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What a time to be alive. We’ve got bold young talents like the Deegans and Lawrences at the races and rewriting the book on brand building. We’ve got established players staying in the game and building fan bases. We’ve got a living legend in Eli Tomac poking around the record books. And we have all of those characters and storylines colliding on the racetrack with close, unpredictable, compelling action. When Ken Roczen crossed the line with his first victory on the Progressive/Ecstar Suzuki, delivering a feel-good story in a season that already had more than enough feels, it really drove home where professional supercross and motocross exist right now. The packed house at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium cheered the whole way, because they all knew the story of Roczen and Suzuki. The next weekend, when Aaron Plessinger tried to do the same in Detroit, the fans also followed his every move with the same vigor because they love Plessinger, who has branded his image to a fine (yet rough) point. Aaron crashed away a sure win, but his tears and his post-race interview still led to a compelling drama, punctuating the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat that lines the contract between fans and sports. Sometimes you gotta get the feel bads to make the feel goods feel better. This year has all of those. Case in point: when Plessinger crashed away a sure win, it was Chase Sexton who benefitted—the same Chase Sexton who had thrown away wins in that exact same manner.