The sport of Supercross is strong in 2023! Braving the mean streets of Oakland to be in the house tonight paid off for the fans because we were treated to another excellent night of racing. We saw a nice variety of SX Survivor picks and also saw a handful of teams say goodbye to their dream of being 2023 SX Survivor Champion!
When the picks were locked in, eight different riders were chosen for the evening. Let's break them down. Aaron Plessinger - 25% pick trend
Aaron Plessinger rode his orange pony into the mean streets of Oakland with his six shooter on his hip and spurs sharpened. The Ohio hillbilly clearly had a Daytona 500 party and 30 rack of PBR to attend to because he was lightning fast again in Oakland slinging a nice 4th place finish. AP now sits tied for 5th in the standings and if I'm representing the likable cowboy, I'm inking an extension to his contract ASAP while he's shootin' sharp. Christian Craig - 21% pick trend
Wow! Coming into the weekend Christian Craig had only been selected 4 times the whole season and all but one of those teams who trusted him were sent packing. Coming off a single top 10, a 10th place none-the-less; Christian Craig gets the 2nd highest pick trend and nearly twice the selections he's seen the rest of the season combined. It looks like momentum is finally starting to roll back Craig's way or he was just a benefactor of all the whoops in Oakland; but either way he made quite a few team owners very happy with a solid 7th place finish in Oakland.
Justin Barcia - 18% pick trend
Almost as guaranteed as people having windows busted out of their rental cars in Oakland is Justin Barcia leaving a trail of bikes laying on the ground as he leaves a corner throughout the season. I'm all for personalities and full contact racing even if it means putting Adam Cianciarulo in the dirt when he didn't have to. What I'm not for is "BamBam" complaining when someone returns the favor. I sure hope Kawasaki made their way to the AMA trailer and plead their case about WaWa Barcia the same way he cried about Anderson a week ago. It's no surprise he revs his bike like he's throwing a temper tantrum on every jump...
Jason Anderson - 11% pick trend
I expected more from Anderson in Oakland. He's usually very consistent and fast when the whoops are edgy, long, and challenging. Maybe only Eli Tomac is better in those conditions. A fifth will keep his team managers who trusted him this week safe. Speaking of safe, Ken Roczen is lucky that wasn't a main event and/or Anderson is on probation after the whoops in the heat race or he might have been up next to his buddy AC eating cotton candy in the cheap seats.
Adam Cianciarulo - 7% pick trend
Speaking of AC, he was pretty quick in practice and he continues to log the laps and put in the races. Up until last weekend he's been in the top 10 every week. While I haven't been a fan of him letting guys by and basically pulling over as he works his way backwards, I have started to come around on the theory that he just needs to create a base and build. It wasn't that long ago that Malcolm Stewart became a bit invisible, just logged top 10 finish after top 10 finish. Then as he continued building those became consistent top 5 finishes and he kept going until he was battling for podiums and looked ready to break out a race win at any time. Barcia decided to make sure AC would be outside the top 10 for the second week in a row. It was odd considering AC has been all but letting riders pass this season, especially Barcia. Maybe Barcia's tears from crying to the AMA a week ago blurred his vision and he thought the green bike was Anderson's...
Colt Nichols - 4% pick trend
For the first time since A1 Colt Nichols found his way into the top 10! I'd say this was a gutsy pick from Team Tremor to go with Colt 45 and he looks great after making it!
Justin Cooper - 4% pick trend
It is really difficult to get a shot at a factory 450 even after having a great 250 career, especially on a team as powerful as Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing. I have been ranting at Bobby Raegan for months about it being ridiculous to not let a rider who could become your team's future not race and gain experience only to find out it hasn't been his choice all along. Justin Cooper has come out and said he's doing a limited schedule to focus on a 250 Motocross title. I'm sorry Justin Cooper, but 450 Supercross in the pinnacle of the sport and 450 class wins and podiums mean a whole lot more than that 250 MX title ever will... they pay a lot better too. It's questionable at best... Good job on another 450 top 10 though.
Ken Roczen - 4% pick trend
Let's go through a timeline here...
Roczen is riding for KTM, but is leaving because he says the bike isn't good.
Roczen goes to Suzuki, but ends up leaving leaving because he says the bike isn't good.
Roczen goes to Honda, but ends up leaving a factory deal because he says the bike isn't good.
Roczen then races a privateer Honda and says the bike is great.
Roczen then leaves that Honda option to go to HEP Suzuki because the bike is great.
Roczen leaves THE VERY FIRST RACE saying the bike sucks and he needs a new suspension company.
Roczen gets bailed out by Factory Connection and tells everyone they have his bike great.
Roczen then says his bike sucks and Factory Connection knows nothing about his bike.
Roczen then switches to another suspension tuner...
Roczen fails to make the top 10 in Oakland
I have nothing else to say on the situation. Kenye might want to purchase a mirror.
PENALTY ELIMINATION - 7% pick trend
I'm not sure what more I can do. I post the spreadsheet with all of your picks every single weekend in the results article. I answer messages asking who people have picked. And moving forward with games I have developed a pick log that can also be referenced... yet two teams picked riders they've already selected this season. Sorry about your mistake, you are eliminated. On a positive, at least you don't have to line up against Justin Barcia, try to tune Kenye Roczen's suspension, or mop up either of their tears.
A total of 5 teams were eliminated as the series heads to Cowboy's Stadium in Arlington, TX next weekend.
I will be out of the country riding dirt bikes in Baja and will have absolutely ZERO info, updates, etc. until likely the Thursday or Friday following Arlington. The pick links are live and I'll update when I return!
FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON, this will be the link to your 450 SX Survivor Entries! Bookmark it, screenshot it, save it, etc. It won't be a dynamic link each week anymore. HOWEVER, ENSURE YOU ARE SELECTING THE CORRECT ROUND FROM THE DROP DOWN!
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