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Back in 2003, if you told me Chad and Stew were only gonna win 2 titles each, I would have said you are mad.. Furthermore, had you said the same about Eli, I would have said no way.. but here we are.
Really puts into perspective how brutally difficult it is to stay consistent in this sport.
You can add Webb to that list as well, his 2023 season took the same turn Eli’s did.
Imagine telling someone after the 2009 season that neither Chad nor Stew would ever win another title.
From 2008 MX and 2009 SX Stew had 23 wins out 29 races. I said, well, he’s going to break every record and dominate for the next 5-6 years. Little did I know, injuries, bad bikes(Yamaha), and just bad decision making would be what dominated for the rest of his career. Just so disappointing with the way his career went after 2009.
This. There was so much hope when he moved to Suzuki and won the first 4 motos of the year, too... and then when he healed up... and then... and then....
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I doubt the 3rd title will be that big of a deal to Eli a couple of months from now. He got the 51 wins. Despite how he downplayed it, that was a BIG deal (ask J7) and I bet he is happy with what he has done in his career.
7 wins and having the title wrapped up (except for a freak incident) at 30 years old was amazing.
Yup.
Had Webb not been hit by AC, he'd be looking at title 3 this week. Which I would have hated as much as how Chase will take this title....
I was rooting for Webb to win the title this year. First thing I said when Eli had that crash a few weeks back (to which he bounced right back from)..."I don't want to see Webb win a title like that".
What if in 2003, someone told you Husky would have 4x the premiere titles of Honda over the next twenty years?
And if Tomac hadn't had a freak injury he'd be holding up SX title number 3 this weekend.
No ifs, ands, or buts listed in the record books.
Before Gainesville 89, had you said RJ would never win a title again people would have you committed and put in a insane asylum.
There are a few cases similar to what you are saying.
Agreed. I was only saying that I wanted Webb to title...but not against an injured Tomac.
It's even worse in Chase's case...he was third place a week ago. Inheriting a title from 18 points back due to injury sucks.
That is very true but Chase will always know it and you can tell he does with the way he responded to all this. Fans will forget what happened to ET and CW but Chase won't. Having said that, Chase was the fastest guy this year so he can hold on to that. Winning this way is not fulfilling though.
Seeing his reaction to what happened to Eli really shows what Chase is made up of. Seems like a great person. Classy guy.
When you fall over in a bowl corner on the first lap with the entire pack bearing down odds of injury are pretty high. Sucks that Webb crashed out, like so many others.
I agree Eli's situation was different and unique and obviously Chase feels a little weird about it, too.
There’s just a whole lot of warmth in that post lol
You’re assuming Webb could have beaten Sexton for this title? They were close in points.
Of course, Webb could have beaten Sexton...he has the finger gun.
I would think it would be tough for any racer that has integrity to accept winning a title the way he's about to. Not because he isn't deserving, he certainly is.
The title fight was heading into the final rounds when two of the top contenders unfortunately bowed out of the championship due to weird situations. It would be different if they had gotten injured early on in the season or crashed out on their own, but that's wasn't the case for either guy.
Chase has been vocal about wanting to beat Tomac straight up and was looking forward to have another chance to do so this summer to try and redeem himself after the 2022 MX season.
Every racer wants to beat the best to be considered the best.
At the end of the day Chase will go in the record books as the 2023 450 Supercross Champion and that is all that matters.
...and now we know the reason for the finger-gun (recent Webb interview)
Mav. You nailed it.
"Every racer wants to beat the best to be the considered best". Chase knows he didn't accomplish that in the end and he likely won't ever get that chance. Chase is on his way up....Eli is on his way out. This is how it's always been.
Tomac was clearly the best this year. Webb gave him hell this year and it was awesome. By the time Chase righted the "crash" ship....he was all those points down.
The whole deal....
Sucks for Chase.
Sucks for Webb
Sucks for Eli
Sucks for us fans.
Pit Row
This is true but such is life. Unfinished business for Chase in 2024. No way he doesn't think that.
Everything you say is true except I think it does matter to Chase even though he got the title. He didn't beat Eli and he knows it. And 2024 is no given for him that is for sure.
For Eli, at least he can say he was winning his last race (if it turns out to be so)!
In most cases it is true that ppl forget what happened and only remember who won… but this was not most cases. This was the biggest upset in the history of supercross, and its going to go down in infamy. Ppl will remember where they were when this happened and are not going to forget what happened to Tomac.
20 years from now when it looks like a guy is going to win a title with a couple races left ppl will say “yea but remember tomac in 23’ it aint over till its over”. Not a chance in hell this just fades away into the background noise, we all just witnessed history the other night, and were never going to forget it. Just like how we all remember when ricky finally beat mcgrath, certain things are so big you remember them for the rest of your life. This is one of those things.
I wouldn’t care how I win the title, as long as that championship bonus check clears!
Thats also probably why I’m not winning titles
Eli was on the cusp of 3 in a row SX and MX combined. Hadn’t been done since Dungey (15 SX, 15 MX, 16 SX). Villopoto also did it twice (11 SX, 11MX, 12 SX, and 13 SX, 13 MX, 14 SX). Nobody since Carmichael had defended both championships the following year, something Tomac looked poised to do this year.
Absolute insanity that he went SX only right when he was at his peak and was completely dominating everything. It’s arguably the most baffling career decision in our entire sport’s history. It really seemed to derail his entire career too. Would have loved to see prime James there when the Ryans came into their own.
With how short this sport's memory is, I highly doubt it.
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