Just wanted to get a little discussion on this. Steven is easily one of the best pilots to grace the pylons at Reno. The cleanest line, smart head, etc. he has it all. What I've heard lately from guys like Steven and Jay is "we did what we wanted to and there isn't much left". Steven is the youngest winner, amassed a handful of gold wins at Reno, etc., but my question is... How hard has Steven had to work for his gold wins?
I am not taking ANYTHING away from Steven, I just wanted to hear what others had to say about this. Simply put, Steven hasn't done it all. He's never beaten a healthy Voodoo when he was in Strega, or Strega when he hopped in Voodoo. Let memory lane begin...
2009- Voodoo breaks in Sunday's gold, Rare Bear is FAR from as capable at this point so that isn't really competition.
2010- Free win because of Saturday's victory where Voodoo pulled out, Bear 20+ seconds behind. No race on Sunday.
2011- Free win for obvious reasons.
2012- No Voodoo at all, closest competition is Rare Bear and 232 who couldn't keep up whatsoever
2013- When Steven switched to V and Matt stepped in Strega. Come Sunday Matt had to start in the back. Put Matt in second spot and Steven might have been done for... I will give Steven credit for this one though.
2014- No Strega on Sunday, AND Tiger unofficially won on Saturday anyway... (from the BACK)...
2015- Healthy Strega with Hoot, Steven doesn't win
2016- Czech Mate is the best competition, easy win for Steven
2017- Healthy Strega with Jay, Steven doesn't win
I think Steven has one more thing to check off the to-do list once he officially breaks the speed record
I am not taking ANYTHING away from Steven, I just wanted to hear what others had to say about this. Simply put, Steven hasn't done it all. He's never beaten a healthy Voodoo when he was in Strega, or Strega when he hopped in Voodoo. Let memory lane begin...
2009- Voodoo breaks in Sunday's gold, Rare Bear is FAR from as capable at this point so that isn't really competition.
2010- Free win because of Saturday's victory where Voodoo pulled out, Bear 20+ seconds behind. No race on Sunday.
2011- Free win for obvious reasons.
2012- No Voodoo at all, closest competition is Rare Bear and 232 who couldn't keep up whatsoever
2013- When Steven switched to V and Matt stepped in Strega. Come Sunday Matt had to start in the back. Put Matt in second spot and Steven might have been done for... I will give Steven credit for this one though.
2014- No Strega on Sunday, AND Tiger unofficially won on Saturday anyway... (from the BACK)...
2015- Healthy Strega with Hoot, Steven doesn't win
2016- Czech Mate is the best competition, easy win for Steven
2017- Healthy Strega with Jay, Steven doesn't win
I think Steven has one more thing to check off the to-do list once he officially breaks the speed record