Since 2001—and with only a few breaks in between—supercross has been coming to Salt Lake City, and the race has garnered a rep for cold weather. Even racing in April, the altitude can play tricks and even lead to snow flurries by main event time. But no such troubles this year, as 70-degree temps and clear skies have given this year’s SLC SX perhaps the best weather of any race this year.
Today’s track looks fairly tame, but the whoops are pretty big and the section is long, plus there’s a triple after it that only a few riders were able to get during the untimed practices early in the day. A few rhythm lanes present options, but the riders will most likely figure those all out. The track offers five 180-degree bowl berms, and there’s enough moisture in the track to allow the corners to rut up. The track is actually drying out in other sections, and a little dust popped up at the very end of the final unseeded session.
In news and notes, we chatted with Chad Reed and he says he’s fine after last week’s first-turn crash. He hit the (not so humerus) bone and his hand went numb for a few minutes, which is what put him out of the race. Otherwise, he’s okay and ready to race here. Also Trey Canard crashed last week in Seattle but he’s okay and rode during the week.
We geographically-challenged folks might not realize that this is the home race for some of the riders, including Eli Tomac, who is from Colorado but actually lives closer to hear than say, Denver, or the AMA National in Lakewood. Also, Idaho-born Jake Weimer considers this his home event. Tomac is undefeated here in two 250 SX starts, no doubt he’s comfortable in the altitude. Weimer was in the hunt for the win here last year, battling Ryan Dungey and Davi Millsaps for a bit. He’s also coming off of a solid ride last weekend with a fifth in Seattle. He told us this morning he feels like he’s turning a corner a bit after a rough go at mid-season, but he doesn’t feel like he’s all the way back, yet.
Stay tuned for more, timed practices are about to begin.
Today’s track looks fairly tame, but the whoops are pretty big and the section is long, plus there’s a triple after it that only a few riders were able to get during the untimed practices early in the day. A few rhythm lanes present options, but the riders will most likely figure those all out. The track offers five 180-degree bowl berms, and there’s enough moisture in the track to allow the corners to rut up. The track is actually drying out in other sections, and a little dust popped up at the very end of the final unseeded session.
In news and notes, we chatted with Chad Reed and he says he’s fine after last week’s first-turn crash. He hit the (not so humerus) bone and his hand went numb for a few minutes, which is what put him out of the race. Otherwise, he’s okay and ready to race here. Also Trey Canard crashed last week in Seattle but he’s okay and rode during the week.
We geographically-challenged folks might not realize that this is the home race for some of the riders, including Eli Tomac, who is from Colorado but actually lives closer to hear than say, Denver, or the AMA National in Lakewood. Also, Idaho-born Jake Weimer considers this his home event. Tomac is undefeated here in two 250 SX starts, no doubt he’s comfortable in the altitude. Weimer was in the hunt for the win here last year, battling Ryan Dungey and Davi Millsaps for a bit. He’s also coming off of a solid ride last weekend with a fifth in Seattle. He told us this morning he feels like he’s turning a corner a bit after a rough go at mid-season, but he doesn’t feel like he’s all the way back, yet.
Stay tuned for more, timed practices are about to begin.
