Decal Works Presents Monday Gate Drop

Good morning and welcome to another edition of the Monday Gate Drop presented by DeCal Works. As I’ve said many times, if you need a brand new, awesome set of custom graphics then DeCal Works is the place to go. Just log onto www.decalmx.com and in minutes you can design any type of graphics that you want. It’s that easy. You design it and they will ship it right to your door with detailed installation instructions.

Before I get to the obvious hot bottom issue from Saturday night in Anaheim, let’s talk about some very cool and exciting local Canadian news. On Friday, the 2015 Southwestern Ontario Motocross schedule was released by the new AMO. Over the last few months I’ve had a lot of inquiries regarding AMO and whether or not a CMRC license is required to compete. The answer on that question is yes, you’ll still need a CMRC license for 2015. So hurry up and send in your registration form or go to www.cmrcracing.com and buy one online. Judging by the new schedule, we only have three short months until the racing gets started in Ontario.

Over the last few months I’ve also received many questions regarding how different the 2015 AMO schedule was going to be. Was it going to be front loaded into April, May and June and then relaxed until fall? Was there even going to be any fall races? What new tracks were going to come onboard for this year? Well, the answer to all three of those questions is no, yes and none. However, even though AMO has promised change (and the 2015 schedule isn’t too far off previous ones) I don’t think this is a bad thing. I thought the schedule before was fine, I don’t think there any many other tracks in Ontario worth going to for a race, and I think the biggest change people are looking for is in the daily operation of each event.

2015 SWO MX Schedule

April 12th – Gopher Dunes AMO Open Practice day

April 18-19th – Gopher Dunes AMO ANQ #1

April 25th – Motopark Open Practice

April 26th – Motopark AMO ANQ #2 (Vintage Included)

May 2-3 – Sand Del Lee Eastern ANQ (2 full days)

May 9-10 – RJ Motosport Park AMO ANQ #3 (ATVs Included) Tentative

May 16-17 – Motopark Cup RDs 1-2

May 23-24 – Gopher Dunes RD1 AMO Provincial Series (ATVs Included)

May 23-24 – Sand Del Lee Cup RDs 1-2

May 30-31 – Paisley AMO ANQ #4 (ATV’s)

June 13-14 – Walton AMO ANQ #5 (Vintage Included)

June 20-21 – RJ Motosport Park RD2 AMO Provincial Series (ATV’s/Vintage Included) Tentative

June 27-28 – Motopark Cup RDs 3-4

July 4-5 – – Sand Del Lee Cup RDs 3-4

July 11 – Gopher Dunes Event TBA

July 12 – Gopher Dunes Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross National – RD5

July 18 – Sand Del Lee Event TBA

July 19 – Sand Del Lee Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross National RD6

July 23-25 – Deschambault, QC Eastern Canadian Amateur National

August 10 – 16 – Walton Parts Canada Trans Can

September 5-6 – Walton AMO RD3 Provincial (Vintage Included)

September 12 – Motopark Open Practice

September 13 – Motopark AMO RD4 Provincial (ATVs)

Sept. 20-21 – Gullymor AMO RD5 Provincial (Vintage Included)

Sept. 26 – Sand Del lee Eastern Final

October 3-4 – Gopher Dunes AMO RD6 Provincials (ATVs/Vintage Included)

January 2nd AMO Banquet

If each race runs fairly smooth and everyone is on their way home by 6pm, tired and sore from decent length motos, I think almost everyone will be happy. Obviously, riders will still pick and choose which events they will attend, and some events will be better attended than others, but as long the riders (customers) leave the track happy on Sunday night then what does it matter what the schedule is? As I said, we’re only three months out from the first gate drop in 2015 so let’s pull together and get ready to go racing!!

Another item that was finally made public on Friday was the signing of Kyle Keast and Westen Wrozyna to the GDR Honda/ Red Rider Team. While these two fast Ontario riders won’t be pitted out of the big rig, they will travel to all of the 2015 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals in a fun mover and will pit right next to the GDR Honda Troy Lee Designs Team of Colton Facciotti and Jeremy Medaglia. Although Westen is still barely old enough to drive, this year marks a comeback of sorts for Keast as he did race in 2014, but he didn’t do it the way he wanted to. Kyle Keast is the type of rider that has to ride a lot in order to feel ready and be ready. When he’s healthy, confident, fit and has a little mean on, Keast is as good as anyone in this country. The word is that he and Westen are headed down south very soon to begin training for their assault of the 2015 season.

If Keast can get into shape, and I don’t see why he can’t, he will head into the first round in Kamloops as the dark horse to be one of the frontrunners in the MX1 class. This GDR ‘B team’ so to speak is going to be fun to watch as both Keast and Westen will no doubt make some headlines in 2015. This second GDR Team also marks Honda Canada’s increased effort back into the foray of Canadian motocross, and that is a very positive sign. Okay, onto the huge issue from the weekend.

As everyone in motocross saw, heard or read on Saturday night, Chad Reed was black flagged during the main event for his actions on the track. There are a few different ways to look at what happened to Reed on Saturday night, some people agree that a black flag was warranted while some think it was ludicrous to remove him from the race. Let’s take a look at both sides of this argument and make a decision as to whether it was the right or wrong call.

In other sports like hockey, baseball or football, when an athlete retaliates in a manner that the official deems to be over the top or dangerous, then that player is usually ejected from that game so no more damage can be done. After the game, the incident is usually looked at again and that player may or may not receive a fine or even further discipline. This happens all the time in other sports so if you look at the Chad Reed incident then giving him the black flag to remove him from the race immediately seems to make perfect sense.

However, this isn’t baseball, hockey or other main stream team sports where a player can miss a game or two, and in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter. This is Supercross and if a top rider misses one race then he’s pretty much lost all hope of winning the championship. Also, in the other mentioned sports, each time a suspend-able infraction occurs, it is looked at by the authorities and a precedence is set for how that infraction is dealt with in the future. SX obviously doesn’t have this thought process in place as almost every weekend we’ve seen take-outs that are far worse than Reed’s on Trey Canard. If you look at the replay of the infraction, Reed actually doesn’t make contact with Canard, he only takes his line away. Canard was in the process of riding with only one hand on the bars, and therefore could not stop in time to avoid the Tuff block. Was it a deliberate move by Reed to cut him off and send a message? Of course it was. Was it a blatant take-out worthy of a black flag and Reed’s immediate removal from the race? Definitely not. I think everyone, with the exception of the man who used the black flag, know this. Heck, not 20 minutes before, Josh Hansen ran Shane McElrath into the Tuff blocks and took him out hard, and there was no black flag.

In between the two great NFL games yesterday, I contacted a couple of sources in the USA and they confirmed that there is indeed some history between Reed and referee John Gallagher. It goes back to 2010 when during the Phoenix SX main event Reed and James Stewart came together and Stewart’s bike landed on Reed’s hand and broke it. In Reed’s haste to remove Stewart’s bike off of his broken hand, he pushed James and the FIM/AMA suspended Chad one race for that infraction. Although Reed was forced to miss races anyway due to his injury, he did appeal that suspension and won. Not only was this a bit of a black eye for John Gallagher and crew, Reed has also, on a few occasions, made his feelings known about his disdain for how SX is sometimes run. Whether it’s regarding the tracks, the rules or just about anything, he’s outspoken and not afraid to say what’s on his mind. Having said that, there is a feeling that for the last few years Gallagher and crew might have been waiting for an opportunity where Reed crosses the line, and Saturday night might have been that opportunity.

Who knows what happened. There are many opinions from just about everyone. As a former pro racer I can only say that to race with a rider as unpredictable as Trey Canard, sometimes it would drive me crazy. Over the years he’s made some really dumb decisions on the track that have cost him and other riders points and money. That failed attempt at a pass on Saturday was idiotic at best, and if I was Chad Reed and had been through what he’s been through in the last few years, I probably would’ve had the same reaction. So my final opinion on this is that while Reed’s move was wrong, it didn’t warrant the black flag. Maybe a fine but certainly not a black flag. I also think that the FIM/ AMA needs to sit Canard (and a few others) down and tell them that they need to rethink some of their on-track decisions before someone gets injured.

Anyway, that is all I have to say on that subject. Whatever happens from here I hope Reed finds a way to rebound and make the most out of what just might be his final year of racing. I also hope that riders like Dungey, Tomac, and Millsaps, just to name a few, find that little extra speed to run with Ken Roczen on a weekly basis. If not then this season is going to be a snoozer. That’s it for me and this week’s edition of the DeCal Works Monday Gate Drop. I hope everyone has a great week.