Sparkplug 37

You’re probably thinking “It’s about damn time!” Yeah, I've been "slacking in my pimping," as the kids say. Sorry for last week’s brain fart, it happens to the best of us (and the rest of us). This week’s topic is kind of wide-ranging, but the general topic is the fantastic supercross season that has just gotten underway.

Last Sunday, after watching the CBS coverage of A2, I received a phone call from my good friend Mark from Maryland. He and I used to be riding buds, but now he’s a fair weather mx fan at best, despite the fact that he lives basically next door to the famous Budds Creek facility. Anyway, Mark called me because he was still buzzing from seeing that awesome battle between RC and James, and he was now convinced that a “conspiracy” existed to deny James the 2006 supercross title. Mark went on and on about how “convenient” it was that a Suzuki rider (Rockstar Suzuki’s Mike Brown) happened to be on the ground at just the wrong place for James.

When I pointed out that Mike Brown was also involved in Stewart’s first-turn crash in Phoenix, that set my friend off even more!

Personally, I think it was just racing. I don’t think there’s a plan to deny Stewart anything, but there is a plan in the works… to make the racing more exciting by making the tracks easier. And that’s another subject that has received a lot of attention in the supercross world this week.

Just about everybody who’s anybody has said that the layout at A1 was technical, maybe too difficult. Certainly the whoops got everyone’s attention… between practice sessions, I saw both Roger DeCoster and Erik Kehoe walk the section to see if any decent changes had been made. I didn’t see the Phoenix track, but everyone said the A2 track was “too easy.”

Well, not everyone. Andy Bowyer, in his Thursday Rev Up over at Racer X Online had this to say:

“I think the track was a genius effort in creating the more four-stroke-friendly courses of the future. This isn’t BMX, and this isn’t freestyle motocross. In my opinion, we do not need “courses” for better action; we need “racetracks.” Spice up last week’s track just a little bit more and I think the Dirt Wurx crew will have it dialed.”

But Rick Carmichael DID think the track was changed to affect the competition. Here’s what he said in his interview with Steve Bruhn over at RX :

“If they want it to be where NASCAR is, NASCAR is good because there are 10 guys that can win. No one wants to watch a race where you know who is going to win. You want it to be a five-way battle. Unfortunately, it does suck for some of the top guys and take some of the advantages that you may have had away.”

So just when you start thinking, hmm, maybe there IS a conspiracy… Carmichael shuts that noise up by adding:

“But in the end, the best guy is always going to win. If the track is easy, then go faster.”

Ah, go faster, that’s all you have to do. And try not to have a brain fart when you encounter a rider down on the track, that’ll help, too.

So that’s what the “go fast boys” (as my friend Lliam likes to call them) have to say about this issue, but you’re probably wondering “What the heck does Pdub think about these tracks??” Well, brace yourself, here it comes: LiveNation and the AMA and DirtWurx can do whatever they like with the tracks, but it won’t make the racing any more competitive than it already is. The great racing and excitement that we’ve seen at all of the rounds so far is due to one thing… well, actually three of them. And their names are Carmichael, Reed and Stewart. Nobody else is in the same league. Sure, Tedesco and Larocco and McGrath and sometimes even Vuillemin can turn laps that are CLOSE to what the “Big Three” are running, but none of those guys can actually BEAT the “go fast boys”, not straight up. Although I think Ivan is getting really, really close.

So it doesn’t really make any difference if the tracks are so easy that even I could ride them, James and Chad and Rick will still run away from the pack. Heck, on the most “technical” track of the year, the leaders lapped up to tenth place. And let’s not forget that when Mike Brown fell on the “easy” A2 track and “caused” James to fall, he was being lapped for a SECOND TIME. Hmmm. Maybe if the powers-that-be really want to make the racing more competitive, instead of fooling with the tracks perhaps they should look at some rule changes, like black-flagging riders after they’ve been lapped?

P.S. - Props to my friends on MotoDrive for their suggestions for this week's topic! Yawl ROK!