Angelo in 2017 was the first Italian ever to qualify for a Main Event in the 450 class of the highly coveted AMA Monster Energy Supercross Series in the United States. Pellegrini accomplished something truly outstanding, because Supercross is a very competitive motorsport, enjoying a popularity that in the United States is surpassed only by NASCAR.
But what is Supercross exactly and why is it so popular?
In a nutshell, to put it in simple terms, Supercross is an indoor Motocross race. Started as a single extravaganza event in 1972, and raced inside the Los Angeles Coliseum, Supercross grew bigger during the 80s to become a mainstream sport in the early 2000s. For a few years now the races have been broadcasted live on prime time, by national TV channels like CBS and FOX. The 17 rounds of the series are all hosted inside baseball or football stadiums across America: the riders compete every week in a different city from January to May. Los Angeles, Boston, San Diego, Detroit, Seattle, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Las Vegas... all major cities in the US are eager to secure a round of the championship, an event that on average attracts 50 to 70 thousand spectators (depends on the venue - baseball stadiums are generally smaller).
The format has been the same for many years now: two categories, 250 and 450, two qualifying heat races and one Main Event for each category.
All major motorcycle brands compete in the series with one factory team in the 450 class and a satellite, factory supported team in the 250 class. Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, KTM and Husqvarna pour millions of dollars in their racing effort, competing at the highest level to capture the most prestigious championship in off-road racing. The top riders are superstars, with million dollar endorsements and hundreds of thousand dedicated followers: they are as popular in the United States as MotoGP riders are in the rest of the world. Physically speaking, Supercross is one of the most demanding sports and all the main guys are literally super-athletes, who train like madmen on a daily basis, each one with their own private facility and track.
Some of them, the riders with the most championship wins, are considered true leaving legends: names like Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, Bob Hannah or Ryan Villopoto, even years after retiring from racing, can still pull huge crowds of fans every time they show up at a local event, and most of them are still involved in the sport, as Team owners or TV commentators.
Only a handful of non-American riders have been able to compete in Supercross at the highest level: Frenchman Jean Michel Bayle won the Championship back in 1991 and, being the first foreigner doing so, he sent a shockwave thru the system. The Australian Chad Reed, who recently broke the record for most Main Event starts, also won two championships in 2004 and 2008. Many more Europeans won championship in the 250 class but none of them was able to grab the more prestigious 450 title so far. More recently, Frenchman Marvin Musquin and German Ken Roczen have proven themselves to be fast and fit to win a 450 class title, but unfortunately a string of injuries has plagued their efforts so far.
