Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Monster Energy Cup: New Frontier

Leave it to Ricky Carmichael to bring new life to a sport trapped in its own groundhog day.  The Monster Energy Cup is quickly becoming the most thrilling preview to American Supercross.  The track this year was undoubtedly the highlight of the whole evening and we owe it all to the Great Equalizer: the Joker Lane.

Supercross has always taken strategy and when asked the answer is always the same; get a good start, consistent laps and go fast.  I can't remember a time when these strategies were not enough to get you across the finish line first.  The Joker Lane adds a whole new dimension to racing and more importantly it keeps the audience engaged like never before.  Prior to the Joker Lane, we had to wait for a mistake to see some sort of shake up in the order.  With the unbelievable skill of these riders, mistakes are few and that's why you have riders dominating motos.  The Joker Lane is what Supercross has been missing, it's too bad that we'll never see this type of thing during the regular season.  Sponsors are counting on consistency and with the sizable investments in these teams, anything that could disrupt the predictability of racing would not be in their best interests. 

The split start was another intriguing component to this years Monster Energy Cup.  Ricky must have put a lot of thought behind his track design because he had to know that a split start should not give anyone an advantage and that the variable would be at the confluence of the two lanes.  This concept I can see gaining traction because it's at the very start of the race and should not affect the flow of the race, we'll see if anything comes from it.  The Talla-Vega turn was irrelevant I thought.  The high bank turn looked cool but I didn't see anyone really use that to any advantage.    

Given the unusual track design, the racing was extremely exciting to watch.  I knew Barcia would shake things up and I believe he will give Villopoto more competition than Dungey because Barcia rides with more aggression.  It was great to see Chad Reed back on the bike and he was posting some pretty impressive track times; I don't doubt he'll be ready to compete when A1 comes around.  Alessi and Grant also showed some consistency.  I think Mike Alessi can run with the top riders but he just can't seem to finish strong.  I don't believe it's his fitness, it has to be in his training.  As for Grant, I think he'll do well back with JGR but I don't see him taking any race wins this season as long as the Ryan's, Justin, Chad and James are at the gate-Canard, Short and Millsaps will be the wildcards.  Jake Weimer is still trying to find his rhythm and was unimpressive.  Kyle Cunningham was very consistent but it's hard to judge his chances with a condensed lineup.  Ricky's new team will be interesting to watch and with Broc Tickle on the bike they might be able to make some noise.

The Lites class was not well represented this weekend but Eli Tomac was competing and he's certainly a favorite for another championship.  We rarely have the chance to see the next generation of riders on the national stage and the field of amateurs in attendance this weekend leaves us with much hope for the future of this great sport.  

Stay tuned because I'm working hard on a new fantasy racing game.  I have over a hundred Supercross and Motocross races recorded and I have been logging in a bunch of hours testing my concept.  I'm getting close and when it's ready, you'll be able to enjoy racing from a different perspective.  A1 is just around the corner-I can't wait.

AR