My thoughts after 2 races...

I was lucky enough to get to check out both A1 and Phoenix live and watched nearly every lap of every practice, qualifier and main event thus far in the series. Figured I'd point out a few things from my perspective as a fan in the seats.

I have to start with the tracks. A1 was one of the worst tracks I've seen. It was a freight train and didn't allow any of the riders to anything exciting or different throughout the day.

Phoenix was one of the best racing tracks I've seen. The 180 corners were definitely part of it, along with building a 90 where the guys had to go wide to do the fast line. Even the sand, which they left rough from practice throughout the night was cool in Phoenix, though I would have hated to race over that wall and get blasted with a face full every lap. It was cool seeing the guys launch off of it into the sand and charge onto the start.

Where the heck are the whoops? I'm by no means fast enough to come close to making an SX night show, and the whoops at either round didn't scare me. LA has NO whoops on the track map. I'm not a fan of that.

KDub continues to impress. Opening ceremonies jumps are HUGE at both rounds and he was fast all day in Phoenix.

The 450 class is REALLY deep. No one besides RV has been able to cut through the pack very fast because everyone on the track is incredibly fast and smart.

How could I go this far without mentioning RV. He's riding on such a different level it is un-believable. He might not have both wins, but he definitely looks to be the favorite after 2 rounds.

Josh Hansen has quietly had 2 solid rounds. I think these rounds could be building blocks for him to move up throughout the series.

Chris Blose was FLYING in his heat race in Phoenix. From dead last to get a transfer spot. See above about not being able to pass guys in the 450 class because it's DEEP.

While RV has the flash in the 450 class, Tomac is riding with a ton of confidence in the 250 class. Although Wilson looked much better in Phoenix, I still would say Tomac is the guy to beat.

Musquin is really fun to watch ride SX. He's right in the mix.

Rattray has definitely improved his SX game. He's consistent and doesn't take a lot of chances.

Stewart looked a lot more comforatable in Phoenix to me all day, yet somehow he still can't put it together. He still has race wins in him.

Reed looked on a mission all day at round 2 until main event time. He seemed to lose the fire.

Really cool to see Billy Lanninovich back and doing well.

Zach Osbourne has a cool style and still knows how to ride SX. Combined with his fitness and experience, I hope someone brings him back to the US full time.

It seemed like the same guys in the main events both weeks. Turns out, 23 guys have been in the 450 mains this year, that's only 3 guys that made the main in PHX that didn't in A1 and vice versa.