Daunting Deficit
Eli Tomac had the win seemingly in hand last Saturday at the season opener before crashing all by himself and DNF’ing. Tomac now faces a massive points deficit, just like last year in Monster Energy Supercross and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. If there’s any good news for Tomac in this situation, it’s that he’s got sixteen races left to chip away at it. But he’s also dealing with a shoulder contusion that was bad enough to force him off the track at A1. We’ll see how that affects his speed this weekend in Houston. —Aaron Hansel
There is No Crown
This just in, there’s a ton of talent in the 250SX West Region and it’s going to be far from easy for Justin Hill to defend his title. Hill didn’t do himself any favors last Saturday by hovering around seventh place for most of the race, either. Hill has historically not been great at the first race of the season, but with guys like Shane McElrath, Aaron Plessinger, Joey Savatgy, Adam Cianciarulo, Christian Craig, Mitchell Oldenburg, and more in the class, he needs to start winning sooner rather than later. —Hansel
Keeping it Rolling
Marvin Musquin kept things rolling last week by extending his white-hot off-season into the first round of 2018. Granted, he got some help when Tomac went down all by himself, but c’mon, it was still no surprise to see Musquin take the checkers at A1. Plus, with Tomac ailing, the timing couldn’t be better for Musquin to go for the throat with another win. If he does, he’ll add to what’s already a huge advantage over one of his most dangerous competitors. —Hansel.
Factory-Backed Motivation
Coming into A1, Barcia wanted to finish in the top five, but he was actually better than that all day. He was extremely fast in practice—qualifying third overall—and was great in his heat race, which he won. Then in the main event, he even found himself leading for three laps after Tomac involuntarily hit the eject button. Barcia is dangerous when he’s got confidence on his side, and right now it appears like he just might be onto something. —Hansel
Back-to-Back
For the second year in a row, Shane McElrath laid the smack down at A1, leading every single lap in the process. It wasn’t ever really close, either, as McElrath maintained roughly five seconds over Aaron Plessinger until backing off slightly on the final lap. McElrath isn’t always included in championship bench racing sessions, but he should be—he’s obviously got some top-shelf speed. And if he wins in Houston, he’ll have another kind of back-to-back under his belt. —Hansel
Mookie is Back
After missing Anaheim 1 for a second consecutive year, Malcolm Stewart will make his 2018 debut this weekend aboard a Suzuki RM-Z450 in a fill-in roll for Autotrader/Yoshimura Suzuki’s Justin Bogle. While Malcolm rode Suzukis last year, he spent this past off-season riding Kawasakis. For now, the deal is for two races—Houston and Anaheim II—with Malcolm returning to Kawasakis under his own deal for Glendale. Again, this is just the plan for now, pending Bogle’s recovery. The deal was signed earlier this week, so Malcolm has only had a few days on the bike. We’ll see if he can adjust quickly in his new role. —Chase Stallo
Craig’s Ankle
Yesterday, GEICO Honda’s Christian Craig posted a photo of what appears to be a watermelon embedded inside his ankle. Craig said that while practicing earlier this week, he landed on his ankle weirdly and sustained a sprain. In the post, he said he’ll be racing this weekend in Houston, but keep an eye on him in practice, as his ankle does not look good. —Stallo
Round II
Not sure what else there is to say about Ken Roczen’s return that hasn’t already been said. It was brilliant, fantastic, amazing, wonderful, etc., etc., etc. Look, many people thought Roczen would NEVER race again, rather less set the fastest qualifying time at Anaheim 1 and finish a strong fourth place. “I got fourth, and I’m a winner,” he told us after the race. “I want to at least be on the podium. I was feeling good. Midway through, I was catching those guys in the front. But all in all, just I got a little tight in my right arm. I can always shake it off. Just have to clean up a couple of things.” Now that the first-race jitters are out of the way, it will be interesting to see how Roczen does this weekend. —Stallo
Back in the Big H
This weekend will mark the 50th time in AMA Supercross history that a gate will drop in Houston. From 1974-’02, supercross was held in the Houston Astrodome before moving to the new NRG Stadium from ’03-’15. Following a two-year layoff, Houston is back on the schedule at NRG Stadium. Jason Thomas wrote a great preview yesterday of what we can expect to see this weekend. —Stallo
Webb
Yeah, it’s only round two, but this is a big weekend for Cooper Webb. Webb struggled at the opener last weekend, and reports are that he’s dealing with an ankle injury sustained during the off-season. Meanwhile, fill-in Justin Barcia scored a podium—his first since 2014. If Webb is to be a factor in this title chase, he’ll need to rebound quickly this weekend in Houston. —Stallo
