1. We're going to go there: If supercross had a playoff-style points format (with all points set back to zero), and had it started after the Easter break in Santa Clara, Ryan Dungey would have only a four point lead with two races to go. His points lead could be a little larger if they gave bonus points for race wins, but, overall, it would be close. Would this be awesome or would this be a travesty?
Steve Matthes: THIS WOULD BE AWESOME! Is there any other answer? Literally the ONLY guy this would suck for is Ryan Dungey. The crowd would be more excited, the other teams and riders would be more excited, the media would be more excited. I do think that if this Chase-style format comes in then it will give a points bonus for race wins and your position in the standings so that it's not zero for everyone, but hey, that's still fine with me. The number of people who don't like this RUMORED Chase-style format is a bit surprising to me. But you're not going to stop watching supercross because of this. Don't even try to tell me that.
Jason Thomas: It all depends on your perspective. For Dungey and anyone fond of the color orange, this is a pretty tough proposition. Dungey has made a habit of stretching leads and ending championships early. This is not by accident and a clear sign of his efforts in the first half of the season. Without a doubt, he and his team are fighting this idea.
For everyone else, of course they love it! It reopens the chance for a championship if things had gone sour months earlier. Above all else, though, it will generate interest for the last few rounds in the fan base as a whole and that carries more weight than anything else. I expect to see this implemented in the next year or two in an effort to combat the trend of championships decided early.
Jason Weigandt: An informal fan poll indicates that 99.9 percent of people hate this idea. Whatever, I’m all for it! I will say right off the bat that a playoff-style format (or “chase format”, which seems to be the operative term, borrowing from NASCAR, which started this concept in motorsports) is not as fair as counting every race the same. There is no more fair way than saying all 17 races count equally. But you know what? We’re not curing cancer here. If we were curing cancer, I’d say count all the research and data to find the best possible answer for, “What’s the world’s best cure?” But here, we’re just crowning the world’s best supercross rider. I’m willing to trade a little bit of fair to get a little more excitement. Plus, we’re never really “fairly” settling the championship anyway. Supercross is a mix of bikes and people, and injuries, so you can end most seasons with plenty of what-ifs even in the current, most fair format. Like, “What if Ken Roczen had tried these stock triple clamps back in December?” That’s the heart of bench racing and we do it every day of our lives.
When I literally book my flight to Vegas every year and say, “Oh man, what’s the point of going to this race?” there’s a problem. You think NFL journalist say that about their final game of the year (aka the Super Bowl)? You think baseball reporters don’t care about the World Series? When riders stub a toe and sit out the final race of the year, or just cruise around because nothing is on the line in what should be the most important race of all, that’s a problem. Las Vegas in our sport is the race that usually matters the least! But, oh man 2006, 2011….absolutely unforgettable experiences.
I’m sure we’ll be going on and on with this topic if this playoff format ever comes to be. Bottom line is I’m for it, and by the way it’s not fair to look at it in micro form and say “but it hurts Ryan Dungey” because format changes like this aren’t supposed to happen just one time, it’s supposed to go on forever, long after any particular rider’s career is over. You can’t make strong decisions based on how it impacts one person. I mean, Peyton Manning once had a rep for not getting it done in the post season. Did anyone say it was not fair that his regular season wins suddenly didn’t count when the playoffs started? Is anyone in Charlotte saying the Carolina Panthers are the real NFL champs because they had the best overall record? No! They just say they didn’t get it done in the clutch games that matter most. That’s the stuff than fans live for, and it would be too damned exciting to ignore it if it happened here.
Dungey and Roczen have battled the crap out of each other the last four weekends. Just imagine if they were also nearly tied in points while they were having these battles. Just imagine round 12 suddenly forming up like Anaheim 1 Part II, and getting all that hype again. You might think that’s crap but I challenge you to not be excited if that were the case.
Now excuse me while I get my bulletproof vest for this weekend.
2. Was the Foxboro SX a hit?
Matthes: Crowd looked okay. It was a day race, so that's a bit weird. The weather in the morning probably scared some people away as well. I thought the stadium floor was pretty big and it allowed a bit more of a technical track and the dirt was weird. All grey and stuff. Gronk was there! I don't really know to be honest if it was a hit but it definitely wasn't a miss like some new races have been (Jacksonville or the last time we went to New Orleans for example) over the years. Ask me next year.
Thomas: I think it was a success but not an overwhelming hit. The weather was a tough obstacle as rain persisted through the morning hours and the afternoon wind was howling throughout Gillette. The venue was cool with the surrounding restaurants and activities, much like the Glendale round of the series provided. Overall, though, I am a fan of expanding horizons and trying new locations so I will take the good with the bad.
Weigandt: I’d put it in the hit category by just a hair. Not a smash hit, but pretty good. Crowd was strong enough, and that was despite the morning rain and daytime schedule, which I think puts a damper on the live gate. You’ve got a lot of loyal, hardcore moto people up in New England so it was great to give them a race. Stadium was big so laps were long, pits were huge and great (most of the newer stadiums have worse parking than the old ones, See: San Diego. Here it was good to see pit and tailgate space combined with modern amenities) and it wasn’t impossibly cold. My only fear is that three races in the Northeast (Foxborough, Toronto and New Jersey) might just cannibalize each other. That general portion of the map has a population of like 100 million people so it shouldn’t, but we’ll get a good read on it this weekend based on the East Rutherford crowd.
3. Seemed like Mookie's race to win for a while but he didn't. Trouble in Malcolm land?
Matthes: No, because he put points on Plessinger, the rider in second place. Davalos winning doesn't affect him one bit and Martin gained two points on him. He went in with a one-point lead and left with a five-point lead. BOOM! I didn't like his own race one bit (he was dealing with a sore ankle) because I really thought he was going to win it and it's unlike a championship contender to lead half a race and drop back like he did (shades of Daytona!). Mookie needs to stop thinking that he's the points leader and just go out there be the best Mookie he can be. Mookie rides better when Mookie is relaxed and having fun!
Thomas: I don't think so. Mookie seems to struggle as the tracks deteriorate. His speed is unmatched on a perfectly groomed SX track (probably due to the perfect condition of his practice tracks). As the track goes away, though, everyone sees his pace suffer. The same thing happened at other rounds. In the heat race, it's sayonara to the field on the ideal track. When the ruts, bumps and berms go sideways, though, he loses that edge. The upside of this was that his closest rival in the title fight, Aaron Plessinger, also struggled and lost four points to Stewart. So, on a day when maybe he could have/should have won, he still extended his lead and that's always a positive under any circumstances.
Weigandt: It wasn’t great. I’m sure Malcolm himself knew that leading big on lap five but then getting caught and finishing third wasn’t ideal. A win here could have really stamped this title and his points lead and taken a lot of pressure off. However, you can only get so mad. Coming into the season we all knew Malcolm would be fast, but we feared the inconsistency. So anytime he logs a podium (and even stretches the points lead a bit) you have to be good with it. Otherwise it would be like telling your kid to do his chores then yelling at him when he did them. Old Malcolm might have tried bezerking it to keep the lead on a tough track and crashed it all away. He didn’t, so you have to give kudos for making progress in that department.