Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1099522
P118 CN III EMPIRE OF DIRT BY STEVE COX A t the Seattle Supercross, points contender Shane McElrath elected not to race, citing a back injury he suf- fered at his previous round (in Atlanta) that he had re-aggravated early in the week before Seattle. It generated some controversy because, had he raced the Seattle round (if, indeed, he was healthy enough to race in his usual capacity), the TLD/Red Bull KTM Team rider would've almost certainly "pointed out" of the 250cc class in supercross and would've been forced to race the 450cc class in 2020. This is how the rule is written in the AMA Rulebook: Effective with the 2007 season points, riders earning at least 135 250SX Championship points in a nine-race season, 120 250SX Championship points in an eight-race season, or 105 250SX Championship points in a seven-race season, in four seasons of 250SX com- petition will be ineligible for the 250SX class. 1. If the number of events in each of the 250SX class re- gions is different, the number of events used for points will be based on the smaller num- ber. (i.e., if there are eight West events and seven East events, the West riders would throw out their worst finish for a maximum total of seven events). This isn't a controversy at all. This "pointing out" rule shouldn't exist. Sometimes, it almost seems like some of the people making the rules at the top of our sport don't want to keep racers around. Careers are so short as it is in motocross and supercross racing that most of the best racers in our sport's history end up retiring less than 10 years after the public even hears their name for the first time. It's among our sport's biggest weak- nesses in drawing fan numbers and ratings like other motorsports (NASCAR, F1, MotoGP, etc.). Fans typically aren't just fans of the sport itself, but specific racers as well. The longer those racers stay around, the longer their fans do, and the more fans the racers can get behind them. The powers that be have known this for quite a while, and I know this because I talked to many of them about it as long ago as the early 2000s. Despite this knowledge, they still allowed the destructive WADA drug-testing program to take hold in our sport. That program has predictably ended the careers of at least two factory racers (one of whom was one of the greatest stars the sport has ever seen) who were not cheating, while catch- "POINTING OUT" SHOULD NOT EXIST Shane McElrath is on the verge of "pointing out" of the 250cc class. PHOTO: STEVE COX