most heartbreaking loss of a title in sx.

Eli Tomac, East Rutherford 2017

Langston’s wheel blowing up in 2001. 

Idk about most. For sure AC gotta be up there.
 

Marvin getting 2nd behind bowers by .5 seconds. 

i wasn’t around for it but didn’t Bradshaw choke bad for the 92 title? 

Savtagy/Osborne in 17

Bonds season a previous one?

Not SX, but Marvin walking up the hill after his 250 blew up at Ironman in 2015 was pretty hard to watch. 

I agree with AC here. His post race interview he did with DB right after that was a master class in handling a sports heart break like a professional and a man, and actually sticks with me as much as anything I have ever seen on the track. 

Not even close - Bradshaw's collapse.

The others are regional titles and his was the big boy class...and totally unexpected since it was a mental lock-up and not a crash/takeout/etc. Watching Stanton stand next to the finish line counting the places as riders came by to see if he won was surreal.

From memory that's the one he mentality cracked?

I agree. For most of the main I was waiting and waiting for Bradshaw to start making moves to the front but he just never pulled the trigger. I was in disbelief and totally bummed!

No Jeff was counting his cash win bonus. In Michigan they teach them to use moving objects for math equations.  Bradshaw had a knee injury but that’s not the reason he lost.  Worked out for him tho . He still earns a paycheck as a rider in his 50,s.  

Watching Bayle ride around behind him, not wanting to pass and help Stanton (word was the teammates disliked each other) was crazy. Bradshaw looked like a D-class rider and Bayle was stunned at how slow he was going. Then he finally went by and seemed to be shaking his head in disbelief.

You could tell he was totally rattled from the drop of the gate... which was complely out of character for him.

Add to it that it was the final race of the series (so no chance at redemption or strategy by an opponent) and there hasn't been anything that unexpected before or since, IMO.

No mention yet of Tomac last year? Non-contact, freak injury while leading his hometown race on the way to wrapping up a (final?) title is a pretty bad way to go out. 

DV's shoulder injury midweek ranks up there for me,  (early in the season i know) 

A few things happened to McGrath the year he missed Cship on Suzuki.

Both heartbreaking (Joey) and exhilarating (for Zacho).   

One of the best championship finishes of all time.   

Honestly, was gutted for Eli last year.   Mostly because nothing dramatic caused him to lose the title.   It was just a freak thing.

That was the first thing that came to my mind. Especially with how this season is going is making it that much worse. 

Imagine if the Dangerzone is in position to do that this year.

I gotta say Bradshaw '92. That was unbelievable. Tomac last year has to be a close second. 

I remember that one... Also, CP in Pala in 2010 vs Canard was a hard one too.

For the old farts like me:

Going into the final round of the 1971 500 World Championship at St. Anthonis, Holland, Roger DeCoster and Ake Jonsson were locked in a close duel for the crown. Jonsson had won the 500 Luxembourg GP the week before and went to Holland with a one-point lead. Sadly, Ake’s Maico short-reach spark plug unthreaded in moto one and he had to stop and thread it back in by hand. He raced back to 10th and then won the second moto, but he lost the 1971 500 crown to Roger DeCoster. Ake would never win a World Championship title.

Not dirt but Tom Sykes missed out on the WSB title to Max Biaggi by half a point. 

Wasn’t that Jordan Smith’s championship to lose? He had that in the bag then got knocked out leaving Savatgy and Osborne battling. 

Come on, it's not even close. Tomac last year. Completely freak accident, and had been a fairy tale season. Had the title on lock.

Bradshaw had a bad race so more on his performance but Eli was doing everything right and well on his way so I think Eli last year.

Yeah, he was a race away from his first 450 title. As we know it took him until 2020 to win the SX title.

Last year was rough as well, probably more heartbreaking in the moment. 

Dean Wilson..? 

Tomac last year is easily at the top of the list:
- No crash
- Leading the Main and cruising to an easy win
- Ruptures achilles on a simple take off that he's done thousands of times
- Hometown race
- Only that Main and 1 more left in the season to wrap up back to back titles since Dungey in '16-'17
- Would've also been the first back to back SX Titles by a single Yamaha rider since McGrath in '98-'99
- ALSO would've been the first time Yamaha won 3 AMA titles in a row since Hannah in the 70's