I was strolling the pits on Saturday morning looking for free breakfast scoops when I saw Blake Baggett at the Yoshimura Suzuki semi. I talked to a lot of riders on Thursday press day but I missed Blake. I wanted to chat with him because back at the Las Vegas supercross, he was dropping hints about unleashing some speed this season.
Last year Baggett was good with fourth overall in 450MX points, but it wasn’t great like his old 250 days. Instead of El Chupacabra, Blake became Steady Eddie, saying he just wanted to make it through the races, plug away and stay healthy. I asked Blake on Saturday morning which rider we would get this year. Steady Eddie? Or El Chupacrabra?
“Just try to stay in it, and then unleash it when the right time comes,” he said with a smile.
That was eye opening and encouraging. But even more eye popping? Blake dug right into a plate of bacon, eggs and sausage for breakfast! (Let it be known that neither of us pass up a free meal.)
I left our conversation confused over the breakfast choices but still convinced Blake was ready. And in the first moto, he proved it. Eli Tomac was raging forward from a bad start, looking like the guy who was so fast at Hangtown last year. He passed Baggett on his way forward…but Blake latched on! They worked through the pack together, and then true to his word Baggett unleashed it on the final three laps, logging his fastest lap of the race with three to go. He got around Cole Seely for fourth and then put the press on Tomac. Then came a quick pass, and that was jaw dropping because it’s been a long time since anyone actually passed Tomac on an outdoor track.
Baggett’s start was sub-par again in moto two but he started charging again late. He was sixth and closing on Trey Canard when he reportedly hit a rock in a corner and bounced his front end over a rut. He nearly saved it, but instead suffered a hard crash. He finished 19th—while riding the last four laps with a broken collarbone!
“Last four laps on that bad boy,” Blake texted along with this X-ray. He’s looking into getting it plated and returning to racing as quickly as possible.
But still, four laps at a fast enough speed to stay in the top twenty? How do you do that?
“I told you, it was the breakfast!” he said.
