By Race Chapman

Red Bull will be hosting the fourth iteration of the Red Bull Straight Rhythm event in Pomona, CA, on Saturday, Oct. 21. The unique, drag strip-style race started in 2014 as little more than a curiosity for motocross fans but has transformed into a fan-favorite event.

Supercross is the most mainstream of the motocross disciplines, with its exciting jumps, shorter races, and stadium seating appealing more to the mainstream culture. Fans of the more traditional racing style often criticize Supercross for being too dangerous — and for the big jumps seemingly added without regard for rider safety or a competitive track.

What makes the straight rhythm unique is that there is no need for any racing strategy: It's just a head-to-head battle in a straight line. It takes the crowd-pleasing jumps and risky obstacles, puts them all in a line, and applies an easy to understand bracket format — unlike the formats of Pro Motocross or Supercross, which can be confusing to newcomers.

The lack of turns certainly doesn't take away any risk, however, and serious injuries have been suffered on the half-mile test of technical skill. Perhaps the main benefit to safety over real racetracks is the fact that the riders are only on the bike for a short time, as opposed to the grueling 35-minute motos or 20-minute main events.

But one has to ask, at what point do teams say "enough is enough" with the endless season? That's not to say there's anything wrong with the Red Bull Straight Rhythm — it is a neat event. But so is the Motocross of Nations, and the Monster Cup, and the Supercross season, and the Pro Motocross season.

Already, top competitors are opting out of historic events like the Motocross of Nations to avoid getting injured before the Monster Energy Cup or Supercross season. Or, they aren't available because they already suffered an injury.

Looking at the schedule for 2018, which was similar in 2017, there are 17 Monster Energy Supercross races from January to May. There's a laughable one weekend off to prepare for the 12-race Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season, which runs from May until August. Then, there's the Motocross of Nations and Monster Energy Cup, whose dates are not announced but are typically held around October. And of course, the Red Bull Straight Rhythm, which isn't necessarily a physically demanding event but is still an added risk.

That means, excluding special events, a professional racer's season starts with a whopping 29 race weekends. Including the Monster Energy Cup, which is pretty much a guarantee for a healthy factory racer, it's an even 30.

That is, frankly, an absurd number of races, especially when compared to equivalent sports (in terms of risk and physical toll on the body) like football. Even compared to an NFL team that makes it to the Super Bowl, a professional racer has double the competitions. Compared to the average team, far more than double.

This year, racers have 12 weeks off from the Monster Cup to the start of the 2018 season. That's the biggest break racers will get, unless they suffered an injury during the year.

Is it any surprise that the list of top factory racers who are absent is often greater than those who are actually racing?

Motocross has become a sport of attrition. If a top five rider just avoids injury for the year, he is likely to just happen upon a podium by virtue of competitors getting hurt.

So this begs the question: Are more racing events truly a good thing? Naturally, any fan gets excited about a race. If the football season was twice as long, football fans around the country would rejoice. And racing fans are no different.

But in terms of what is good for the sport, having the active racing season cover eight full months out of the year doesn't seem right.

Racing is best when there is a high degree of parity between racers. Nobody wants to see a race where the winner is a foregone conclusion. Ricky Carmichael was fun to watch, but for the most part, the racing was miserable when he was dominating. At best you could watch him slice through the pack after a bad start, but if he got the holeshot it was a snoozefest.

Naturally, nobody wants to remove races from the calendar. The Pro Motocross season is not particularly long, and most of the tracks are historically important to American motocross. And the Supercross season is by far the most watched and the most viewer-friendly. Supercross promoters want to squeeze in as many races as possible and fill as many stadiums as they can.

Might it be better to cut down on the Supercross season, so that more racers remain healthy to the end? That way, more guys might be willing to participate in the extracurricular races like the Motocross of Nations and so forth.

Healthy racers are good for motocross, and less racing will lead to fewer injuries. Right now, the training regimen is year-round, and the amount of riders who get injured while training demonstrates the immense pressure they are under to make use of every spare second of time.

It's time we cut some of these guys a break.

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