Wheels Up: March
By Jason “Wheels” Todd
Introducing a new monthly feature where our man in the middle of America, Jason “Wheels” Todd, gives you his take on all of the happenings in Monster Energy AMA Supercross.
In the world of NCAA Basketball, March Madness is in full swing. Workplace employees nationwide have filled out “the perfect bracket” in hopes of taking their share of the company pot, and upsets have been abundant as top teams are beaten by underdogs. In our sport, “madness” is undoubtedly fitting right now.
March began exactly where a month of motorsports madness should: Daytona International Speedway. March saw three different winners in 250SX East Region, making it four in a row going back to the opener, which was won by Martin Davalos. Jeremy Martin won Daytona, Justin Hill took the checkers in Toronto, and Malcolm Stewart won the second main event of his career in Detroit. This is like a game of musical chairs. First Rockstar Husqvarna’s Davalos held the red plate, then he lost after he couldn’t travel to Canada, so it bounced over to Yamalube/Star Racing’s Jeremy Martin, who crashed his way through Detroit; now the red plate is on the red bike of GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart. (And it might have been on Justin Hill’s TLD KTM at some point had he not crashed out of Detroit in practice—get well soon, #36.) And there are other guys who could win one of these, including Aaron Plessinger, Shane McElrath, Tyler Bowers, RJ Hampshire, Matt Bisceglia.… When the music finally stops, who will be out and who will be crowned champion?
And how about current points leader (and reigning champion) Ryan Dungey having his victory in Detroit taken away? The vast majority of us did not see the red-cross-flag incident occur, as it wasn’t shown on TV. However, the situation has been addressed by Red Bull KTM’s Dungey and his team manager, Roger DeCoster, as well as Kevin Crowther of the AMA. Dungey meant no harm, and I doubt the AMA wanted to take that win away, but a rule is a rule, and this one was broken. Now everyone will be watching every time a red-cross flag comes out.
Eli Tomac finally won a race! The #3 finally delivered for the folks at Kawasaki, though it was long overdue. It was good to see Tomac win in Daytona, though he didn’t build on it in the rounds that followed. So could his performance in Florida be a precursor of what is to come during the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship? Tomac now needs to show his fans, his team, and most importantly himself that he isn’t finished winning races.
Speaking of winning races, Ken Roczen won another one too. Unfortunately for K-Roc and RCH Suzuki, Ryan Dungey still holds a 39-point lead. Starts have definitely been Roczen’s kryptonite this season. He’s proven three times now that he is capable of winning races; he’s also proven that he’s not the most consistent rider out there.
I also want to say that it’s awesome having Josh Grant back racing supercross. In my very first article, I mentioned how he’d been missing and that I had hoped to see him land a ride in 2016. JG has some of the best style in motocross, and it was a shame not having him on the gate on Saturday nights. Welcome back, Grizz.
It’s pretty crazy that the series is eleven rounds in with just seven to go. I’ll be in Indianapolis and St. Louis, so please stop me and say hi if you see me making the rounds. Until next time!
