Honda Canada Racing Presents The Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to this mid-March edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. I hope you had a great St. Patrick’s Day and I hope everyone is ready for some long anticipated spring riding. With the weather gradually improving right across this country, it’s finally time to hit the track. This week in Ontario, our most famous sand track, Gopher Dunes, opens its doors this Wednesday for their first practice day of 2019. As you can imagine, opening day at Gopher Dunes is always a wonderful thing as it usually signifies that spring is finally here!

So with spring finally here, the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series made its way to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for Round 11 this past weekend. This is always one of the series’ coolest stops as the city of Indianapolis is built around racing and motorsports. Heading into Round 11 both Cooper Webb and Austin Forkner were the red plate holders in their respective classes. Forkner was coming off yet another main event win from last weekend in Daytona, while Webb was forced to watch Eli Tomac take the 450SX win in Florida. While the 250SX East championship looks all but locked up for Forkner, the 450SX title is still up for grabs.

I don’t want to recap every little detail from Saturday evening, but I want to comment on a few things. First thing, I wasn’t a huge fan of the track in Indy as it was one of those tracks where every rider was doing the same thing. Yes, the whoop section separated the riders a little, but overall I just thought the track was bland. I’m also never a fan of when they build the start like they did last weekend: A short start straight followed by a 45 degree first turn. I don’t know, for me it just never seems to work. With the floor inside Lucas Oil Stadium being one of the smallest of the series, I thought the track would’ve been perfectly suited to an over-under tunnel-type jump. I will say that I thought the track designers made a good move in getting rid of the sand corner that was supposed to be in the final turn before the finish line. After Atlanta and Daytona, I’m sure the riders were sick of seeing sand as part of their SX tracks.

Other than main event winners Austin Forkner and Marvin Musquin, the only other two riders that really stood out for me were Justin Cooper in the 250SX East class and Chad Reed in the 450SX class. Cooper’s well publicized come from behind charge to third was impressive to watch. Considering he was in 14^th on Lap 1, to charge all the way to third overall really showed the New York State rider’s heart and determination. It also kept his title hopes alive as Cooper remains in third overall, two points behind Chase Sexton and 28 points behind Forkner. The 250SX East Series now takes two weekends off before resuming in Nashville on April 6^th.

For Chad Reed, his charge from dead last to 11^th in the 450SX main event was not mentioned once during the broadcast. However, Reed’s riding was as impressive as anything going on at the front of the pack. After getting a mediocre start in the main event, Reed went down on the opening lap, and as the riders began their second go-around, the now 37-year-old Reed was dead last. He was able to make quick work of the back markers in the 450 class, but he also was able to reel in and pass his teammate Justin Hill, as well as Justin Bogle and Cole Seely. If Reed didn’t have to slow slightly on the final two laps to let Musquin and Webb lap him, I’m sure he would’ve been able to get by Brayton for tenth. Of course, if you’re a glass half empty sort of person, you can argue that Reed did get lapped by the leaders and that 11^th isn’t exactly a great finish in the 450SX main event. However, let’s remember that this past Friday, Reed turned 37-years-old and he’s still out there doing it every weekend. By all accounts he wants to do it one more time in 2020. When Reed is done racing, it will mark the end of one of the greatest eras in our sport, one that I don’t really want to see end. He still shows moments of brilliance on the track and his fan following off the track is larger than any other rider in the paddock.

I was watching the leaders race each other on Saturday night and other than their obvious speed and results, there seems to be something really lacking. How can Tomac be so dominant in Detroit and Daytona (I know Daytona is a little different), but then look so disinterested in trying to win in Indy? With Webb behind him and only Musquin in front of him, Tomac had a great opportunity to take the lead and run away again. But for some reason he didn’t and once again he lost valuable points to Webb. With just six rounds remaining in the series, Webb now leads by 14 points over his teammate Musquin. Tomac is now 21 points off the lead, which is just crazy to think about as 2019 was supposed to be his year. Hopefully Musquin can take another win this weekend in Seattle, where the weather forecast is already calling for some rain, and make this title chase a little more interesting.

Also, this past Friday wasn’t just Chad Reed’s big day, but James Stewart also decided to make a big announcement and perhaps steal some of the attention away from his former rival. JS7 made a social media post that he is dropping a video on March 29^th. While very few know what the contents of this video will be, many are speculating that it will be a sort of tell-all about what James has been going through since he stepped away from racing. It’s truly sad how James Stewart’s career ended, hopefully these days he’s happy and healthy. If we look back at how he changed the sport and all that he brought to it, James really is one of the legendary figures in motocross and supercross. You can bet one thing, if Stewart needed to make up points the same way as Tomac did on Saturday night, you can bet he would’ve somehow found a way to do so.

Finally, before I go I’d like to take briefly talk about another James that we all know. Canada’s most distinguished motocross photographer James Lissimore crashed a week ago on his mountain bike and broke his collarbone. He had to undergo surgery last last week to have his collarbone plated and now he just has to rest and heal up. Usually it’s our riders who are sometimes getting injured, but it really is unfortunate when it’s our photographers. Heal up James and we’ll hopefully see you at Round 1 of the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown AXTour Series in Abbotsford in just a few short weeks.

That is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week, and if you’re able to get out riding, please ride safe. Thank-you for reading this week’s Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop, and if you’re heading out to Gopher Dunes this weekend, I will see you there.