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Those were vicious!
I loved it! But I will say right away, I do not want to see anyone get hurt. But man! Those whoops this past Saturday were great!
The tracks this year have been a touch different than a few years past and I think that’s a much-welcomed change for most.
It’s been an age-old debate in regards to track design and layout. In the late ’90s and early 2000s (when I first discovered this whole motocross thing) the supercross tracks were NUTS. Very steep, edgy obstacles and straight-up humongous whoops. But in recent years, for a while there, the tracks were flowing so good, almost too good, and the obstacles were relatively easy (for the top guys). I think that style track created really tight racing and had fans to the edges of their seats in anticipation of a great battle. But all I saw was follow the leader and any time a pass was made was simply because a guy made a small mistake, slid in a corner, or something. The guys were having to hang it out maybe a little too far because everyone was capable of going the same speed. When the top 15 is within the same second on a lap time, with a track like that, it gets a little bland for me.
So far, the tracks this year have been very technical. Unusually technical. The way the dirt has been breaking down has made a significant impact on how technical these tracks get even by the middle of the 250 main.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times. This is Professional, AMA Supercross. The absolute pinnacle of indoor dirtbike racing. The world’s best! So, when the tracks get wild, and we see these guys struggle because they are human, it’s humbling to see. Again, I do not want to see anyone injured, but I think it’s refreshing to see these guys have to battle the track a little bit more than just their competitors. That is what puts motocross/supercross in a league of its own.
When the riders have to battle the track, it incorporates the entire team into the race tenfold. The team and the rider must make an educated decision on how to set the bike up. I had this conversation with my guy Maff last week; Some guys will prefer to set their bike up specifically for qualifying, and then adjust as the day goes, and then adjust for the night show. Some guys prefer to just ride a setup closer to what they anticipate the track will develop into later that night. There aren’t too many situations where the bike is the exact same every time it touches the track. But if that happens, your setting is very good. Meaning it will work in a variety of ever-changing conditions. And more importantly, the rider can adapt easily, which breeds comfort, and comfort equals fast. Generally speaking, in qualifying the track is much different than what they will actually race on that night. So, bike set up will usually be a little stiffer, as the transitions between jumps and the faces are steeper, there’s usually more moisture in the dirt, and the whoops are still tall. After a few sessions, the dirt wurx crew will go out and clean up the course, which usually includes the old back drag to smooth out sections. In doing that, the transitions get filled in a bit, the faces are laid down, and the whoops lose that tall peaky feel.
The way the dirt has been breaking down at each venue has been great. To me, it’s making the riders slow down, calculate the risk and perhaps just not do something. Eli was matching, and sometimes straight-up better than Jason in the whoops this weekend, but he stated on the podium that he got a little kick one pass and backed it down. That alone is something I wish a few more of today’s pros would do. Half the problem is their ego, or whatever you want to label it, but sometimes they just refuse to accept the limit and ride inside it, whatever speed that may be. The outside pressure from the team, media, etc, combined with all that comes with personal expectation, can affect the decision to just back it off a hair. It takes an incredibly mature rider to do, and then admit that.
I may have a bit of a skewed or biased opinion on the tracks. When I lived in the golden state, I lived with one of the track builders, who’s now a head dude at Dirt Wurx. He had the huge blueprint type sheets and we’d check out the track build plans for each round of the season and I learned a lot of things associated with the production of a supercross track. It’s really fascinating to me and at the end of the day, I have no problem calling it Art. If you’ve ever operated any type of equipment, you can take a special appreciation for how difficult it really is, and what they do each week, and in the time frame they do it in, is truly remarkable. One of the ongoing discussions between my roommate and I was the whoop set he’d built for that weekend’s race. And usually, sometime throughout the day, the higher-ups would make him knock them down. A group of veteran supercross riders would usually take his side, wanting bigger, more difficult whoops to “separate the men from the boys”
Again, I am all for safety, without a doubt. But if a professional supercross rider can’t get through a set of whoops consistently, then perhaps a training/practice focus shift is necessary. This is their job. I have things in my profession that I’m not as skilled at as other things, but I’ve acknowledged that, and made it a point to become better. We see all these guys posting videos and pics on the socials of them riding, doing big quads and whips, but we rarely see them going through whoops. I don’t think I need to state this, but Mr. Craig has simply been winning races in the whoops. Yeah, he’s good elsewhere, but he makes up so much time in this section alone, it’s blatant and it’s incredible. And good on him! There are many layers to successfully navigating a whoop section that is changing every lap, but in my opinion, the only way to get better is experience.
I can’t remember how many times I was out at Milestone Raceway with one of my riders back in the day, and there would be a line around the whoop section but guys would race the line. Doing their laps, in their motos, they would ride around the whoops but maintain pace. My mind was blown. Then they’d show up to the race and struggle all day in the whoops. I didn’t, don’t, and will never understand that logic.
There are a handful of guys with an elite skillset in the whoops that I’ve been fortunate enough to witness in my era. James Stewart was in a league of his own, but Justin Brayton, Chad Reed, Davi Millsaps, Nick Wey, and Tyler Bowers stand out in my mind with superior technique compared to others. They’re calm, smooth, and most importantly, they maintain or gain speed. Like I mentioned earlier, there are many layers to completing a successful pass through the whoops. I believe the most important is commitment. Each of those names above trusted their ability and entered with confidence. Good entry speed, followed by a smooth, controlled technique will generally get you to the other end without issue. Yes, easier said than done.
At the end of the day, literally speaking, not figuratively, the whoops at the practice track are beat, hammered, cupped out, and just sketchy. Well, what would best describe the whoops by the middle of the 250 main, let alone in the 450 main this past weekend? I would comfortably go ahead with all that and more. So, in saying that, why do we not see more guys out there practicing hitting the whoops when they’re bad? The stopwatch crazies might start complaining, but I believe the potential result on Saturday night trumps anything they would have to say.
Now figuratively, you’re only as good as you allow yourself to be. You can’t cheat yourself during the week and expect to perform on the weekend. This goes for supercross racing, your regular job, and everyday life. To quote a gnarly, gnarly human being, Mat Fraser – “Hard work pays off”.
