but really as RC often said we mostly create or own luck. Both RV and JS had poorer than normal (for them) starts that set them up for what happened, was it directly their fault ?? no but more than likely neither would have happened if they were just 3 positions ahead of where they were.
I will AMEN any solution to the VERY short race times we are having in SX, approx1/3 of the racing we see in motocross. We know they can build tracks in the 1 minute range, because they have many times in the last 6 seasons. We know they can keep the ruts off the plywood , simply put more clay in the dirt their or a little more dirt, this should be done for safety.
Its hard to call JS7's crash at Daytona a rider mistake......He simply got some crazy traction and he wheelied out of the turn which through him in to the endo. I trust RC's judgment on that over anybody else'....I have had that happen to me where your surprised that your bike wants to all of the sudden take off without you and i am sure JS7 gave it as much gas as the lap before, bad luck or just a freak thing..but I dont think he was over his head in this case, true he does often i agree...If JS7 was riding over his head, I think he would have crashed again, especially riding after that spill....hard to call....last week is just racing....no error on anyone's part in my book......so chop that up to bad luck i guess....i dunno
Supercross = Rythm, explosive power, and stadium sized action.
Motocross = Endurance, strategy, and distance.
Both of them have different fan benefits, there is no reason to make one more like the other. It's llike the difference between a GNCC and a Motocross national, two different disciplines.
@David Langford, The difference between a mistake and bad luck is directly related to how the writer feels about the rider, simple as that.
Stewies crash at Daytona was a rider mistake, who else could you blame. He got "crazy" traction? Pull in the clutch a little right?? He is suposed to be a top rider in the whole world. On another issue, you cant make a longer track to make the races longer, the stadium floors are onlt so big. To do that you would have to make the tracks narrower, and the passing lanes would completely disappear. I like the 20 minutes plus 2 laps answer myself.
Early in the season, Mike Fisher told RacerX ("5 minutes with Mike Fisher") that Chad would no longer be in contention for the title, in short he is "DONE"....
Now the serious threat to his guy is Chad. Like Fro & RC always talked in the booth, you could never give chad the confidence that he has now, as per RC, chad is lethal given this kind of situation...
After vegas, who ever will receive the silverware deserves it, whether its RV, JS, CR, RD5 & Trey.
What a great season so far... I hope everybody stays healthy...
I like RV2, but no one just deserves a ride in the main. He crashed and that is part of racing. He chose not to get up and attempt to make 9th which he probably could have done as other have done it this year. His confidence was high, and he felt he could just regroup and get in in the LCQ a decision that cost him. It was unfortunate but NO ONE deserves a free entry into the Main, not even the GOAT aka little baby Jesus.
thinkmx,you cant even spell his name..rest my case