Blake Baggett met a tuff block that should have been moved hours earlier. Photo by: Mark Lester
“Cooksey’s Hard Truth” presented by Scott Sports is a weekly editorial written by Chris Cooksey. Throughout the year, Chris will be diving in and out of controversial subjects and bringing you his hard truth about the racing and the riders from around the world of Supercross and Motocross.
Thinking about the new Monster Energy Supercross “Triple Crown” format has me excited about the possibilities of our sport expanding. I love the format change; we recently witnessed some of the most exciting racing that I can remember. Like any change, the new format is not without some drawbacks. Many riders complained about the dangers of three full intense starts in one night. For me this complaint didn’t seem valid as there were far more injuries last week under the regular format. I believe riders will adjust their strategies accordingly. I did however see some alarming safety issues that were completely dismissed.
I will begin with one of the most irresponsible things I have seen from adults in quite some time. In this era of concussion protocol and CTE awareness, I felt sick to my stomach when I saw Adam Cianciarulo lying motionless on the track. I was glad to see him get up and get on the medical unit, but I was sure he wouldn’t race, right?
I was shocked to see him lined up for the first of three main events after watching him lay motionless on the track just a few hours back. A source close to the team said he was sore and Adam insisted he wasn’t knocked out. Adam himself told Steve Matthes, “I was dazed for sure, you could see that on video.” As someone who has been knocked out more than I can remember, I can say with complete certainty that I never thought I was unconscious. On one occasion, I had a GPS lap timer and I thought I got right back up, but in actuality, I had been lying there for over 90 seconds because the GPS turned off due to inactivity.
My point to this is, Adam should have been pulled from the night show based solely on the crash video. These guys are gladiators and will do whatever it takes to get on the track, but somebody needs to impartially save them from themselves. I am not sure who is to blame, but I will start with the team. Clearly they saw the crash, video or aftermath. Allowing a concussed rider to race is dangerous to both the rider and his competitors. Adam is one of the smartest and most personable riders racing today and it would be nothing short of a tragedy to have him suffer a debilitating brain injury because of irresponsibility. Championship points are important, but living a functional life is more important.
Similar to the NFL, this million dollar sport needs a brain specialist who is not paid by the teams or promoters. This person could analyze the athletes and determine if they are fit to race. I know the riders have to pass concussion protocols, but the test is outdated. Unfortunately this is more likely a pipe dream without a players association similar to the stick and ball sports. While I don’t have the answer to this problem, the first step is awareness. Many pro racers have struggled with depression later in life and I wonder how many suffer from CTE.
The other major safety issue I noticed had to do with tuff blocks. While these are a huge improvement over traditional hay bails, the placement is still critical. The elevated 90 degree turn had tuff blocks on the inside that were knocked off at least 5-7 times. After getting hit they would roll right into the racing line.
During the first 250 Main, Mitchell Harrison landed on the tuff block that Christian Craig knocked onto the racing line and took a nasty spill, but rather than move the placement of the tuff block it was placed right back on the inside of the corner over and over. I shot a text and picture to AMA/FIM official John Gallagher after the first main events, but no response.
In the second main, it took out Dakota Alix in the 250 class and Blake Baggett in the 450 class (see photo on top of article) In addition to taking these guys down, many others had near misses. With 4 main events and a problem in every main, most would have decided this is a bad place for a tuff block, but it continued until the night was over.
The sport of Supercross is nothing short of amazing, but I wonder why Trey Canard and his safety advisement team were not at the race. Apparently Anaheim 1 was the only race where Feld used Trey as a safety adviser. While Supercross will always be an extremely dangerous sport–as the danger is part of the intrigue–there is no need for dangers caused by ignorance. The sport has some serious potential in the key viewing demographic (18-49 adults) and it’s time to stop treating these athletes like they are disposable. They are world class athletes who have dedicated their lives to the sport of Supercross. Audiences cheer for the riders they know, and if we can keep personalities like Adam Cianciarulo as safe as possible, it will make for a better show and better sport.
