Round eight of the Monster Energy Supercross series took place in the always rocking Georgia Dome in Atlanta and this race stood for a couple of things. One is it’s the halfway point in the series (or if you want to say next week, round nine, is halfway in a seventeen race series, we’re ok with that) and the other is that it was the opening round of the 250SX Eastern Region.
The track was pretty short in Georgia and pretty basic but it had a nasty dragonback into a sand section that claimed riders all day long as well as softer dirt than the riders had been used to. The track got rutty, it got beat up and it challenged the riders all night long.
Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin should’ve, could’ve, would’ve won Atlanta 450SX class for his first ever win in that class if not for a late decision to change his line on a triple jump on the last lap. Musquin’s move, to go around a lapped James Stewart, was on the last lap and with his teammate Ryan Dungey behind him. He cased a jump after going around Stewart, and that was all Dungey needed to take his fifth win of the season.
"I was wanting to make the pass happen, but Marvin [Musquin] was setting the pace out front. A really good one," said Dungey, who now has a 24-race podium streak that dates back to last season. "I lost some ground and then would gain on him. It kept going like that. Unfortunately we [almost] got together there at the end, but that's racing. He's [still] a winner tonight. To run like that like as a rookie is impressive."
Musquin led all but the last lap and Dungey admitted afterwards that Marvin “was the real winner here tonight” but he’ll take another win in an exciting main event. Musquin tweeted out his feelings after the race.
“Hey guys. To make it clear, I just wish that js (James Stewart) would've let us go by earlier, like in the turn before the finish as he looked back at us. I made a mistake and came up short on the triple and I thought I was gonna land on him, that's why I change line and got out of control.”
Monster Energy/360fly Yamaha's Chad Reed returned to the podium for the first time since round three with a steady ride. Reed didn’t get the greatest start but he snuck around the inside, came out third and rode steady the rest of the way to get on the box. Afterwards he admitted that he had to change some things about himself and get out of funk to get him back to podium level.
The 250SX East Region kicked off and it was a great night for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos. The longtime 250SX vet, Davalos got his third win of his career in dominating fashion leading every lap of his heat race and main event to start off strong. It was a terrific ride for Davalos and although he got some help from his competition, full marks for this win.
“The last year and a half has been really tough for me," said Davalos, who suffered a serious injury during the 2014 season. "I'm just happy to be out there. I got a good start and I was able to just log in 15 solid laps. It got a little hectic towards the end with lappers, but I'm so happy to finally be back up here [on the podium]."
GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart, the other heat race winner, got into second by privateer Darryn Durham and took off after Davalos. He was making up a bit of time on Davalos when he plowed into a downed TLD/Red Bull KTM’s Shane McElrath in the sand and went down. That gave Davalos an over ten second lead and although Stewart closed it to less than two seconds while Davalos was cruising, it wasn’t enough.
Third place was Yamalube/Star Racing’s Aaron Plessinger who showed great speed all day and only a bad start in the main held him back. His teammate Jeremy Martin was also victim to a bad start and could only finish in fourth although, like Plessinger, he showed good speed.
Perhaps the surprise of the night was privateer Durham who rode up front in both the heat and the main. Durham ran second for a while, dropped back a bit and then zapped Monster Energy/Pro Circuit’s Tyler Bowers for seventh near the end of the race.
Speaking of Bowers, his race started strong as he ran third for a while but his lack of pre-season prep showed as dropped back to eighth. His teammate Arnaud Tonus showed practice speed, crashed twice in his heat and had to qualify via the LCQ. Then in the main it was some crashes and the Swiss master finished way back. Not a good night for the PC crew.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart finished a 450SX main event for the first time this year, his fourth crack at it. Stewart has had a tough start to his year, and, as mentioned before, he got lapped. But James finished the main and we’re sure he’ll take this and move on to Daytona.
Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John's/RCH Suzuki’s Kenny Roczen got a terrible start and was buried way back, about fifteenth on the first lap. He eventually worked his way up to sixth but it wasn’t a great night for him. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac crashed early on and was dead last. He salvaged an eleventh.
BTOSports KTM teammates Davi Millsaps and Justin Brayton had good nights with Brayton winning his heat, holeshotting the main and running fourth for most of the main event before giving that spot up to Millsaps. Millsaps rode strong all main event despite a sinus issue that hurt his breathing. Brayton blamed the late race pass on some sudden cramps but either way, both riders were impressive.
Back to 250’s, Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM’s Justin Hill was very impressive logging the fourth fastest lap of the night and coming from basically last to fifth. Justin showed great skill in getting by a lot of fast riders and could be a race winner if he gets the start at an upcoming round.
Big crash in 450 heat race when BTOSports KTM’s Andrew Short got cross rutted on a jump, took out Autotrader/JGR Yamaha’s Phil Nicoletti, then shot across the track and cleaned out Monster Kawasaki’s Wil Hahn. All three riders were injured in the crash with Short knocking himself a little koo-koo, Nicoletti hurting his knee and Hahn breaking his collarbone. Tough blow to the riders, the teams they ride for and the series itself.