The 250 Regional Supercross Championships are historically wild and unpredictable affairs. By nature, they’re typically made up of young, inexperienced racers that tend to make untimely mistakes and unwise decisions. It’s normal for these younger riders to still have steps to take in their maturation process. Sure, we have also seen our fair share of dominant regional champions such as Jeremy McGrath, Ernesto Fonseca, Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed, and Marvin Musquin. They are the exception, not the rule.
The champion in these regional classes is usually the one who can persevere through crashes, mishaps and rough weekends. The 2016 East Region championship will be made up of this exact situation. Watching this series from the outside, it’s interesting to see the rise and fall of fortune, almost as if fate enjoys playing a role in the weekly outcome. The pattern is becoming consistent: brilliant success and joy followed by despair. They say that fate is a cruel mistress and for the 250 East series contenders, she seems to be really enjoying herself.
Malcolm Stewart: Mookie was a pre-season favorite by many experts to win this championship. The best reasoning I heard for this pick was by former supercross hero David Vuillemin, who said “He’s just rock and roll.” I couldn’t agree more. Mookie rides with reckless abandon and is fun to watch. He is always the fastest in the whoops, much like his brother James, and has a certain flair to his style. This flair has also been the culprit in huge crashes that have often plagued his past, also much like his brother James. It’s just in his DNA to ride fast and loose and when it works, it is tough to match. His Atlanta runner up finish was close to disaster as a mid-race crash into Shane McElrath could have been far worse. Daytona followed and saw Malcolm lead for 12 laps until the proverbial wheels came off, relegating him to a disappointing fourth place finish. Toronto would be even worse, as he hit the dirt in the first turn and then having to stop in the mechanics’ area for assistance. He would relentlessly charge back for a solid finish and keep his title hopes alive when many would have given up.
He should pat himself on the back for his resolve, because if he does end up winning this title, Toronto could prove to be the biggest reason why. Detroit was a different story altogether. He was in charge all day, qualifying well and handily winning the main event. The win never seemed in doubt and it signaled a clear shot across the bow of every other championship hopeful. If he can continue this high level that he showed in Detroit, he is going to rip this open door right off of the hinges. He certainly looked up to the challenge a few days ago. If fate is indeed toying with the outcome of this series, Mookie could have quite the challenging Indy because he was fantastic in Detroit.
Jeremy Martin: Martin entered the season as my pick for the title. He is the two-time defending Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Champion and on paper, has the credentials to take this crown. His previous supercross campaigns were marked with snafu after snafu that kept him out of the hunt. Mental errors and not even making the main event on occasion was the overriding theme and one he desperately needed to shed in 2016. His first few rounds were looking like he had found the remedy to those problems, even if he had to overcome adversity along the way. His win in Daytona was a statement race and his come from behind runner-up finish in Toronto was good enough to see him leave with the coveted red plate. All things were looking up for Martin and he surely had to be feeling great about his chances.
As we have seen, though, the 250 series is anything but predictable. Just like Toronto, Martin would go down on the start in Detroit and have his work cut out for him. This time he would find even more trouble with another crash and then an unscheduled pit stop, just like Mookie’s ill-fated Toronto main event. It left him in 13th place at the checkers and surrendering the red plate in the process. Just when he seemed to have all of the variance under control, Detroit reminded Martin that anything can and does happen. The only thing predictable is unpredictability itself.
Justin Hill: Hill was riding high as we entered the Motor City. He was arguably the fastest rider over the three previous rounds and had just won Toronto’s chaotic main event by over twenty seconds. He was only two points out of the lead and looked to be hitting his stride. Stop me if you have heard this before but just as Hill was heating up, he had a huge get-off in Detroit’s timed qualifying session.
Hill would land on his head and suffer concussion like symptoms, leaving him unable to compete. It was a devastating blow for Hill and his team after such a tremendous high just a week prior. If anything, we should have expected something crazy. After all, it seems that no one can find any sort of rhythm without fate stepping in and dealing them a cruel twist. Luckily for Hill, he has two weekends off to rest and recover before we reconvene the East series at Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium. He is still very much in this title fight but will need to execute his form from Toronto to pull it off.
Martin Davalos: Martin was the precursor to Justin Hill’s odyssey. Davalos was loving life after 1-3 finishes in the first two rounds and sporting that bright red plate. When news broke that he wouldn’t be attending Toronto due to Customs and Immigration complications, it just fit right into this year’s storyline. Right on cue, fate noticed the good fortune that Davalos was enjoying and decided to serve up a nasty curve ball to the 250 veteran. He would miss the third round of the series after entering with the points lead and would leave twenty points behind Jeremy Martin. Detroit provided more adversity for Davalos in the form of a first lap crash. He would charge hard for the remaining fifteen laps and make it to fifth place by the end. It wasn’t the triumphant return that he had hoped for but in the grand scheme of points, he did cut his deficit from twenty to nineteen. He is capable of moving back to the lead, especially in this insane asylum known as 250 supercross racing, but he will need to be mistake free from here on out. He has used up all of his mulligans and needs to be razor sharp each and every time the gate drops.
So, as we have seen, the top four contenders have all been dealt unfortunate circumstances so far. They all have had weekends where it all came together and surely they thought they were on their way to a championship. They also have all had weekends where everything goes wrong. It’s been a roller coaster ride of emotion to say the least. What Indianapolis has in store is anyone’s guess but if we have learned anything so far, it will be fun to watch fate have another go at everyone’s hopes and dreams.
