Blake Wharton’s return to racing will come to a premature end after he sustained a torn ACL in the 250SX main event last weekend in Salt Lake City.

Wharton, who had been out of racing since 2014, returned to Monster Energy Supercross earlier this year with IB Corp Racing Yamaha. In three races with the team, Wharton’s best finish was 11th this past weekend.

Wharton had also planned to race a few rounds of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross with the team, but those plans were put on hold as his injury will require surgery.

In a statement sent out earlier today, Wharton said he is looking forward to the 2019 season.   

“After an early fall in the main in Salt Lake City I made my way back to eighth place but with four laps to go I dabbed my foot and felt a sharp pain throughout my leg. I just lost balance in the second set of whoops in that giant rut and tried to counter with throttle and weight displacement. Unfortunately, my knee ended up taking the brunt of it. I instantly knew it was injured but I rode it out to finish 11th. After visiting with Doc Greenbaum we verified it was in fact an injured ACL and a surgery will be needed. Details on the extent of the injury have yet to be discussed as we are still waiting for the MRI results.

“We will be at Vegas cheering on the rest of the IB Corp crew. It's a disappointing blow to the end the season in this way as we had made big strides in our program since my return to racing in Indianapolis. Prior to the injury we were looking to continue our progression in the final round of SX as well as a select few outdoor events. With that said, we are ready to move forward in 2019 as we recover and continue to build on the momentum from this year. Overall, I am very pleased with my season and am anxiously awaiting to get back on that bike.”