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CREATED THANKS TO<br />
BY ADAM<br />
WHEELER<br />
However, some riders still do<br />
not like the whole format for<br />
safety and effort/pay reasons.<br />
And I can’t sit here and say<br />
I don’t get it because I do.<br />
Rockstar Husky’s Dean Wilson,<br />
for one, had some harsh<br />
words for the format.<br />
“FANS DON’T CARE<br />
THAT THESE AREN’T<br />
THE STARS, THEY WANT<br />
BAR BANGING ACTION<br />
AND LCQS DELIVER<br />
JUST THAT...”<br />
“I think it’s stupid. It’s just so<br />
dangerous for us. We had five<br />
starts tonight, and we had a<br />
fifth gear start straight,” he<br />
said. “It was good training<br />
for me but it’s dangerous just<br />
because it’s so chaotic the<br />
first few laps. It’s gnarly. Of<br />
course from a fan’s perspective,<br />
it’s awesome. If I was a<br />
fan, I’d be loving it. But as a<br />
rider, it’s dangerous.”<br />
Others have mentioned the<br />
bonuses for the riders/purse<br />
money is the same as a normal<br />
race. Plus add-in that in<br />
Glendale the riders were hitting<br />
75 miles per hour down<br />
the longest start straight of<br />
the year and due to red flags<br />
for downed riders had to do<br />
five starts compared to two<br />
and it makes sense.<br />
From people I talk to, then to<br />
win a Triple Header “Main”<br />
means a rider gets a heat<br />
race bonus…but that ain’t<br />
right really either. The Triple<br />
Crown races are longer than<br />
a heat and with all the riders<br />
involved. So the riders<br />
are getting the short end of<br />
the stick when it comes to<br />
compensation. In due time<br />
the agents of the top guys<br />
will work to even this out I’m<br />
sure but for now, the riders<br />
are putting out more work.<br />
Roczen drilled pretty damn<br />
hard three times to win these<br />
races but in the end, only<br />
gained three points on Tomac<br />
for the championship; this<br />
doesn’t seem correct either<br />
but awarding full event points<br />
for each “Main” is way off<br />
BY STEVE MATTHES<br />
also and would penalize anyone<br />
who missed one of the<br />
“Mains” too heavily. There’s<br />
got to be a compromise in<br />
there somewhere.<br />
As far as the fan in the<br />
stands, well as I said every<br />
gate drop means something<br />
and all the stars of the sport<br />
are out there more which<br />
is always a good thing. The<br />
gaps between the Mains,<br />
while great for the teams, is<br />
a bit long during the night<br />
when you’re watching dozers<br />
work on the track. I understand<br />
that it’s hypercritical<br />
to complain about this while<br />
praising the changes for the<br />
riders and teams but I think<br />
the promoters need to fill the<br />
dead time with something.<br />
The KTM Jnr race is cool,<br />
the promotional Toyota thing<br />
works I guess but what about<br />
a B Main for the riders that<br />
didn’t make it?
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