Bring back the Semis in 450 Supercross

The night show was simply better when we had 2 heats, 2 semis and a Main Event in the 450 class. There were more gate drops, more factory riders on the track in the second hour of the broadcast, and frankly, it was a better system to ensure all the top guys got into the main.

Under the current format, the entire second hour of the broadcast is almost a complete waste of time. Filler segments, fucking Rutledge, and a couple of inconsequential LCQs (which do provide great racing, I'll admit, but only amongst the also-rans.) Maybe if a factory rider gets bumped into the LCQ it's only interesting to see if he survives the first turn, then it's boring as he drives away.

I know the teams didn't like them, but come on, more racing with factory guys is better for us viewers.

And no, we can't go to an all Triple Crown format.
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yz133rider
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9/22/2021 6:52pm
No more gate pick racing please. 2 or 3 Moto format. Do the qualifying before the night show. Same as motocross does. Please. Make the racing mean something.
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kb228
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9/22/2021 6:59pm
Last thing i want is a waste of a race. 2 heats and an lcq are perfectly fine.

Honestly the most exciting races are the triple crowns. Id cream if we got an entire season of those
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C.Worthy
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9/22/2021 7:11pm
kb228 wrote:
Last thing i want is a waste of a race. 2 heats and an lcq are perfectly fine. Honestly the most exciting races are the triple...
Last thing i want is a waste of a race. 2 heats and an lcq are perfectly fine.

Honestly the most exciting races are the triple crowns. Id cream if we got an entire season of those
Agree completely!
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TeamGreen
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9/22/2021 7:17pm Edited Date/Time 9/22/2021 7:56pm
Uh…I dunno about the nay-sayers. Seems to me the TV broadcast WAS helluva lot better when we had semis.

Seems to me we had fewer stragglers in the main when we had semis, too.

So, I’m gonna go with the OP on this one.
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The Shop

-MAVERICK-
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9/22/2021 7:30pm
More racing, less "How did you meet your wife?"
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yz133rider
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9/22/2021 7:36pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:
More racing, less "How did you meet your wife?"
Impossible 😂😂😂
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JazzyJJ
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9/22/2021 7:55pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:
More racing, less "How did you meet your wife?"
But how will we ever know the best gift they ever got them?

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8tensolutions
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9/22/2021 8:33pm
So much opportunity. Superpole qualifying, bring semis back, and actually tell the story of one or two riders each night. The "filler" they use is just awful. More triple crowns would be amazing too.
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Bow977
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9/22/2021 8:35pm
Semi's were a waste of time.
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Kelz87
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9/22/2021 9:53pm
I like variety in the season, but that’s just me.
Semis, a couple of triple crowns, some speedway races, a reverse track or two, east/west shootouts, etc…

It gives a little something extra to look forward to and keeps things interesting. As for affecting the broadcast, I really don’t care
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Yeti831
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9/22/2021 10:10pm
Why not both?

Heats, semis and lcq.

More race time, damn it.
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kijen
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9/22/2021 11:29pm
Pay some points for the semis, make it really mean something. And tbat gets close to the triple crown.
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blockhead17
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9/22/2021 11:45pm
Yeah I like the super pole, watching people do a hot lap against the clock.
Or some 1v1 racing is cool too
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MX Guy
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9/23/2021 1:24am
JT said on the last Pulp show something to the effect of "I'm not interested in changing purely for the sake of change." I think this is a crippling mindset a lot of the industry probably has, including FELD.
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davis224
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9/23/2021 2:16am
I know it's more racing, but more often than not they bored me to death because it was less urgency, don't have to do or die for 4th in the heat after a bad start since you've got 2 other (increasingly good) chances to get in. Nobody wants to go miss qualifying out of the heat if your only other chance is the LCQ.

At least with the triple crown every lap mattered all night, and the shorter earlier races gave "B" level guys more hope and they fought harder if they got a good start. I agree, it took a little away from the tension of a "MAIN main event" but it was a more action packed night. There's gotta be a happy medium in there somewhere.
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9/23/2021 3:08am
This isnt the 90`s when the racing was better, 450 semis were the most boring racers of the night. B level factory boys just mailing it in.
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Mr. Afterbar
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9/23/2021 3:23am
kb228 wrote:
Last thing i want is a waste of a race. 2 heats and an lcq are perfectly fine. Honestly the most exciting races are the triple...
Last thing i want is a waste of a race. 2 heats and an lcq are perfectly fine.

Honestly the most exciting races are the triple crowns. Id cream if we got an entire season of those
Triple Crowns suck. Is there anything more anticlimactic? I want the show to lead up to a finale, not taper off into an early bed time.
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DPR250R
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9/23/2021 3:35am
Points only at night. Anything else… get it over with during the day.
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9/23/2021 4:27am
Semis were boring, hell even heats are boring a lot of the time, let's not kid ourselves. The top guys just circulate looking for lines with the occasional half assed battle played with their cards close to their chest. The Main is all that matters. Honestly the whole broadcast package could be trimmed a lot, it feels bloated as it is. These days I'm more likely to just watch the 2 mains and skip the rest. I'd rather scrap the heats, have a live superpole type qualification and then maybe 2x mains similar to outdoors. More points paying racing which is what really matters.
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Bearuno
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9/23/2021 4:49am Edited Date/Time 9/23/2021 4:50am
Wasn't the reason for the demise of the Semis less riders entering the rounds over time?

Or was it just to tighten the event program for TV?

NewOldSchool
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9/23/2021 4:57am
It’s a meat grinder as it is, add more gate drops and now you’re guaranteed to have depleted fields by years end.
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Mr. Afterbar
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9/23/2021 5:22am
Bearuno wrote:
Wasn't the reason for the demise of the Semis less riders entering the rounds over time? Or was it just to tighten the event program for...
Wasn't the reason for the demise of the Semis less riders entering the rounds over time?

Or was it just to tighten the event program for TV?

More time for pointless cringeworthy TV segments.
snackfedbear
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9/23/2021 6:08am
Pretty sure the semis got scrapped because they needed more time to do track maintenance. This is also an opinion
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resetjet
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Tampa, FL, USA
9/23/2021 6:24am
450, 250 and privateer races only. No heats. Quali during the day.
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ElliotB16
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9/23/2021 6:49am Edited Date/Time 9/23/2021 6:50am
I’m all for it. Gives the 2nd tier riders more exposure and tv time. Plus more racing
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9/23/2021 6:56am Edited Date/Time 9/23/2021 10:21am
Pretty sure the semis got scrapped because they needed more time to do track maintenance. This is also an opinion
It was when they went to timed mains. By the end of the main, the tracks were completely down to the subsurface. The general sentiment was that if we are going to add a few minutes of racing, it should be during the mains.

But the root cause is not any bit of the race procedures -- it is that there is just not enough dirt for the number of laps the fans want to see, so they have to reduce the track time, dedicate more program time to breaks, and spend that time pushing dirt back into bald spots.

I really enjoyed Atlanta this year, and maybe a few more similar locations with more dirt, fewer/longer laps, and longer venue scheduling timelines would allow more changes to the program.
Stuntman949
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9/23/2021 7:05am
Only if it takes downtime out of the program but I don't remember that being the case
Moto520
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Schaumburg, IL, USA
9/23/2021 7:37am
I don't know if the tracks can handle anymore racing on them before getting destroyed. Otherwise...i'm all for it!
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mx617
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Trail, CA
9/23/2021 7:53am
davis224 wrote:
I know it's more racing, but more often than not they bored me to death because it was less urgency, don't have to do or die...
I know it's more racing, but more often than not they bored me to death because it was less urgency, don't have to do or die for 4th in the heat after a bad start since you've got 2 other (increasingly good) chances to get in. Nobody wants to go miss qualifying out of the heat if your only other chance is the LCQ.

At least with the triple crown every lap mattered all night, and the shorter earlier races gave "B" level guys more hope and they fought harder if they got a good start. I agree, it took a little away from the tension of a "MAIN main event" but it was a more action packed night. There's gotta be a happy medium in there somewhere.
Every lap does NOT matter with the triple crowns. More often than not the overall is more or less done by race 3 and the riders are just cruising. Race 3 is almost always a snoozer.
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Zycki11
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Edwardsville, IL, USA
9/23/2021 8:16am
Semis need to come back, starting grates need to go away, tracks need to be slower(more technical), more nets, and need back DD
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