Good, Bad, 'n Ugly: Glendale 1

We're here to give you our thoughts on who did good, who did...well, Bad and who had a night to forget forever (the Ugly)

Welcome to the Good, Bad 'n Ugly from Glendale! It's the fifth round of 2022 and we're here to give you our thoughts on who did good, who did...well, Bad and who had a night to forget forever (the Ugly). Staff member Grant Dawson has his thoughts, while Michael Lindsay will be back next week for his opinion as well.

Do you agree with our picks and opinions, or do you have thoughts that differ? Let us know in the comment section below.


250 Supercross Class

Grant Dawson | The Good: Jo Shimoda  - 3rd

It was awesome to see Jo Shimoda finally get the monkey off of his back in Glendale and claim his first podium finish of the season. He came into the season with the expectation of being a championship contender, so to have multiple seventh place finishes and a single fifth place finish coming into the fifth round was not ideal. He has shown flashes of the smooth operator type rider we've come to know him as, but he has also appeared to push harder this year in an attempt to get to the next level, which has lead to more mistakes. He has also had his fair share of bad luck at times. Regardless, he looked more like his old self in Glendale and it paid off. There's no doubt that he isn't satisfied with podiums at this point in his career, but with how the season has gone this was a huge step in the right direction. Hopefully, he can build on this and land on the podium a few more times this year. 

Grant Dawson | The Bad: Nate Thrasher - 5th

This is only Nate Thrasher's second full season in Supercross, and while he did have two wins in 2021 they both came at the outdoor style track of Atlanta. Still, he rides for Star Racing Yamaha and they expect big things out of their riders early on in their careers. Thrasher has definitely shown the potential to be a front runner in this class, but the results have not been there so far in what isn't a super stacked 250 West Class. Out of the five factory riders that have completed every race, he is currently ranked fifth and is eight points behind Jo Shimoda. You can also look at the fact that all four riders in front of him have more experience than him, but I'm sure the team is still expecting some podiums this year for it to be considered a success. 

Grant Dawson | The Ugly: Vince Friese & Christian Craig

Yup...we all know this is going to be a big topic of conversation this entire week. I was actually happy for Vince Friese after the first Main Event.  He grabbed a third place finish which was mightily impressive after his scary incident with Jo Shimoda last week. Those feelings quickly disappeared in the second Main Event, though, as he went into the sand section way to hot and took himself out while also absolutely launching Christian Craig off of his bike and onto the concrete. The initial shot on the broadcast didn't show where exactly Craig landed, either, so it was a rather scary moment while we all waited to see if Craig would walk back to his bike. He did eventually make his way back to his bike, and then put on one heck of a charge back to fourth place to salvage some points and put himself in position to finish second overall on the night. Injury wise, Craig sustained some road rash but outside of that appeared to be okay, while Friese didn't appear to sustain and noticeable injuries. If this was some isolated event, I'm sure things would simmer down fairly quickly, but these types of incidents aren't rare for Friese. Whether intention or unintentional, he has consistently made decisions throughout his career that has put him in the type of spotlight no rider wants to be in. I don't think Friese went into the sand corner with the intention of nearly punting Craig clear out of the stadium, but it's hard to care about intention when it's someone that has been in these situations many times before. It does stink, too, because Friese is actually a talented rider as we've seen this year and his entire career...but he can't stay out of his own way sometimes. Craig mentioned in the post-race press conference that he told the AMA that they need to do something about the situation, and I'm sure lots of fans are calling for the same. However, I'll be surprised if anything comes out of this besides the possibility of Friese getting probation for the rest of the season. 

Michael Lindsay | The Ugly: Vince Friese

I'm not doing a full range of picks this week but I'll let Jason Weigandt answer this one...as he nails it in his latest video on the subject.

 


450 Supercross Class

Grant Dawson | The Good: Malcolm Stewart - 2nd

Man, it sure felt good to watch Malcolm Stewart claim his first podium of the season, and his first podium since joining Rockstar Energy Husqvarna. He didn't light the world on fire, but he stayed out of trouble, unlike Jason Anderson, Chase Sexton and Marvin Musquin, and tallied up 3-2-4 results to finish right behind Eli Tomac on the podium. I'm not sure what Malcolm's expectations were coming into the season, but he does sit fourth in the standings with multiple fifth place finishes and now a podium. Realistically, he isn't out of the title chase, either, but he'd need to go on one heck of a run for that to become reality. Personally, I think he's definitely meeting expectations and maybe even exceeding them, but the question is whether he'll be able to maintain the standard he has set for the remainder of the season.

Grant Dawson | The Bad: Cooper Webb - 8th

I don't know, man. I know everyone keeps saying it's not time to hit the panic button yet on Cooper Webb....but the button is blinking red right in front of my face and I'm very tempted to press it. We're five rounds in and he still hasn't "flipped the switch" to get out of the slump he has been in since the second round. I know he dealt with an illness at one point, so maybe the affects of it are lingering, but it's not like the rest of the KTM guys are killing it right now, either. So it may be the bike, it may be himself, but the bottom line is that he's already 23 points down and he's going to need to start winning races soon. It's a long season, but he'll need to either go on a legendary run or get some serious help from the current points leaders if he drops any more points over the next couple of rounds.

Grant Dawson | The Ugly: Aaron Plessinger - 11th

Aaron Plessinger was a little battered and bruised after taking a nasty spill at Anaheim 2, which could have contributed to his quiet night in Glendale, but this season hasn't been ideal for him so far. He does have one podium, but outside of that he hasn't been a consistent top five finisher like I was anticipating he would become in 2022. Of course, you never know how a rider's first year will go on a new bike. The expectations I had for him were based off of results he had garnered on a bike he had been on for several years, so he should be allowed an adjustment period. With that being said, it would be encouraging to see him start to make some strides over the next few rounds and at least find some consistency. 

Words by Grant Dawson
Photos by Ryne Swanberg and Garth Milan / Octopi Media

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