Welcome to the BTOSports.com Racer X Observations column from Daytona. As many of you may know, I wasn’t at there, which is maybe sort of a good thing seeing as how crappy of a day it turned out to be. But then again, I did sort of miss it while I was just sitting on my couch watching it like all of you, “normal” people. Anyway, because I wasn’t there, I’m going to change the column up a bit and concentrate on the series as a whole. But first, here are some deep thoughts from Daytona:
-It looks like the track crew did a pretty good job in salvaging the track and making it somewhat rideable out there. Also, they shortened the laps, which was a good thing in my opinion because let’s face it, when the conditions get that bad, it results in super long lap times. It’s not fun to see the world’s best riders just rolling around out there exhausted.
-The RC standing on a box for TV thing is silly. Who cares how short he is compared to Ralph Sheheen and Jeff Emig? We all know he’s short, and if anyone wants to crack any short jokes, RC should direct them to his bank account and multiple number one plates on the wall and say, “Suck it!”
-I admit that when I re-watch the races after being there, I don’t really pay much attention to the commentary but when I’m not there, I depend on the three guys in the booth (and Chad Reed when he was in there) to tell me what’s going on. They generally do a great job but as I’ve said before, I think they need to get out and learn more about all the riders in the field. In a three-hour show, you have to know something about all the riders, and at times, you can see that the three guys have NO clue about anything when it comes to some of the riders. They just need to get away from the three or four big teams and start reading up on these guys because everybody at the races has a story to tell.
-Great to see James Stewart win; before the race, I called him for it in my podcasts and shows. Obviously with the mud, a lot of things go out the window, but Stewart must have had the entire race under control because they never really showed him on TV. That’s a good thing for the seven.
-Ryan Villopoto had a miserable race, but it’s these kinds of rides that save titles. Crashing on the first lap and getting mud on your grips, gloves, and goggles and up your butt, is not fun but he made the best out of it and got a fifth.
-Ricky Renner was out there on a two-stroke and would have easily made the main had he not DNF’d with a blown up YZ144. It’s hilarious to me that the two-stroke people, who are completely over the edge in their fanatical desire to see them make a comeback, were sitting there with tears in their eyes thinking about how it wasn’t possible the POS four-strokes weren’t blowing up, and their beloved two-stroke did. Anyways, Renner was on the gas and did a good job in the limited laps he rode.
-Josh Hansen, what were you thinking? Hansen got pushed off the track in the heat, and then instead of reentering in another area like another guy that got pushed off (Davi Millsaps who got second in the main event), just decided to cut out two straights and enter the race in fourth. Predictably, he got black-flagged which hurt his gate pick for the LCQ. Why he didn’t just enter the track behind Millsaps and either make it into qualifying position, or at least get an inside gate pick for the LCQ, is beyond me. Just another bad decision by Josh “Johnny Drama” Hansen. In the LCQ, he made a racing move in chopping a guy off going into a turn and it didn’t work out, as both riders went down. His anger towards the other guy wasn’t justified, and clearly, Hansen woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. I feel for everyone on the H&H team who all busted their asses for their one guy, only to see him just implode himself, and their hard work, with a series of bad decisions.
-H&H team manger Kenny Watson tweeting after the race about the “bad luck” his team suffered was hilarious. Bad luck? I’d say in this instance, Hansen put his own feelings ahead of everyone else’s on the team and then hurt everyone else. Many of us wondered how Hansen was going to make it through a complete 17-race series without drama and giving up. Don’t look now, but it’s started to turn south for him in recent weeks. It will be interesting to see if he can turn it around.
-Great ride for Davi Millsaps in getting the runner-up spot. Millsaps is a good mud rider for sure, and it’s nice to see the JGR guys go 1-2. Put your hand up if you were one of those people that thought Kevin Windham was going to get Millsaps for second. Unless you’re related to Millsaps, I’m pretty sure everyone has their hand up, and that right there is an indication of why it’s a great ride for Millsaps; he did what many people felt he couldn’t.
-When it’s going your way, it’s going your way and right now Justin Barcia is the king of the Lites class. He rode a great race and despite being caught twice by Blake Baggett, he rode strong to his fourth straight win. At this point, we have to seriously start thinking about him going undefeated. I know I will, he’s been that good.
-Good to see Kyle Regal back as a full privateer on a Honda. Regal’s got to be one of the more mysterious guys out there. He apparently wants to race really badly, but he’s also turned down rides that offered decent money and equipment. He wants it to be on his terms and that’s admirable, because many a career has been blown by going with the money or signing with teams that sucked. Still, I don’t know if he’s got the resume to do that. Anyways, he rode well in the mud as a true privateer and I think he’ll be an H&H guy as soon as this weekend in a fill-in ride.
