I looked at the website, and I think I understand most of it, but not sure.
https://supermotocross.com/faqs/
Qualifiers:
A. Top 20 in points qualify for playoffs. (I think this is combined SX-MX points, but not sure.)
B. 21 through 30 in points qualify for LCQ.
C. Main event or MX Overall winners who aren't in group A qualify for LCQ.
At each of the 3 playoff rounds, the riders from group B and C will race in an LCQ, with the top two qualifying for the main event.
The main event is a 2-moto format, with riders being scored using "Olympic" scoring. Riders earn points based on overall finish.
Here's where I am not at all confident about the plan:
The first 2 playoff rounds are being called "playoff rounds" and the final is being called "World Championship Final". Do all 3 playoff rounds award the same points, and the champion is the rider with the most points? Or is the champion somehow based on the winner of Final round? If that's the case, what are the points for in round 1 and 2?
If the champ is just determined by most points, does that mean we are going to end up with a champion cruising around in 7th place in the final moto to protect his championship?
Anybody else have any other insight I missed?
I think the first two rounds are there so they don't have to open a briefcase to decide starting position like in ArenaCross
OK, so it looks like round 1 winner gets 26 points. Round 2 winner gets 52 points. Round 3 winner gets 78 points.
Does that mean second place gets 23, 46 and 69 points?
Yes.
The combined top 20 in points head into the first playoff rounds with regular points.
1st = 26pts
2nd= 23pts
3rd= 21pts
22nd = 1pt.
The first playoff round then pays regular points, the second playoff round pays double points, and the final round pays triple points.
Points awarded are based on the 26, 23, 21, 19, 18, 17 ..., 1
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Just going to throw this out there for future reference: shouldn't we call these rounds "raceoffs?" Or "Rideoffs?" You don't really "play" a motocross race.
They haven’t come up with a name for the triple crown “motos” yet, give them a couple ten years to figure that out…so do these races count as SX wins or MX wins for the record books?
Not much to think about....it's going to be the same group of guys that show up to race every single weekend.
How does it work for the 250s? Do they simply take the points for both East and West then add to the MX points?
It doesn't work. Just wait until a 5th place rider has an incredible playoff and wins the "championship". How should the top guys who battled all year and won the real championships feel?
I don't care what they come up with, I'll take more races any way I can get em.
I am all for more racing. This format though just seems like Feld panicking because of the emergence of world supercross. A championship that really isn't a championship, it's three rounds at the end of the real championships. Will the riders treat it like Motocross of Nations or other one off events?
The SMX thing has been in the works for a number of years.
And with a $1 million championship prize for the 450 class and a 500k championship prize for the 250 class, I think the riders will take it seriously and rank it above the MXdN and one off events.
The money certainly helps. But damn, now my point about a 5th place rider winning seems more relevant. Would not want to be the guy that busted his ass all year, won a championship, then had a couple of off races in the three round "world championship" and missed out on a million dollars. I guess it's basically the monster energy cup all over.
From a riders point of view that would suck, but from the fans point of view those 3 races are going to be a lot more exciting to watch.
That's what Feld/MX Sports care about.
The world surf league recently went to a similar playoff format. Top 5 from the regular season have a one event playoff to determine the champion. I know directly many fans and competitors are not happy with it. 5th place dude could win the whole thing, making the long grueling season and who won the most events almost irrelevant. I'm not a fan.
What is the purpose of the double and triple points? Any top 10 rider theoretically has a shot at 1 million. A guy like barcia may really benefit from a setup like this. Come in with say 18 pts, get 18 first round, 36 2nd and 78 third for a win because one of the top 3 is hurt and the other two tangle in the first turn and he will get 150 pts total. Just seems weird. Sorta like bowling.
Yep it sucks! Especially as it's at a 'performance' wave where one move can turn and win a heat!
But anyway, what does someone like Jett do, race 250 or 450 in the playoffs? I guess he chooses
That rider that busted his ass all year would have been paid for those wins/titles and this is a third opportunity for everyone. I would agree with you if they eliminated the SX and Outdoor titles and had it come down to these three races, but the original titles continue to stand alone.....so it's an added Bonus for everyone who qualifies and an added Bonus for us as fans
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A few things I wasn't sure about.
Riders are seeded. And seed 1 starts with 26 points? 2nd 23 and so on?
I knew there was 2 races per event. But I was hoping it was scored like mx not Olympic. As that would give a lower seed more chance of gaining points.
They say top 20 in points qualify the remaining 2 spots are filled in the lcq.
What if or 3 riders are out?
Do the next 3 highest on points take place in the top 20?
Or is there only 17 auto qualifiers and the lcq has 5 qualifiers?
For fun - I made a list where I assumed the sx/mx season ends with the top 10 as-is, and then radomized the first/second/third playoff.
I did points with the traditional structure, and the new new structure, and it wasn't wildly different in my opinion
With the way the randomizer worked, Tomac did awful in the playoffs, where-as Colt Nichols caught fire, and Webb stayed super consistent
New point structure would see Colt as champion, where-as the old would have him in second
As you can see, the new point structure impacted 40% of the field, and in my opinion, is impacting it in the right way - with it being a series within a series.
Nichols was the best at the playoffs, the only reason Webb would have won on the traditional scoring is because of his better seeding position
You wouldn't want to have a chance to race for $1 million at the end of the year, because you might not win it? Am I following your logic correctly?
Right.
Don't "be the guy that busted his ass all year, won a championship, then had a couple of off races," I guess.
Your point on the top 10 having a shot at the SMX title remains, but I thought it would be cool to look at the points from 2022.
Using Nichols as an example there's a high likelihood that he would start the SMX playoffs at the bottom of the rankings given that he's currently on an SX only contract and probably skipping outdoors.
He currently has 84pts which gives him an average of 12pts per race. He didn't score any points at Daytona since he sat the event out. Now assuming he completes the series and continues to average 12pts he would end the SX series with 192pts.
That would more than likely still give him enough point to qualify for SMX.
The format also gives the guys that only participate in MX a shot to qualify if they're better MX riders since there's more points available to score.
Let's look at 2022.
Last year Tomac finished SX with 359pts and MX with 546pts.
That would have given him the number 1 seed for accumulating a total of 905pts. He'd start SMX with 26pts.
Despite finishing 6th in the SX points standings, Chase Sexton finished the year with a total of 831pts. Enough for him to be the 2nd seeded rider. He'd start SMX with 23pts.
Jason Anderson 790pts. SMX 21pts.
Barcia 605pts. SMX 19pts.
Ken Roczen 527pts. SMX 18pts.
Aaron Plessinger 419pts. SMX 17pts.
Malcolm Stewart 375pts. SMX 16pts.
Christian Craig 373pts. SMX 15pts.
Ryan Dungey 359pts. SMX 14pts.
Shane McElrath 314pts. SMX 13pts.
Marvin Musquin 305pts. SMX 12pts.
Cooper Webb 278pts. SMX 11pts.
Brandon Hartranft 267pts. SMX 10pts.
Alex Martin 258pts. SMX 9pts.
Joey Savatgy 249pts. SMX 8pts.
Dean Wilson 215pts. SMX 7pts.
Fredrik Noren 204pts. SMX 6pts.
Benny Bloss 204pts. SMX 5pts.
Dylan Ferrandis 184pts. SMX 4pts.
Garrett Marchbanks 180pts. SMX 3pts.
Battling for the last 2 spots in the LCQ.
Riders who finished 21-30 in combined points.
Justin Brayton 176pts.
Marshall Weltin 140pts.
Kyle Chisholm 129pts.
Justin Bogle 116pts.
Justin Starling 103pts.
Ryan Breece 103pts.
Max Anstie 100pts.
Antonio Cairoli 97pts.
Vince Friese 96pts.
Case Clason 79pts.
A Supercross Champion is still the champion and the outdoor champion is the outdoor. This seems more like the blue plate champion we had in the past. So possibly a red and blue number one at the 2024 SX opener?
Wait, you're saying that riders get points prior to round 1, based on their point standings entering the playoffs? Is that confirmed anywhere? I don't see it in the video you posted nor on the SMX website.
They go into the SMX playoffs with a set amount of points. If not, they wouldn't need to be seeded, they would just need to qualify.
From the press release:
https://www.feldentertainment.com/supermotocross-world-championship-det…
Yeah. They'll combine the SX points with the MX points just like the 450 guys, then seed the top 20 riders based on their combined points total.
If I had to guess they'll continue to use the red/white plate for SX and MX and introduce something new or bring back the blue/yellow plate for the SMX series in 2024.
Edit: Back when Rockstar Energy sponsored the Canadian series, the Triple Crown Series winner for having scored the most points across the MX and AX/SX series ran a gold colored border around his number plates the following year.
Phil Nicoletti won the 2019 Triple Crown Series as well as the 2019 AX/SX series so he got to run the number 1 for the AX/SX series in 2020.
IMO, it didn't look that bad.
During the nationals.
During the AX/SX series.
I get that. I was more making the point that the monetary prize is the highest for the three round "championship". The actual Supercross and Motocross championships are much more grueling and much more difficult to win. Seems that's where the winners should be rewarded the most.
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