Oh, c’mon now, Weston Peick comes from the LCQ and a 14th place start in the main to blaze all the way up to fifth while passing mega-dollar Honda riders Eli Tomac and Justin Barcia to get fifth again?
We said last week that Weston is DQ’d from Unsung Hero consideration. He’s a sung hero now, if such a term exists, and if not we just made it.
This week’s lesser-known story is Soaring Eagle Casino RCH Suzuki’s Josh Hill returning from a broken collarbone to net 11th in the 450 main. He broke the collarbone two weeks ago in Oakland, got a plate surgically inserted, and then emerged feeling fine. This happened almost immediately. I talked to Josh the Friday before Anaheim 3 and he felt race ready three days out of surgery, but the team thought better of it. He suited up in San Diego, though, and even withstood a practice crash to put himself back into the main event.
"It was a tough day," said Hill in a team statement. "I crashed in the first practice and landed right on my broken collarbone! I debated not racing tonight, but I'm glad it made the decision to do it. I can't be too bummed with 11th … I gained more experience and hopefully will be stronger next week," said Hill.
Hill entered the season as a dark horse contender, but a back injury suffered right before Anaheim 1 hurt his performances early. Now, even the broken collarbone couldn’t hold him back too much. Once Hill is completely healthy, he could end up toward the front. For now, he’s grinding out results, and that makes him this week’s Unsung Hero.
