Ping,
Couple of questions for you:
Question #1: I see that Josh Grant is injured again and that JGR team manager Jeremy Albrecht said they will bring hired fill-in rider Phil Nicoletti to California this weekend “just in case” Josh can’t race at Anaheim II. I know JGR’s contract with Nicoletti is only for select races, but given JGR’s tremendous resources and know-how from the NASCAR side of things, why don’t they just sign him up as third rider and have him race at all the rounds? Given Josh Grant's often injury-prone status. I have to believe that in the grand scheme of things that the added expense of throwing a third bike in the semi, paying entry fees and a mechanic are marginal in comparison to the overall budget of the JGR team. This seems especially true given that Filthy Phil is likely getting a very meager salary in comparison to Brayton or Grant. I know there are a myriad of factors that influence this decision, such as sponsor obligations and such, but given that the semi races have been added back to the SX schedule, I have to believe that Phil Nicolletti could make the main event most of the time. Perhaps he could even win some semi or LCQ races giving the team more exposure. I know Weege has addressed a similar topic before, but what are your thoughts on this?
Question #2: Jason Anderson is really dialed in so far this year in 250SX. He mentioned in one of his interviews that Jeff Ward was his “guy” who basically babysits him and shows up every day during the week to help him train and go through the motions. If I am not mistaken, Jeff Ward is also the guy that discovered Cole Seely and recommended that TLD sign him several years ago. I believe that Cole was one of Jeff’s neighbors. Given the brewing rivalry and close racing between Seely and Anderson thus far in 2014, does this put Jeff in an awkward place?
Thanks,
Will
Will,
#1- Just because Joe Gibbs has money doesn’t mean he leaves his wallet open for his projects to draw from at will. Coy and Jeremy have a budget and they have to operate within that budget; that’s a cut-and-dry rule to running a successful team. I’m sure they would love to have Phil out there backing up the other guys but there is a significant cost to running a rider, even without any salary, and it was obviously over their budget. Hopefully Phil can take advantage of his “Phil-in” status while Grant is mending. Hey, I just made his butt patch for the weekend. You’re welcome, JGR. [Extra note from Weege: Coy Gibbs told me adding a third bike, building and buying the trick parts, hiring a third mechanic, having the shop guys put in the extra time to maintain a third bike, and the rest, would cost the team several hundred thousand dollars per year, even without paying Phil any extra. Wow! That’s the cost of doing racing at that level.]
The Flying Freckle
#2- Wardy’s kids are friends with Cole and after watching him ride Jeff pushed Troy Lee to bring him onto the team in 2010. He proved to be a good hire and is continuing to do so. Wardy recently started coaching Jason Anderson and the two seem to be working well together. I know Jeff is still friends with Cole and I’m sure he feels bad that Seely has led 28 of the first 30 laps this season but is still winless. But he probably doesn’t feel bad enough to tell Jason to ease up. Wardy is one guy who understands winning and that appears to be rubbing off on Jason Anderson.
PING
Mr. Pingree
I'll be as brief as I can. So please bear with me. I had the privilege to take my boys to the Supercross in Phoenix Saturday night. As a long time rider/racer and fan I was extremely happy with the show out on the track. We were treated to some great racing.
What I was not thrilled with were the rude, obnoxious, ungrateful slobs that I was surrounded by. It started with the national anthem. The non-English speaking morbidly obese man that was spilling over into my seat would hardly even acknowledge that the song was even being sung. No cheers no claps, just a look of disgust as if almost everybody else in the stadium had offended him. I guess it wouldn’t have bothered me so much, but since I was sharing half my seat with him I felt I had the right to be a little P Oed.
Then there was the booze heads that sat behind us. For starters they spilled beer underneath all our seats. So we had to sit in a beer puddle for at least two hours. Then they felt the need to throw the F bomb out every time a rider that they didn’t like circulated the track. Which was every rider but Chad Reed. I’m not really a Chad Reed fan, but knowing these losers loved him made me never want to see the guy win again.
Ok, so, the question: When is enough enough? I didn't want to rock the boat with these degenerates and ruin the whole time. But it seems like $85.00 a pop is a bit much to spend to be this disappointed in humanity.I may stay home next year and just watch the show on the old tube and save 300 bucks.
Thanks for reading,
Kevin
Surprise AZ
Kevin,
I hate hearing this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to swat some idiot’s hat off his head during the national anthem. Like it or not, supercross is a sport that draws in a young crowd and, honestly, not all the kids are alright. You want to tattoo your entire body and dress like a gothic transient? Fine, that’s your call. But when your comments and behavior start affecting my time, we have a problem. I’m sorry your family ignored you to watch television and didn’t paddle your ass when you needed it but listening to you scream obscenities over my shoulder for four hours between beers and cigarettes is something I shouldn’t have to endure.
I’m sorry you and your family had to deal with that, Kevin. I know in the past Feld has offered family sections where there is no alcohol allowed and the setting is much more family-friendly. I would suggest looking into that before you completely give up on the live experience. Watching from home is cool but seeing it in person is a whole other experience. When is enough enough? That’s your call. Hopefully you can use last weekend as a learning moment and explain to your boys what a “total douchebag” is. It sounds like they had a perfect example sitting right behind them on Saturday.
PING
Ping,
If Kim Jong-Un was a dirt bike enthusiast, would you be willing to go to North Korea to ride with him?
Fred
Fred,
I don’t make a habit out of going riding with fascist dictators and that guy definitely puts the “dic(k)” in dictator. I don’t know why Dennis Rodman spends so much time over there but North Korea could do us a huge favor and just keep him as far as I’m concerned. Besides, riding with Jong-Un wouldn’t be any fun; if you went faster than he did or jumped something he didn’t, he would just have you executed. That’s not the kind of tailgate bench-racing you want to have.
Me: “Kim, did you see me send that triple? That thing was huge!”
Kim Jun-Un: “Bang”
No thanks.
PING