THE MOST HATED MAN IN SX?

Indy 3 was a wild ride: Roczen narrowly preventing Webb from upsetting his #3peat, Justin “T-bone” Barcia broadsiding our victor, and, of course, the Barcia-Friese-Tomac debacle.

With our commentators preaching incessantly about lapped riders, many people are viewing this as the blunder to end all blunders. We’ve all seen it. Whether you watched it live, caught a clip of it on Instagram, or both, the evidence is there and it’s clear to see who is to blame. Or is it?

There are an infinite number of ways to interpret the events that unfolded last Saturday night. I watched it live, then I watched it about a hundred times on Instagram, and then I watched the race broadcast again. The internet bench racers have had a field day with Vince Friese. I’ve never visited his profile before today but if it wasn’t private before then it is now. The hate I’ve seen thrown at Friese is relentless and unforgiving. Comment after comment about how he’s an idiot or that his pro license should be revoked because he’s a hazard. I even saw someone say there should be an early retirement fund set up for him so that we can keep other riders safe. What’s most disturbing is that even people within the industry, people closest to the sport we all love, are jumping in to criticize Friese.

So who is to blame for what happened? 95% of the fans, riders, etc. would quickly point a finger at Friese. Is he to blame? Sure. Completely? I don’t think so. What about Barcia? Does he get a pass because he was in the top 3 and battling with Tomac for the position? Many would say yes, I say otherwise. It is just as much Barcia’s responsibility to circumnavigate lapped riders as it is for a lapped rider to clear the way for leaders. Unless we start strapping rear view mirrors on every bike lining up in the main then I don’t think we can expect all the responsibility to fall on the man down. I didn’t see the internet mob crucify Dean Wilson when his failure to waiver potentially cost Roczen the win a couple weeks ago and we’re talking about holding up the leader of the race in that instance.

Every position is of ultimate importance, especially in what is probably the most stacked 450 SX Championship field to ever line the gate, but what takes precedence, first or third? 12th or 14th? Every rider out there is racing for a reason and has proven themselves worthy of being there. I have never raced professional motocross or supercross but I have raced in both at an amateur level. I also dealt with lapped riders on a frequent basis when I did race. Were my stakes as high as the riders we love to watch every weekend? Definitely not because I didn’t have my job or well-being on the line like they do each and every time the gate drops. Were the stakes high for me nonetheless? Absolutely. What I’m saying is if you’ve never dealt with lappers then you have no room to talk. Sure, it’s easy to say, “Oh, I would have done this if I were him,” but you aren’t him and chances are you won’t ever be anywhere close to being in his shoes. Sometimes lappers make it easy to pass and sometimes they get in the way, it’s the nature of the sport.

The real question that should be asked is why wasn’t anyone flagging? Where was Friese’s notification that more leaders were coming through? He got the blue flag for Roczen and Webb but how was he supposed to know that Barcia and Tomac were that close to the two front runners? How? If your answer is, “He should just know,” or, “He should be able to hear them coming,” then I say to you again, how? How can he just know? Are lapped riders supposed to develop some kind of secret intuition or, hear me out on this one, are they supposed to develop some dog-like sense of hearing that allows them to distinguish each rider’s exhaust note like they’re telling the difference between the UPS truck or the FedEx truck? Let’s be real, people, the answers to those questions should, without a doubt, be a resounding no from anyone answering. There should have been someone flagging in that section. Supercross triples are no joke and when the face is riddled with ruts like they were in Indy then they’re even gnarlier than normal.

So without ranting anymore I think that all parties “involved” are, in some way, at fault. Barcia, Friese, whoever the guy is that determines where flaggers should be placed around the track, they all have a hand in this. You may be wondering, “Who does he think the person most at fault is?” Well, my friend, that answer is simple. The answer is none of them but if I had to split it up out of 100% between the three parties I’d give the guy in charge of flaggers 33.4% blame. What I’m saying is there’s a lot to be learned from this incident. It’s not black and white and if you think it is then you can’t see the full picture. I’ve never met him but I would assume Vince is a good person and he’s just out there doing his best. So take it easy on the guy.

I just can’t help but feel a little bad for Tomac since he had nothing to do with it really and was just in the right place at the wrong time.