However, I do think Tomac crossed over the line into cheap shot racing. When a rider is able to pass cleanly, but instead elects to crash his opponent or run him off the track so he'll lose more positions, that is over the line to me. And that is what Eli did, IMO, three times in this race. I think Dungey handled it well in his post race comments, initially referring to the cheap shots one time, but then taking the high road.
I agree Dungey handled it well, given his perspective. He held his composure very well during and after the race. Of the three times Tomac passed Dungey, the first one was just a mildly aggressive box out type pass. He “stood him up“ in the corner, no contact. If it had just been that, nobody even remembers it. The second and third passes were definitely more aggressive and rougher. The second time he creatively forced Dungey off the track in what was his best chance to put Dungey behind several other riders. The third time he made real contact. I saw him throw an elbow toward Dungey and didn't particularly like that, thought it was a bit much for my taste. But it was nothing compared to what Osborne did to Savagty in the 250 main, or Anderson torpedoing Reed. Here are some other things I didn't like that swung in Dungey's favor, and are all part of the larger context:
1. The big obvious one, Musquin pulling over for Dungey last week and gifting him a win and three points. I believe this made Tomac more willing to engage in some edgy tactics.
2. Jason Anderson, not even officially Dungey's teammate, but his training partner and rider for a team who receives considerable KTM support, acting as Dungey's personal escort and enforcer for much of the race. He had the pace to pass Dungey throughout given what Tomac was doing, but wasn't going to do it unless he knew he could pass Tomac too. He dive-bombed Chad Reed when it appeared Reed was set to catch Dungey and mix it up.
I sometimes don't like it when racers try too hard and get too aggressive and in trying to win or get the best finish. Sometimes it goes too far. I
really don't like it when racers purposely don't do their best to aid another competitor in the field. How many 'allies', as the broadcast team termed it, did Dungey have out there holding up for him as necessary? Musquin had a bad race and wasn't up there, but there was still Anderson and Baggett for a while who were willing to be loyal lieutenants and never were going to put themselves between Tomac and Dungey. I don't care for that.
Las Vegas was by far the best, most racy track of the year. The bikes touched 60 mph, and several spots went into the 40's, with some quick corners too. At most tracks, the riders are 15 to 25 mph the whole lap, maybe reaching 30-32 mph for a brief instant. I liked Las Vegas a lot more.
Agreed, most of the track designs throughout the season are poor and do not aid competitiveness. If I remember correctly, I really liked the Glendale track, which also featured longer straights, wide corners, etc.
The announcers were pretty poor last night. I like Ralph Shaheen and appreciate his enthusiasm, which comes off as natural to me. Emig is knowledgeable, but so laid back and safe as an analyst. They sounded like idiots by avoiding the obvious and never mentioning what Tomac was actually doing, and instead describing Tomac's litany of 'little mistakes' that kept allowing Dungey and the entire top 6 or 7 to catch up to him. If I recall, NBC's American F1 broadcasters were quite upfront about Lewis Hamilton backing up Rosberg last year. These guys needed to drop the PR and admit what was happening, as that was what was making the race exciting.