The bad came yesterday, when arguably the most famous motorcyclist ever to ride out of the Land of 10,000 Lakes passed away at age 57. Everyone on this planet was influenced in some way, shape, or form by the music of Prince Rogers Nelson, who of course went by the singular moniker Prince. He was from Minneapolis, and for a generation of music listeners he was likely on the soundtrack of their lives. He also famously rode a motorcycle in his hit movie Purple Rain, with either a guitar or Apollonia hanging off his back. If you don't remember the film or the album, which sold millions upon millions of copies, here's the trailer.

While it seems odd to even mention the passing of Prince, he really was a motorcycle enthusiast, albeit one who wore purple velour outfits with dangerously long coattails and even more dangerously long scarves (see: Isadora Duncan). His use of motorcycles in his videos, movies, and album covers were a big deal back then, and it's sad that he's gone up to that big stage in the sky, where he joins such famous motorcycle-affiliated icons as Lawrence of Arabia himself, T.E. Lawrence, Steve McQueen, Lee Marvin, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, James Dean, Hunter S. Thompson, and of course the King of the Daredevils, Evel Knievel. Godspeed, Prince.

Former GEICO Honda race winner, and current contributor to Racer X, Blake Wharton posted this throwback today.

Let's start Racerhead right here...

WHO'S THE BLOSS? (Steve Matthes)

Yeah, yeah, I know I've used that title 85 times, but dammit, it just works so well! This weekend Benny Bloss gets called up to the big time with the BTOSports-KTM-WPS team on Davi Millsaps' bike. The #18 has been out since Daytona with an injury, and as we've seen time and time again, teams need riders on bikes. So there were a lot of choices for team manager/owner Forrest Butler, and he went with Bloss, who's a privateer in the 250SX East Region and having a decent rookie year. Of course Bloss filled in on the CycleTrader.com/Rock River Yamaha team for Luke Renzland for a few rounds before Luke came back. 

When I asked Butler why Bloss and why now, he replied: “It was time to put someone on one of our bikes to have two BTO/KTM WPS bikes out on the track. We looked through the current crop of 450 privateers, and most of the guys right now have rides. Benny is a rider that one of our best sponsors [Engine Ice] has been having me keep an eye on. I watched him ride the pants off his 250 the last few weekends, and I think the kid has incredible corner speed. So we decided to see if he wanted to try the spot out, and he was all for it. He loved the bike first day on it, and he will get another full day of riding and testing in today. Saturday our goal is simple—and that is help Benny put his KTM 450 FE bike in the main event."

If Davi doesn't come back for next week in New York like the team hopes for, then Bloss will stay on the bike. I think he'll do well and should probably make the main event. In any event it's nice to see a kid getting a shot

This Week on Racer X Online (Chase Stallo)

Look, we get it: you’re busy. Life sometimes gets in the way of fun things, like reading about dirt bikes. That’s why we’re here to help. Here is a recap of what went down on Racer X Online this week.

James Stewart will miss the remainder of Monster Energy Supercross due to ankle and back injuries. Jason Weigandt looks back at the good times for James in his ReduX column. The interesting part: It was sparked by a well-thought out, well-written Instagram post by Adam Cianciarulo, which is worth reading as well.

It’s fair to say that David Bailey is the King of Foxborough. In the three years the event was held at the old Foxboro Stadium, Bailey won in back-to-back years (1983-84). We asked Bailey himself to take us down memory lane for our Bench Racing Ammo feature.

Seven months into his professional career and Benny Bloss has already ridden for four different teams, had two fill-in roles, and rode two different classes. All for a 19-year-old rookie. He makes his debut with his fourth team—BTOSports.com-KTM-WPS—this weekend filling-in for the injured Davi Millsaps in 450SX. Troy Bendgen talked with the soft-spoken 2015 AMA Horizon Award winner this week.

The Monster Energy Supercross: Chasing the Dream documentary has been a huge success this year with the first two episodes totaling more than 500,000 views on YouTube combined. (That’s without factoring in the viewers on FS1.) Episode three premiers this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. EST on FS1. Jason Weigandt called the shows producers, Doug Cabrera and Luke Parmeter, to get an idea of how and why they get such good access to the stuff you don’t normally see.

Ryan Dungey has a great chance to clinch his third 450SX title this weekend, as he enters the weekend 48-points clear of second place Ken Roczen. Clinching early isn’t an anomaly as Davey Coombs pointed out this week.

Donnie Hansen was at the height of his career in 1982. He won both the 250 SX and MX Championship, but injuries robbed him of another title. Steve Matthes talked with Hansen on the Racer X Podcast about injuries, his motocross schools, his son Josh, and more.

St. Louis was a tricky track, similar to what we saw last week at Indianapolis. The softer dirt leads to ruts, an ever-changing surface and increased level of difficulty. Jason Thomas takes a deep dive on the race craft from last weekend.

If you didn’t know much about the French privateer Cedric Soubeyras before last weekend, his story is worth reading. Aaron Hansel caught up with him in St. Louis and found a story worth telling—and it even involves some help from Mitch Payton.

Club 30 (Andras Hegyi)

More records and milestones for Ryan Dungey. Having won in St. Louis, the KTM rider joined a very elite club, becoming just the sixth rider in AMA Supercross history to get at least 30 wins. Dungey joins Club 30, which is headed up by Jeremy McGrath (72 wins), James Stewart (50), Ricky Carmichael (48), Chad Reed (44) and Ryan Villopoto (41). Dungey is the oldest one to arrive at the club. He will turn 27 this year. The youngest rider to reach 30 wins is James Stewart. Bubba was 23 years, 1 month and 17 days when he got his 30th win. Dungey also needed the most seasons and the most races, as he is racing his eighth season and he got his 30th win in his 114th race.

James Stewart debuted in the premier supercross class in 2005, and he needed only 46 races to arrive at his 30th victory. But Bubba got to 30 wins in his fifth season in 2009. We must not forget that the Floridian was injured both in 2005 and '08, giving him two early, incomplete seasons.

Jeremy McGrath needed 52 races to get to 30 wins. The King of Supercross needed five seasons to reach his 30th win. Jeremy McGrath debuted in '92 and he celebrated his 30th victory in his 52nd race in 1996. That season the seven-time AMA Supercross Champion was 25 years old.

Ricky Carmichael needed 67 races to reach 30 wins. Just like Stewart and McGrath, the GOAT needed five seasons to get to 30 wins. He began his premier supercross class career in 1999 and he got his 30th win in his 67th race in 2003. RC was 23 years, 2 months and 12 days.

Ryan Villopoto joined the club 30 in his fifth season. He debuted in 2009 and he gained his 30th victory in his 69th race in 2013. Villopoto would turn 25 years in 2013. (And unlike everyone else on this list, all if RV's wins came on a single brand: Kawasaki.)

Chad Reed needed 89 races to get to 30 wins. The Australian legend took part in the premier class for first time in 2002 and he got his 30th win in his seventh season, in his 89th race in 2008. Reedy would turn 26 years in 2008. (And Reed is the only rider in this club who got wins on four different brands: Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki.)

Dungey needed the most times to get to his 30th win. He raced in eight different seasons and 114 races to get there. During '15 and '16 he has 16 wins so far. That's more than he was able to collect between 2008 and 2014. And he's also on a record 30 straight podiums, which makes him the ultimate Club 30 member at this very moment.

TOPHER INGALLS REAL ESTATE (DC)

If you haven't heard or read about all of the hub-bub over former professional rider Topher Ingalls' new real estate commercial, we suggest you watch it here first.

In a nutshell, Ingalls put together a really cool, well-spoken, and well-produced commercial for his new career as a real estate agent. In the YouTube video he posted, he's riding a KTM and doing cool jumps as he "commutes" to work along the 101. The problem is that someone alerted the California Highway Patrol about the video and possible laws being broken, and they are now said to be investigating Ingalls. 

“It is disturbing that someone would drive so carelessly on the freeways like that, putting innocent people in danger,” CHP officer Patrick Seebart told the L.A. Times.

“It depends on how you look at it," countered Ingalls, who rode professional for six years before retiring. "It’s not a video of destruction or reckless stuff. None of it felt dangerous to me.”

The unfortunate part about this is that with the chronic problems we have in cities across the country with urban riders shutting down traffic, breaking laws, and the likelihood that many of them are riding stolen bikes, Ingalls may become the poster child for police finally cracking down on the street riders. He obviously knows what he's doing in the video, and he doesn't do anything that would seem very dangerous to anyone who actually knows anything about motorcycling. 

I also know that if I ever decided to buy a piece of property in California, I would do it with Topher at San Luis Obispo Real Estate!

Dungey-Roczen-Anderson (Andras Hegi)

For the last three rounds of SX, the podium has looked like this: 1) Ryan Dungey, 2) Ken Roczen, 3) Jason Anderson. It has now happened four times that over at least three successive races, the podium order was the same. 

1988: The '88 season was dominated by Honda rider Ricky Johnson and Kawasaki's Ron Lechien and Jeff Ward, the defending champ. These three expropriated the podiums between the 5th and 8th round. Johnson always the winner, Ward always second, and Lechien always third.

2003: In a record for this kind of consistency, the last six rounds of the 2003 AMA Supercross season were monopolized by Yamaha rider Chad Reed and Honda teammates Ricky Carmichael and Ernesto Fonseca. In the last six races, Reed always won, Carmichael always finished second, while Fonseca always ended in third. Carmichael ended up with the title, given the fact that he was 25 points ahead of Reed when he got hot. Ricky ended up taking the title—Honda's last since then, by the way—by seven points.

2006-'07: In the 2006 season's last race and in the first two races of 2007, only James Stewart, Ricky Carmichael, and Chad Reed got on the podium. Kawasaki's Stewart was first across the board, Suzuki's Carmichael always second, Yamaha's Reed always third.

2016: Since the 12th round, the podium finishes have been the same. Ryan Dungey has been invincible, Ken Roczen has been a close second, and Jason Anderson has been third place all three times. 

THE NUMBER: 200 (Andras Hegyi)

The Australian legend Chad Reed became only the third rider in premier supercross class to reach his 200th start. Besides Reed, Mike LaRocco and Kevin Windham were able to arrive at 200 races in AMA Supercross. 

Mike LaRocco is the all-time leader with 227 starts. The Rock raced in the premier supercross division between 1989 and 2006 over 18 seasons. He reached his 200th race in his 16th season in 2004.

Kevin Windham was in the premier supercross class between 1996 and 2013. He rode 17 seasons in all, as he did not race in 2003. Windham took part in 207 races and marked his 200th race in 2012. 

Chad Reed debuted in the premier supercross class in 2002. Since then he has taken part in every season, so he made his 200th start in his 15th season.

Here are Reed's races in the seasons:
2002: 4 races

2003: 16 races

2004: 16 races

2005: 16 races

2006: 16 races

2007: 16 races

2008: 17 races

2009: 17 races

2010: 6 races

2011: 17 races

2012: 7 races

2013: 16 races

2014: 6 races

2015: 16 races

2016: 14 races and counting

Reed's records in his 200 races:
- Chad is the most successful foreign, non-American supercrosser in the premier class.

- Reed has the most podiums, with 130 so far.

- He is the only one rider who was able to win in the saddle of four different brands: Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Honda.

- He was able to win in the most seasons—11 so far.

- He got the most top five finishes, with 153.

- As a foreign rider he has the most wins, with 44 so far.

- Considering the numbers of wins and podiums, he is the most successful Yamaha rider ever, with 35 wins and 89 podiums in the saddle of YZs. 

Hey, Watch It!

The Untold Story of Cairo, GA Part I:

The Untold Story of Cairo, GA Part II:

Head-Scratching Headline of the Week

"Rob Gronkowski Highlights Smoke Show Pit Party for Monster Energy Supercross Debut at Gillette Stadium" - PR for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship's return to the Foxborough, Massachusetts, and the home of the New England Patriots. Gronk is their fun-loving polar bear of a tight end. 

Random Notes

Bring back any memories? Our 8-Bit youth shirt pays homage to many of our childhood memories. Check 'em out at racerxbrand.com.

Heading to Foxborough for the fifteenth round of Monster Energy Supercross this weekend? Stop by the Racer X booth—located in the Party in the Pits—to pick up a free copy of Racer X Illustrated. You can also sign up or renew for just $25 (60 percent off the cover price) to get a one-year subscription, a FREE Racer X beach towel, and an extra issue!

CRAIGSLIST FIND OF THE WEEK: Our longtime pal and all-world retro hipster Randy Richardson spotted this gem.

Not only is supercross making its long-awaited return to the Northeast this weekend, but the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will also be back at The Wick on July 9. The Johnson family has been hard at work getting the facility ready for its first National since 2013. The Wick team will be in the pits at Foxborough, so stop by their tent, say hello and keep getting excited for racing at legendary sandbox.

Check out the 2013 Southwick National Remastered video.

Check out this sweet plate that a reader spotted.

That’s it for this week—thanks for reading. See you at the races.