Ruts Up

To be honest, once it became clear that this track would get rutted and technical, it was Chad Reed's race to lose. And yes, Daytona and Minneapolis (and even Atlanta) where his to lose, too, and he did lose them, but it would have taken something really crazy to stop him this time. Reed is just an amazing supercross rider and when you really put the field to the test of skill, you're just not going to stop him (unless you're James Stewart). So with a real technical test, it was over, and even if Reed didn't get the holeshot, he would have won anyway because he's the only dude on earth that can ride 20 laps on a mega tough, mega rutted track like this and not make a ton of mistakes and crash.

We'll see how this all plays out. Dallas could still present some wrinkles, with a super hard pack surface when it's dry and/or the constant threat of mud. For now though, Reed has to be feeling like he's right back where he belongs.

Toronto

Everyone was puzzled looking at the race track today. Tim Ferry designed the track, and the layout is fine, but something funny happened on the way to building the course. The dirt up here is frozen, and then when it came into the heated building, it started thawing, which threatened to turn the whole course into soup. A whole bunch of sand was dumped in to try to utilize less of the thawing dirt, but it's still going to be wet.

"It will be like a mud race just without the mud," said Travis Preston during the track walk.

"I think we're actually opening up natural springs once we get down into the surface. There's water underneath," said Kevin Windham.

This will lead to an unpredictable track that's slick and wet and soft and rutted in some areas, and then sand in other spots. Everyone is concerned with the ruts, knowing that jump rhythms that look good earlier in the day may not be around by the time the main events begin. It should be tough, it should be technical and it should separate the riders. Reed even told us it reminds him of Indianapolis, where he laid out the track but the whole race really came down to the rutted soil instead of what direction the track went. We'll see if this plays into Reed's hands like it did in Indy.

Reed did go home to Australia during the weekend off, he said he spent his first Easter in Australia in eight years. He didn't do much riding either, because at this point he's been riding for so long that a week off won't make a big difference anyway. Maybe he won't be so sharp. Maybe it won't matter. Honestly I think at this point Chad is just trying to control the championship and winning every race isn't so important.

Which leads us to Ferry. He's back riding after three races off with internal injuries. He looks good, in fact, he notched the fastest lap time of anyone during the second practice session. I can't remember the last time Timmy was the fastest in practice. In fact, this may be the first! Timmy told us he's got some hope now that Hill and Millsaps have gotten their first wins. Could he really come off the couch and do it?

I wouldn't count Reedy out.

Exchange Rate

I first traveled to Canada in December of 2004 for my big tryout to become host of the Supercross Live! webcast. I headed to Vancouver and realized my cell phone no longer worked and neither did the American dollar (although we've heard it barely works anywhere these days....rimshot!). I still have about $20 canadian at my house that I swear I will remember to bring up to Canada one of these days. But we're about to leave for Toronto and I've forgotten again.

Should be interesting this weekend since the riders have had time off. I was really, really hoping that by now we'd have Tedesco and Langston and Alessi back in the mix, but I guess they've all switching to "wait until outdoors" mode which is really too bad. Tim Ferry is coming back, though, since he actually designed this track. You know, last year Timmy mentioned that he may have been worn down by the time the end of the nationals came around. He needed to step up in the last few rounds once the title was on the line, but he realized he was the only rider of the four battling for the AMA/Toyota Motocross Championship that had raced every supercross that season. Maybe he was a little burnt out by then. Timmy earned a month off of supercross this year with his injury. Maybe this will help. I've already heard he is pinning it on his outdoor track at home.

And I'm sure the weekend off was what Chad Reed needed. I don't know how he was able to carry his luggage home with two broken hands, but he did make it back to Australia and now back to the U.S. I think he's just trying to hang on for this title now since all chances of win records are out the window. Maybe that will open the door for some others.

I've also heard no Ryan Dungey this weekend. Suzuki wants him back on a 250F getting ready for J-Law in Seattle and the upcoming AMA/Toyota Motocross Lites battle. With the way Trey Canard has handled things in the East against Ryan Villopoto, a lot of riders have to be thinking the Lites outdoor crown is back up for grabs.

And speaking of Lites, the Toronto Lites race should be awesome! I expect such big names as Jean-Luc Paqvette, J Marc Broussainault, Christopher Laliberte to be up there. Actually, I stole those names from the GNCC C class. I have no clue who is racing Lites this weekend. Maybe eh Mitche Cooke eh? I can only hope we get the two craziest announcers in the history of announcing, Cost and Trav from the Canadian Nationals on TV, to help. Back in '04 we had them up in the booth and I thought they were going to pop!

Another PR

Got this press release on The Crusty Demons Night of World Records presented by Rockstar Energy Drink. Enjoy this line: the event will feature a full Crusty Demons freestyle motocross show with star riders including world number one Nate Adams and X Games gold medalist Adam Jones as well as freaks and the gorgeous Crusty Babes.

Is it possible to be both gorgeous and Crusty?

Constituents

El Blogandto and the fiance went back to New Jersey for a few days for Easter. I also wanted to check if those three-way offers were still open in the state. Alas, I guess such offers are only available to high ranking government officials. Like former NJ Governor Jom McGreevy, who admitted to a few "political parties with an independent candidate."

New Jersey has been living in the shadow of New York for centuries, but I think the state clearly beat its rival this time. Yes, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer did get caught with a hooker, but that just shows what a desperate man he is. New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey didn't have to pay a dime for his acts of adultry. And even better, now word is out that he was able to nail the elusive three-way while in office! Of course, McGreevey's affair and the three-way involved other men, but hey, these are two very progressive states and this just shows McGreevey was really willing to reach across the aisle (literally?) and come to terms with all groups. New York's guy just resorted to old fashioned payoffs to get his work done.

I only wonder what traps this sets up for the people that take the place of guys like McGreevey and Spitzer. Current New Jersey Governor John Corzine crashed his car big time while speeding to the Don Imus/Rutgers Women's Basketball team meeting (you can't make this stuff up). New York's new Governor is, well, he won't be seeing any other women in the future (sorry). He luckily just came right out and admitted both he and his wife have cheated on each other in the past. Rumor has it that Jose Canseco is already writing a book about this--I think he shot NY Governor Paterson's wife with HGH.

Yeah, I love going back there for a few days. You just have to be really careful when someone asks for a campaign contribution.

Bradshaw Theory

I didn't become a really big Damon Bradshaw fan until after he started winning. Bradshaw came up through the ranks so quickly that getting pumped when he won was kind of pointless. I mean, we all knew he was going to dominate....until he stopped dominating. I don't know if anyone is sure what happened between 1992 and 1993, but it would be akin to James Stewart just going out there last year in supercross and suddenly "not having it." It seems impossible, but that was the case with Bradshaw in 1993. Soon, Jeremy McGrath had Bradshaw's momentum and mojo and the rest, as they say, is history.

At that point I started rooting for Bradshaw big time. I felt like the predestined champion of the future had fallen off the tracks and and things just weren't going to be right until he got back on them. I hoped he would find his old mojo again, but he retired instead. And it turns out McGrath winning was the greatest boon the sport would ever have, and things didn't really suffer too much without Bradshaw around. Shows what I know.

A few years later Bradshaw came back and I was ready for all the McGrath praisers to finally learn their lesson. Bradshaw was the greatest! Turns out I was wrong again. Bradshaw never got back to his old level. For whatever reason, that crazy speed just wasn't there anymore.

So I'm gonna' coin Bradshaw theory for two riders I've watched recently.

First is Ryan Villopoto. No, he hasn't dropped off to the point of possible retirement like Damon (Bradshaw was eventually crashing out of supercross races and finishing 16th at times in '93). But watching Trey Canard handle everything for the first few rounds of East action reminds me of Damon. He's just not the same guy right now. Going by past results, he shouldn't just be contending for this championship, he should be destroying it. Yes, Villo has a bad wrist. There's a reason for what's happened. But there was some sort of reason for what happened to Damon, too. Unfortunately that was way before the internet blew up so no one was talking back then.

Anyway, Canard is very much the McGrath to RV. In the early stages of 1993, McGrath wasn't neccessarily faster than Bradshaw, but he was putting his races together better. Getting better starts, riding more consistently. Bradshaw found his groove a few times and won a few races, but he never really got the rookie McGrath in his sights. We'll see if RV can do better.

On the GNCC side, my buddy Jason Raines trains harder and wants it more than anyone out there. But he was cursed with injuries and basically missed the entire '05 and '06 seasons with broken legs, and most of '07. He returned late last year just like Bradshaw did in 1995, but he struggled in the GNCCs. A full off-season to get going was what he needed, but man, after the first two races this year he still didn't look like the same guy he used to be.

My biggest hope here is that this whole Bradshaw theory is totally overblown and it won't actually apply to these guys. I've been wrong before and I've been wrong again, and when it comes to RV, I think we might all be eating our words if we doubt him too much (just like those that jumped off the RC bandwagon from time to time). This is a complicated game and it's hard to predict the future. I hope it's rosier for these guys than it was for DB's racing career.

I have seen the future

And it is this: Yamaha putting a helmet cam on their rider and then putting the videos up on their website. Click here.