He may just be in it to keep his Number. You have to race at least once every 2 years to keep your Pro number. A lot of guys to it. I was really surprised to see RV running McGraths plate last year.
Carmichael's "4" was actually up for grabs last year, and Dean Wilson had dibs on it, but chose not to take it. It's up for grabs this year, and if Tomac wins the outdoor title, he has said he will take it. you have to get a certain number of points in PRO Nationals (I think it might be 6 or 10). If you do it in 1 race, that's fine, if it takes you 10 rounds, that's fine too. in order to go from a double digit, to a single digit, you have to be a title winner, and the number has to be avilable. so, the two people who had dibs were RV (he already has 2) and Deano, who chose to stick with 15. Deano is out this year. If JS7 wins, he will keep 7. so, lets see what the winner of the 250 class does this time around.
Dowd gets his in 2 usually. He'll run a race leading up to Southwick as a tune-up, then really go for it at Southwick. He'll get like an 18-20 and a 14-14 and it's enough to keep his "16" each year. He is on Husky this year though, so it looks like the 16 will be available.
I would be willing to bet a paycheck right now to anyone, that Dowd shows up to Southwick on a Kawasaki, not a Husky. but again, there's more to it than just racing every other year.
