P130
CN
III EMPIRE OF DIRT
BY STEVE COX
I
t was apparent, just with the
naked eye, that the gate
flinched at the start of the
second 250MX moto this past
weekend at round two of the
2019 Lucas Oil AMA National
Motocross Championship, at
Fox Raceway in Pala, California.
How was it obvious? Because
the majority of racers on both
sides of the doghouse jumped
and hit the gate.
For the uninitiated, some-
times racers jump before the
gate drops, and it can have a
reactionary effect on the rac-
ers around them, so one guy
jumping early can cause a
bunch of other guys to jump,
too, because they see the one
guy jump out of their peripheral
vision and they react to that. But
the guys lined up on the left side
of the doghouse can't see the
guys lined up on the right side of
the doghouse, so...
After the start of the second
moto, I actually didn't move from
my position shooting photos
alongside the start straightaway
for a couple of laps. That is be-
cause I was confident the AMA
would restart the race, since
the gate very obviously flinched,
and there were a lot of mechan-
ics and other team personnel
making a similar case from the
mechanic's area, but ultimately,
the AMA let the race go on.
I caught the AMA's Jeff Can-
field as he walked away from
discussing this issue with some
witnesses and asked him what
the AMA was going to do about
the gate-flinch, and he respond-
ed by saying (paraphrasing),
"Our guy said it didn't flinch."
So, I guess I—along with with
the couple-dozen racers who
hit the gate, and the mechan-
ics who saw it, etc.—shouldn't
GATE-FLINCH-GATE
The riders appear to be slightly more staggered off the
gate than usual in the second 250MX moto.
