AMA Supercross Provisional?

Question

I am a long time fan of Supercross, but this year I have really been cracking down on the rules. I have learned a lot from going to my local track, and talking to riders, and here on yahoo answers, its great here!

On April 12, Chad Reed (#22) wrecked in dirt bike on a table top, and broke his scapula. He was able to place 12/21 in the Main Event, which was pretty surprising to me.

I didnt understand why he was able to race the Main, because he only raced 2 laps in the Heat, and didnt get top 2 in LCQ. The announcers on SpeedTV kept talking about Chad Reed taking a "provisional".

Can someone explain a provisional to me and why Reed was able to race in the main.

(Im glad he was able to, I just dont know how...)

Thanks in Advance

Answer 1

a provisional is exactley as above but to use a provisional you still have to do a lap of the first heat and a lap of the lcq to be able to go too the main

Answer 2

Provisional means they dont have to qualify for the main, they automatically qualify if they are in the top ten in the points. I think they can only do it a certain amount of times, i dont know how many times they can do it.

Answer 3

Its a long read ... but here is the link to the rule book. it will explain better than i can.  its basically him having proved himself to be competitive and not a hindrance to the other riders.

http://www.amaproracing.com/rulebook/

d.

A Supercross rider in the Top 10 in points from the present season that fails to qualify out of a Heat or LCQ can be placed on the 21st gate pick for the Main Event. This special advancement will only be given to a rider in the Top 10 in points and may only be used twice in the 2008 season.

Answer 4

I guess the provisional rule is a benefit to those who have ridden well enough to hold a top 10 position and perhaps through no fault of their own (maybe being taken out) they end up not qualifying.  A lot of supercross is also keeping the people who are watching happy and they are usually there to see the best riders, so the rule allows the better rider the chance to be back in the main event, although they are still not in a good position as they get the last gate pick which usually means that they wont get off the line as well as they would have if they had, had one of the first gate picks.  

Chad may still be in trouble even though he salvaged a few points and is still 16 points ahead as all will know that next race he will be riding injured.

The provisional can only be used twice by a rider in a series.