Less lapper situations In smx ?

That was great. I don't seeing a single incident where a lapper got in the way.
For 250 I think the deeper field also contributes to that. Down to 20th place they are all within 2-3 seconds for their best laptime. That's why they only lapped up to 20th place. In some of the 250 coast races they lapped to something ridiculous like 6th or 7th place this year

Maybe because it has been such a huge problem regardless of how the vitards feel about it that the AMA has decided to wack your pee pee if you don't heed the rules.

20 minute + 1 lap moto at 1:20 helps. Or Maybe the green lights on the forks are working?

Nah best riders and big money on the table all the way to the end.  At $1000 a spot and potentially 25k or more at the end, every point counts. Its a good chance for a privateer to bag some cash.  Looks like masterpool got the memo and is gonna cash in.

Absolutely. In the 2nd motos, only 2 riders were lapped in the 250 class and 5 + 1 DNF in the 450 class.

Compare to Salt Lake SX E/W showdown this year: 12 lapped riders in the 250 class; 5 were 2 laps down. The 450 class had 15 lapped riders + 2 DNFs; only 5 on the lead lap!

Riders getting lapped while lapping others at the same time only detracts from the race (Houston 2021, Webb v Roczen + Wilson lapping Bogle 2 laps down). Eliminating the riders that will finish multiple laps down would only improve the race.

Not many ways to reduce lappers:
1. Tighter pace from last to first (as a percentage of the leader's pace) or less separating obstacles.

2. Fewer laps. The longer laptimes gave us 17 laps in the 450's compared to 25 laps at Salt Lake.

3. Fewer riders.

And faster 250 riders on average, no splitting talent between 2 different coasts