“There could be 26 250 factory riders at Indy,” Jeff Majkrzak, one of the principles at GEICO Honda, explained to me a few weeks ago. That’s an impressive sum of the parts involved with this weekend’s 250SX East/West Showdown in Indianapolis. True, we’ve had a Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown in Las Vegas for years, but the Vegas numbers are often skewed because it’s the end of the season and many riders are licking their wounds waiting for Lucas Oil Pro Motocross or simply out of title contention. At the midway point, everyone still believes they’re in the hunt. They’re going to be going for it on Saturday.

Injuries have thinned that factory rider count to about 18 (by my math, looking at the current entry list), as riders such as Martin Davalos, Alex Martin, RJ Hampshire, Cameron McAdoo, and Jimmy Decotis are out, and Christian Craig has been bumped to 450SX. That’s still a lot of talent, though, and unlike the Nationals, where you pile 18 factory bikes into a 40-rider gate, you’re looking at the chance a title contender doesn’t even make the main event at Indy. And once they do make it in, you’re looking at pure chaos.

This 250SX East Region is fresh in our mind, and just a week ago Austin Forkner and Zach Osborne were tied at the top, with Jordon Smith just eight points behind. Osborne now sports an eight-point gap on Forkner, which is certainly still close. Consider, though, that the 250SX West Region gap is half that, with Joey Savatgy down just four points on Aaron Plessinger. Savatgy appears to be gearing up for yet another emotionally draining high-drama championship fight, which has become a hallmark of his career. He’s experienced both victory and heartbreak in Vegas East/West Showdowns before (in 2016, he got both on the same night). Things could be just as crazy this year. Osborne’s eight-point lead and Plessinger’s four-point gap is tiny, and you have twice as many spoilers in the mix. If you’re second in points, like Forkner, this is a great opportunity.