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Aaron Plessinger | Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha | 3-3 for second overall in 250MX

Racer X: Let’s talk about moto one and two. Tell us about your day.
Aaron Plessinger: Got off to like a thirtieth place start in moto one. My first start was actually better than my second start. I think I was like tenth before they red flagged it. I got a real bad start after the red flag. I just pushed my way through. At the end of the moto I was still charging when people were getting tired. At one point I think I ran like five seconds faster one lap. It was a good first moto. Got up to third. Battled with Joey [Savatgy] for a little bit. The second moto I got off to a really good start. I was behind Alex [Martin] and he went down in front of me and I rode it out to the red flag.

Some of these ruts that were on this track were really deep and they would just carry a bike as you were rolling through. Did it remind you of riding through the woods sometimes?
Yeah, for sure. These were kind of like GNCC ruts but you had to charge them a little bit harder and it was a little bit sketchier. I raced the GNCC here, and every year there’s been ruts like this so I guess I’ve kind of adapted to it and just stood up through all the ruts.

Did you consistently do five seconds a lap faster? I saw you do it on one lap, and you caught Savatgy from six seconds back in one lap. Were you doing that the whole time while you were coming from thirtieth to the front or did you just have one super heater?
I think it was my last four laps. I caught AC [Adam Cianciarulo] in two laps from fourteen seconds back and then from I don’t know how far back I was from Savatgy but I caught him, passed him, and then a lapper got in the way.

What were you doing on those four laps? Five seconds a lap faster! Were you feeling it?
Yeah, I was definitely feeling it. I finally got around the guys that I needed to and I just rode like I know how to ride and it paid off.

It almost seems like this year when you don’t get a start you’ll send it. You haven’t gotten a ton of good starts, but when you get them, is it different when you’re up front compared to when you just let it all hang out from the back?
Yeah, I always seem to get arm pump starting out, but this last moto here I seemed to carry it on pretty good.

It sounded like in the second moto in your TV interview that you were exceptionally happy. So is that almost better than the result, just knowing that you got this arm pump thing? Five seconds a lap faster in a moto is great, but is getting rid of the arm pump really the biggest thing to take away today?
I think so. It’s been my first overall podium of the year so far, so it’s been a good day. Conquered two things in one day.

I know it’s a little early for next year yet but Jeremy Martin is moving on. Cooper is moving up. Is it going to change your role over there at Star Racing? You’re going to be lead guy on this team that’s been dominating lately. Have you thought about that?
[Laughs] Yeah, I’m going to be the king of Star Racing. That’s going to be my role. – Weigandt

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Austin Forkner | Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki | 7-2 for third overall in 250MX

The first moto was good. The first start I actually got the holeshot and led for a few laps. They ended up red flagging it. I was kind of bummed about that but that’s part of racing. The second start was not good. I kind of jumped out and the holeshot device released and I got a bad start. Just tried to work my way through the pack and ended up getting hung up behind Alex Martin in the third turn, so it made it even worse. I wasn’t way far back at first but after that I was way back. Just kind of tried to salvage what I could out of that and actually ended up making a few passes on the last lap. I think that definitely helped with the overall. In the second moto got a really good jump and I was just going to hold it on, basically, to get the start. I was mad that the first start that I did when I got a holeshot it got red flagged. I was just going to hold on until I got another holeshot! I did and I rode for as long as I could. It was about probably 23, 24 minutes in that Cooper made the pass on me. I was just going to try to bring it home. I knew holding him off for about ten more minutes at that point was going to be pretty tough, so I just tried to bring it home and get another podium finish in a moto and hopefully land on a podium overall. Did that and they ended up red flagging it right after I got passed by Cooper, so that was kind of a bummer, but oh well. I still got second in the moto and got third overall. Turned a not super good day with the first moto into a pretty good day.

It seemed like a pretty tough day physically. Your teammates didn’t even finish the second moto! You had seven more minutes to race in moto one due to the restart, and I’m sure you spent a lot of energy in the first moto coming through, but you seemed pretty strong in moto two. Were you drained?
My mechanic had me…on the pit board I knew what the time was and how much time I had left. He said ten minutes plus two and it was about two or three laps after that that I ended up getting passed by Cooper. It said we got about 25, 26 minutes in and I was definitely starting to feel it at that point. Whenever he passed me he came down the hill pretty quick. I wasn’t sure if he was going to run it in or not. I figured I could stay in second for the rest of the race. Don’t want to get in a pileup with him and not get a podium at all. He got by and I was just going to try to follow him. I was just trying to follow him and see kind of what his lines were doing. They threw the red flag about half a lap after he passed me. But it was good. I was definitely starting to feel it the second moto towards the end, but I figured with whatever we had, like eight minutes left in the moto, I figured I could ride it out, as long as I put down smooth, consistent laps I’d be fine. It really wasn’t even that I was getting super tired, it was just that the track was so gnarly. The ruts just led forever. One little mistake, or not even being your fault, if you just get in that rut and it ends up being blown out or horrible, you can’t get out of it. You’ve just got to make it work. I was just more afraid of making mistakes than anything else.

Right before you got passed by Cooper you were kind of just peddling through that one rut, a mistake there. Was it kind of one of those situations like, let me just let him go and then we’ll see what happens? Things were getting a little out of hand right before that.
I made a little mistake and then rode in a little bit after that. I got into a lapper in the same spot that he passed me the lap before, so that held me up even more, and then that lap he was there at the bottom of the hill. I went over the berm and he made the pass. I was just going to try to stick with him and try to keep pushing and not really think about getting tired. At that point what I didn’t want to do was let him get away and then just start thinking about, “I’m hot, I’m tired, and not focusing.” So I just kind of tried to follow him so I could keep pushing and just think about going fast so I wouldn’t think about being tired.

What was the first thing that went through your head when you saw the red flag at the first moto when you were leading?
I saw that there were a bunch of red cross flags out. I saw the guy down. After that, I went fast again and then we got it again. I think it was after the big table in the back. I think it was about halfway that we got it. They were throwing red crosses and yellows, and somebody threw the red flag but I was like, “No, that’s not right. I’m going to keep riding!” So I kept riding until everybody else started pulling off. I was like, “Come on, this isn’t happening!” I’ve gotten two holeshots this year, three now, but I’d gotten two at that point and one of them is getting red flagged. Oh well. It happens. On the restart I was going to try to get just as good a start and be up there at the front again. It didn’t end up working, so I came back and got it for the second moto and it was good.

Have you thought about the timing? If that red flag came out earlier in moto two, or had you held on for another half lap before you got passed, you actually would have won that second moto.
I definitely thought about that. I was like, “Man, if I would have known.” At that point I was definitely starting to feel it and I was starting to get a little bit tired, but I could have just absolutely sent it for another half a lap to get the win, but at that point you never know. You never know if a red flag is going to come out. I still rode good and I’m happy with the way that I rode. Obviously I wish I could have won. I wish they wouldn’t have red flagged the first moto too but stuff happens. Still a good day.

How does this podium compare to the one you got earlier this year? Did it come easier? More difficult?
Getting good starts always helps. I honestly think that the first moto was definitely harder than the second moto today just because I was buried back in the pack. I had to take different lines and find out ways to try to get to the front. The second moto I got out there and got a decent sized gap and just kind of rode my own race and rode my lines. Obviously it was hot, it was humid and the track was brutal. It wasn’t easy, but getting good starts always helps. Having two holeshots today, even though the first one didn’t count but still got the holeshot and then get the second one, that’s more than I’ve had all season, so if I can just keep getting starts like that I think I’ll be for sure in the top five a lot more. -Weigandt

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Alex Martin | Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha | 13-5 for seventh overall in 250MX

Racer X: Good job today. You got a lot of passing points. Second moto you were up there and fell late. So not a good day. Fell in the first moto restart. You were second in the first start? What were you before the first red flag?
Alex Martin: Fourth.

Then we have a restart. You fall in the first turn.
Yeah, like you said doing great before the restart. Not great, but I was up there. I was in the hunt. It was early. The heat was tough today. It was humid. You don’t see it on TV. Actually the track was awesome. Just came into the left-hander before Gravity Cavity and there was a hole in the rut. Didn’t see it. Kind of went over the bars and got ran over a couple times.

So then you were like dead, dead last. It was a nice ride. You broke into the top twenty and then you were there for a little while and by the end of the moto thirteenth. So that’s solid.
Yeah, and I actually tipped over again. The two lap card was out in the same corner. I had the pass on Marty Davalos made and so I would have been eleventh I think, because I had [Luke] Renzland and him passed that lap. So eleventh and then lost two spots. Maybe could have ended up tenth, so fortieth to tenth would have been excellent. It was one of those damage control things. I just wasn’t feeling good. I’ve had some serious stomach cramps all day and wasn’t keeping anything in. When you have a hot weather race like this it’s just not what you want to have happen. You need to be on point to be competitive with those guys. I just really got a big gift with Joey [Savatgy] pulling off that second moto. I’m not sure what happened. I passed him there at the beginning of the second moto and just came to find out he was nowhere to be seen. When I tipped over and let Plessinger and [Justin] Hill by, I looked back and we had like thirty-five seconds to sixth.

Where did you fall in the second moto?
I don’t know how you’d explain it. Two corners before where Carmichael and Stewart landed on each other, that right-hander. The rut was really long. I just kind of got off balance, tipped over. Got back up fifth. Today was like if you had a tip-over it completely wrecked your momentum. And the heat catches up with you when you’re going zero miles an hour. At least when you’re going 30-40 mile an hour you have some wind blowing on you.

Just rough and rutty. It didn’t look like much fun.
Yeah. Honestly I thought for the conditions, I was looking at the weather forecast all week and it was saying 80 percent chance, 100 percent chance of rain. So the fact that it didn’t rain today… and I know when you have rain like that coming up to it the ground’s going to be soft, so it’s going to rut up really, really easily. In practice they did a good job. They flattened the straightaways and started from scratch. The first moto the track was awesome, I thought. In the second moto they left a couple spots, but it’s like real motocross. Heaven forbid that there are ruts all the way around the track!

Some of those ruts were deeper than you!
That’s why you stand up or just take a different line. I actually liked the track. It was tough and it was rough and it was challenging. The thing I didn’t like was just the humidity but you can’t control that. This is one of those tracks where you really need to have good technique and you can’t be like Filthy Phil. I saw a replay of him on the TV. Worst form I’ve ever seen. Terrible. He told me he has no balance. His balance is terrible. This is one of these tracks where Roczen is probably perfect on a track like this with no rear brake and carrying momentum and standing a lot. Phil sits a lot. The replay they showed him sitting, feet were off to the side dragging in the ruts alongside of him. You just can’t do that for 30 minutes.

Sometimes your lap times, I was looking in the first moto, they were comparable to third and fourth place but again the crash did you in, so I think it was a good ride anyway.
It’s always disappointing, too, when you get selected for Team USA and then you have kind of an off day. There’s maybe a little bit of pressure involved in that.

The fans are like, Oh God.
Here’s our Team USA pick! He’s really great! Thirteenth place there going to the des Nations! But I obviously have had a great season and I don’t think today is anything to worry about. I think physically I wasn’t there. We’ll make some changes and we’ll be better for the last two. I’m excited to have a good training block leading into des Nations. Going to California. Going to train with Cooper out there for a couple weeks. I think having that to push each other… my brother’s been hurt for three weeks now so I haven’t ridden with him since before Washougal. So it’ll be nice to have someone to push me a little bit.

You were kind of playing it pretty coy on the Pulp Show when we asked you about it and I guess you’d already been asked. What a story. You rode for Puerto Rico and now you’re on Team USA. It’s incredible. Great work. You’ve got to be so honored and excited. What a deal.
Yeah, I know they approached me before Washougal, or right after Washougal, but obviously the fact that Joey is really fast and I think we’ve been really close all year long in speed, if it wasn’t for a DNF and a couple bad motos I’d have been right there in points. But after Washougal I was only two down anyways. So I was kind of like, “We’re going to have this long break. Who knows if they’re going to pick Joey or me?” But obviously I think Cooper wanted me as a teammate maybe a little bit more, especially after that little issue they had [Webb and Savatgy] in the second moto at Washougal. So I’m excited. It doesn’t happen too often, or ever, that you have a Puerto Rico rider on Team USA.

It’s a weird race, weird riders, all that. The fact that you went for Puerto Rico will totally help you.
Right. I really didn’t treat des Nations the way—and Phil can vouch for this—he kind of kept training after the season and I really went on vacation. I was racing for Puerto Rico and I would ride once or twice a week. The training really wasn’t there. So this time around I’m going to California. We’re going to keep up on the training obviously with Swanepoel and Cooper and I. So it’s kind of a different story altogether. –Steve Matthes