Desert Showdown

Different Race, Same Stuff

Phoenix was another exciting round. It's shaping up to be a very interesting season! Just like last year, there have been 4 main events, and 4 different winners. A2 might see the 5th, and 6th different winners, as Chad Reed won there last year on a technical track similar to what is in store for this weekend, and the 250 class is pretty much a crap shoot.

Wiemer would have won the 250 main, had he not gone down in the tricky sand section. I don't know if SPEED edited the show to have Erin Bates chime in about the sand section taking victims, just seconds before Jake ate dirt, but I found myself laughing at that. Dungey looked good in his new FOX gear, and Brayton and Blose continue to turn heads. Biggest surprise is the defending champs J-Law and self proclaimed, Dr. Tre. Trey went down hard in the heat, and J-Law had a hell of a night. I'm pretty confident both will win a Main before the West Coast is over.

The 450 class was kind of a snoozer if you were just watching a lap chart, as James pretty much led wire to wire. But for anyone there, or watching on TV, it was anything but a snoozer. Very similar to last year, Reed held the #7 honest the entire 20 laps. You know you were on your toes that final lap, when Reed had closed to within a half second. It was also nice to see them high-fiving after the race. Bad blood and rivalries are good for TV, and racing if you think about it, but that was a great battle and both guys rode the shit out of those scooters.

Is the good racing due to the "bad" YZ450F, or the "amazing" RMZ-450? A bunch of people are saying that Bubba just doesn't look good on the new Yamaha. I call BS. The YZ450F has won both races so far, and he's only been on the bike for about 3 months. Reed did just fine on the bike last year, and while Skippy does look light-years better than he did in '08, I don't think it's just because of the new bike, but more so the new team. James has a pretty unique set up, and it takes him a while to get things going just how he likes them. The Cobra was pointing out, over on MotoTalk, that he suspects that James is using an Auto-Clutch as well. The Yamaha also took flak, when Bubba couldn't get it restarted at A1. Anyone out there remember the MXdN's? The only score team USA threw away was the one in which James couldn't get his Kawi restarted. Maybe James just doesn't know how to restart a fallen mount. I'm not just trying to defend the Yamaha 450, or James. I just think it's to early to be pointing fingers at the bike being the difference maker. Give it time people.

J-Law is with ONE, Dungey is with FOX. It's old news now. It was just Business. GET OVER IT