Woweeee! Triple Crown events sure do bring the crazy out and that has to put SX Survivor team managers in a very nerve racking spot. For the first time this year, we were down to 10 riders being chosen, which meant there was a chance everyone could survive. But what actually went down when the final flag flew?
The injuries to factory riders Marvin Musquin and more recently Malcolm Stewart has narrowed the number of factory riders in the field to 11 meaning the top 10 is quite set; except you also have to throw in the standout privateer Joey Savatgy. At the same point, you can pretty much toss out Christian Craig as he has yet to log a top 10 this year... and toss out Craig is probably exactly what Black Diamond MX president and SX Survivor Team Manager NickJ308 would like to do. It looks like my favorite graphics guy can spend his Saturday nights designing because his SX Survivor team was eliminated.
Surprisingly enough, the single pick for Christian Craig was the only elimination in an otherwise crazy night in Anaheim. Eli Tomac was the most picked rider for the A2 Triple Crown; and rightfully so as he has been fantastic at those events and was coming off winning both opening rounds of the 2023 season. I'm guessing all of those team owners had their hearts skip a beat when he went flying to the stadium floor. Interesting fact, even if Tomac had DNF'd and finished 22nd in the 3rd and final race; he would have still stayed in the top 10. All those worrying was for nothing.
Second on the pick trend was a tie between eventual winner Chase Sexton who was tied on pick trend and now in the points with Cooper Webb. And surprisingly enough with a format that heavily depends on starts, Dylan Ferrandis was also tied with Sexton and Webb for most picks and he rewarded his team managers with a solid 5th place finish. Last year's SX Survivor killer has quietly had a solid start to 2023 with three finishes hovering around 5th place.
As we roll into the East Coast 250SX Opener and out of California, 32 SX Survivor teams remain. With 57% of the teams sitting on the sidelines, I think we will spice things up with a brand new game purposely cheesily named Super SX Survivor. Watch the site for details on that in the next 24 hours!
Also, I'm back home now, so we'll get back to normal on time updates. The new submission form is working fantastic. All but one pick came that way (they actually all did, but one person used the wrong link), but it also had an email backup. MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING THE PROPER LINK FOR THE PROPER RACE WHEN SUBMITTING YOUR PICK, it updates each week. I have added "Submissions Closed" to the forms of previous rounds now as well.
Also, Houston is on Central Time, so lockout will be 7pm CST on Saturday.
Comments