View From The Floor: Triple Crown Fever 4

Depending on who you asked, the Triple Crown format was awesome or terrible...but it might have depended on where they finished. You can register your opinion at the end of the article.

The first Triple Crown race of the season...well, actually the first-ever Triple Crown...provided tons of action, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting. The riders, however, seemed to think the chaos would be a bit too much for a full-season format change.

Here's some of what caught our eye.

We can say for sure that The View From The Floor ain't bad...

Joey Savatgy came back from a big disappointment in Houston (where he was leading early in the main), and became the third rider in three races to take a win in the 250 West series. He'll go into next weekend at Phoenix as the co-leader with Shane McElrath.

Ricky Carmichael was keeping an eye on Joey during the races, and adding in a few signals, though Joey was focused on the track, and said afterward, "Was Ricky out there?"

With his win at A2, Eli Tomac bounced back in a big way from crashing out at A1, and having to sit out Houston (despite riding practice there). Does he still have a shot at this year's title? As we've already seen, just about anything can happen. But at this point he only has about a third of the points that Jason Anderson already has squirreled away.

Ken Roczen showed up for the first main in nearly the same Shift gear as he was wearing the year before when he crashed out at A1. It was a cool way to put a stamp on the anniversary of what had to be a Hellish year for him.

Ken was back in Fox gear for the rest of the night. He was a little off the pace compared to earlier in the season, finishing outside the top ten in the first two mains, but rebounded in the final one with a fourth.

Vince Friese's crash early in the first 450 main scrambled things for a lot of riders outside of the top five. Jason Anderson was among the riders who got hung up in there, and that might have cost him the overall on the night. Check out Mookie's Endurocross style, as he's trying to get over the bikes of both Vince and Broc Tickle.

Partyway through Main 1, this is not the scoring pylon that many expected to see.

Justin Brayton and Cole Seely often ride and train together, and are good friends. It was cool to see them racing up front together.

It was equally cool to see them congratulate each other after the finish of the first main.

It doesn't matter what position they're in, mechanics will always have their rider's back. It was odd to see Chad Reed have to go through the LCQ (which he won) to make it into the night show, but with over a dozen riders within a second of each other in qualifying, even being a tiny bit off the pace was costly.

Whoa. Jay Burgess wins the award for hard look of the night.

Lee McCollum getting the gate dialed for Phil Nicoletti.

Justin Shantie and Joey Savatgy doing a little strategizing before Main two.

Shane McElrath was back on form in Anaheim.

Chase Sexton's results varied from 15th in Main 1, to third in the final race. Consistency counts.

Billy Hartle looking for a boost in the pace from Aaron Plessinger. Last week's winner was sixth this week...the field is that deep.

In general, Tuff Blox are awesome...until someone snags their foot or footpeg on one, and they instantly turn into Road Box.

Marvin Musquin took a crack at racing a week after a shoulder injury in Houston, but was ninth and 11th in the first two mains, and he suffered a DNF in the final frame.

Getting an early ride back to the pits is not how anyone wants to end their night. Here's hoping it's nothing serious for Marvin, and that he's back soon.

If you want to see some of the best action on the track, watch the battles from fourth through eighth. Weston Peick has been battling around the top five a lot of the season so far, and finished the night in fourth, and is fifth in the standings. He's been one of the big surprises of the season so far.

Josh Grant's best of the night was a fourth in Main two. He was sixth on the night.

Christian Craig's highlight of the night (other than his high-revving over-200bpm heart rate) was second in the first main. He grabbed a podium spot in the overall, along with Shane McElrath, who's in hot pursuit here.

Adam Cianciarulo just missed catching Joey Savatgy in the final main, and it was good to see the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki guys go 1-2 in the final race of the night.

It's interesting to catch the riders when they come off the track, still in full adrenaline mode. They're often really fired up, and communicate much differently with the teams than they do by the time they hit the podium.

Props to Adam Cianciarulo for toughing out three mains following a really hard crash at the end of practice. He was beat up from the feet up.

The fans in the infield VIP area are getting some insane social media photos and video.

Jason Anderson bounced back to grab the final main of the night over Eli Tomac.

We're not sure what happened, but Justin Barcia and Cooper Webb came together later in the main...

...and there was a lot of chirping at each other after the finish. The blue truck was probably an interesting place to be after this one.

See you next week!

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