LA Supercross 2012

I have been to many supercross events, all on the west coast. I began back in 1989 with Anaheim. RJ was king, JMB was there and NO ONE knew who he was at the event. They had box vans and chain link fence surrounding the pits in a fashion that allowed you to see the pits, sort of like a zoo. All of the way to being a mechanic for a 125 rider at a few events. I worked for an ATV engine and exhaust shop for 10 years where we competed nationally. I know boo on ATV's but the motors are basically the same. ATV sales help finance 2-wheeler racing for the manufacturers. To today when I just go with my pops to have a good time.

This event was a little strange for me. Rain was expected but never showed during the day, thank goodness. Rain delay schedule allowed for roaming the pits without having to dash back and forth to see practice sessions. I got to witness KW14 with a Trey Canard half shirt on walking over to get Trey's autograph.

There are a lot of semi trucks and teams in the pits spending a lot of money to go racing. It is really incredible to see it at this level. I know that money is dwindling but it was hard to see that at the races this weekend. I know that sales across the board are down by half or more in nearly every category.There are some really fast guys there. I think the depth has increased significantly. There are guys in semi trucks, making a salary not making the main. Not just a few guys, but quite a few. And not because they suck or some fluke deal. It is because to be the top 20 is really gnarly. I think about guys like JT$, who has made mains and been decent for years. Now I think, no offense, it will be rare for a guy like him to get into the main.

James Stewart is an unknown to me but I think he is human now. I was never much of an RC fan when RC was on 125's. I was a Lamson fan. He was a Norcal boy, rode Honda, I even beat him once at Mammoth (yes, he crashed in the second moto so my 2-1 got the win, lol). But RC won me over with his gritty, hard fought, determination. He was a model of less talentand more work succeeding and I really identify with that. SO when James came along, I was never really a big fan. I only got to watch him at World minis. But wow, on an 80 and then 125 he really showed that he was going to be something. Basically the perfect form of MC and the aggression of RC. I respect James, but never really felt a connection to become a fan.

With all of that said, I predicted James to be improved from last year. I thought that RV would have something for him, but when James was on, I expect 5-10 victory margins. Boy was I ever wrong. I thought that he would be faster, not because he figured out some new skill or trained harder but that I saw evidence that he was unhappy with his team and his bike. I respect JGR, A LOT. My race shop experience gives me good insight to what it takes to win in NASCAR. We used many of the same suppliers and actually interacted with a few guys from the car side of things. I thought that JGR had the Yamaha figured out and that the team had a better personality. I thought that all James needed were those two ingredients.

I have reassessed my theory. I think that James is human. I think that CR22, RV2, RD5, TC41 and a few others got tired of everyone thinking that James was unbeatable and put there head down and figured it out too. I think that James is every bit as fast as he ever was, maybe even a touch faster. I think that those guys all did the work that was needed to run with him and even beat him. It took a little bit of time, it even took a few younger guys who had already been stepping things up but they did it. They have all elevated their performance to the level of James.

I think the rest of field raised their level too. It was a combination of guys like MC, RC and Stewart killing it and money, lots of money. Alessi is a perfect example of a family deciding that they were going to earn a living racing motocross. That decision was not nearly as viable back in the earlier days of motocross. Even back in the 80's when I started going to events, only a few guys actually made enough money to live off.

Now, I wonder how things are going to go for the future riders. I know support has to be thinning out to where only the top top guys are getting support. Does that mean that the talent pool is going to thin also or is everyone going to still push as hard as they did in the last 5-6 years.

The other thing that was weird to me was the way that Feld Entertainment handled the red flag-restart time at the event. I see both sides of the argument. As a casual fan, I am there to be entertained. I don't care if it is respectful or not, I just want to have a good time. Now as a rider and a fan of these guys, I think that they should have kept it respectful, quiet and focused on the safety of the riders. Now I know that it is reaching a little bit to say that Lurch screaming like a maniac affected Trey and Ryan's safety but if I am a doctor focusing on handling their medical needs, quiet is beneficial. I think that the show must go on attitude takes away from the respect that the riders on the ground and still on their bikes deserve. I have never been to a pro football game, but I imagine that when someone is seriously injured, they are having cheer offs between parts of the stadium. I think that the stadium would go silent while they attend to the emergency medical needs of the athletes. I think the announcers could give quiet updates and reassure the crowd and commentate of repercussions. I do applaud the Asterisk medical crew for their professionalism and I am glad that they are there instead of some random ambulance company.

Overall the racing was great, I am dissapointed in the turn out though.