Detroit Sx- Supercross Class

Speedy Reedy may have just hurt his championship cause this weekend. Let me correct that: Chad Reed significantly hurt his championship cause this weekend.

After being heralded as the most consistent rider on the track, and proving season in a season out that he just plain gets good results, he decided to change that notion mighty quickly in the day practice. Apparently he sampled the Detroit dirt, analyzing its texture and firmness, as he crashed hard in a tricky rhythm section. Coming up coughing blood and potentially hurting his shoulder (very likely from reports), he was forced to make a visit to the E.R.

The mood shifted in the pits for sure, as each rider found a new breath of wind in their sails, a jump in their step, some extra oxygen in their lungs, and some bigger cajones in their pants!

Coming into this season with a new mentality, a "fresh" Chad Reed told everyone he was going to hang it out at every event, with no regard to the championship. He was "tired" of losing, and wanted to prove he is a winner. Sadly for the fans, Lucky Number 7 had to withdraw his bid for the championship due to a bummed knee. With James Stewart out, everyone had Reed as a lock for the race to a winning tally of championship points. At the start of the season, his strong performances had people thinking perfect season from Stewart's point of withdrawal. Thankfully, some excitement unfolded, and since, the season has been up and down for Reed, keeping the fans interested.

Amidst this, Reed has stayed strong, and after a devastating race at Daytona (read here), he managed to slowly increase his points to a seemingly insurmountable lead over Kevin Windham. That flew out the window this Saturday afternoon with his extremely hard crash.

With a 27 point lead coming into the weekend, 4 races to go, and the point structure, Kevin would have to beat Reed by a minimum of 3 spots each week in order to win the championship. In fact, unless Kevin won each of those weeks, he may have needed to in the range of 4-6 spots each race with bias put on his previous results.

As the night show unfolded, uncertainty hovered in the air. Speculation about Reed's injury left people wondering if he would race. Reed, trying to show no chink in the armor, emerged on the start gate for his heat only to pull out on the first lap, obviously showing intense pain.

With the night even more uncertain after Reed's showing in the heat race, the main event approached, looming like a fog, everyone unsure of what would appear at the end. All said and done, Reed gritted what looked like a very long main event to finish 12th. He had little help from Wey and Carpenter late in the race, and his teammate Ramsay may have helped him as well by not passing him with laps waining. Even more impressive, was the fact he fell on the first lap.

Windham had another golden opportunity with Reed's early day bobble, and did manage a respectable third, but he left 5 crucial points on the table, chipping the lead down to 16. He may be wishing16 was 11 with 3 rounds left, but he is much closer now than ever before.

With all this math out of the way, a few more thoughts for next week. Reed has proven his strength in the past, but this is a rough deal with only one week to recoup. The swelling will set in, his body will most likly tire, and he will have an entire week to remember exactly his wreck.

To add to the already exciting night, some drama unfolded in the main event between Kevin Windham and Chad Reed. With Reed barely making it around the track in his hurt condition, a close moment unfolded when Chad Reed left Windham a questionable amount of room while getting lapped. If you watched the T.V. coverage, you would have seen Reed almost hold up his good buddy Millsaps as well, although he didn't seem to have any comments regarding the on track issue.

After the race, Windham went up to Reed an exchanged a few pleasantries on the matter.
While no one has a news report on exactly what was said, Windham did share what his thoughts were after the race on the web cast from supercrossonline. I have uploaded an mp3 clip from the online web cast of Windham's comments on Reed. You can get that here

I can't wait for the season to unfold!


When asked about his night, Reed has this, and much more, to say:

"I cant believe you here. How did you do this?" - Weege

"I don't know... I don't know. You know I've been here before...I knew the riders that I was competing against...there not as strong as what I am...This is the win right here, we're standing in Vegas and were champions."" - Reed
A powerful statement from a man you should be afraid of!


Chad Reed is one bad dude, and I'm not the first to say it.

Dallas SX - Who's the real star.

"Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz. " - cell phone

"What up!" - Me
"Hey, what are your thoughts on going to Dallas for the Supercross" - Friend inquisitively
"Uh, it's like two days away, I don't have tickets." - Me sadly
"Do you want to go or not?" Friend with attitude
"Yes but---" Me whining
"---But shut up. I got 4 tickets, let's go, you pay for gas." Friend stipulates

Two days later, the road trip begins! But not before his truck gets a flat 6 hours before we have to leave, making that exactly 6 hours before any shops are open. After some scrambling, a few tears, and some four letter words, the road trip begins. We're already late.

7 long hours later, parked 3 miles away from the stadium, running with the stiffest legs and ass as awkward as humanly possible in order to get inside before the heats start, cursing the Dallas traffic and our asleep limbs, we were almost there. We're still late.

As we fly through the pit area, a bike fires up. We screech to a halt.

It starts on a slow rev, held just above idle, then, "BAAHHHMM, BAAHHHHHM, BAAADADADAAHHHM," then shuts off, race gas floating through the air in into our flared nostrils. Crap, we're even more late.

We resume our sprint.

We slide through the ticket entrance, shoving 3 year olds along the way, and immediately race to the stand section to watch the opening ceremonies.

Did I mention we were on time?

Here are some thoughts on the night, instead of a race report, hopefully I can add some things not seen on T.V.

-The Lites Class-

Villapoto. Enough said, dominated all day and night.

The first lap saw some carnage, with Canard and Jesseman both on the receiving end of an impasse smack down laid by the track. I'm not sure who got going first, although I think Jesseman was dead last once he got going.

Canard looked fast. He charged hard, showed aggression on the bike, and took each position away from the other riders like a mom takes away your desert when she is mad at you. He rides like he dictates what can and can't be done, other riders look like they are hanging on for the ride.

After the first lap, I thought the night was going to be like the last Grant/Villapoto race, insane! But Grant stalled, and that's all she wrote, as he had nothing in the tank for later.

Jesseman made a serious charge early on, but stopped moving forward towards the end, I think he needs a holeshot to set him off for a race, his season has been litered with random bad luck, as he landed on someones bike, and got stuck.

Villapoto may have dominated, but in the whoop section, he damn near lost the race one lap, as he swapped so hard I could see the Monster sticker under his rear fender allowing his rear wheel to hit a tough block. I can honestly say that was the first time I've seen a tough block help someone, as it acted as a temporary wall and got him back in line.

Check out this photo of Villapoto's bike I stole from TW. Sweet steering damper!

Great ride by Tyler Bowers, I think he may turn heads out doors.

-The Supercross Class-

In Reed's heat, I saw why he is the best this year. In the tricky rhythm section after the finish, after stalling and falling back some places, he busted out a seemingly impossible triple to pass 3 people. He jumped from a little take off, over another little take off, and landed to a tall one, with NO run. He literally pulled the bike up and over, muscling over something that was impossible by merely bike alone. I nearly spit my beer on the 10 year old in front of me, which would have been a costly disaster, at 7 bucks a beer.
That feat would not be done again for the rest of the night, but what really saddened me was it was skipped over in the telecast in their "condensed" heat format. I will never be able to watch that again.
His ability lead him the "man's step" on the podium.

In the main, Ferry looked good for a while, but just didn't quite have it. I watched a scary moment for sure when he got kicked on the last whoop, rode a nose wheelie damn near up the entire triple face, and still managed to land it and ride out. I bet he shit himself, maybe Matthes can find out?

Windham looked REALLY fast. I bet had he holeshot, a battle royal would have unfolded (ED note: racerX's sign of the times has him as the fastest all night.)

Travis Preston must have worn himself out in one lap! He went nothing but backwards, although he showed some serious speed the first lap! I bet he hates not having the pre season training in him about right now, he had a golden egg in his lap with that holeshot.

Josh Hill should thank Kevin Windham for pressuring Millsaps.
It allowed him the "big boy's" step on the podium.

Take a look at this photo of his bike.

Bet you can't tell whats different on his than on Josh Summey's (cosmetically).

Millsaps never ceases to impress me at times, although not with his speed, but his weird ability to save himself from the craziest wrecks. At the throwback race in Cali, he saved something once that had me spitting popcorn out of my mouth. At this race, he did it again in the rhythm section before the switch backs.
His effort rewarded him with the "baby step" on the podium.

Josh Summey, formally of the Charles Summey variety (he used to go by Charles so there would be no confusion between him and Josh Hansen) did extremely well! he matched his best finish of the year, and managed to get a second in his heat. I noticed he rides really smooth and looks great. He proves that hard work plain works. He beat some big names, and proved to his team that he is worth latching on to. Hansen may have talent, but he sadly must have shown no heart or work ethic to the boys at JGRMX if he got released (unless he left for other reasons). Carmichael may not have partied like a rock star, but now, he can own the rock star. Hansen should take note that he better get it together.

Here is his bike to compare to Hill's.

Ok, I give; the ignition cover on Hill's is all one piece, without the screw in plugs for easy timing access. It is also aluminum colored vs. the black that comes stock. My guess is the one piece cover is less prone to failure, I know I have personally had one of those ignition view caps come out mid race, spewing my engines oil (and life) all over the track.

To matthes...sorry, this is a direct spin off of yours, but I managed to attend this race for once...

The Greatest Race of all Time

The pure excitement of a photo finish. Nothing quite gets your blood bubbling like that of a race that comes down to the wire.

Quite honestly, after attending the NHRA drag nationals in Houston, TX this past weekend, a few thoughts flew out, around, up, under, and ultimately in to my head. But first, let me just say that if you enjoy racing, you HAVE to go to at least one drag race national in your lifetime. I mean the one where the fastest top fuel cars in the world come to play, where a car literally changes the beat of your heart into the rhythm of a V8 pounding at 8000 rpm, where vendors line the pits, where pit passes are included in the ticket price, where the fumes expended from Top Fuel engines burn your lungs and make even the manliest of men cry tears.

Of Joy.

Last but not least, where millions of dollars are spent for four tiny seconds and 1400 and 60 feet. Four seconds of the most primal thing you will ever experience, pure adrenaline. And I'm just a fan! Imagine the driver's feeling.

There is a fundamental problem in expanding motocross. With the current T.V. coverage, combined with the huge disparity in rider speed, even across the top 20 riders in the country, the racing isn't very exciting. Every once in a while you see a good battle, but when was the last time you saw a photo finish where 5 riders are all within a tenth? NEVER.

That is why motocross will never achieve Nascar like status, and why random people perusing their Television Tube will change the channel after 10 seconds. This just won't cut it.

I have a proposition. It may be crazy, some might say unfair, and many will call it stupid, but I can guarantee you it would be exciting!
Here is the scoop. The race would initially have to be a one off event, much like McGrath's event, or Vegas U.S. Open etc...

It would require a large purse, but for this particular race, a large appearance payout (required to race) would be instrumental in its success.

Also extremely important would be a huge qualifying bonus. The pole qualifier would get a 100,000 dollar bonus with a purse much like a regular race for each position after that. It would be like the fast lap at Vegas, each rider getting a chance to turn one fast lap for 100 g's.

Now, for the real twist. Why are all those elements crucial? It is a reverse pole start. First qualifier starts with last gate pick, second with second to last gate pick and so on... But it gets even better. It would be a timed stagger, calculated by the difference in qualifying times, with a little give for time required to pass. If the highest qualifier was 4 seconds a lap faster than the worst, with a short sprint like 8 lap main (indoor track), he would start 32 seconds back (although more realistically 25 to allow for passing time). Just imagine all the big names having to battle their way through to the front from dead last!

Another important note: with this format, the start would be clean, with less chance of screw up, allowing for a less congested first lap, a problem that allows the person with the hole shot to pull a large gap while others fart around the first lap.

I think the racing would be unreal! With the use of the calculated start stagger, TECHNICALLY (emphasis on "in theory") every rider would reach the finish at the same time if they turned consistent laps.

The main event would be a 10 lap sprint, on a track built for racing. Extremely wide straights and corners, multiple options, and multiple fast lines. Each section would allow for at least 5 wide comfortably, and who knows how many uncomfortably! The track would be less technical, and more aimed at the basics; cornering and braking! I would make it a lot like the McGrath track, with huge ramps, and crazy jumps.

Do yourself a favor, head over to racerxill.com and watch the Josh Grant and Wil Hahn videos at GL's track. Those are the type of jumps I'm talking about.

But the race is not over. The payout would be less than the "super-pole" qualifying would be, maybe in the range of 75k. After the first moto, a second moto would be held (with another 75k payout). This time, with the top finisher starting last and the last finisher starting first! (ed note: some revision of format needed here to account for wrecks and what not)

I want to watch this race! Just think, every fan favorite mired back in the pack, trying their hardest to come to the front. Who wouldn't like to see that! Just as important, it would allow the little guy a chance at some serious bank if he rides consistent.

Sand-bagging could be an issue in qualifying, but think about it. If you intentionally did poorly in the qualifier, you wouldn't make great money. Then you win the first moto because you held out, and make 75 g's. But now, you have to start last in the the second moto. You practically limit yourself to 75 g's. But instead, if you try hard, qualify decent, make 40 grand, then race hard, do well in the first moto, get 3rd, make 40 grand, and then pull it all together and win the last one, and make 75, you just made 155, a lot better than 75.

I own this idea, and am willing to sell for 2% revenue!

thanks for reading