It’s time to get back in the fantasy supercross mode, with seven straight Monster Energy Supercross rounds in a row at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Given the long break, any momentum a rider had is lost. Instead, look at this as an opening round of the season, albeit with a touch of history.
We like the simplicity of the RMFantasySX system, and that’s where our staff members play. You pick the top five, plus a wild card position that changes each week–this week it’s 15th place. If you get the rider’s finishing position correct, you get the number of series points he’s awarded. If you’re off by one spot, you get 10 points. If he’s in the top five and you’re off by more than one position, you get five points. Hitting the wild card gets you 26 points (1st place).
So, keep these fast facts in mind when making your selections:
1. Ken Roczen, Eli Tomac, and Cooper Webb are your clear podium favorites. Out of a possible 30 podiums in 10 rounds, they have 23 podium finishes–an amazing record. Leave any of those three off the podium at your own risk.
- Only Tomac and Roczen have multiple wins in 2020. Picking someone other than the two points leaders is a risky proposition–they have eight of ten wins between them.
- If you want to take a chance and need to make up some points, pick Justin Barcia to win. Barcia won the last two A1 openers, and SLC1 is something of an opener. He could do it.
- After Roczen, Tomac, and Webb, you still have two top-five positions to fill. Based on past results, Barcia and Jason Anderson are firm favorites. In 10 rounds, Barcia was only outside of the top 10 on two occasions, and Anderson missed the top five just three times. Anderson and Barcia are as close as you can get to a sure thing to round out your top five.
- The dark horse in this is the returning Adam Cianciarulo. Before he was injured, Cianciarulo had two podiums, though he was outside of the top five more often than he was in it. Like Barcia, Cianciarulo is a responsible way to take a chance and gain points on your opponents if you’re behind.
Check our Supercross TV schedule, so you don’t miss a race.
Don Williams is #4824 in the RMFantasySX standings, putting him in the top five percent of players.
Photography by Simon Cudby and Ryne Swanberg.
2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series Standings (after 10 of 17 rounds)
- Eli Tomac (Kawasaki), 226 points (5 wins; 6 podiums)
- Ken Roczen (Honda), 223 (3 wins; 8 podiums)
- Cooper Webb (KTM), 197 (1 win; 7 podiums)
- Justin Barcia (Yamaha), 195 (1 win; 3 podiums)
- Jason Anderson (Husqvarna), 170 (3 podiums)
- Malcolm Stewart (Honda), 152
- Justin Hill (Honda), 141
- Justin Brayton (Honda), 129
- Dean Wilson (Husqvarna), 129
- Adam Cianciarulo (Kawasaki), 128 (2 podiums)
- Aaron Plessinger (Yamaha), 125
- Blake Baggett (KTM), 109 (1 podium)
- Vince Friese (Honda), 108
- Zach Osborne (Husqvarna), 105
- Martín Dávalos (KTM), 92
- Tyler Bowers (Kawasaki), 60
- Chad Reed (Honda), 49
- Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha), 44
- Benny Bloss (Yamaha/KTM), 34
- Ryan Breece (Suzuki), 31
- Justin Bogle (KTM), 24
- Kyle Cunningham (Suzuki), 23
- Alex Ray (Kawasaki), 19
- Chris Blose (Honda), 18
- Broc Tickle (Suzuki), 12
- Adam Enticknap (Suzuki), 12
- Daniel Herrlein (KTM), 8
- Ryan Sipes (KTM), 7
- James Weeks (Yamaha), 7
- Henry Miller (KTM), 6
- Jimmy Decotis (Suzuki), 4
- Jason Clermont (Kawasaki), 3
- Cade Autenrieth (Honda), 3
- Ronnie Stewart (Husqvarna), 3
- Fredrik Norén (Suzuki), 2
- Jerry Robin (Honda), 1
- Josh Cartwright (Kawasaki), 1
