The last two weekends of Supercross have been some of the most memorable races to date. Between the wild battles in the 250 Class & a recently ignited beef between Dungey & Reed, Detroit & St Louis certainly weren’t lacking in entertainment. Although both tracks offered some stellar entertainment, they couldn’t have been more different in style & function. Detroit was a somewhat simplified track, where St. Louis was slightly more technical, in addition to offering some killer dirt: Detroit, not so much. We know it’s been a while since we’ve been able to produce a pro write-up for you all, & for that we’re sorry: chalk it up to school & whatever other bullshit excuse we can fabricate. So, here is where we will cut to the chase & serve up some wicked words.
250’s:
The East & the West could not be more thoroughly divided in the action they were able to conjure up. The West started off looking quite promising for the TLD rider, Shane McElrath, reeling off an impressive 2 races in a row. Things took a drastic turn in Round 3 when Justin Hill started riding like an early 2000’s Bubba. Seriously, we know he has red hair & shit, but he was riding like his hair was legitimately on fire. That continued for the several rounds to follow before they went to break. Conversely, the East Coast rounds have been as turbulent as you could possibly imagine. With Joey Savatgy opening things up with a bang, Zach Osborne coming on & winning the next 3 out of 4, then too much of our surprise, Jordon Smith reeling off two in a row: the East Coast has been one of the most exciting championship fights we can remember.
The action of the night took place up front between the Top 2 in points for the second week in a row. Joey Savatgy got out to a great start & was delivering a sound performance, until he got UBER huckabuck doubling out of a corner, & nearly tossed it away. From there, Jordon Smith was able to snag the lead & proceed to act like he’d been there before. Quick side note: Smith’s composure has been absolutely next level on this little heater he’s put together. Anyway, after Jordon Smith was able to salvage the lead, it wasn’t long before the veteran Savatgy was again nippin’ at his heels. While they jostled for position, one of the fastest guys of the whole series, Zach ‘Zacho’ Osborne began to close in on the action. Versace had several opportunities to make the move on Jordon Smith, as it was clear that his speed was superior, but Smith simply wouldn’t be denied as he was relentless in pursuit of his 2nd career victory. Hats off, Smitty.
450’s:
Eli Tomac, aka ET3 (killer nickname), what more is there to say that hasn’t already been said? The first three rounds of the season, we saw a guy who looked more like the middling factory rider than the guy who has so much speed it’s legitimately scary (See: 2015 Thunder Valley National). After incurring a brutal 8th place finish at A2, the wizards at Kawasaki were able to drop some heavy magic on that Green Machine, because it’s been lights out for the squad ever since. After another dominant performance in Detroit, much of the motocross world was on notice as Dungey would fight to maintain his point lead. The night couldn’t have started out better for the Minnesota native, as he guided his orange machine to a textbook heat race dubya (slang for win, it’s okay if you don’t get it). Tomac, on the other hand, ran into some heat race misfortune, but he was able to slide past Barcia for a ticket to the main.
Once the girl with the cool butt, we mean personality, had turned that analog 30 second board sideways, it was time for Dungey to put his championship meddle to the test. It was the start us motocross fans had been yearning for; finally, the two title contenders hop out to a 1-2 position early on. Dungey captured the lead & held it for all of about 2 seconds, as Tomac was aggressive in making his way past the reigning champ. From there, Tomac simply didn’t look back, which was a good thing because Dungey meant business. The rest of the moto was fairly uneventful, with the exception of the whole Reed, Dungey fiasco; but really, aren’t we sick of hearing about that already? Dungey was really putting on a solid charge to reclaim the position that was so abruptly swiped from him, but the Colorado Kid has simply been untouchable. It was ET3, for the fifth mother friggin’ time in a row, who was able to maneuver that green steed to a win.
Closing Words:
With only 4 Rounds left in the title chase (where the hell did the time go?) we have a couple of chips that are really starting to look interesting. In the 450’s, Tomac & Dungey are about as close as Weege & Matthes, & if we know any damn thing about the Dunge, those 4 points aren’t going away without a fight. Over on the 250 side, there are only 12 points separating the top 3 in the title hunt. & given the way these first 7 have panned out, we can only imagine the last two rounds will be a few to remember. Hopefully these words give you a little relief on this hump day & remember kids, it’s not cool to argue about Reed being old & Dungey not being ‘manly enough’ anymore, so just argue about Donald Trump or walls or something.