Andrea's Angle: St. Louis
April 11, 2024
Welcome back to Andrea's Angle, a column showcasing my perspective as a newbie to Supercross. Here are some notes on everything that went down during the Triple Crown races in St. Louis!
Red Cross Flag Drama, in Detail
What a mess. ICYMI, Vince Friese’s bike broke right after the finish line during the second race. Since he was stuck at the base of a jump, he was practically invisible to riders coming over the finish line until they were jumping over or potentially into him. Seems like a clear situation necessitating the presence of flags waving to alerts incoming riders. AMA decided to throw a Red Cross flag, which usually indicates that there is an injured rider needing assistance on the track, and prohibits riders from jumping until they are past the flag. It was a somewhat sensible decision initially.
For reasons unbeknownst to me, they had the flagger, who was already waving the white and checkered flags at the finish line, also hold out the Red Cross flag. It was held out unwavering with their other arm so it could be clearly seen and not confused with a regular white flag (mandated after confusion from that in the past). Problem is, most riders are looking predominantly at the rutted track. Then, when crossing the finish line, they’re looking up at the waving flag to see if the race is over. All of these factors make the stand-still Red Cross flag easy to miss. Many riders ended up either missing it entirely, or saw it too late to change course.
The whole situation, in my opinion, was a series of poor decisions on the AMA’s part. They needed other flaggers up ahead waving yellow flags to give some sort of warning of what was to come. Not to mention the fact that Friese had moved off of the track, but they still had the Red Cross flag waving for another lap… seems like an unnecessary use of that flag. Additionally, make the flag more visible somehow! If five riders in a row are missing it, something really needs to change in the name of safety. Who knows what could've happened had there been a rider actually injured on the track.
Ultimately, Eli Tomac ended up winning the race, as Jett Lawrence (who finished first) was penalized two positions. His brother, Hunter Lawrence, also ended up 2nd after finishing 7th - the five riders ahead of him all jumped. The AMA also took a ton of time to make this decision, so riders were on the line before even knowing what the results were and what strategy to employ for the final race.
Barcia, Jett, and the Friese of It All
Jett Lawrence did not have a good time at St. Louis. First the Red Cross flag fiasco that cost him a race win, and then he was taken out by Justin Barcia in race 3. The situation, debated on social media, was widely seen as a racing incident (unintentional) that Barcia was mostly responsible for. Barcia at the time was protecting his line from Vince Friese, notorious for dirty racing and taking out other riders. Jett cut down in the corner, and Barcia rammed right into his side, sending him into a hard crash. Justin clearly felt bad afterwards, approaching Jett right after the race and at the truck afterwards to apologize. This was a rare sight from Barcia, who is also known for taking out riders and usually sticks by his moves.
For me, it was hard to see Jett go down! I was rooting for Tomac and I'm a fan of interesting/close races, so Jett's dominance isn't something that excites me much. But I can't deny that he's a great rider and it's always hard to see someone go down in a situation he had little control over. Luckily, he doesn't seem to be injured and likely will bounce back pretty seamlessly. He's still in the lead for the championship, though he's down to 8 points ahead of Cooper Webb.
Overall, the biggest takeaway is that you can count on Vince Friese to mess up someone's race, whether intentional or not. He cannot be stopped!
Levi Kitchen
Levi swept the triple crown for the 250 West class and it wasn’t even close - he had killer starts and led most of the laps of the evening. As Scott mentioned in What We Noticed, it's really his championship to lose at this point. He’s a notably better and more confident racer this year, and will certainly be a major commodity and championship contender once he enters the 450 class.
Now, I'm not going to lie to you (since this is my angle after all). I always feel uncomfortable mentioning Kitchen because the truth is in the back of my mind - his current girlfriend was allegedly a minor when they started dating. Their age difference is the same as Josh Giddey and his alleged victim, and that situation had prompted both a police and an internal NBA investigation. Meanwhile in Supercross, most of the industry has never truly mentioned it.
I'd say this is fairly known information - I've seen folks talking about it on social media. And yet, we all just pretend nothing is going on. Just a weird situation that makes me more and more uncomfortable as time goes on, and another clear example of what sets Supercross apart from major sports leagues in terms of accountability and transparency.
ELI TOMAC IS BACK
The highlight of my evening was watching Eli Tomac win the final race, and the whole press box cheering for him in unison. Just goes to show the widespread support he has from pretty much everyone. Some may say he was gifted the win, etc… but he outright won both the first and third races.
He then threw us a curveball in the press conference - apparently he's been dealing with an ankle injury the last couple of weeks. This explains a lot about his performance. Just funny that he was able to keep that a secret for so long. He says he doesn't want to be seen as "making excuses", but I feel there is a difference between making excuses and providing a realistic explanation for why you're not performing. No matter, he may not be in the championship but he is still a force to be reckoned with.
Until next week,
Andrea Ruggiero
