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No you are not. I'm saying you might feel slighted not making as much prize money, while working much harder, for the real championship. It just feels like it undermines the Supercross and Motocross season and champions. I guess I like it better as just being a one-off event like the Monster Energy Cup, but it's practically the same thing. They just decided to brand it as the world championship of both disciplines.
Let's see the announcers try to follow the points on this! We know how well that goes in the triple crown.
I get what you're saying but without the playoff there wouldn't be extra money to funnel into MX and SX. NBC was sold on the idea of the playoff and sweetened the TV package accordingly.
The monetary prize for winning the SMX championship is not just for those 3 rounds. The riders have a better chance at winning it if they participate in both the SX series as well as the MX series. The more points they can score across both, the higher they'll be seeded.
They were also rewarded by Feld and MX Sports for winning the SX/MX title, but it was a minimal amount compared to the new $1 million prize awarded to the SMX champion. I would assume those respective championship payouts will still be paid.
Winning the SMX championship isn't any easier by any means. You have to get there in one piece after racing SX and MX.
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I mostly agree but it seems like the "better chance" at winning if they participate in both SX and MX is very minimal, almost to where it won't have a real impact for the top riders. It seems like a number one rider could only race Supercross and still have a very good chance of winning SMX. But who knows with that overcomplicated clusterfuck points system.
If you call starting the playoffs with about a 15pt deficit minimal....so yes if you race both series you will have a better chance because you will have more points to start the series with....it's really not that difficult...riders will be seeded 1-20 and given SX points to begin the playoffs with, regular points given at first round, double points for the second round and triple for the final...not complicated at all....Over $3m paid out over three races makes it way worth it for the riders.
Assuming these SMX rounds will still be just a one-day format, how will they be determining gate picks? Strictly based on overall points? Timed qualifying? Heat races? There won’t be much time in a one-day program for qualifying since there will be four 20+1 motos and two LCQ’s.
Also, I personally don’t like the double and triple points. I think it puts too much emphasis on the 2nd and especially the 3rd one. Say rider A wins the first 2, then gets taken out, has a mechanical, DNF, etc in the 3rd one. Rider B who got zero points in the first 2 manages to win the 3rd one can conceivably win the whole kit and caboodle?
Even if they have timed qualifying, there should be plenty of time in the schedule. Motocross does the exact same thing, except with longer motos.
The double and triple points is just a way to make sure each round is more important than the last. Kind of like American team sports. If you DNF a race, them's the breaks. The San Francisco 49ers' QB blew out his arm in the championship game last year. It sucks, but it is what it is.
Yeah, but outdoors doesn’t have to build and remove a track, rent a venue/stadium, pay for venue staff for security, parking, concessions, etc. which all costs by the hour. Artificial/man made tracks require more maintenance between races which takes time. I’m also sure Feld will want to incorporate at least an equal if not greater opening ceremonies, pyro, wine, dine and 69 show for these races. I still think with all of the typical SX show stuff, combined with 4 20+1 motos, LCQ’s and whatever they are doing for qualifying will be a significantly busier and longer schedule than what we have seen in SX.
Most American pro sports are team sports and don’t have anywhere near as cut-throat a championship system as this appears to be. Your star player gets hurt and can’t play, but the game goes on and the team still has a chance to keep playing without you.
They don't build the track on Saturday.
This has nothing to do with sport, and everything to do with have a single big event at the end of the year. What you described is considered a feature. Going into the Championship Final, 10+ riders will have a chance to be champion.
Where did I say they build the track on Saturday? You made the comparison to outdoor MX. My point was that SX in general, and even more so these playoff rounds require much more time, labor and resources to run than a couple tractors, volunteer flaggers and a moto-tees trailer. All of that plays a part in the SX promoter cramming as much as they can in to a very short window for the event overall.
The gate picks for the Top 20 in combined SX and MX points will still be determined by qualifying.
Riders who are 21st to 30th in combined points will race a LCQ with the top 2 finishers moving on to the motos.
You mentioned concern about there being enough time to run qualifying, LCQ and motos in one day. I said motocross does it, so SMX should be able to do it. You said, "yeah, but outdoors doesn't have to build and remove a track".
My point is that building the track has no impact on the scheduling of events on race day..
Impressive that you put that much work into your arguement.
I am not sure Nichols is the best rider to use as an example.
If he does not race mx and some of the riders way down in the points do, they could easily pass him in points and nichols could very well be in the lcq group trying to get into the mains every week.
Riders like Benny bloss, Fredrick Norden, and Dylan ferrandis can all drop him down by running some mx rounds.
Jett Lawrence is probably going to drop him down some spots. So I could see it being close.
Now a question.
What about Justin Cooper. He has pointed out of 250sx, but will be running 250 mx and could earn enough points to be seated for 250sx.
Can he race the playoffs in the 250 class or is he out for that class in smx?
Nichols is currently sitting on 139pts., with two rounds to go. He'll have to put in some impressive results to score maximum points if he hopes to be seeded in the Top 20 in combined points for SMX. He likely won't be doing outdoors, so I'm guessing he'll qualify anywhere from 21st to 30th with the points he'll have scored in SX.
He'll need to battle for one of the two final spots in the LCQ race at all three events.
Jett Hunter? I assume you mean Jett Lawrence. Hunter is racing the 250 class, and Jett should score enough points during the 450 nationals to qualify himself in the Top 20 in combined points for SMX. He's in a situation where he'll qualify for both classes, but a rider can only race one class. He's already stated that he won't drop to the 250 again after moving up. Either way, his chances of winning the 250 SMX or 450 SMX title would/will be very slim.
Justin Cooper can and will race SMX in the 250 class.
He pointed out the 250 SX class, not the 250 MX or SMX class. SMX is a hybrid series, and sitting out SX puts him at a disadvantage.
The nationals offer a lot more points up for grabs. However, the chances are that he'll still be seeded lower than guys like Hunter Lawrence, Deegan, Hampshire, Smith, Kitchen, Vohland, Vialle, etc., seeing as they all scored an additional 100+ points in supercross and will most likely score a lot of points outdoors as well.
IMO, that's one of the more interesting stories to follow this summer. The same goes for Jo Shimoda. One sat out SX completely, and the other only raced a few rounds. It'll be interesting to see how high those two can climb the seeding ladder.
jett hunter......no more posting after midnight after having dozed off
Damn Mav, you got this playoff thang figured out ! Great work Sir !
Pit Row
It's still bonkers to me that the TV broadcast has spent almost no time talking about the playoffs. The stuff Mav mentioned seems like it would be great for the dead spots during the SX broadcast.
Last week they spent about 10 seconds by showing a graphic that listed the guys currently in the top-20 bubble (I think just for 450) for the playoffs. That is about the extent of playoff discussion I remember seeing on the TV broadcast all year.
I think the broadcast will start talking about it more once outdoors begins. We'll have riders coming back injuries, Justin Cooper starting at the bottom of the rankings from having to sit out SX from having pointed out of the 250 class, riders dropping down the ranking order because they're SX only, mediocre SX riders that are solid MX riders, etc.
Currently all they have to talk about is the combined rankings for the 250 class.
Still, you would think they'd start talking about potential storylines and get fans engaged and looking forward to the upcoming MX season.
Some people don't like the SMX thing, but I think it's interesting.
Current Top 10 250 Combined Rankings.
I think there are a lot of people who watch SX who probably don't even know that there are playoffs this year. And there are even more people who have no idea how the playoffs work. (I had to spend some time to get it figured out 90%.)
I'm not sure if I like the playoffs or not, but I am open to seeing how it goes this year. And definitely, like you, I think it will be interesting to watch things shake out this summer.
" Either way, his chances of winning the 250 SMX or 450 SMX title would/will be very slim. "
Why do you say that? Don't the points reset at the end of the MX season, so the number 1 seed only has 26 points? If Jett has a good MX season, he could be top 10 in 450 points, and that would put him in good position for the playoffs.
Or are you saying his chances are slim because you don't think he's ready to compete for podiums in the 450 class this year?
Yes, the number one seed going into the SMX playoffs will start with 26 points.
Looking back, saying that he has a very slim chance at winning the SMX title were not the right words. What I meant was that it will be a very difficult task for him to pull off.
I said that because chances are that Tomac, Sexton, Anderson, Plessinger, etc. will all have great outdoor seasons ranking them high on the list. Obviously that's not guaranteed. I'm just basing things off last year.
Tomac and Sexton already have 338pts and 320pts with two SX rounds to go before outdoors starts.
Last year the nationals had a maximum of 600pts you could score. Tomac scored 546pts. Sexton scored 539pts. Anderson 440pts. This year the maximum points available is 550pts.
Jett is starting the 450 SMX rankings with zero points, so he has a steep hill to climb.
I have no doubt that Jett can finish in the top 10 in combined points even if he only races MX. With how depleted the 450 field is heading into outdoors it will only help boost his points total.
With how solid Tomac, Sexton, Barcia, Roczen, and Webb have all been this SX season I don't see why that would change come the SMX playoffs. At this moment it's difficult to imagine Jett beating all of them consistently across the 3 SMX playoffs this fall. Of course my opinion could change after seeing how he does outdoors.
Personally if Sexton and Tomac stay healthy throughout the summer, I think the SMX title will go to one one of those two.
I'm a fan of Jett so I'm looking forward to see how he'll do.
2022 Top 10 Combined Points 450 Class
Tomac 905pts.
Sexton 831pts.
Anderson 790pts.
Barcia 605pts.
Roczen 527pts.
Plessinger 419pts.
Stewart 375pts.
Craig 373pts.
Dungey 359pts.
McElrath 314pts.
Does it matter? I mean Deegan will probably win at least 2 of these.
All of Craig's points last year came from outdoors. Seems like Jett should be at least as good as Craig was. So theoretically he could enter the playoffs about 11 points down of whoever the points leader is.
Though I agree that it Sexton and Tomac are the front runners. (Not a big leap for that.)
New Update:
Pre-Race conference just announced a change and since East region had 10 rounds they'll drop a score.
22nd place in the 450 standings pays 25k.
8th place in the 450 standings pays 100k.
did they give more info on how that would work, or what round would be dropped? Seems pretty amatuer hour to decide that one round wont count when they knew the whole time that they would be uneven.
Also wonder if this means we will see one less, or one more E/W showdown to make them align next year.
Usually, "dropping a score" means each riders' lowest score is dropped. (Which is still a bit of an advantage for the 250 East riders, but less of an advantage than counting all 10 rounds.)
They didn't elaborate on it. They simply said they'll take one of their 250 score away.
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