4 | #29 | Michael Mosiman | Minneola, FL | GasGas MC 250F

Stop me if you heard this before: Mosiman was fast in practice and won his heat. He made mistakes in the main event that held him back from challenging for the win. As I said, to me he has the raw speed to challenge this Craig guy but he keeps making mistakes. This is Mike’s fifth year in 250SX on a factory bike so one would think the switch has to flip here at some point. I’m still a believer in him getting a win before end of the season.

5 | #49 | Nate Thrasher | Livingston, TN Yamaha YZ250F

Thrasher’s best “non-Atlanta Speedway” SX finish of his career right here, and he rode pretty good all day long. Fast in practice and also came from a ways back to this spot, so good job to Nate.

6 | #62 | Vince Friese | Menifee, CA | Honda CRF250R

Once again he got a great start because that’s what Friese does. He’s always sort of struggled in the whoops and I thought at A1 he was better in them than he was in Oakland. As I said last week, with some breaks I could see Vince on the podium at some point in this series.  

7 | #30 | Jo Shimoda | Menifee, CA | Kawasaki KX250

When did Shimoda turn into Travis Pastrana out there? Two races, two multiple crash days for him, and he’s already a ways back of CC. Pressure makes people do funny things, right?

8 | #35 | Garrett Marchbanks | Coalville, UT | Yamaha YZ250F

Marchbanks was sick but I guess not THE “sick” we are thinking of that caused Justin Brayton to miss the race. I don’t know, I have some feelings on that whole thing but I’ll just keep them to myself. Anyway, good work for Garrett to manage a top ten with that “thing”. He was also “helped” to a crash in the main when he was battling with Friese.

9 | #66 | Chris Blose | Phoenix, AZ | GasGas MC 250F

Zombie’s gonna Zombie out there. I know we’re all celebrating Brayton out there as he says it’s his last year but I believe Zombie’s also said it’s his last year racing SX. Not as accomplished as JB, sure, but still a long career that anyone would sign up for.

10 | #69 | Robbie Wageman | Newhall, CA | Yamaha YZ250F

As I wrote last week, Robbie’s challenge was to not make the opening round the best one he has all series. Although he didn’t top it this week, a tenth is great. You know how a dude is really good? When shit happens, they go to an LCQ and then dominate that and still get a good finish in the main event. That’s tougher than it seems, trust me, and Robbie passed that test. 

11 | #40 | Dilan Schwartz | Alpine, CA | Suzuki RM-Z250

I’m always fascinated a little bit by dudes like Mike Alessi, to an extent Doug Henry (Weege disagrees, but whatever), John Dowd, Thomas Covington, etc who aren’t as good in one discipline as the other. We rarely see that. [Weege: Doug Henry won multiple supercross races in the premiere class. He dominated the ’93 125SX Championship. He was good in supercross. I won’t stand for this]. If you’re a bad dude indoors then you’re a bad dude outdoors, right? We are NOT there with Schwartz, but are we getting there?

12 | #161 | Cole Thompson | Brigden, Ontario | Yamaha YZ250F

Better finish for Thompson this week from last so that’s a good thing. He’s a privateer and I know there are different levels of privateers now but Cole was the top “real” privateer in the main so there’s that.

13 | #910 | Carson Brown | Ravensdale, WA | KTM 250 SX-F

Props to Carson for getting back on the horse after what appeared to be a gnarly mouth/teeth injury in the crash last week in the whoops. Ouch! Thirteenth isn’t too bad, and I don’t think he has a ton of time on the bike either. He was going to ride a 125 in SX, which he would’ve been great on also. Maybe even better on a TTR, TBH. This guy rips on anything.

14 | #43 | Carson Mumford | Simi Valley, CA | Suzuki RM-Z250

Mumfy brought the heat to CC in the fake start in practice. In the main he also ate crap in the whoops and had to go into the mechanics area for some repairs. He came out dead, dead, dead last and worked his way up here which is pretty good, right? 

15 | #216 | Devin Harriman | Longview, WA | KTM 250 SX-F

Harriman has got an AX background so I know he’s not scared to get into the mix with dudes. He made it in through the heat, which has to be nice for a dude like him.

16 | #58 | Ryan Surratt | Corona, CA | Yamaha YZ250F

Maybe Surratt rides a 450 better? I’m not saying these results aren’t good to start the year, they’re fine for sure, but remember how well he rode the 450 in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross last summer? Anyway, he’s already got more points in two rounds than he got in all of SX last year.

17 | #67 | Logan Karnow | Amherst, OH | Kawasaki KX250

Karnow told me Oakland would be better for him than last week when nerves/arm pump got the best of him. This week he crashed during the week and hurt his ribs so that was bugging him I guess.

18 | #79 | Hunter Schlosser | El Paso, TX | Yamaha YZ250F

Good job for the privateer from El Paso, Texas, who told me last year about how he would go race in Mexico at some different points, to be two-for-two in the main events!

19 | #260 | Dylan Woodcock | Rayleigh, ENG | Husqvarna FC 250

Dylan’s from the UK, made his first main events last year, and then suffered a horrific crash in Supercross where he was paralyzed for a little bit. Gnarly, right? Well, he’s back at it this year and made his return to the main event in Oakland. Sure, he got 19th and probably wanted to do better, but just being in the main is quite an accomplishment. Golf claps all around.

20 | #98 Dominique Thury | Schneeberg, GER | Yamaha YZ250F

Crashes hurt Thury and he might have also been sick like his teammate Marchbanks (shrugs).

21 | #726 | Gared Steinke | Klamath Falls, OR | KTM 125 SX

Stank put a 125 into the main event. That’s the first time I believe it’d been done since Michael Willard in 2007-ish, then he lost his mind on social media.

22 | #97 | Jerry Robin | Hamel, MN | GasGas MC 250F

Jerry missed Anaheim 1 with COVID, lined up this week, and rode a pretty non-eventfull heat race to get it into the main event. Once there I didn’t think he would do much because of not much time riding. He only did five laps.

450SX Results

1 | #21 | Jason Anderson | Rio Rancho, NM | Kawasaki KX450SR

Larry Ward went like eight years between 450SX wins, Mike LaRocco went like four years or something between 450SX wins, so Jason going almost four is notable but far from the record. He rode great in Oakland. Heck he rode great at Anaheim 1 also and could, without the help from Bam at A1, be your points leader right now. Anderson’s looked good and now the question is, will this be a “Blake Baggett” win from a few years ago or is he for real and can get another title? I’m not ready to say either way but right now, this has to feel good for Jason and for the Kawasaki guys as well.

2 | #7 | Aaron Plessinger | Hamilton, OH | KTM 450 SX-F FE

What a turnaround from last week, right? AP7 was on the PulpMX Show on Monday night and spoke about how he was not amped ENOUGH at Anaheim 1 and couldn’t get into it. Which is the exact opposite of what happens to 99 percent of racers at Anaheim 1 but this is AP, right? His personality is a little different than most. He was making a run at Jason at one point in the main event as well. Aaron was very good in Oakland and now I’m more confused than ever.

3 | #51 | Justin Barcia | Greenville, FL | GasGas MC 450F

Another good race from Barcia who gets the red plate with his 3-3 finishes to start the year. It’s the third year in a row that Barcia has the red plate after two races. Weird stat, right?

4 | #3 | Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | Yamaha YZ450F

Both BLU CRU guys were really good in Oakland. They didn’t get starts but charged hard through the pack. Eli qualified fastest, and one would think he would be good with the loose dirt and his riding style. As I said, the so-so start did him in, but this was still a good ride. And as we all know, he’ll just get better from here on out.

5 | #27 | Malcolm Stewart | Murrieta, CA | Husqvarna FC 450 RE

Mookie’s for real. He moved through the pack and passed some good riders to get this finish. He’ll be on the podium very soon or maybe even win one. A bit weird in that Tomac, Mookie, Ferrandis, and Marv were the hard chargers in this race for probably just half of it and then all of them sort of settled right there where they finished. Maybe track was getting a bit gnarly and everyone had to focus on just not crashing? That’s what I’m saying about the twenty minutes.

6 | #14 | Dylan Ferrandis | Tallahassee, FL | Yamaha YZ450F

According to TV, Dylan went 16th to sixth, which is awesome and all that, but he, and his coach David Vuillemin, probably were DGAF about this sixth because yeah, it’s nowhere near where he wants to be. I asked DV if he was happy with the ride all things considered and DV said he’s never happy. So there you go. Dylan’s 18 points down already in this thing. Life comes at you fast, huh?

7 | #1 | Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | KTM 450 SX-F FE

Webb never looked that good all day long and in the KTM PR, it said he was sick. Which makes sense. Was he “sick” sick or just sick? Hey, man, it’s a legitimate question. Because if he’s “sick” then that’s something that can linger on, trust me.

8 | #25 | Marvin Musquin | Corona, CA | KTM 450 SX-F FE

Marv didn’t look as good as last week but he was charging hard before hitting a bit of a wall late in the race and dropping back. I definitely would’ve thought he was going to get Webb, that’s’ for sure.

9 | #23 | Chase Sexton | Clermont, FL | Honda CRF450R WE

Sexton won the heat rather easily after a practice crash that saw him go down in the whoops right after he almost decapitated his teammate. That was the good part. The bad part was a so-so start, a stall, and not much of the usual “flash” from Chase during the main event.

10 | #15 | Dean Wilson | Murrieta, CA | Husqvarna FC 450 RE

Quiet start to the year for Dean-O, but two good races for him. Not amazing, not great, but good and for Wilson, that’s okay. He’s 12th in the points right now and I expect him to be 7-12th most weekends.

11 | #17 | Joey Savatgy | Clermont, FL | KTM 450 SX-F FE

Joey announced on social media that he tore his ACL last week. This can be fine, some riders can still perform without an ACL. Then again, it can be bad if he catches the knee the wrong way. Some guys go years with a torn ACL and never have a problem, others catch it wrong here or there and it’s the end of the season for them.

12 | #9 | Adam Cianciarulo | New Smyrna Beach, FL | Kawasaki KX450SR

One position worse than last week but actually better? Is that possible? Adam’s starts are on point, we can all see that! It’s got to be pretty frustrating when you’re out there in the heat of the moment, even though you know Adam knows the deal with his shoulder.

13 | #94 | Ken Roczen | Clermont, FL | Honda CRF450R WE

There’s a universe out there (like the one in that dumb Godzilla vs. Kong movie that just came out) where Kenny doesn’t go down in the whoops in practice and doesn’t seem to have the rest of his day affected by that crash and the thought that he was six inches away from maybe having a way worse injury inflicted. In THAT universe he probably makes the podium or wins this race. But in the one we currently live in, that crash and that moment seemed to (in my opinion) affect him the rest of the day. Looking at KR’s social you can see his helmet was really hammered, even though it didn’t look like he got hit that hard. Curious gate choice for Roczen for the main, he had the fourth pick and choose to go pretty far outside. I mean, of course because he’s gnarly, he pulled it off and I asked him about it. He said yeah, it was a rut issue and he liked the outside.

14 | #12 | Shane McElrath | Oakland, FL | KTM 450 SX-F FE

I know Shane hasn’t had the off-season he had wanted with the new team so maybe some of the fading we’re seeing is due to that. His starts are on point though! We were talking about it on the PulpMX Show on Monday and if you’re him, you just keep getting these starts and keep fighting each week to get better and better. One week you go three laps, the next five and so on and so on. Starts are SO key to SX that it’s good to see him have that.

15 | #34 | Max Anstie | Murrieta, CA | KTM 450 SX-F

My Max Anstie expert is MXVice’s Lewis Phillips and Lewis said Max had a bit of a clutch issue in the main event so there you go. I will say that I didn’t think there was a chance in hell he was going to catch Ryan Breece in the heat for the last spot but he did. That was impressive and shoutout to Breece for having an EVENTFUL night in Oakland in both this heat and the LCQ.

16 | #41 | Brandon Hartranft | Brick, NJ | Suzuki RM-Z450

I don’t know man, somehow this is Brandon’s best ever 450SX main event. Bet you didn’t know that! I mean, I felt like near the end of the series last year he was starting to get closer to the top ten and I can specifically remember him battling Anstie, his teammate in 2021, for like, 13th, at one of the speedway races. But yeah, stats don’t lie and here we are.

17 | #26 |Alex Martin | Clermont, FL | Yamaha YZ450F

Troll Train got into the main this week by winning the LCQ and as he told me afterward, any win is a good thing, right? He was steady in the main and I’m sure he’ll start getting better.

18 | #11 | Kyle Chisholm | Valrico, FL | Yamaha YZ450F

It’s a total Chiz thing to be looking and feeling like he was on his deathbed last week and riding like it as well and then, like Icarus rising up, look approximately 286 percent better in Oakland to get into the main. His elbow issue sounds like it may be with him for a while also, but in my world, Chiz will always Chiz on Saturday nights.

19 | #95 | Justin Starling | Deland, FL | GasGas MC 450F

Justin is two-for-two to start the year and wore better-colored boots this week. I’m sure he’s stoked to make the mains, but living on the edge in the LCQ’s has got to be shortening his lifespan. UPS had lost Starling’s suspension before A1 and he had to get stock stuff done up. I wonder if he’ll just keep it rolling now even if UPS finds the kit stuff?