Round 4 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship took us to University of Phoenix, home of the Arizona Cardinals. For the first time in the series, racing took place in a football stadium, with a roof. Thanks to the domed stadium it was also the first round of racing where weather didn’t factor into the qualifying practice sessions. (Yes, we’re STILL talking about how weather has affected 3 of the 4 rounds thus far. Who would’ve thought?)
The nearly hundred yard start straight had most riders hitting 5th gear before the first turn and the technical and tricky rhythm sections stumped even the most adroit of riders. One section in particular left the #52 of Tyler Bowers with a fractured right femur, the #23 of Weston Peick with a dislocated wrist and lacerated kidney, the #6 of Jeremy Martin with a concussion after being hit with Bowers’ flying steed, and the #38 of current points leader, Shane McElrath being sent to the 250Sx LCQ after going down (uninjured) in the same section. We also witnessed the #3 of Monster Energy’s Eli Tomac maintain an almost 18 second lead for most of the 450SX Main Event – all the way through his first podium appearance and first win of the 2017 season. The track had a huge whoops section, which we all know has “Chad Reed” written all over it. Reedy didn’t disappoint and fought his way through the pack and would finish 2nd on the evening – definitely showing remarkable speed in the whoops section and across the entire track.
For every fan and member of the media that erroneously categorized the season as “over” now that Ken Roczen is out of the running, Round 4 in the Grand Canyon State certainly showed us that “it ain’t over til it’s over” and we’ve got a lot of racing left.
Here is my “Nifty Fifty” from Round 4 in Glendale, AZ.
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