The day before the 14th round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, the riders took to the track for press day. Afterwards the talk of the pits and social media was the massive 120-foot triple jump. The podium finishers in the 450SX class gave their opinions on the track during the post-race press conference. Meanwhile the 250SX class refused to let the track be the talking point of the night…err day. The first of two 250 SX East/West Showdowns happened on Saturday’s day race and as always, the racing did not disappoint, and the idea of more East/West races became a key topic.
What did the riders think of the big obstacles, the “speedway” style track, and East/West?
Here is what the podium finishers had to say.
Jason, from your Twitter comments yesterday, you didn’t seem to like the track, but I feel like it came around quite a bit. It made for some good racing. Did it change your opinion? I know you just said it was a good track, but did it change your opinion from yesterday?
Jason Anderson: Yeah. To be honest, right now I believe that 80% of the 450 class is out with injury. Then I think 120-foot triple, I understand they want shock value for the fans to be like, longest start straight, longest triple, but at the end of the day, we’re four rounds away from the end. Let us get through the season. Have good racing. We’re all going to have to hit the triple, but it’s going to rain too and we’re all still going to try and hit the triple. Luckily, the track ended up good. I just think the shock value that they’re trying to get out of some of the obstacles they put in is a little bit too much for us racers and our safety. But at the same time, I understand where their head is at, but us as racers, we’re humans and we want to stay safe. We want to limit the risk. We know the risk that we take, and when they make it a little bit bigger and we don’t really have control over that, it’s a little bit frustrating for me, personally. I hate to be the Karen, but at the same time, I feel like someone needs to speak. If something happened to me on one of those jumps, I’d be frustrated if I didn’t say anything.
Eli, we heard Jason talk about the track and some of these obstacles that have been the last few weeks. What’s your thoughts?
Eli Tomac: This one specifically, it was over the top. I was one of the guys out there kicking and screaming about the big triple. For one, it was ridiculously long, a hundred and something feet. Then two, they gave us no forgiveness to the landing. I was just like, if you’re going to build something that big, at least make it to where we can be short without getting totally jacked. Of course, we do it the first session and I’m like, that thing is pretty gnarly, pretty sketchy. Then you sit there on the line, and you see the 250 guys and I’m like, I was pretty sure someone was going to crash. Then sure enough, Hunter [Lawrence] goes over the thing and just explodes right on the landing. So, I was frustrated about it. Like Jason said and everyone has been saying, it’s just unnecessary. There’s too many guys out. If they want a massive huck, at least give us a good landing. That’s my take on it.
Check out Hunter Lawrence's crash during press day:
Historically, Atlanta has some of the biggest crowds in the stadiums, 70,000 people historically over the years. Would you rather have been in the stadium years past, or are you guys happy with this wider open, taking a chance with the weather? Which one would you guys prefer?
Tomac: If they keep the 120-foot triples out, the speedway track is all right. This one is gnarly. To me, I don't know if they’re just trying to out-do Daytona or something, but I don't think we need that. I think build a normal track and we’ll make the racing the way we do, and we’ll battle well. We don’t need the gnarly obstacles. Honestly, I like the bigger tracks, the higher-speed tracks. So, I would rather have this one than indoor Atlanta.
Anderson: For me, I actually ride good here but I don't know if I like it as much as I like racing in the Georgia Dome and stuff like that. I feel like that stadium in Atlanta and the supercross in Atlanta in the stadiums in the city are so nostalgic a little bit, with all the battling and stuff that has gone on inside there. I like this one, but I really liked racing in the stadium, too. All in all, if you keep the track normal, like Eli said, I think the racing is good here. And the fans were here, so it was pretty cool.
Chase Sexton: For me, I never got to race the 450 class inside whatever the stadium was last time, but I did race 250 there. I liked it. Out here, I think it’s good because we get more dirt and obviously the jumps, I think are a little bit peakier. For me, I think it’s a little bit technical. Not that the ones inside aren’t, but this one definitely is a risk versus reward kind of track. It has suited me the last couple years, but I just think more dirt, the jumps are… Not like the triple yesterday, but the rhythms sections and stuff like that, the whoops are good usually. The dirt is good here. So, I probably prefer it here.
The 250 riders were asked about racing more East/West events.
On the combined East/West events, would you like to see more of these? Do you feel it maybe bridges the gap going from the 250 class to the 450? Or does it bring extra pressure because it’s all the top guys in one race?
Jett Lawrence: I like it. I think it’s good because we don’t race each other all year. Even the practices, it’s not like we have an A group, B group. It’s kind of our one coast. So, it feels normal until you get to the main event and then it’s like, “Hey, you’ve got to race these guys that you haven’t raced all season.” I think it throws a big curve ball. You obviously watch the guys on TV to learn and you kind of have an idea of how they race, but you don’t know what it’s like being in that situation when you’re behind the goal. So, you never know what it’s actually truly like. You just see it on TV, which is I feel like a good thing. It makes it more fun, I feel like. Our season is pretty long, but the 450 is even longer. So, I think it’s a good setup with just riding fast guys every single race. I feel like it sets you up almost good for the 450. So, I wish we could do it more often, which would be cool. But we’re slowly getting back to it with two this year.
Hunter Lawrence: I agree. Obviously, the 450 is the premier. That’s why there’s two coasts, because they obviously want to leave something to the premier class, the premier championship. So, I think it’s good. Having two shootouts is cool. If it will ever merge into just being a full 250 supercross championship, I’m not sure just due to the fact of there’s kids, there’s families going to these races that can’t afford to do the full season of a 250 class where there’s a little more money and funding in the 450 class, I believe. So, I’m not sure. I’m not educated enough to really say.
Christian Craig: I think it’s cool. I think having two is good, but if one of them was a little earlier in the year, I think you would get obviously more guys in it because less people are hurt than this late in the season. Then you wouldn’t have the guys worrying about the title also. So, that would be the only thing is a little bit earlier in the year, you kind of get a little bit more parity. I’m all about it. Maybe in the future that will merge. Who knows?