What We Noticed: Glendale
February 14, 2024
Back to west… biggest stadium of the year!
- Disappointing Track
Glendale’s stadium has the biggest floor available to us all year (not including Daytona) which can make for really interesting track designs; namely long rhythms and long whoops. This year though, the track crew continues to only do 9 easy whoops, which made for a really high speed section that was too easy for all the riders. The rhythms also had a slight turn in as the floor narrowed towards the end of the stadium, which made it super one-lined. Overall, a cool-ish looking track map ended-up being somewhat boring and not that good for racing.
- To Quad or Not to Quad
We asked about this in the post-race press conference and had a fun response where all three 450 riders chimed-in! We waited all day for riders to attempt a quad through the first rhythm, but no one busted it out. Anderson mentioned he’s too old nowadays and is glad no one tried it cause everyone would have to then. Jett (being the youngest) said he never was able to setup the last quad quite right. And Ken mentioned with the amount of power the modern-day 450s have it, it’s too easy to over jump and time the quads correctly.
To quad or not to quad 🤔#SupercrossLIVE #SMX pic.twitter.com/dv1GDScLnj
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) February 11, 2024 - Kitchen’s Title?
Obviously too early to say this with certainty, but Kitchen has the solo red plate now and is looking better with each passing round. His competitive-edge is simply his ability to stay on 2 wheels and remain consistent; his two main title rivals (Smith and Hampshire) can’t say the same. Kitchen has way less experience than the others, but he certainly is riding the most “veteran-like” at this point.
- Shimoda is Good
It’s easy to look at his results and think that Shimoda has been underwhelming… which he has results-wise, but speed-wise, Shimoda is better than ever. Don’t forget this is a new bike and new team for him too. His starts are his real weakness right now, but at the end of the race he has been the fastest guy the past two rounds. We asked him about this afterwards, and he mentions he prefers the track to be broken down and it takes him a while to get going / find his lines. If he is within a few seconds of the leader halfway through the race, I think he wins! The SX title is probably out-of-contention for him now, but he will be one of the favorites lining up for outdoors this summer.
-
Tomac?
More and more questions? It was certainly a better ride than Detroit, but not a great look to get gapped by Roczen and Anderson. The 4th is a rebound-ish, but at this point Tomac is outside the top 5 (behind Jett, Sexton, Webb, Anderson, and Roczen) for title favorites. However, he is ELI TOMAC, and his potential to up-the-ante and win races still looms. The next two rounds will be telling… he has a week off to get more time on the bike / recover (don’t forget he’s coming off an Achilles injury) before Dallas, and then after that is his best round (Daytona). Let’s re-evaluate after Daytona.
-
State Farm Stadium is Dope
The roofed stadium means guaranteed no mudder, but the ability to open it up when the weather is nice allows for best-case scenario always. It’s a massive stadium, beautiful (especially when the roof is open), and has an awesome pit-party for fans. Not to mention, it’s in the Valley of the Sun! This is a bucket-list race for SX fans to attend.
