Welcome to Gear Head Operations weekly observations! This is the absolute best Gear Head in the nation Ryan Roberts back at it again with hot takes from Supercross final round 17 at Salt Lake City, Utah!
Well, all good things must come to an end and the 2023 Supercross Season has been like no other. Frankly, I was unable to write a column last week because I honestly didn't know what to write. Eli Tomac rupturing his Achilles tendon on a run of the mill jump and handing over the championship to Chase Sexton just had me baffled, amazed, stunned, and for once, lost for words.
All the thoughts from "is this the last time we will ever see Tomac on a Supercross track" to "is there a revenge tour" came over me in that moment. Everyone thought this was just a coronation ceremony the last two rounds, but our sport is so crazy, everything changed in an instant. This is why I love our sport though; a split second can change careers much less seasons and races.
Anyone who thinks Chase didn't deserve this is out of their mind also. Chase was the fastest qualifier in I think 14 of 17 rounds. He was one of only two riders to finish every round, with the other being Josh Hill, and you must be in it to win it and the endurance is something that must be developed. There were several moments where Chase lost it throughout the season and crashed leading or on the last lap, so if he had a couple other moments go differently, he would have been well ahead of everyone else in the series standings. Don't forget, he also lost 7 points jumping on a red cross flag. Just goes to show you that all these small moments add up to a huge story line like grains of sand making a mountain.
With the two Lawrence brothers winning both East and West coast, Chase winning the 450 class made for a cool photo op of all three Honda bikes on the podium doing burn outs to celebrate a championship. Honda has been hurting lately for championships and haven't won a 450 Supercross title since Carmichael was on the team, but then they turned it around to win all three in one season is a testament to team manager Lars Lindstrom and the work they have done and the foresight to put this team together.
The 250 shootout was going to be a great show going into the weekend but the weather kind of made the track one line. Several top contenders got bad starts and couldn't find their way to the front so that made for anticlimactic racing. The one highlight was Jett Lawrence giving an elbow to RJ Hampshire in a corner after the whoops to take the lead, and that was the most drama we saw on the night.
Jett seemed to really want to make a statement and go out on top as he is moving to 450's for outdoor season in two weeks. Honestly, the the biggest story line for the outdoors is Jett versus Chase for the 450 title. With Eli out, I don't know who else can give either Honda rider some competition? Aaron Plessinger maybe can, or possibly Dylan Ferrandis who won the title two seasons ago could make some noise, but Dylan hasn't been racing so I feel it will take him some time to get going as well as AP who has been hurt for a couple weeks.
The 250 class is where the parity is, and I believe will have deeper more competitive racing. Kawasaki will be bringing a truck load of riders for outdoors along with Star racing, to give Hunter Lawrence a run for the title. I personally don't think Hunter wins it and think someone on a blue bike will but that is pure speculation, and you must think Hunter is the favorite.