16

Place of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, the points leader heading into Minneapolis, after the first lap of the 450SX main event. Tomac would eventually finish in sixth but would lose the red plates. 

20

Of 20 laps led by Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner in the 250SX East Region main event on Saturday. 

2

Number of Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders who now have the red plates in their respective 250SX class, with Adam Cianciarulo holding the West Region points lead after five rounds and Forkner now in the East Region points lead after winning the first race of the year.

QUOTES FROM AROUND THE PADDOCK

Cooper Webb | 1st overall in 450SX

“To get three wins this year is pretty spectacular, especially bouncing back from last week—having that bad race in the mud—but I never lost belief, never lost faith and knew I was still good. I felt good all day today and to be able to apply it in the heat race, win that, and then win the main was pretty special. It’s cool, I have to pinch myself because I’ve come such a long way in a short amount of time. It’s crazy what a year or half a year will do to you. The last two years this place ended my season, so it’s pretty cool to bounce back from that and never give up, never doubt myself, make a change and stick to it. I want to keep doing well and doing what I’m doing. I definitely feel like I have a lot to improve on and a lot to learn but we’ll see if we can keep going.”

Marvin Musquin | 3rd overall in 450SX 

“It was definitely a tough night. I made it really hard on myself going down in the heat race while running in second – I made a little mistake that cost me big time and then again, I hit neutral and went down again. With a really bad gate pick, I knew it was going to be hard to choose either inside or outside on the gate but I chose to go very far inside and I didn’t get the start I wanted. 

"I was tight inside and came out top-ten but on a track like that, it’s super tough to be in that position to make passes. It took me a long time to get into the top-five and I was pushing to get around [Blake] Baggett and unfortunately, he went down hard, hopefully he’s okay. Once I was in third, I tried to give a push for second but there was a gap and physically I gave a lot when I was trying to pass guys for most of the Main Event. Definitely tough, but to be third on the podium tonight is a good result considering where I came from with the heat race and the start, so I’ll definitely take it.”

Joey Savatgy | 4th overall in 450SX

“Man today was just awesome. Of course I would have liked to win the main event, but we learned so much. You have to start somewhere with getting the experience of leading laps and tonight we accomplished that. My KX450 was a rocket ship all day long and helped me get the day started properly as we qualified first and then got third in the heat race. In the main event, I got a great jump out the gate and was able to make a quick pass into first. I need to clean up a few mistakes but tonight was a big step in the right direction." 

Eli Tomac | 6th in 450SX

“Championships are won on your bad days and today we managed everything thrown our way. The positives are that it is a long season and we leave Minneapolis healthy and only two points outside of first place. I’ll get back to work with the entire Monster Energy Kawasaki crew and continue to improve each week.” 

Chad Reed | 7th overall in 450SX

“We made some great progress with the fork settings this past week. That carried over into the weekend, and helped contribute to my best qualifying result of the year. My speed and fitness are good, but I am frustrated with my starts. I’m not giving myself a fighting chance with track position being so important. It was a hard-fought seventh place. Honestly, it was my best ride of the season. I’ll continue to work on my starts and fork settings so that I get to that next level out of myself.”

Justin Barcia | 9th overall in 450SX

“Going into the main event I didn’t make any bike changes, or anything like that I was really comfortable. I was right on the main pack of guys in front of me, I just came into the corner pretty quick, pushed my front end and ended up going down pretty hard and rode home to ninth. 

For me it was a frustrating race to say the least because I felt like I was capable of being on the podium tonight and fighting for the win. It’s definitely frustrating, but I felt like I was back to myself again, comfort wise and stuff, I felt good on the bike. I was happy with my riding, just wish I could’ve done better in the main event. Moving on to next weekend I just want to have good starts and get back up front.”

Aaron Plessinger| 10th overall in 450SX

"It was a rough one for me. I definitely struggled on my starts. I got a break in the heat race. I got a bad jump, but shot the gap and made it. In the main event I didn’t have that gap and I got shut off; I definitely need to keep working on it.

We’re going to go back to California this week, we’ll get some more testing in on the bike and try and dial it in a little more for me. I just need to keep working on it, getting used to it. I’m going to go back and do some more homework and come back ready for Dallas.”

Cole Seely | 11th overall in 450SX 

“The track was pretty simple so the practice times were pretty close. I knew going in that the start was going to mean a lot, but unfortunately I didn't get a good one in the heat race. Still, I found my lines and was happy with my speed in the second half of the heat race. That translated into the main event because I was riding really good, and then just before the halfway mark I got cut off by another rider when I was trying to make a pass. I got up and tried to keep my focus forward even though my bike was a little banged up. I managed to pass a few guys. I feel like I’m riding well, but things aren’t really going my way. I’ll keep plugging away and wait for my luck to turn.”

Austin Forkner | 1st overall in 250SX East 

“At the start of the day I was really pumped to be back racing and I was making some silly mistakes in practice. We were able to talk and get me a little more under control and I felt great there in the heat race and main (event). I felt good the past few weeks at the test track, but you never know how that will stack up at the first race. I’m so pumped to have the red plate and I will do what I can to keep it.”

Justin Cooper | 3rd overall in 250SX East

“The bike was awesome all day and the team made adjustments to fix anything I was uncomfortable with. I was able to predict exactly what the bike was going to do throughout the race, even with the track conditions getting worse. I had a terrible start, but felt great on the bike the whole main and just had to maintain the race as best I could with all the chaos around me. Everything about the day went smooth except a little first race jitters in the heat race. First podium at my second supercross race ever… what more is there to say? It’s a great feeling!”

Alex Martin | 4th overall in 250SX East

“Qualifying went pretty well. I was a tad too aggressive, but overall, I was very close to the leaders. You could basically throw a blanket over all of us. I was very comfortable on the bike. Jordan Smith and I had a really good pace going in the heat race. I had the fastest lap time out of both heat races, so I was happy with that. In the main event I got off to a great start and felt really good on the RM-Z250. Smith, Martin Davalos and I had a battle going. Unfortunately, Davalos and I came together and he went down. I apologized to him afterwards. I thought I had third in the bag, but a few lappers messed me up, which allowed Justin Cooper to set me up for the pass. It was a bummer to not finish on the podium, but to be honest, fourth is the best start I’ve ever had to a supercross season. The goal was to get the first round out of the way. This was a great result to build off of.” 

Martin Davalos | 16th overall in 250SX East

“It was a bummer to be riding well at the start of the main event and then get hit. I felt good all day, just had to overcome a few mistakes here and there. The rest of the field is riding well and you have to limit those mistakes, which I’ll be working on this week. Next week will be a bit different because the dirt is a lot more hard packed, so we’ll see if we can get back up to the front.” 

Christian Craig | 20th overall in 250SX East

“I’m bummed on the night obviously but going into it we had no idea how my thumb would hold up. I rode supercross one day and made the call to race one day before we had to leave. It’s healing and gets better weekly but wasn’t strong enough to last all day and night. I surprised myself in the heat race. Someone ran into me and I was about dead last. I was able to fight to seventh which I was happy with. The main was hard. I could fight for a few laps, but then it was getting so bad I couldn’t hang on at all. Most people probably wouldn’t have raced if they felt like I did but if I could I gotten a top 10 and had a chance at the championship it would have been worth it so I had to try. I’ll probably take next weekend off and hopefully come back for [round three in] Detroit. I’m doing all I can to get this thing feeling better but it just needs some more TLC right now.”

Reed Has New Sponsor

You may have missed it, but Chad Reed has a new personal sponsor he debuted in Minneapolis. Across Reed’s helmet were cbdMD stickers, a company that sells CBD products.

Of course, we’ve been down this road already earlier this year when Dean Wilson was not allowed to run Ignite logos on his jersey or bike and was forced to black them out. While Wilson is JUST sponsored by the CBD part of the program, Ignite sells marijuana in addition to their CBD products. You can read our initial reporting on the matter here.

How does this differ? Why was Reed able to run his logos? We are trying to find out, but Steve Matthes, Jason Thomas, and Jason Weigandt did discuss it on the Racer X Podcast that is out now.

Stay tuned as we find out more about the subject. 

LAP TIMES

450SX CLASS — MAIN EVENT

250SX CLASS — MAIN EVENT

Blake Baggett Update

Rocky Mountain ATV/MC-KTM-WPS’ Blake Baggett was battling for a podium late in the 450 main event on Saturday before making a mistake and going down hard. 

Baggett did not finish the race, but we’ve spoke with members of the team and while he is banged up, don’t expect Blake to miss any races. We have heard he may not be able to practice this week but will line up in Arlington for round seven on Saturday.

Gif of the Weekend

Video of the Weekend

Incredible work here by Jordon Smith’s mechanic Kristian Ortiz for getting Smith’s rear tire changed while on the line for the 250 main event. Smith experienced a rear flat tire but the team was able to make the change and he went on to finish second.