Blogandt: That's Racing in Vegas

It’s over folks. But what a run it was.

How can we top this season of Monster Energy Supercross? I thought 2006 was great, when we enjoyed the week of Tied 3:16 heading into the finale. But that year’s hype was hype based more on math than emotions. On paper, Reedy and RC were tied heading into the finale, with Stewie just five points back. But that season just didn’t bring it like this one did. This year, each week, my GNCC buddies would ask about supercross. Casual fans would ask about supercross. People that normally don’t care would say “man, supercross is actually good this year, eh?”

How could a battle between two riders, separated by six points, top a battle between three, separated by five, with one of them being the GOAT?

Because Reed and Stewart hate each other. We really did have a perfect storm this time. In every other close year, we either didn’t have big enough names, enough popularity, or enough emotion.

The 1980’s supercross battles were epic, but back then the series drew 10,000 fans per race, TV and mainstream press coverage were non existent, and the internet couldn’t polarize fans into two distinct corners.

We didn’t have the internet during the 1992 Bradshaw/Bayle/Stanton tussle, but I recall convincing dad to let me dial 1-900-Info-Moto or whatever to find out the results. And once I knew Bradshaw blew it, I had no one else to talk to about it. So that was it.

MC and Emig were close coming into Vegas in 1997, but you knew Emig had a big enough lead to hold it, and MC wasn’t going to do anything dirty—it’s not his style.

Reed and Windham brought plenty of controversy and drama to the table in 2004 and 2008, but both raced under the shadow of Stewart and Carmichael’s absence. Oddly, in Vegas this year, I heard a few people say, “It’s been awhile since we’ve had this title come down to the last race.” Well, it actually happened last year, and three of the last four. But those years weren’t memorable.

But this year had it all. Reed and Stewart are unquestionably the biggest names in the game right now. They ride for rival teams, they will both get aggressive when needed, they have history, and the bad blood had reached full boil by the time we got to Vegas. Throw in “Chisholm gate,” mainstream press coverage, live TV and a solid out stadium, and the perfect storm had finally hit the coast.

I love this story: In 2006, Ralph Sheheen and Denny Stephenson, the SPEED TV announcers at the time, got Reed, Carmichael and Stewart in a room and asked them how badly they wanted the title. All three said they didn’t care. Seriously.

In this year’s pre-race press conference, Reed said the title means more to him than just a red number-one plate. It means pride, and he will do everything in his power to get it. It was the moniest of money quotes, the stuff the TV crews and motocross press have spent a decade begging for. Finally, a guy tells you he wants it and tells you he will go through a wall to get it. Finally!

And where was Stewart? Well, he didn’t come to the PC, and really that was better, because for once motocross journalists got to be real journalists and ask hard questions. I consider myself part of the guilty party—it was the best PC I’ve ever hosted.

Yes, we’re all afraid to ask the tough questions. This sport is small, and if you’re perceived to slight, judge or favor one party over another, you risk getting cut off the next time you need an interview. So everyone makes nice. Meanwhile, do you think Sports Illustrated’s Selena Roberts is worried about her next A-Rod interview right now?

Without Stewart at the PC, no one was looking over their shoulder, so they let it fly. And so did Reed, who talked mega trash and made it clear that anything could happen on Saturday night.

Afterwards, Stewart’s team did damage control. They sent out another press release saying it was the team’s decision to keep James out of the conference, not Stewart’s. But even if that’s true, it doesn’t matter—when you don’t comment, you leave the media and fans to their own devices, which is like leaving your three-year old home alone.

Due to this, Reed was beyond loose on Saturday, while everyone was afraid to go near the Stewart camp. The theories were out of control. Momentum is on Reed’s side again. Stewart is nervous. The team is putting him in a box, just like Yamaha did to Bradshaw. Reed is going to take him out. Alessi is going to take him out. Someone is going to take him out.

But here’s the truth: you’d take six points over momentum, interviews or good press any day. Stewart did, and he’s wearing the number-one plate.

Still, it built to a fever pitch when Alessi got around James in the first turn and jetted out to the holeshot. Didn’t Reed say he has a teammate who gets holeshots and knocks people down?

Well, Alessi doesn’t have any heat with Stewart, and for some reason, it seems like they’re friends nowadays. And I don’t think Suzuki wants to win via an Alessi takeout, anyway. So Mike told everyone that he would not favor Chad or James on this night. And then Stewart caught up to him in the whoops, which allowed him to blow by unmolested—unless Alessi gets on a Suzuki ATV that is literally as wide as the whoop section itself, he’s going to get passed in the whoops.

Stewart had the lead and Reed was pretty far back. I braced for an anti-climactic finish to a dramatic season. But then Ryan Villopoto started going nuts. His Seattle win looked pretty controlled, but this was 250-vintage RV.  Mondo aggression, throttle like an on-off switch, head locked down—RV looked like a radio-controlled car again. And going after Stewart with zero intimidation with so much on the line? Balls, that kid has.

Stewart started making a lot of mistakes and Reed closed the gap on him. The building turned silent. Would Reed take him out? I watched the TV show and noticed the announcing crew was confused when Reed refused to pass Stewart. What’s confusing about this? Reed passing Stewart for second wouldn’t get the job done, and even if he passed RV, too, he still wouldn’t win the title.

Reed needed something else to happen. He needed Stewart to make a huge mistake and hope the fourth-place rider could catch up. Stewart started looking all sorts of rough, casing jumps and making mistakes everywhere. He not only had title pressure on him, he had a crazy Australian who had said “I will do everything in my power to win this title” right behind him. I’m telling you, the building was silent except for the bikes—fans were standing but jaws remained on the floor.

Reed didn’t go through with the takeout to end all takeouts. Instead, he passed James in the sweeper outside and threw a whole bunch of extra mustard on it—but that was more of an “____ you” than a takeout attempt. James has saved some of the wildest swaps of all time. This was nothing to him.

Chad was out of options. He gave it his all this year, but time was running out. He needed the fourth-place rider to close the gap on James, but it wasn’t happening.

Here’s something interesting: Stewart and Reed battled through laps 10-14. Stewart even slowed at one point to let Reed past him, and Reed slowed down even more. But fourth-placed Windham barely closed the gap. On lap 12 Reed turned a 1:07.9, Stewart turned a 1:08.4 and Windham ran a 1:08.04. When Reedy ran James off the track, James clocked a 1:10 and Windham went 1:08.4, but for the rest of the race, they stayed about equal, even though Stewart looked to be riding at 50 percent at the end of the race.

Back in 1992, Bradshaw won nine races. He was fast back, but speed gap between Bradshaw/Stanton/Bayle and the rest of the 1992 field wasn’t as big as it is for Stewart now. Bradshaw won nine, but guys like Mike Kiedrowski and Guy Cooper weren’t super far off of his pace each week—back then other riders could even lead some laps! When Damon locked up at the finale, Kied and Coops were close enough to take advantage and knock him out of the title.

Today, Stewart is so crazy fast that even when he’s casing jumps, riding tight and cruising to the finish, the mere mortals can’t catch him. Windham has been coming on strong, but there was no way he was going to make up a 14-second gap on Stewart.

Stewart was exhausted when it was over. What an emotionally draining weekend. He was crying as soon as his helmet came off. James later guaranteed one thing “It won’t be close like this next year. I can’t take it!”
 
That’s too bad, because everyone else loved it. It was an amazing season, the perfect storm, the right recipe of drama, star power and interest.

In Vegas next year, if I hear anyone say, “yeah, it’s been awhile since the title came down to the last round,” I suggest we ban them from the races for life. This one should never be forgotten.