...we get to cases like Eli Tomac, where only 12 percent of players had him finishing third. It’s okay, as you’ll see below we struggle too. We’re all in this together, unless you’re the player who picked all three in each class correctly. If that’s you, go ahead and pack up and leave—you don't need help from us losers. If that's not you, stick around—maybe we can help. Let’s take a look at last week’s top three.

450SX

Ken Roczen | 1st overall

1.) 37 percent of all entries picked Roczen to finish first.

2.) 33 percent

3.) 16 percent

Ryan Dungey | 2nd overall

1.) 6 percent

2.) 13 percent

3.) 29 percent

Eli Tomac | 3rd overall

1.) 42 percent

2.) 33 percent

3.) 12 percent

 

250SX

Cooper Webb | 1st overall

1.) 37 percent

2.) 24 percent

3.) 9 percent

Tyler Bowers | 2nd overall

1.) 11 percent

2.) 21 percent

3.) 22 percent

Justin Hill | 3rd overall

1.) 11 percent

2.) 12 percent

3.) 15 percent

 

Qualifying vs. Results

Hopefully some of you followed our advice and were cautious when judging qualifying. As we said last week, it’s vital to study qualifying to make good picks, but one must use caution. We could list the many reasons as to why, or just show you some examples of the best, and worst, and what was right on from qualifying to main event results.

Best

450SX

Kyle Chisholm | Qualified: 27th | Finish: 13th | Difference: +14

Nick Wey | Qualified: 26th | Finish: 14th | Difference: +12

Cade Clason | Qualified: 29th | Finish: 18th | Difference: +11

250SX

Ryan Breece| Qualified: 31st | Finish: 21st | Difference: +10

Austin Politelli | Qualified: 21st | Finished: 14th | Difference: +7

Tommy Hahn | Qualified: 15th | Finished: 9th | Difference: +6

 

Missed the Mark

450SX

Josh Grant | Qualified: 10th | Finish: 20th | Difference: -10

Justin Brayton | Qualified: 9th | Finish: DNQ

Josh Hill | Qualified: 16th | Finish: DNQ

250SX

Chris Alldredge | Qualified: 8th | Finish: 22nd | Difference: -14

Aaron Plessinger | Qualified: 7th | Finish: 13th | Difference: -5

Michael Leib | Qualified: 11th | Finish: 16th | Difference: -5

 

On-Point

450SX

Jason Anderson | Qualified: 7th | Finish: 7th | Difference: 0

Eli Tomac | Qualified: 4th | Finish: 3rd | Difference: +1

Brett Metcalfe | Qualified: 13th | Finish: 12th | Difference: +1

250SX

Shane McElrath | Qualified: 9th | Finish: 10th | Difference: -1

Scott Champion | Qualified: 17th | Finish: 18th | Difference: -1

Tyler Bowers | Qualified: 3rd | Finish: 2nd | Difference: +1

 

SCORING CHART

Need a refresher on how scoring works? Go here. Want to view the scoring chart? See below.

Place	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
1	50	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0
2	22	48	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
3	20	22	46	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
4	18	20	22	44	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
5	17	18	20	22	42	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4
6	16	17	18	20	22	41	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5
7	15	16	17	18	20	22	40	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6
8	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	39	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7
9	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	38	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8
10	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	37	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9
11	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	36	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10
12	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	35	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11
13	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	34	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13	12
14	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	33	22	20	18	17	16	15	14	13
15	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	32	22	20	18	17	16	15	14
16	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	31	22	20	18	17	16	15
17	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	30	22	20	18	17	16
18	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	29	22	20	18	17
19	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	28	22	20	18
20	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	27	22	20
21	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	26	22
22	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	22	25

 

Top Picks/Sleepers

If we can, let’s get real for a minute. You’re more likely to see a leprechaun riding a unicorn into a pot of gold than picking twenty-two riders in their correct position. It will never, ever, ever happen. Okay, it actually may but there’s a .00000001 percent chance it will. But that’s not what this league is about. It’s about picking twenty-two riders close to their finishing positions. (PICK ALL TWENTY-TWO.) You earn points just for picking—if they make the main. Every week we’ll give you a couple top picks and sleepers to watch. Also, make sure to check our Injury Report before making your picks for the weekend.

450SX

Josh Hill | Valli Motorsports Yamaha | Last week: DNQ
Too much talent not to make the main for a third consecutive week. A top-fifteen pick is not a terrible idea, either.

Chad Reed | Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports | Last week: DQ’d
Chad’s probably a little salty after last week. Chad typically does well when he feels slighted. Top-ten is a good idea.

Trey Canard | American Honda | Last week: 11th
See, Reed, Chad above. I like top-five here.

Jimmy Albertson | Arma Energy Yamaha | Last week: 16th
Albertson should be a shoe-in to make the main a third consecutive week.

Brett Metcalfe | DirtCandyGraphics/PRBC.comSuzuki | Last Week: 12th
Metty had his best finish on the young season last week, and is looking better and better. Could be a sneaky top ten pick.

Martin Davalos |Rockstary Energy Racing Husqvarna | Last week: DNC
Davalos will be racing this weekend. Keep an eye on his times.

250SX

Jackson Richardson | XPR Motorsports | Last week: 11th
Richardson was a main event mainstay in the East Region last year, and after a hiccup at A1 has made two in a row. Top-fifteen is a good play.

Tommy Hahn | Motosport.com/GPI/Honda Racing | Last week: 9th
Back-to-back top tens for the veteran. It’s time to move him closer to tenth.

Cole Martinez | Strikt Slaton Yamaha | Last week: 17th
Martinez has made the main in all three rounds, and we’re betting his makes his fourth this weekend.

Aaron Plessiner | Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha | Last week: 13th
Last week we told you to pick him top-five. He went on to have his worst finish of the season. We apologize on behalf of Aaron. A top-five pick is still in play.

Zach Bell | Rockstary Energy Racing Husqvarna | Last week: 19th
Bell rebounds from an off-week. Pick him near the top ten.

 

AGAINST THE GRAIN

Against the grain is not always a bad pick. For example, if you had Andrew Short outside the top ten last week, you picked up some points. Or, if you we’re part of the 5 percent that had Kyle Chisholm fifteenth or better, you picked up a ton of points. As you’ll see below, it can go the other way as well.

450SX

- 54 percent of players picked Andrew Short to finish tenth or better, and this might have been based on us pushing you to do so here for the first three races. He finished twenty-first.

- 29 percent of players picked Kyle Chisholm to make the main and five percent had him finishing fifteenth or better; he finished thirteenth.

- 14 percent had Blake Baggett tenth or better; he finished tenth.

- 29 percent had Dean Wilson tenth or better; he finished eighth.

- 0.2 percent had Broc Tickle finishing fifth or better; he finished fifth.

- 14 percent had Jake Weimer finishing tenth or better; he finished seventeenth.

- 0.1 percent had Cade Clason making the main; he finished eighteenth.

250SX

- 2 percent hade Johnny Jeldera making the main; he finished twentieth.

- 27 percent had Jackson Richardson finishing fifteenth or better; he finished eleventh.

- 8 percent had Tommy Hahn finishing tenth or better; he finished ninth.

- 89 percent had Jessy Nelson fifth or better; he finished sixth.

- 37 percent had Zach Bell tenth or better; he finished nineteenth.

 

Bonus Picks

At this point in the season, making bonus picks is stupid (see, Roberts, Jordan). It’s not worth the risk at this point, and can cost you valuable points (see, Roberts, Jordan). Some of you like to live on the edge, and we fully understand and respect that. That’s why we’ll do our best to help you succeed and even make some suggestions—put as much stock in those as you wish.     

Round	Fastest Qualifier	Heat Winners	Holeshot
Anaheim 1	Eli Tomac; Cooper Webb	Andrew Short, Eli Tomac; Justin Hill, Tyler Bowers	Mike Alessi; Jessy Nelson
Phoenix	Eli Tomac; Cooper Webb	Cole Seely, Eli Tomac; Justin Hill, Jessy Nelson	Eli Tomac; Zach Osborne
Anaheim 2	Justin Barcia; Zach Osborne	Ryan Dungey, Mike Alessi; Cooper Webb, Shane McElrath	Jimmy Albertson; Zach Osborne

 

My Picks for Oakland

450SX

Fastest Qualifier: Eli Tomac

Heat Winner: Ryan Dungey

Holeshot: Ken Roczen

250SX

Fastest Qualifier: Cooper Webb

Heat Winner: Justin Hill

Holeshot: Tyler Bowers

 

ADVICE FROM THE SO-CALLED EXPERTS

Last week Jason Weigandt offered his “advice”. Unlike Andrew, he actually did pretty well. He told you to pick Bowers in the “1-4 range” and Bowers got second. He said to put Blake Baggett “10-13” and BB delivered his first career top ten. And just when we thought everything was going swell, he offered this…

[Viewer discretion advised]

Quote: “Chad Reed does much better than the first two races. His bike broke at Anaheim, and he always sucks at Phoenix. Last year he finished ninth there and then won Anaheim 2. Think about it.” And: “Matt Bisceglia is riding much better than his results have shown. I think he’ll finally have a solid night. Top five, perhaps?” About that…

We’ve decided to throw Weege out and bring in Matthes. We did this for two reasons: 1) He is currently leading the Racer X League and 2) he threatened us. Take it away, Steve.

Note: This is the first week I (Chase) have not led the league, and it’s not going well.

 

DISSAPOINTING RESULT OF THE WEEK

 

This disappoints me.

 

Prizes/Winners

Winning is awesome. Congrats to these winners from last week. You’re all number one in our book.

450SX

1.) billygoestojail: 445pts | ANSR Syncron Gear

2.) way2fast4u7: 431pts |ANSR Terra-X Roost Deflector

3.) WeiserGuy: 422pts |ANSR Hat and T-Shirt

250SX

1.) motomarty: 515pts | Pro Taper Fuzion Bars

2.) JacobMagnus: 479pts |Pro Taper Contour Bars

3.) teeDawg829: 478pts | Pro Taper Tie Downs

3.) Meankitty: 478pts | Pro Taper Tie Downs

If you didn’t win, don’t freak out, there’s always this week. Check out what we have on tap.

 450SX

1.)   Pro Taper Fuzion Bars

2.)   Pro Taper Contour Bars

3.)   Pro Taper Tie Downs

250SX

1.)   ANSR Syncron Gear

2.)   ANSR Terra-X Roost Deflector

3.)   ANSR Hat and t-shirt

* To be eligible to win weekly and yearly prizes, you must go the paid route. You can play for FREE, but you will not be eligible for prizes.

 

Racer X League

Want to challenge the Racer X team? Here’s your chance. Each week we will run down the top five in the overall standings of the Racer X Fantasy League. Did you beat us this week? Let us know in the comments.