The last aspect I will be watching for is on the fitness recovery front. This quick turnaround is a new wrinkle for the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Riders have been hydrating and resting over the weekend but many won’t know just how much of a toll Friday took until late into each moto. My expectation is that this will vary throughout the field. I don’t think riders will be exhausted, per se, but I think we will hear a few riders mention feeling “flat.” That “flat” feeling is a tell-tale sign when the body hasn’t quite recovered yet. It’s a very common feeling during boot camp or heavy training periods of the season. It is characterized by a “going through the motions” feeling in the race. It becomes very difficult to raise one’s intensity during the race and even when wanting to push, the body just says “nah.” It’s hard to predict who and when this will come to pass but I think it will be the story of Monday afternoon for a few.

Fantasy Talk

This RedBud 2 round comes down to who did well and who did poorly on Friday and trying to capitalize on the opportunity Monday. I know that’s very basic advice, but I’ve said time and again that fantasy is often about timing. There are riders that are capable of grabbing a solid finishing position in every race, but then they’ll have a moto with a crash or bike problem and that sinks your chances for the week…but if you didn’t take them, their odds get so much better for the next race. So, after Friday, Fredrik Noren, Mitchell Harrison, John Short, Jeremy Smith, Jake Masterpool, and Jo Shimoda all fit that bill. A few of those opportunities have been removed, though. Riders like Benny Bloss and Luke Renzland would be hot picks for Monday after a tough Friday but I don’t expect either of them to be racing due to injury. It’s always an unpredictable dynamic for who will have a good day versus bad day. There are so many variables that arise during 70 minutes of racing. A crash, a bad start, a mechanical issue, or a catastrophic engine failure like Alex Ray faced on Friday morning can all ruin the entire day. I will be looking for the “good picks” on Friday that didn’t pay off and implementing them into my bounceback plan on Monday. Results usually revert back to the mean over time so a bad day on Friday can very easily turn into a solid day on Monday.