The Georgia Dome. That big, beautiful stadium near the Centennial Olympic Park, and just around the corner from the fake news station. In its nearly 30 years of existence, it has hosted the Supercross series since the beginning.
Viewed in the racing world as “Anaheim of the East,” Supercross history has been written in the Dome year after year. The Dome has witnessed the transfer of power from Jeff Stanton to Jeremy McGrath. From McGrath to the GOAT: Ricky Carmichael. The GOAT to Villopoto. And now, it has witnessed the control of Ryan Dungey.
Hell, Supercross in the Georgia Dome even made it to the big screen. Who could forget the movie Fled, starring the greatest Baldwin alive: Stephen.
To be the last race in this stadium, the crew behind the scenes knew they had to make it one for the ages. In my opinion, they did just that. The Dirt Wurx crew prepped a track that held up great as the night show progressed, apart from the massive sand section that left every rider covered from helmet to boot. Seriously though, check out this shot of Adam Cianciarulo catching a mouth full of sand from his teammate, Joey Savatgy:
The track was fast and technical, sending several riders face-first into the red Georgia clay. Hometown hero Davi Millsaps ran into problems (aka other riders) during practice and took an injury to the wrist, forcing him out of the night show.
2016 Horizon Award winner, Chase Sexton, suffered a broken femur early on in qualifying. Sexton will not be returning to the Supercross series in 2017.
Christian Craig suffered a nasty whoops-section crash in his heat race, leaving him with a concussion. Craig did not return for the LCQ, ultimately ending his night.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcb9p7I5uMQ]
The 250 Main Event showed us what we’ve all known for years: Zach Osborne IS capable of winning races. Zach absolutely dominated the competition this weekend, and took home a well-deserved trophy.
But what’s more amazing to Zach Osborne’s win, is that he has won in the Georgia Dome before…as a child. Zach was part of the KTM Jr series nearly 20 years ago, where he won aboard a 50cc KTM. Now it’s 2017 and he’s taking his first professional Supercross win, in the same stadium where he won as a kid, and it’s the last Supercross race in the Georgia Dome ever! That’s nucking futs!! You just can’t make up that kind of story.
If Osborne’s incredible win wasn’t enough excitement for the Dome’s farewell, the 450 boys have us covered. After a clean start, Ryan Dungey successfully grabbed the holeshot and began to take off. Given his history with success, most people probably assumed the race was over already.
By the end of the first lap, Dungey’s nemesis in the points race, Eli Tomac, was sitting in ninth position. All Dungey had to do was keep his head down, ride his own race, and he’d gain critical championship points.
Tomac wasn’t going to let him off that easy though. Lap after lap, he put the hammer down and slowly shortened the gap between himself and Dungey. After quickly passing every rider he encountered, Tomac soon found himself in second place and had the reigning champion in his sights.
Unfortunately for both riders, lapped traffic became quite the hassle. Slower riders seemed to carelessly ignore the blue waving flags indicating to them that the leaders were about to clobber them. This problem seems to be worse this year than usual, and I sure hope they can get this straightened out at the riders meetings going forward.
As the final lap arrived, the entire audience was on their feet. Some rooting for Dungey to stay ahead and some cheering for Tomac to pass, while others continued to scream their demands for Dianna Dahlgren’s return (that was me). Seriously though, Dianna…we miss you.
But in the end, Tomac just ran out of time. Dungey crossed the line less than a second ahead of him, taking his fifth win and final Georgia Dome victory.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z3hrL2ASlY]
Of course, it wouldn’t be a visit to Hotlanta without some uncertainty. As I’ve made the trip to this particular venue for around 20 years, there always seemed to be stories of fans’ bikes being stolen from the local hotels while they were attending the race in the Dome. But this year, the drama hit much closer to home.
Rider Michael Aycock had his trailer with bike stolen from right outside the Dome early on Saturday. The trailer was later discovered in East Atlanta, minus every item inside.
Another event attendee had his van, complete with riding gear, computer, and bike stolen over the weekend in Atlanta.
As the event came to a close, and fans began to swarm the nearby streets to find their parked cars, one group encountered far more trouble. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the vehicle (it was moto-van) disregarded the traffic-directing police officer’s directions, so the officer then fired shots into the vehicle. Eye-witnesses on the scene have stated this situation had more lead-up to it than the article mentions. I guess we’ll figure out what happened when the investigation is completed.
But for the final drama of the weekend, more bike theft. And not just any bike theft. The KTM Jr series bike theft!! Ten of the KTM 50’s were stolen straight out of the KTM rig Sunday night after breaking through the trailer locks.
I hate a thief. Especially a thief that steals from children.
For now, the Supercross series is still expected to return to Atlanta in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium right next door to the Dome. But, if the crime problems persist, I could see this having a major effect on attendance from fans and concerns among the series’ participants.
If the series needs a change of scenery, I know of a stadium in Nashville they can use. Don’t worry, the Titans aren’t doing anything with it…..
Cadbury Pringlebatch is the Lead Supercross Writer and Investment Analyst for The SoBros Network, but knows a little bit about everything. Known for frequenting Nashville YMCA steam rooms, he’s a firm believer that winning football is produced by moving the chains, and became a SoBro after mistaking the Power Hour Podcast for an AA meeting. Follow on Twitter:@SoBroCadbury
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