Observations: Jacksonville
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 | 9:55 AM
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Wow.
Just when you think this year’s supercross series couldn’t get any better, it does. To the battles of LA to the drama in Houston to “the pass” in Atlanta and “the jump and crash” in Daytona, we now add this weekend in Jacksonville, Florida. This supercross series has been, to quote all the kids, off the chain.
Poor attendance once again shined a dark light on Jacksonville.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
First let’s get some housecleaning things out of the way and one of them would be, and I’ve asked this before, why does a state with as many great riders and weather like Florida continue to NOT support the supercross series? Since I’ve been doing this crazy circuit, I’ve been to two Tampa stadiums with three races, a bunch of Orlando events, I even went to the infamous Miami ’89 event as a 16-year old kid and now, three Jacksonville races. Different cities, same events, different times of the year but always one constant: Poor ticket sales. Daytona is its own animal because of bike week and the attendance there, to me, has grown quite a bit from back when they held the race during the day. But the other Florida venues just haven’t drawn like many other cities we have on the tour. It’s a weird deal for sure and to wrap my head around this lack of interest among the Sunshine State people to supercross, I called the guy that always gives me the right answers about anything. And that would be 1997 125 East Coast champion, Tim Ferry.
Ferry, born and raised in Florida, raced for 184 years and he agreed with me on the lack of attendance in Florida for the races. His theory is that Florida is a redneck state that is into swamp buggies and mud-bog races (hence why Monster Jam does so well), the cities that you visit have nothing on the outskirts to draw from (his example was the city of Orlando. Outside of there, it’s pretty barren) and that the people that are into dirt bike riding are the guys that have ten year old bikes and go to Croom OHV park. Whatever it is, Florida continued its streak this year of not drawing very many people and that’s too bad because it was a great race!
As far as the track, it had a right hand first turn which caused a few riders problems, but as Kevin Windham told me after the race, all the riders are talented enough to corner without sticking out their foot. The rear brake is on the right side and a right hand first turn means sticking your leg out and only being able to use the front brake. It takes a lot of skill and no margin of error to successfully tip-toe around the first turn without incident. There were some crashes this weekend but it’s impossible to really know how many were caused by being a right hand first turn and how much were not. Houston’s first turn had more incidents and it was a left.
Stewart was blasting the whoops in Jacksonville.
Photo: Garth Milan
I loved the long whoop section, it was right out of a corner and was very difficult for the riders. Many a big name guy struggled in them during practice and it was funny to see how many guys just rolled through them lap after lap.
Before the night show, I heard from some managers that the whoops were smoothed out and this made some people in James Stewart’s camp upset because Stewie had killed it during practice, setting lap times much quicker than anyone else, with a huge advantage in the whoops. I say that it was a good move because they were very big and guys like Weston Pieck (who’s a main event rider) was struggling with them. It wouldn’t have made for good racing with dudes cartwheeling through the air lap after lap. Even after knocking them back, the whoops were still very challenging and made the race very exciting.
Trey Canard has been struggling a bit the last few weeks with crashes and the old disease that every young rider has at one time or another which is the dreaded “Making mistakes, trying to overcome them and crashing” malady. Canard does the right things, works hard and wants to win races but sometimes, you have to let the race come to you, and if you don’t have it on a certain night, then you don’t have it. Canard was very angry last week after coming together with Ryan Dungey, he was upset at Daytona for his crashes as well as the week before in Atlanta when he shot off the track. It’s been a rough three weeks for the little ginger.
Funny how that works because the chips all came together this weekend and the guy led every lap for his second career 450 SX win. He got caught by Chad Reed late in the race when he couldn’t nail the whoops as well as Reed, but he had a super-sick scrub to get to the ground before Reed and then jam his way past on the inside of the next turn. From there, I was waiting for Reed to make a run in the whoops again but he couldn’t get close enough and it was all Canard on this night. Great to see for sure, Trey’s been frustrated lately and this is the kind of break a guy could use to give him some second half momentum. Especially going into Toronto, a track that he rode well last year.
After a few rough weeks, Canard broke through in Jacksonville.
Photo: Garth Milan
Series points leader Ryan Villopoto didn’t qualify this weekend and that, my friends, is the sound of a bomb going off in this series. A series of first turn/first section screw-ups contributed to his demise and for the first time that anyone can remember (and I called some old-timers to see if they could remember), a series points leader did not make the main event. I got some emails and tweets asking why RV didn’t keep riding in the heat race to try and improve his gate pick, well he wasn’t feeling the greatest after going down hard in the rhythm section and decided to head back to his truck.
What a frustrating two years for James Stewart. At this point we have to all agree that this chase for the title isn’t working out the way he, or his fans, thought it would. He hasn’t won in six weeks, he’s fourth in the points, he’s been knocked silly a few times now and it can’t be a whole lot of fun for a guy that likes to have fun. He was the fastest guy in Jacksonville but got taken out by Matt Georke off the start (not Georke’s fault) and got carted off on a backboard.
The good news is that he actually gained three points on RV in the standings with being carried out! Even if he wins this title (doubtful), all this crashing has to make James stop and pause to wonder if this is all worth it. One of these times, he may not get up so quickly.
I’ve been on a lot of teams with some good managers and some bad managers, some teams that were tight and some that had infighting and no one went to dinner together. Think about how much you’re around everyone on your team, it’s a seven day a week thing and many team people spend more time with their co-workers than their wives (or partners- if you’re into that) and because of all those factors, it makes me wonder what the effect of Larry Brooks leaving the team for “family reasons” a while back. Stewie hasn’t won since Larry left. Look, I’m not saying that a team manager is the difference between winning and losing, but having a good one helps and I wonder what’s going on mentally with James right now? Is he distracted with this? Who’s handling everything? How much is he thinking about the structure of the team? There are some great dudes on that team who are capable of handling everything but I really don’t think it’s a coincidence that things haven’t gone right since James and Larry broke up.
Word from the Stewart camp is that he will be racing in Toronto, after his gnarly get-off in Jacksonville.
Photo: Garth Milan
Lost in the “Oh my god, Ryan Villopoto didn’t qualify” talk was the fact that JGRMX’s Justin Brayton also didn’t make it through. JB10 has won a couple of heat races this year and when all is right in the world, is probably a top five guy or so, he had pulled up on Andrew Short in the points and had a bunch of momentum from the last two races. When they list his DNQ in the points, the causes of death will be “crashes.”
The 250 east series got a shake-up as well as, stop me if you heard this before, some big names didn’t qualify for the main. Pro Circuit’s Blake Baggett, and Rockstar Suzuki’s Jason Anderson all didn’t make the cut. At least the moto gods were equal opportunity defeatists with a top Kawi and Suzuki rider all not making it.
Baggett forced a move on Justin Barcia in the heat race that, by the sounds of his team owner Mitch Payton, wasn’t necessary at the time (but he could be forgiven a bit because Bam-Bam tends to do that to people) and went down. In the LCQ, he fell in the first turn and POOF, just like that he went from six points out of the lead to thirty-one. Baggett’s hope for a title probably went out the window on a beautiful Saturday night in Jacksonville.
But let’s talk about the winner Justin Barcia and how he won the race (and possibly the title) in the first seven seconds. You see, in the heat race, Barcia went off the track in his collision with Baggett and passed some dudes on the concrete, which then got him docked by the AMA. So his gate pick for the main wasn’t the greatest, he was on the outside and we had already seen the right-hand first turn cause plenty of people plenty of trouble.
This may have cost Baggett the championship.
Photo: Garth Milan
But what he did was a thing of beauty, no doubt about it. Barcia got the jump and powered into the first turn in the only way he knows how to: wide, wide open. He cut to the inside of the first turn and basically like the kid in Karate Kid who was told to “sweep the leg,” Barcia swept the first turn and was gone! The margin of error from sweeping the first turn and being a hero and getting pushed out by the dudes on the inside and crashing into the bales is very slim. After grabbing the holeshot and winning the race, Barcia put a chokehold on this title with a great ride.
Bam-Bam also was the only 250F to triple onto a tabletop all day in practice which was much faster, then he did it on the first lap of his heat race and decided it was too sketchy from there. Still, the confidence one must get from being the only guy in his class to jump something must be a pretty good feeling.
Dean Wilson had been down in the dumps the last couple of weeks with some (for him) sub-par finishes but he told Weege he went and looked at the waves for a while this week while his team owner told me that they worked on starts. Whatever it was, the waves, the starts or maybe practicing starts down at the waves- it worked and Wilson was much better off the starts (hmmm, maybe we have our answer?) and had a strong 15 laps on his way to a runner-up finish.
Barcia got a jump on the field early in Jacksonville.
Photo: Garth Milan
Funny moment on track walk (at least to me) was myself, Canard and Wilson standing on the finish line and me trying to get Canard to triple it for all the money in my bank account. Wilson and I thought it was totally doable (probably a 100 foot jump that you would have to have a surgeons precision to do) and Trey sort of agreed. Then Kevin Windham walked up. I asked KW about it and he said there is no way he would do it for a million dollars, it was dumb and you could get really hurt. It was at that moment that the three of us just stood there and never mentioned the jump again. Windham had spoken and we all thought it was dumb.
Then Canard said that the marshmallows in Lucky Charms gave him indigestion, his back was sweating and he had to go.
Let’s take a look at the results from the weekend.
AMA Supercross Lites Class East:
1. Justin Barcia Hon
2. Dean Wilson Kaw
3. Ryan Sipes Yam- Sipes won his first race last weekend and made all of us happy. He was again the fastest guy in practice but in the main, he lost touch with the top two dudes.
4. Matt Lemoine Kaw- Lemoine has been much better the last couple of weeks. Top privateer!
5. PJ Larsen KTM- I think that as Lemoine has gotten better, Larsen seems to have regressed a bit since the start of the series.
6. Darryn Durham Hon- Tim Ferry’s second favorite rider came back from injury and had a nice result.
7. Les Smith Hon
8. Taylor Futrell Hon-His best finish of the year for a kid that came out of the amateurs at the same time as Baggett.
9. Hunter Hewitt Suz
10. Justin Sipes Kaw-Pooh made the main and had a pretty respectable ride.
11. Lance Vincent Hon- Vincent had a couple of rough weeks but with Alex Martin’s troubles and Vincent’s 11th, he moves back past Martin into the lead of the “guys who you didn’t expect to be this good” category.
12. AJ Catanzaro Hon
13. Kyle Keylon Suz- Good for Keylon, his best finish of the year.
14. Sean Lipanovich Suz- Good for “Lippers”.
15. Bradley Ripple Hon
16. Levi Kilbarger Hon
17. Blake Wharton Hon- Oh Wharton, it’s getting worse and worse for Prince. He was up front before crashing in the whoops.
18. Chris Gosselaar Suz
19. Gannon Audette Yam
20. Malcolm Stewart Suz- Oh man, as any of my Twitter followers know, I’ve been having a serious case of Mookie fever for a few weeks now. It’s still there but after J-Ville, I may be feeling better.
Mookie got together with Gannon Audette early in Jacksonville, resulting in a 20th place finish.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
AMA Supercross Class:
1. Trey Canard Hon
2. Chad Reed Hon- I spoke to Reed to find out why he wasn’t able to get close enough to Canard to make that run in the whoops like we all thought he was going to. He said that on the triple before Canard got squirrely and knocked tuff blocks off the track and Reed thought he wasn’t going to triple. But he did and Reed had backed out and at the last second had to seat bounce the jump which sent him mega-high. That cost him time.
3. Ryan Dungey Suz-It was all there for the Dunge, top two riders out of the class, him all over the two guys that he should have covered right in front of him and by the end, he was eleven seconds down from the leader. When do we all just admit that, for whatever reason, it’s not happening for Ryan?
4. Kevin Windham Hon
5. Andrew Short KTM- Shorty rode well, another top five for the two-nine.
6. Ivan Tedesco Kaw- Tedesco was closing up on Shorty when some roost blew out his goggle lens, he was forced to tear them off and get the always awesome eye flush after the race. Still, his best finish of the year!
7. Mike Alessi KTM- Alessi holeshot the main event and had his best race of the year, he’s already eyeing the outdoors right now.
8. Austin Stroupe Yam- Stroupe makes his return to the track and has a pretty good finish I think considering all the things he’s been through.
9. Nick Wey Yam- Another good finish for Wey, two top ten’s in a row since getting a new practice bike. Listen to the Pulpmx show for more details. Wey was last at the end of the first lap.
10. Chris Blose Kaw- Guess what? Blose had his best finish of the year!
11. Fabien Izoird Kaw
12. Michael Byrne Suz- Has to be a bit discouraging for Byrner to have the two top guys out and he get’s the same results as he did last week although he did crash on the first lap.
13. Jason Thomas Suz- JT makes a return to the land of main events.
14. Jarred Jet Browne Yam- The Jet makes a bombing run.
15. Cole Seely Hon- Seely had a run in with Stroupe at some point in the main event. I spoke to him before the night show and he’s doing two more races and then back to the 250F. He’s gaining valuable experience.
16. Kyle Partridge Hon
17. Davi Millsaps Yam- Millsaps deserved better for sure, he was one of the only guys jumping the quad and then was fourth early on, then he crashed a couple of times and like I said, he deserved better.
18. James Stewart Yam
19. Matthew Goerke Kaw-Poor Matt, his crappy year just got even worse when he broke a bunch of stuff in the collision with Stewie.
20. Weston Peick Yam
Can we please, please, please not introduce James Stewart in opening ceremonies as “the fastest man on the planet” anymore? Look, I get it that announcer Ralph Sheheen is practically in love with this saying but to have the voice of god guy bring him out to that with the competitors that are beating him sitting right there seems kind of wrong. I’m not bagging on James but that title should be thrown around if you are out there demolishing the races but with “only” three wins, fourth in the points I think we can throw that away now. And just to be cool, I will add in a hashtag #nothating
K-Dub rebounded in Jacksonville.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
A couple weeks ago in the weekly Racer X Podcast show where Weege, Ping and I recap each race, I mentioned that Windham was probably just riding around and not pushing it all that much the last few weeks after his bad crash at Houston and San Diego. I was immediately derided as an idiot, told that Windham was upset by his finishes and that he’s trying as hard as he can. I just thought that being at the age that he is, with nothing to prove to anyone- Windham might just back it down a bit after some pretty gnarly crashes. The other two yahoos I mean experts, told me I was full of it.
Allow me to quote Weigandt’s “Redux” column from yesterday on this very same website “K-Dub actually admitted before the race that the hard hits he took in Houston and San Diego did have an effect on him mentally, and he had lost that willingness to go hang it out.”
Thank you very much. I’ll move on now.
As far as the best dressed guy, nothing really stood out to me as new or something that I liked. I do like the black Answer stuff, the yellow and blue MSR, the black and gold Fox, Alessi’s A-Star get-up and a few others but this weekend in Jacksonville, nothing caught my eye besides the steak, chicken and lobster that the JGR team served up courtesy of The Sage Room.
Speaking of JGR, Coach Gibbs was in the house and I got to spend a little time talking to him about football. Joe’s a great guy but he didn’t seem really interested in how I don’t draft his former player Clinton Portis in fantasy football anymore because of injuries. Can’t say I blame him really.
Thanks for reading, see you next week when the series goes to, wait for it, Canada! I know that the entire industry is absolutely frothing at the mouth at the idea of going to Toronto. I’m so pumped that I’m going in a day early! Email me at [email protected]
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Good column Matthes. Especially the fastest man on the planet part.
FYI - Sheheen doesn't do the opening ceremonies. He does the TV (and has for the past 6 years). So I'm not sure who is drooling all over JS7 with the "fastest man on the planet" line, but it's not him.
Stewart took himself out, first he swerved into Byrner and then he rebounded across the track like a bullet train cleaning out Matt Goerke in the process.
How could any Observer think Goerke was anything but a victim in that crash?
Clearly he was riding along racing his race when he was cleaned out by an over amped out of control entertainer.
If Florida cant draw the numbers, then bring it back to Pontiac Michigan. "THE SILVER DOME"
Darryn Durham trippled on to the table in his heat, you could see him do it right on the tv coverage
Stewie needs to be on a real team that races year round backed by a solid manager. There's no doubt the lack of Larry, lack of outdoors, and lack of focus is keeping him from winning and that's a shame because he really is the best rider and he really does go for it.
JS has never been beat straight up, not like this. This might be the beginging of the end for him. Hannah beat Marty Smith and Smith was never the same. McGrath beat Stanton and he never won again. RC whipped McGrath and it was over. This feels like one of those moments.
Hey Steve, Darryn Durham was also tripling onto the tapletop in his heat race. Just sayin'
matthes man, your articles are great, and you're right on with whole "fastest man on the planet intro" but you gotta stop using superlatives. there's helmet cam footage of sipes doing the triple to tapletop right in front of barcia posted on this site!
http://www.racerxonline.com/2011/03/21/video-gopro-hd-ryan-sipes-jacksonville
Fabien has quietly made Kawasaki's sponsors happy by making it 20 laps safe and sound, and doing some good testing. And Stroupe, wow! Great job.
Last year for this race, Next year its in NY!!!
If I had to take a stab at why attendance at Florida SX's is bad, I'd take a look at what is known a s "marketing". As in, there is ZERO promotion going on to support the events. I was in a local multi-line cycle dealer on Friday before the Jax SX and they didn't have so much as a flyer. The only way that I know about SX is because of looking at the schedule and seeing when it is, and word of mouth. Sure, they had autograph night at a couple of dealers in Jax, but any advertising outside of that? Nada. When Monster Jam is coming to Jax, it's advertised on the radio and TV, even down here in little old Gainesville. And Jax stadium is sold out for that show. So maybe if the "promoter" was doing a little "promoting" it would help?
Everybody that qualified for the evening program had to make the same right-hand first turn and deal with the rhythm section after it. Some were able to cope with it, and some weren't.
The point is, the track is the same for everybody.
I agree, bring it back to the Silverdome! Including the going up into the stands section.
There is no way in heck that Stewart is done! The man has had the worst luck in the past two seasons. I dont know if this is karma happening here or what! But the fact is this: He is stilll faster than anyone else! The reason Stanton got beat by Mcgrath is that Mac actually had some new talent to show the supercross world. Stanton was old school and never really had talent. He Just used hard work and will power to get his championships! Then when RC came along, he was young and full of fire that MC didnt have anymore. It was obvious that he was tired and had no motivation to push that hard to win a championship. Stewart still has fire! Still the fastest, still can whip ANYONE'S ass out there! So its not like he's done. So lets get it straight! And to all the haters who dont have nothing else to do, just keep on hating! It wont change a damn thing!!
props to 27 for coming from 1st turn crash to 9th.
Crowd was pretty pathetic at Jax. Seems the NY area, Denver, Minneapolis should all take a seat way ahead of Jax for next year. Attendance seems to be strongest in areas where they have National outdoor tracks. In the current RacerX mag there is a blip from Stewart saying even after Atlanta he and Reed will get together to ride. For all the bench racers so offended by the incident, seems the "actual participants" weren't the least bit miffed. Shows a lot of class by #7 and #22 and that in the end, racing is racing.
Good read Matthes. I happen to be one of the "yahoos" that believes the FMOTP malarky is played-out. While I'm bashing everything "JSE", you made quite a point there mentioning Larry Brooks. With any luck (also known as financial prosperity), Brooks will be tasked with building a 250 program for KTM. I know it's not the "big show" (where he probably wants to be to compete directly against the JSE camp)but, that's probably the fast-track to him getting back under a manager hat plus, there aren't many, if any at all, better options. Not to mention it would be a first-class program...
How about "The fastest yard sale on the planet" Anyone???
Seriously, He did swerve a little at Byrne than across in to Goerke. Really it's all been bad luck, sometimes sh** happens and it has happened to Bubba a lot this year
I hope he is healthy and gets back to riding like he usually does because, really, I can get into anyone who throws it down on the track.........But I'm still pulling for RV to win the title!!!
(Apologies for any incorrect spelling or punctuation, I am an ex racer so..........)
I too was wondering why nobody mentioned why Villopoto did not even appear to attempt to ride after going down in his heat. He for sure was banged up, but not even try?
Also, I believe in the Heat or Main, Stroupe cut across the track at the first turn at the start? Did he get docked? No mention...Hmmm
Stewart has not had the worst luch this season. He has made mistakes and thos he owns. Getting hit from behind last week as part of the first couple of corners is racing, and we have all seen stewart run into the backs of others.
Stewart has been crashing and that is not bad luck.
Of course Reed had an excuse for getting beat. Trey never once got "squirrley" and was faster in every section except for the whoops. Reed needs to put up or shut up.
Carlsbad.. Prior to brooks starying the L&M racing team.. Brooks left KTM under bad terms. He mentioned this in a podcast to Matthes.
Unless KTM has a new breed of managers.. Than Brooks is the guy to do a 250 team effort. But again.. KTM has many, many managers...
I hope Brooks comes back as a team manager... In the managers world.. He gets the job done.
Another vote here for the Pontiac SILVERDOME!!!
Mediaspinna' ,,, You know,,, I think some people would think that it would be JS's fault for a crash that happened in the Lites class.. I mean,, everything else is his fault, no matter what the announcers say,, right ???
Yes another good read from Matthes (I just noteced I have been calling you Mathes,sorry) Good to get the inside info on the food lol. Well I dont think Stewart is losing it I just feel like he wants it more, hence the messups and crashes. I alos reat a tweet by Reed that he was inpressed by Canards scrubs and is practicing them, that is a good idea!! duh. I wonder how the turnout in Canada will be and why more Canadian rides dont show up, saw the pre-entry list.It is just a good year for racing from the fan perspective and I wish all of the best of lick to all of the riders. Luck is the majic ingreadiant (sp?) iln every sport.
RV2 will bounce back in a big way this week in Toronto !!
Man great article. These 2 things got me laughing pretty hard:
"Ferry, born and raised in Florida, raced for 184 years"
"Then Canard said that the marshmallows in Lucky Charms gave him indigestion, his back was sweating and he had to go."
Although, I'm not sure if the first one was intentional.
SILVERDOME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We used to get 50,000 plus and on back to back nights. Its a no brainer and Feld should be able to rent it very cheap cause the new owners dont have alot invested and its pretty old.
@BTSMITH307 Canard DID get squirrley, and he did hit a tough block and reed actually clipped it again. WATCH THE RACE before you blabber shit out of your mouth.
James Stewart is not the fastest man on the planet and I scream at my TV everytime someone says it, he's fast but no one is dominant enough to claim that title.
I cant stand the fat ass writing this story. he's is a horrible manager n his ego is so big i dont know how he can get into his office.
Good stuff! Like Villo said, it is time for a six race shoot out.
To BTsmith307, I'm not a Reed fan, but he didn't make any excuses
and said that Tray wanted it more..............I Don't know what you heard????
I think Blake Baggett just got what was coming to him trying to race aggressively with bambam. Barcia gets in peoples minds and gets them to do stupid things like getting crazy in their heat and messing up their championship! Meanwhile when people try to mess with the bam he just isn't affected because he's been riding that way his whole existence.
Before this season ends, I see a great RV2-JS7 battle coming soon on the track. :)
Probably nitpicking but hearing Sheheen use the word "daredevils" prior to 40 heat one disappointed me. Anyone notice Alesssi do somethhing we rarely see, other than holeshot and lead a SX heat for 4 laps. Mike passing someone (Duney) back ! Yeah he dropped anchor after that but one step at a time. Good job 800.
Dirt
Reed got straight up beat....that's all there is to it. Stewart showed him how to scrub in Indy and Turbo showed him in Jax. Maybe he should start taking notes.
Stewarts probs with Larry gone?
Chads Not having any probs! Just sayin.
Also Pls bring Another race Close to Canada, going to Toronto sx, have every year and could fill a van full of guys willing to drive to another race. NY, Mich whatever and I'm very sure lots of other Canadian's would too.
Thx Matthes
Good one BT. Nearly every time Reed was passed this year, it was by scrub. But maybe Dungey should be the one taking notes.
James Stewart is the fastest man on the planet, get over it! No one can argue that when james is on the track he is the man to beat. He is the only one in the field who owns the record for most wins in both supercross and outdoors and has done something only the greatest of all time can do, and that's go 24-0 with a perfect season. He has earned his title no? If RC was out there after being perfect would you strip him of his title of being the best ever? No, he is still the sports best ever because he also has the most wins in BOTH series. Ping said last podcast that you would have to give James the nod in speed. Last week! Where is your argument? All the riders agree that James has the most speed. Didn't you hear what villopoto was saying earlier this year? Did you see Daytona, crazyballs was riding like the old james stewart as the GOAT said. Just because he was lost 4 races in a row for the first time ever in supercross in his life doesn't mean we strip him of a title that still remains to be true. You are saying that only the points leader of a series can be the fastest in the building? The voice of god is there for the people. Don't disrespect him, he is only stating the very obvious and letting the people find their own opinions. Unlike actual god. Villo has only beat him once when it was close to straight up anyhow, when James came from dead last to second in the most packed class of all time with no one hurt, yeah, James deserves to be stripped of his title. I mean shit ryan dungey is beating James up, week in, week out, just like we thought. Dungey won everything last year, and this year has shown again why James is not the fastest man. Obviously the luckiest rider who didn't qualify for a main is the new fastest man ever, no question.
Sipes has GoPro proof of tripling onto that table.. Just saying.
I agree with a few of the Silverdome comments. That place never had a slim crowd regardless of the year. Since it doesn't look like it will be torn down bring it back to Michigan.
Steve, You better rewind the tape. Goerke was taken out by Stewart. Not the other way around. Come on man. The poor kid just got released from the hospital with a broken pelvis and wrist. At least say it how it is. Stewi crashed (for whatever reason) and Goerke was the victim. Its a racing incident but dont blame it on Goerke. Not his fault
No wonder villo did not qualify....he is doing double duty! Following in pings footstep. The pic of him carrying off Stewert on the backboard..? Does Villo need the extra cash?....or just a career move?
snowup2my,,,, hahahahaha,, that's pretty funny....
@Vera -
You're right. Stewart is FAST. The problem is, he is struggling to stay on the bike. I personally believe he's having to ride at such a high level to win, and it's causing him to be too wild. If he didn't try to demolish the competition (for instance, Daytona), I think he'd be in much better shape.
looked like there was about 14 people in the stands this weekend. Come back to the Silver Dome! Ford Field is a bad deal and nobody cares that the lions don't play at the silver dome anymore, they still hold events there all the time. It seems sad that the state that is responsible for RedBud (the track as well as the chant) doesn't get a supercross anymore. MIchigan has the best fans hands down!
vera- 'fastest man on the planet' was NEVER a deserving title for JS. not when RC was racing, and certainly not now.
does anyone know the actual attendance number at Jax? it looked pretty bare on TV. maqybe 20k?
silverdome!!!! michigan is a traditional motocross powerhouse bring it back!
why the hell doesnt mpls and den have a supercross anyway .amsoil people are really pissed about the no mpls anymore millville is huge and home town for dungey the place would for sure sell out thre nights in a row
Good editorial Steve, but please, PLEASE, don't ever lightly use the words death and crashes in the same sentence, when referring to motorcycle events. Thanks :)
One step closer to the Outdoors:).............mmmmmmmmmmmmm lobster!
according to most of the logic of the anti FMOTP title...RC is the only person deserving of any nickname or monikor.
VERA, no reason to state the obvious, people who hate the black guy are going to hate him regardless. IF he won every race this year they would still find a reason...
if he races outdoors and doesn't win, they will hate, if he doesn't race they will hate...
RC is the KING of Supercross, the GOAT, and the FMOTP...according to the logic that goes around these boards...
Js7 has won a lot of races and a lot of titles...anyone else on the track with as much accomplished can be called FMOTP, i didn't think so...
if RC himself calls it, the rest of us amatuer racers gotta respect it, and RC has called him the fastest man to ever ride a motorcycle...
argue with that...
Vera are you out of yoru mind?
Steve could you please explain why Stewart finished in 18th ahead of Goerke, the tape shows that Goerke was clearly was ahead of Stewart before and after the crash. I'm not sure where Piek was at, but that extra point that JS7 got could end up being a big deal at the end of the season. Great job on observations as always, Thank you
RC was clearly the fastest man we have ever seen in motocross, anyone question this ????
The best I can do is call JS the fastest man in SX, but then he hasn't won near as much as JM, and RC in either championships or races in sx.
I will not say he does things others don't dare on the track, I will say he takes more chances, he tries as hard as anyone and is a brilliant and extremly talanted rider. I personally hope he will find the balance of speed control and focus to stay healthy and win more as many other great riders seem to find. To me he seems to be getting worse and not better and I would hate it if he got hurt bad, please James settle down !!
halfe316- you got your nicknames a little mixed up bro, MC was, and still is, The King of SX. JS's nickname was, and still should be, 'Bubba'. thats all- until he does a lot more race and title wins.
So sick of Matthes and his Biased ways. he states "bam bam was the only 250 rider to triple on top of the table top"... Thats such crud. Sipes did it with the helmet cam on, on national TV you dumptruck.
Attendance may be down cuz a lot of the fans who actually race are at loretta lynn qualifiers. Just a possibility.
As for the nickname.... Bubba is quite sufficient. Goat will stand because he proved by titles and records that he is the greatest of all time. Stewie's title can be stripped because its a title that stands for the present... And presently, all he can do is set fast lap times and crash. Fast lap times don't win races if you're on the ground. Fastest on the planet would mean the fastest to the checkered flag.
stew is not the fastest man on the planet. only to ralph sheheen whos still in the closet w/ a huge crush on james. Everyone talks about james scrub here, trey's scrub there. You really think chad reed cant scrub a triple. Looked like a good one to me when he took james out. I personally think trey's got the best scrub in the biz, but he'll never be as percise as Reed on the clutch. As for dungey, He was brought from the B class. any racer knows the A class is an all out war. Dungey never got to see that. He was thrown right into the shark tank. good job dunge. Somebody called him a "male model". Guess what if that male model didn't have a chain derail he'd be right up in the mix. They're just jealous of is Nike and Target sponsorships. I dont think RV got too beated up in the crash, he'll be battling still. Matthes you know it all, Why did james get an 18th??? goerke went further and james was down first??? Anything for james huh??? cummon matthes lets hear it. good job stroupie, pulling for ya homey
I think FL attendance is down because there's like 37 races down there
JS7 is far from done....he has heart and is hungry.....Most of his crashes are from riding over his head....I think its fair to say at Daytona and Jacksonville, he wasnt riding over his head and was a victim of bad luck. Coming together with a rider on a shitty section happened to a lot of folks...I personally think he needs to change bikes....He doesnt look the same on a Yamaha, even though he is often the fastest overall.I am willing to bet he comes out to the MX nationals on a Kawasaki or Honda......or hoping I should say.
RV2's handlebars and subframe looked pretty tweaked from the Heat crash....if he tried racing, he could have crashed again....the LCQ = Bad Luck, pure in simple...nothing he could do.....
So.....when do we get to see what "the voice of GOD" guy, really looks like ?
He probably looks like snorlax's bitcx, talking into a big synthesizer.
Steve,
Please stop talking about Ferry every possible chance you could ever have. He is retired and was never the legend you think he was. You can still be his little fairy in your dreams, just dont be telling eveyone how much you love him everyday.
Oh, and enough of the calling everyone "dudes." What is this, 1982?
Tenderly,
P-Von-Hump-D.1
rg807, you may be right. I was kinda the same thing, as this season wears on. Just like Tyson, when he got whupped by Douglas. He was definitely not the same guy, even before the opening bell rang. The $ and the fame had softened him. Still too early, to nail the coffin shut on stewart's title hopes, as last week proved that things can turn-around real fast in this sport. But, if the trend continues, I will have to admit that he is on the downside of his career. Either way, i am entertained by this great racing season. What is going to happen next ?
....Has anyone else noticed, that chicks call each other 'dude' nowadays ? Scary. . .
Maybe mikey 800 is just ''playing dead'' for now, like a wolf in sheeps clothing. And, will surprise the @$%&* out of everyone, on a 450 outdoors. I know it's in there somewhere, will we see it again ?
Steve- Sipes also tripled on to the table. I saw this on his gopro footage on the tv broadcast as well on the gopro youtube channel.
Hey steve, didn't your man Ferry go the whole season not winning a race and still won it? Did you admit then that it wasn't happening for Timmy?
Rc is called The goat until someone beats all those titles..
JS is called the fastest rider until someone beats him Speedwise, which this year it hasn't happen.
No one is talking about points.
So quit crying, JS is still the fastest rider out there. PERIOD.
I know all you couch racers have your jaw open just like many riders out htere with him, when hes on the track and everyone hates that.
Go ask the goat himself, or DeCoster, who knows more than all you couch racers put together who he thinks is the fastest rider. No question JJJJJJJJJJSSSSSSSS
Why is Jax way down on attendence? 1. FL has the 2nd highest unemployment rate in the country. 2. FL has the lowest wage scale in the country even if you do still have a job. 3. $20 to park. 4. $9 for a burger/fries, and you can't buy the burger without the fries. Need I say more?
rg807, Stewie has never been beat straight up??? WRONG, he has been beat several times "straight Up". RC never lost a title to Stewie, and Stewie NEVER won a title untilo RC retired. So how can you say that?? And kudos on the "fastest man on the planet" crap. Its very insulting to all the guys beating him Especially RV2 who has beat Stewie several times now and has had faster lap times than Stewie at a couple races. Orlando attendance was pretty good on 2005 when I went, but the teams cried about the neighborhood around the stadium. I never thought it was a bad part of town, have definately seen alot worse.
Sebastien Pourcel (Christophe's brother) beat James for the individual overall at the MXDN a few years ago which makes him the fastest man on the planet.
I believe Matthes' comment was to not announce Stewart as the FMOTP while 4th in points and winless in 6; not strip him of the title. Lighten the Fùp. I`m not even a fan of JS on the track but recognize he is willing to go faster than anyone to get the win. The strategy is not working but he is still the fastest guy on the track pretty much every night. If being the fastest does not always win championships, why does anyone care if he is called the FMOTP? It is not the same as calling him the best or greatest. It is only the potential for greatness with a failure of execution.
Boni shoulda kicked Villos ass for coming up on him after the LCQ like that, Boni's like 6'4 haha
WRONG, RV has not beaten JS on a one on one situation, they have not raced each other to the flag, either one has crashed or the other has crashed or one had a bad start or the other has has a bad start.
JS and CR have raced each other to the flag in the past,
RV however has been the smartest and the one that has made the less mistakes so far. this year.
Ryan can kill a deer with his bare hands, I don't think he would have much trouble with Boni.
Wrong, the chicken shit uses a gun to kill animals.
Really Matthes if you think Ralph is annoying with his Fastest Man on the Planet intro's... Try to imagine how ANNOYING it is that you name drop Tim Ferry in almost every artical you have ever wrote! Even Tim must be sick of it. Can we please please please stop with the Tim Ferry name dropping.
sorry but the only place i've EVER seen a real woman with a real beard and a mosquito as big as a bird was Florida. I lived there 1 yr and would prefer prison. Daytona and the Keys were fun the rest was not. Racism is rampant (white and black) and the jobs and money are low , that might effect attendance . Saving for Mud bog tickets and Skinerd cd's might cut into the budget also.
Yes, Stewart's the fastest--there's little doubt in my mind--but I do sort of wish they wouldn't mention it every time they say his name. It makes people very angry indeed, and we'd hate to see someone hurt themselves or another after becoming enraged by the term.
What I wonder is, has Stewart ever claimed he's the fastest man on the planet outside of his TV show? I'm not trying to stump anyone here--he very well may have--but as we all know, reality shows do not reflect reality.
I remember him saying that there's a limit to how fast you can go on a supercross track and that he had reached that limit. I wasn't offended when I heard it because I knew he was telling the truth, and I like that sort of honesty in people :)
Whoops - "It makes people very angry indeed, and we'd hate to see someone hurt themselves or another after becoming enraged by the term."
Pure genius! LMAO. Some people need to really lighten up a bit and maybe find a girlfriend or wife.
@Pao JS7 was 3.5 secoonds behind RV at Indy on the first lap and had 19 laps to catch him and couldn't do it. RV smoked Stewart plain and simple! Also, for everything that RV has accoplished in his short career for you to call him a chicken sh#t, you are either God or a behind the keys tough guy. COWARD thats what I think you are!
Steve, could you find out why JS7 was scored ahead of Goerke, that point could turn out to be pivitable at the end of this season. Thank you
Didierlotsyeng, yes, I remember we talked (typed) about this before but, I'm still campaigning for the man because I want to see the best possible scenario for KTM. I think if KTM would re-sign Mike Alessi, they would certainly give Larry Brooks a second chance at success (whomever the manager(s) is/are). Also, this shows they're smart enough to put aside past differences for the greater good (whereas a japanese company would never*). Roger DeCoster (450) & Larry Brooks (250) would be a phenomonal one-two punch for their aspirations in U.S.M.X.
Whoever commented "the chicken sh*t uses guns to kill animals", I have a question? What do you use to kill your animals, a drive thru-window? Before food "magically" appeared at your table, this is how MEN fed their families. I'd enjoy seeing you try to catch a 20lb. turkey, much less a 150lb. Razorback.....or have I offended your Vegan sensibilities? Pardon me, daisy.
bd200 give up on the fastest man on the planet crap, He is to lots of people, EVEN RC said it last week. RC'S words, " James is the FASTEST guy in the world" See BD even RC thinks so, Does not mean you have to think so but ya should not tell others there crazy for thinking so. It does not mean he wins the most titles or races, For flat out speed JS IS the fastest. I think if you go in the pits and ask guys who is the FASTEST JS wins hands down.
Matthes, your write up and observations are clueless. You need to stick to doing what you do best; ea! That's all you have going for you, your size 50' waist.
Seriously Davey, get this tool out of here. He is a complete moron and every single write up he does, it involves his obsession with Timmy Ferry; pathetic really.
As soon as I notice the article is from Stupid "Steve" Matthes I just stop reading it, not even worth the time. Going to lose an active subscriber and loyal follower if you don't address this issue now. This guy is a total moronic fool, get him the *#^$ out of there!
rg807
The GOAT beat JS7 straight up!! What have you been watching? I hear all this talk about JS7 being the fastest man alive but if you can't get to the finish line first because your crashing all the time does it really matter how fast he is? The Goat always says if JS7 doesn't get a good start he will push so hard and go down trying to win. Look at his crash to win ratio. Don't get me wrong James is an awesome rider and one of the best he just needs to ride a lot smarter.
Any time you line up at the gate it's straight up. Period. End of discussion
Well said JDubya!!
In regards to attendance, i suggest maybe not scheduling a supercross during spring break weeks... the average supercross fan, say between 18 and 30 or whatever, is most likely more interested in chasing two legged beach deers vs. sword fighting in the supercross stands. Unless, maybe they ride a pink dirtbike with a rainbow flag on the fender... i'm just saying
PAO, are you on drugs?? I just sat in the stands in Indy and watched RV2 whip Stewie and Stewie never crashed, so what EXCUSE can you make there? Now its a bad start?? Puleeze. excuses. Good God, I could use the same logic for RV2 also. Its crap, if you get beat, then that guy was faster than you that race,BILLC, WAAAAAA!!! No I wont give up, its stupid to say and very childish to argue it. Stewie IS NOT the fastest man, and he wasnt when RC was racing either. If he crashes , it means he was riding above his abilities. It doesnt make him the fastest.
No crying here BD all I am saying is there is NO clear cut answer on it. To me and even RC JS is the Fasteat. So you are telling RC he is wrong too I guess. Does not mean you are wrong either just how you judge it. I can't believe you get so mad over this LOL. One more thing BD200 just because ya crashed does not mean you were riding above his abilities. If you crash it is called a mistake most of the time. How is it sometimes after a crash a guy can go fastert thru the same section?? Did his abilities somehow get better after the crash?? Don't think so.
RC is just playing the game as far as being a announcer. The media is continuously playing up the FMOTP BS. What else would RC say? He knows he beat JS up and down his whole career he just can't say it during the broadcast. You know he tells Emig how he kicked JS ass when the cameras aren't on.
Ok JDubya.
Stewart is AS FAST as Reed, Villopoto, etc., until he shifts into that "extra gear," the gear that makes him "the fastest." It can occasionally bite him, but sometimes it works out (it worked a lot in '09).
When you're in that extra gear, smaller mistakes are simply magnified. Windham had the extra gear in Houston, and it bit him like Daytona bit Stewart. It sort of scared him away from pushing for speed. Stewart pushes it so frequently it's become the only way he rides. He goes down, he gets up and pushes it again. You call him stupid; I call him the fastest man on a supercross track.
Actually, with that in mind, I will now start referring to the extra gear as "retard speed." It's not nice, but it makes me laugh so hard that I don't care.
well announcing wise they all have there fav riders Ralph is like in love with Stewie Jeff loves Alessi and Erin loves Barcia which is really annoying because thats all they do is talk about them...Ralph will even talk about stewart when he isnt even racing like last season.
As far as him being the "fastest man on the planet" fine give him that nickname..fastest man on the planet that is always crashing and throwing away his championships
"He knows he beat JS up and down his whole career "
Whose WHOLE career ? that makes no sense whatsoever.
FYI ricky only raced against stewart, in two of his ten years, as a pro.
"As far as him being the "fastest man on the planet" fine give him that nickname..fastest man on the planet that is always crashing and throwing away his championships"
FINALLY someone from the anti-Bubba camp steps up and takes an honest approach. Well done. Everyone else, follow this man's lead.
I am getting a bit jaded on James' speed, though. I think he's had fat whore of a bad year and that he's still capable of amazing things, but I don't know when/if the next title is gonna happen. Dude needs to stop crashing, pronto.
And they say arguing on the internet doesn't solve anything. The more I hear you guys whine about this "Fastest Man" crap, the more I think you may be right.
Not yet, though. You haven't broken me yet.
Reed will win the title.