FXR Presents The Mid-Week Report with Andy White

The very last stretch of the western rounds takes us to Arlington, Texas. After round seven the series swings to Atlanta to start the first round of the lites eastern segment. I have been very impressed with the western lites series so far. We all thought Webb would be a mile out in front with a massive points lead, and I think most of his competition thought the same too. It’s nice to see that he isn’t running away with it. This makes staying up really late to watch the race from the east coast way more exciting. I really think Webb is the better rider, but you need to be super consistent to win the series. The issue with vapour lock seemed to be the thing that really killed his points lead. I wish he would just focus on winning races instead of getting pissed off with riders in practice. That is the wrong way to go about getting yourself focused. Let’s shift gears to the east coast lites series. There are plenty of heavy hitters to consider for this leg of the series. I really think it’s up in the air on who will win the east. Pro Circuit’s Tyler Bowers would be considered a favourite. I personally would not want to mess with this dude. I have seen him tap riders off the track, straight into the cheap seats. When you come from the arenacross series you really know how to take the lines away from your competition. Here are a few other names that can easily put the bike on the top of the box: Josh Hill, Alex Martin, Stewart and don’t forget Davalos. How many years has Davalos raced the lites class? I don’t think I can count that high to be honest. Rumours around the east coast program is that Vince Friese might jump down to the east coast lites class. I guess time will tell.

The 2016 Monster Energy Supercross Series moves East to the very spacious confines of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.

Let’s take things back to San Diego 2 for a moment. I was not really happy that I chose to stay up that late to watch a boring 450 main. The only rider making moves was Anderson. Every lap I was waiting for something to happen, and it never happened. Ryan Dungey just makes it look too easy out there. Maybe the AMA needs to come up with new rules for past winners. Start backwards maybe? Factory Honda looked way better with Seely finishing 2nd overall for the night. Ken Roczen looked solid. With a little better start he would be battling with Dungey. I am sure Ken was happy to finish third for the day. Jason Anderson finished 4th for the night. This guy is Mr. Consistency and I am sure he will end up on the box again really soon. Finishing 5th for the night was Trey Canard. I bet he was even surprised with his finish. I thought for sure he would start fading at the half way mark, but no, he proved me and many others wrong. I was looking at the LCQ list of riders that didn’t make it; Blake Bagget was one of the riders that wasn’t able to make the top 20. Did he come back too early? I sure hope that was the case. He has nothing to prove now that he has missed a few rounds. Why would you come back early?

Cole Thompson will have one more opportunity this weekend in Dallas to try and break into that elusive top 5. Photo by Frank Hoppen

If there’s one saving grace for this entire series, it has to go to the 250 west coast lites guys. This series has been unreal and nearly every lap there is something going on. Webb is either winning or crashing out. I sure hope he finds the confidence this weekend. It’s the last round of the west coast for six long weeks. You really don’t want to be thinking about the championship day and night for six weeks. Joey Savatgy has been looking really good the last few rounds; scoring a win for the weekend is huge. Finally, PC has a rider on the podium; I’m sure Mitch is sleeping much better this year that his rider is battling for a championship. Finishing a close second was Webb. Running third and looking better every event was Craig. This guy is super cool, nothing really seems to bother him. In seventh place was Jimmy Decotis. This kid has been up front the last two weekends but somehow finished just outside the top 5. I hope he finds his endurance this weekend. How about Cole Thompson, wedging himself into top 10! I think that’s a pretty awesome feat given how stacked the field is. I bet if you ask Cole, though, he is probably

wanting better results than that. I am sure with a better start we will see Cole running top 5 in Arlington.

That’s it for this week. See you at the races.

As the series now moves East, the riders will be getting introduced to these things…Deep ruts!!