Race winner Justin Barcia rode exactly the way you would expect a kid known as “Bam Bam” to ride, trading aggressive passes with the likes of Blake Wharton, Darryn Duham and everyone else on his way to the win. That's not the kind of racing we've seen for the first six weeks of the season out West, where they have been racing with less offense against one another.
The racing was close in Dallas. Will the aggression level go up even further in Atlanta?
Cudby photo
The turbulent action had to be an eye-opening for Ken Roczen, the third-place finisher who many felt would be the big favorite here. He made it through fairly unscathed, but he waited too long to start moving forward in the main (the opposite of what he did in winning his heat race) and let Barcia get away once he cleared Darryn Durham.
Roczen now knows for sure—as does Durham, Wharton and the rest—that beating Barcia will likely include banging with him, and that's something the red-plated GEICO Honda rider has no problem doing. Watch closely from here on out, because the gloves are already off in this wild region.
