by jason weigandt and steve matthes
Ryan Dungey | Red Bull KTM | 1st in 450SX
Racer X: Tonight was tough with the ruts and the way the conditions were.
Ryan Dungey: Very tough. The track was soft and spongy in a few areas but then hard in others, but it really deteriorated. The whoops got really deteriorated. The corners had a lot of ruts in them. The faces had some lines. You had to switch your lines up. Very challenging and tricky pulling your bike each way, but thankfully it was a good night and we were able to put in a good solid performance here in Georgia.
Late in the race did you see all that materializing or did you have spots that you thought you could pass him? How’d you think it was going to go?
Every time I tried to get on the inside of him [Marvin Musquin] I’d lose my rear and he’d get away. He was really driving off the corners nice. The last lap I was like, it’s either going to have to happen before the jump onto the table. That’s the only place where I’m the closest to him, or somewhere else hopefully get on the inside. That’s all I could think of. But we were able to make the pass happen. Marvin rode a great race. I don’t want to downplay his performance by any means, but 1-2 for KTM, that’s pretty cool.
Have you had motos like that on a Wednesday or a Tuesday? Have you battled like that?
Yeah, it’s every day we ride. We line up and either Marvin starts first, or I start first, or Jason [Anderson] starts first. We go to town. It was a situation that we’ve been in multiple times, so that’s cool.
You had a lot of different lines than him and they were working out the same. Did you realize that? It was interesting. You were jumping different things but it was identical.
I know. My lines were giving up a little here, make more there. His lines were make more here, give a little there at the end. So it all really balanced out. And then he actually had a really good line right before the wall. He would triple and double single into that deal, roll the inside, and then before I’m even through the corner he’s over the wall. It’s like, where the heck did he go? So it was much faster. He’s crafty like that. – Jason Weigandt
Chad Reed | Monster Energy/360fly/Chaparral Yamaha | 3rd in 450SX
Racer X: Welcome back to the podium. It’s been a while. We were wondering who’s been riding your bike, but tonight a much better job. You’ve got to be pumped.
Chad Reed: I’ve been a little sick and we put [Michael] Byrner in. [Laughs] All things considered, I think he was twelfth, a couple eighth’s and things like that. So for a retired guy it wasn’t too bad.
You did come from the back last week.
Yeah, but I don’t know that I would have… If I started at the front I think I was still going to go back. I don’t know if I would have went back to twelfth. Disappointed the last few weeks, the last four weeks since Oakland really, to be honest. I felt like we’re a podium guy. Just haven’t been riding. Kind of talked to myself and looked in the mirror this week and made changes to myself a little bit. A little bit to the bike and here and there but honestly it’s just me. I just want to give my 100 percent. Even though we’re on the podium I still don’t believe that that’s my 100 percent. When the track is tough like this, I’m still better than that. Those guys were right there and weren’t really doing anything amazing. So yeah, happy that I didn’t get my transponder clipped but still felt like there was a lot more in the tank.
I thought early on they sprinted away from you early and then about lap four or five you maintained that gap and then you caught near the end, but their opening lap speed maybe got you a little bit by surprise?
Yeah, honestly there’s a few things we’re struggling with, just things I need to be better at. It’s on me. I’m doing everything I can, but sometimes when you want things they don’t come quick enough.
What’d you think of the track tonight? Softest Atlanta in a while, rutty, beat up…
The main event, truthfully it was I would say normal for the last five years. A little bit rutty, but if you go look at it they’re hard ruts. Practice it was really soft in some areas. So, nice to get back east. I didn’t love the track, didn’t hate the track. I want to come out of a turn and be able to commit to some whoops, not a wall jump. Just little things like that I feel can be better. It was fun to go off the finish line and send it on into the whoops. That triple-triple was difficult. I didn’t do it all day; I only did it in the main event. That was necessary. Truthfully from how gnarly it was in practice, I didn’t know that that line was going to come in. I think it was pretty obvious that they wanted us to do it because they went and fixed the turn. So when I did the parade lap I see the turn was all fixed, I’m like, “Oh, shit. Here we go. I’m going to have to bust this thing out.” I think I did it maybe second or third lap, and once I did that I actually had some better sections than those guys. So it would be nice to go look at some videos, look at some sections and see what we can learn.
The on-on tabletop, a little sketchy times for you.
That’s just kind on Feld, to be honest. Practice we have a knuckle on the inside, and then they go and knock the knuckle down. No one makes us aware of it, and then you come around on the first lap. Out of the start you kind of roll the first one and then you jump. So then that first lap it’s almost like you don’t see it and suddenly you come around for the next lap and you go to go on-off and suddenly your knuckle’s gone. So just little things like that. It’s like, come on, guys. You’ve been doing this long enough to be better than that.
I think they rebuilt the whoops for the night show and I don’t think some of the early 250 guys really thought about that, and there were some crashes.
When they rebuilt them, I did that parade lap, in opening ceremonies, and they built them much pointier. So they were really nice and round, so I think they laid down where we could jump them. When they rebuilt them I think they built them with a lot drier dirt and then they made them much pointier. So I think that the Lites guys just sent it on like they normally did, and then the thing just kicked them straight up over the bars. Just little things like that. You just have to learn it. – Steve Matthes
Davi Millsaps | BTOSports.com-KTM-WPS | 4th in 450SX
Racer X: I thought your thumb was bad or something, but you rode good.
Davi Millsaps: It is. My thumb was really bad. I hurt it in San Diego. I didn’t ride the next week and going into last weekend. I had to deal with that. Come in to when I got home from Dallas I got a gnarly sinus infection. It went into my ears and my throat. So tonight was really bad for me, as far as feeling-wise. I didn’t ride all week—two weeks in a row. So obviously I don’t have the stamina I want to or the looseness that I want to, but all in all it was a good night for me. I’m pumped to walk away with a fourth with how I felt.
When you were riding did you suddenly feel good?
No, I had no more laps in me. That was it. If I had to do one more I’d have been pissed!
But isn’t that your best finish? Wasn’t your best a fifth?
Yes.
So that’s your best result. You must have rode pretty good.
I felt good on the bike, I just didn’t feel good. I couldn’t breathe. I was trying to take deep breaths, just can’t. –Matthes
Justin Bogle | GEICO Honda | 8th in 450SX
Racer X: That was much, much better—really good.
Justin Bogle: Much better. Not the greatest start, just proud of myself for hitting all the jumps first lap. Actually I struggled with that in a few…
Are you serious?
For sure. A few rounds this year I’ve actually rolled the whole first rhythm section and then doubled the triple. So that actually helped out a lot, because the start wasn’t great. So I made some moves there and got in the zone. I had a solid fifteen laps in me. The last five it kind of caught up with me, but I’m okay with that right now because I haven’t really raced a 20 yet. The other ones I kind of definitely just mailed it in there at the end, suffering through. So I’m happy with that. I would have liked to have stayed up closer to that top five area. But like I said, single digit, so making progress and that’s really all I can ask for right now.
How much is just doing 20 laps actually training in its own way, to do the race? Will you get stronger just by doing this?
Racing 20 laps is so much different. Unfortunately I had the little mishap where I was out for however many races, so I didn’t really get as much of that that I would have liked to. All in all, making progress. It’s not going to happen overnight, I know that unfortunately. It is frustrating, but this weekend was a good step in the right direction. – Weigandt
Malcolm Stewart | GEICO Honda | 2nd in 250SX
Racer X: You rode good. There’s no doubt about that.
Malcolm Stewart: I felt good in the main event all the way around. I just had a bonehead move. I clearly did not see him [Shane McElrath] at all. I felt like as soon as he picked his bike up and I was already committed, I was like, oh boy. Oh well. It is what it is. I felt like I came back pretty strong actually once I got back going. It is what it is. That’s just racing. You got to watch out for things like that and I let my guard down and I didn’t even see it. I kind of needed to look ahead instead of worrying about what’s in front of me. But last year my first race I got twenty-second. This year I got second. So the season ain’t over with. This is the first one. Of course obviously I’m going to be mad and upset because I kind of felt like I kind of gave that race away, but you can’t win them all. So hopefully just take it from here on out and learn my lesson to dodge some riders as much as possible and just ride my own race.
It’s the season opener so no one ever knows exactly where they are, and then you have the fast time and win your heat and fastest in all the practices. That’s got to feel good. You never know exactly what’s going to happen until you’re there.
No, I think that’s why I’m pretty stoked. Overall I felt like my day was great. Everything was great until the main event, but I didn’t feel like I just gave it away, but at the same time I felt that it was my race to win and I let it go under me. But overall I’m happy for not being worse than what I was. First place loser, you will take it. It is what it is for a long season. - Weigandt
Aaron Plessinger | Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha | 3rd in 250SX
Racer X: How about the night? How about the pre-season too? You kind of held over to East Coast.
Aaron Plessinger: Yeah, for sure. Actually at Monster Cup I injured my ankle and ended up having to get surgery in December. They pushed me back to East Coast, which was actually a good idea. Tonight went great. It was everything I could ask for except winning I guess. I got off to kind of a not really good start. I think I was ninth coming across the first lap. I pushed all the way until the end and ended up third. I think I was catching Mookie at the end, but unfortunately not enough laps to catch him.
How about progress over the last two years?
It’s amazing seeing my fitness and what I can do on the bike, where I can put it, and what I can do with it. It’s amazing to me. Gareth [Swanepoel] has helped me out so much. I can’t thank him enough, can’t thank the team enough. It’s just been a great two years, just getting to know these guys and pushing me to be a red plate contender.
Did you have any issues first round: arm pump, nervousness, any of that?
Not really. I came in here pretty confident. It kind of played out to my favor, especially with the arm pump. I was really getting arm pump last year. I just pushed and pushed and pushed and ended up third. - Weigandt
RJ Hampshire | GEICO Honda | 6th in 250SX
Racer X: First of all, how ready were you coming in? At one point we didn’t know if you’d race. Are you feeling like “I’m good” or are you still kind of working your way back?
RJ Hampshire: From my head injury, that’s all good, I felt awesome coming in. Tuesday this week actually I had a pretty big get-off and kind of reinjured some injuries. So I’d say honestly I wasn’t that healthy coming in.
A week ago you were ready?
Yeah, I was 100 percent ready, best I’ve ever felt. We got a new trainer and stuff. I’m fit as could be. So that’s not my issue at all.
So in the race were you just trying to survive out there?
Yeah, pretty much from practice. I tried riding Thursday and it was hurting me bad, so I did starts. Then I showed up and got a shot with Asterisk and just kind of survival all day until the main event. I put fifteen laps in, so that was the goal. We showed decent speed but definitely not what we trained for and stuff. We want to win and that’s what we’re here for. We’ll get there, though. I’m not too bummed on the night considering everything going on. It’s a good starting point. Look forward to Daytona next weekend.
What you’re dealing with, will this heal quickly?
Yeah, I see it being pretty fast healing. Then we’ll be ready for next weekend, that’s all that matters. We’ll do what it takes this week and be ready. - Weigandt
