Slaw Dog
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Since it’s the off-season we decided to change things up a bit in the Guts Racing Vurb Power Rankings. Going forward, Slaw and Troy will be ranking different topics until racing starts again at Anaheim. Ginger Dog is currently breaking up fights in middle school for the next few months and will rejoin the rankings once racing starts.
As always, feel free to flame away on Troy below or on social. Not Slaw.
Now onto this weeks topic: Our favorite 250SX title fights.
Troy Dog
-Here’s a little redemption for those of you that said I was an idiot for not adding 2017 Vegas to my list of all-time favorite races. I picked the entire 2017 East Region for my all-time favorite 250SX series. The series came down to that final round in Vegas with four riders having a chance at the title. How often does that happen? Not very often. This series was awesome all the way around. Joey Savatgy won the opener, Zach Osborne took round two and three, and then Adam Cianciarulo won the fourth round at Daytona. Osborne won the next round at Indy, but then had an 18th at Detroit the following race and that’s when Jordon Smith went on a late season surge winning two races in a row. Osborne would win New Jersey and then proceed to crash in the first turn of the Las Vegas finale. With Savatgy in the back of the pack as well, Smith took control of the situation and it looked like he was going to bring it home before he crashed his brains out. Then it was Cianciarulo’s title to win, but Savatgy started to make some passes, so with one lap left all hell breaks loose. Osborne puts in the best lap of his life and takes Savatgy out with one turn to go, winning the championship in the process. An unreal come from behind victory.
-I like the 2008 East title chase between rookie Trey Canard and the favorite Ryan Villopoto. RV starts the season off in Atlanta with 0 points, while Canard wins the first three. The series culminates in St. Louis with a battle between the two for the win. Canard doesn’t back down and RV ends up in the finish line awning. Canard didn’t ride like a rookie at all that season and it’s one of my favorite seasons to go back and watch.
-The 2004 East was uneventful for the most part. I mostly loved it because James Stewart was out for vengeance that season. He was so much faster and jumping rhythms no one else could. The only hiccup was at Indianapolis when he sat the night out due to a concussion. Josh Hansen won his first main event that night on his Yamaha of Troy ride.
-I have to give the West Region some love here, right? Most of my favorite battles are from the East. Yet, the Shae Bentley/David Pingree battle will forever go down as one of the weirdest finishes to a title fight. The often injured Bentley finally had redemption after Pingree crashed at the start of the Dallas finale. At the finish it was a frenzy trying to count up points and Bentley found out that he won when pit reporter Davey Coombs told him in the interview. He thought he had no way of winning the championship after the way his main event went. Yeah, he freakin’ won it.
-The 2013 East Region was a banger and Wilbur Hahn was able to take home his title over Marvin Musquin, and Blake Wharton. All three of them got some wins in this series, but Wil never finished off the podium. Dean Wilson was a title favorite, but was injured early on. It was a series of wholesome dudes just getting after it.
Slaw Dog
-Troy wrote a freaking novel, so don’t have much to add.
-This title fight was slept on. Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Josh Hansen won the first two rounds and then won round five and looked to have the title. Then Broc Tickle, his teammate, came charging back and held off Eli Tomac for the title by just six points.
-Troy wrote a freaking novel, so don’t have much to add.
-Another one involving Tomac. He and Dean Wilson were going at it all season. It was amazing. Then it boiled over in Seattle and they came together with Wilson going down and hurting his shoulder. It allowed Tomac to claim the title.
-Troy wrote a freaking novel, so don’t have much to add.
Main image: Husqvarna
