Honda Canada Racing Presents the Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to another edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. As we speak the GDR Fox Honda Team is down in Georgia preparing for the 2018 race season. The gate drops in just over a month and Colton Facciotti and Dylan Wright will be ready to compete in the first ever Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series. Round 1 is an Arenacross in Abbotsford, BC. on February 24^th.

So after two rounds of talking about old injuries and the dealing with a trio of new injuries to the top riders, Round 3 of the 2018 Monster Energy SX Series in Anaheim was all about trying out a new format. The “Triple Crown” format is certainly not a new thing as it’s been used at the Monster Energy Cup for years. With all of the qualifying completed before the sun even set on Angel Stadium, the evening program featured three main events for both the 250SX and 450SX classes, as well as a three lap KJSC race. Now, I’m sure the fans in attendance enjoyed the fact that every race they paid big money to see was meaningful, however there was definitely a little more down time in between races. If you were watching from home, this meant a few more of the ultra-repetitive and very annoying commercials that seem to never end. For those who were sitting inside Angel Stadium, I’m sure the moments between main events were excruciating, and since the temperatures were cool for California, it must’ve been hard to stay warm. All in all, I think Saturday night was a success, however I don’t think it’s something that should be done anymore than twice a year.

As I mentioned above, from a fans perspective, other than the void between main events, watching your favourite riders race three main events in one night was pretty cool. From the time the Star Spangled Banner ended, every race moment meant something as far as the series points were concerned. As we saw, this format worked out better for some riders, while others struggled in at least one of the main events. Other than maybe Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia, who both got less than stellar starts at Round 3, by the end of the night the top riders still were able to find their way to the front of the pack. With the first two main events being shorter in duration, as well as a very simple track layout, recovering from a bad start was even harder than it normally is. I’m sure the easier than normal track design was based on the fact that the track crew not only had to do more grooming for the six main events, as well as having to transform the A2 track into a suitable amateur race track for Sunday. Whatever the case was, coming from behind and getting into the top five was a very difficult thing at Round 3.

The definite downside for this type of format was how it affected the riders who normally don’t make main events. With all of the qualifying completed prior to most fans arriving and the Fox Sports broadcast beginning, these riders weren’t able to get any exposure. Now, for most fans, as well as the people at Monster Energy and Fox Sports, this may not matter as it’s all about the top stars in the sport. This is what puts fans in the seats and viewers in front of the television. But, for the sport of SX itself, this certainly matters, If you’re a rider who tries to follow as much of the series as possible, and you have a number of sponsors that help get you to these races in hopes of you making at least the night show, with the Triple Crown format these riders were out of luck. And if Feld decided to go to more of these races in 2019, some of these riders would be out of SX, as their support would no doubt dry up. It costs so much to just enter yourself into a SX these days that these riders need as much support as possible. Without them, both classes would be reduced by at least half, and I don’t think anyone wants that.

As far as the top riders are concerned, I don’t think this format favours them either. First off, we’ve already witnessed a record number of injuries during the past year, I believe that injuries would increase even further with the Triple Crown format. With shorter main events and one extra start for the series top guns, I think you would see them having to push even harder and taking more chances than ever before. This combo could result in even more crashes and thus more injuries. As we saw on Saturday evening, the first few laps of the first two (shorter) main events were absolute ciaos as the riders tried to force their way to the front. From a fans point of view, I’d like to see this format done at two events in 2019 and beyond, just to give us something different to watch. Other than that, keep things the way they have been as this sport is currently so popular for a reason.

One item that the series promoters could focus on changing for the million or so viewers that tune into Fox Sports every Saturday night is the announcing. Like most of you, I spend a lot of time watching sports on TV, hockey, football, tennis, golf, F1, and sometimes even baseball, and each has one has mastered the way they bring us the play by play. When I watch sports on TV, I don’t just want to know what is happening, I want to know exactly why it’s happening. For instance, a few weeks back I was watching the New England Patriots play the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the game between these two great teams came down to the final play of regulation time. During the game, CBS Sports had longtime broadcaster Jim Nantz and the newly retired former QB of the Dallas Cowboys Tony Romo as his partner. Now, whether you like Tony Romo or not, it’s hard to argue that he doesn’t do a great job of letting us common folk watching at home know what was happening on the field. In fact, as Pittsburgh lined up for this important final play, Romo was telling us what play was coming and why it was important to run this type of play. When the Pittsburgh QB audibled at the line of scrimmage and change the play, Romo quickly picked up on this before the ball was even snapped, saying that it might be a mistake. Well, it ended being a bad mistake and it caused Pittsburgh to turn the ball over and lose the game against their arch rivals.

I don’t feel the we’re getting the same in depth explanations during the SX broadcasts from Jeff Emig and crew. I’m not saying that Emig doesn’t know as much about the racing as Tony Romo knows about football, all I’m saying is that for whatever reason he doesn’t explain it very well. During the final 450SX main event at A2 for instance, why didn’t Emig explain how Jason Anderson set up his important pass on Eli Tomac two corners before? I could see it coming, I’m sure most of you could also. But to the viewers watching that don’t know the sport very well, they need to know this stuff. Also, I love Ricky Carmichael and everything that he has done in this sport, he’s the G.O.A.T and everyone knows it. However, can we please admit that he’s not the guy who should be on the floor explaining important stuff to us. His explanation on why bikes are going back to spring forks left me shaking my head. Imagine being a person at home watching SX for the first time? They would’ve been like Huh! I know he’s a Monster Energy guy and he’s obviously connected, but lets find someone else who can do this. As I said, every sport now has a team of commenters who are great at letting us know exactly what is going on, and why it’s happening. I think Emig could be that guy, and sometimes he does do a good job, but with his vast knowledge of the sport both past and present, there is definitely room for improvement. Finally, I might be going a little too far with my complaining on this rainy Monday, but I’ve officially lost interest in knowing or caring about what people are saying about SX on their Social Media page. They need to move on from Miss Supercross’s Social Media segment and instead interview another rider in the paddock, or talk to the track crew about the track. I would’ve rather had watched an interview with Ryan Lockhart in the Knothole Club, or even some random fan, then see another IG post of someone watching the race at home with their bike in their living , while their dog is wearing a 2006 Chad Reed jersey. So to sum it up, get rid of Miss Supey’s Social Media segment and have her just interview anyone, replace RC with MC or someone else, and let Emig talk more and explain why it’s so difficult to get a good start when you’re trying so hard to do so. Maybe that would’ve given everyone at home some insight as to why Roczen botched his for two main event starts at A2. Other than that, leave the broadcast alone.

Well that is it for me this week. Before I go, let me give a shout-out to Tanner Ward who not only made his first Amsoil AX Lites main event this past weekend in Wilkes-Barre, PA, but also finished up with a solid 8^th place. Nice work Tanner, we’re sure there are more great finishes in your future. Also, I hope everyone pays close attention to the X-Games this coming weekend as Blair Morgan will be competing in the Adaptive Snow Bike race in Aspen. This will be Blair’s first race since his terrible injury in 2008, and together with the Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha Team, who built Blair a special YZF450, this incredible moment will be happening this weekend. Good luck to Blair and to all of the athletes who will be competing in Aspen. Nathan Bles will be racing in Snowbike X class against Ryan Villopoto and Josh Hill this weekend also. As the 2018 Monster Energy SX Series moves to Phoenix for Round 4, I bet a lot of eyes will be on what is going on in Aspen also.

Finally, just to give you an idea on how many amateur riders showed up at A2 yesterday for the first Amateur SX of 2018. I heard there was over 700 entries signed up to compete on the tamed down track. That number is amazing and it definitely takes me back to the old Pontiac Silverdome amateur SX days when the same number of riders were there. It was like a conveyor belt of motos inside the Silverdome, one after the other, three laps and get the heck out as fast as you could. It was hectic, but so much fun! Have a great week and please be safe.