Last weekend in Indy, Ken Roczen pumped up the entire sport via a breakthrough win on his Suzuki. It was the brand’s first win in seven years, and ended the longest dry spell ever for a manufacturer, with 111 races between Suzuki victories. It was so cool that Ken even received congratulations from his own competitors, who stopped to shake his hand after the finish.
No doubt, that same thing was about to transpire in Detroit, as the loveable Aaron Plessinger had pulled away from the pack and appeared to have his first-ever 450 race win on lock. Plessinger was logging the race of his life, and even a super-determined pack of talent couldn’t keep pace with him early. Eli Tomac, Justin Barcia, and Cooper Webb, for example, were going at it and passing each other, and not even slowing each other down, but yet Plessinger just motored away.
Ford Field was ready to erupt, and no doubt AP would have watched his own competitors get in line to congratulate him on his first 450SX win. Chase Sexton eventually locked down second place and made up a little ground, but not enough to really threaten for the lead. This one was over.
Then it ended.
Plessinger crashed, and hard. He caught his foot in a rut and went flying over the next jump, disconnected from his bike. It was as heartbreaking as heartbreaking gets.
The cowboy went for a wild ride in Detroit 😳 Glad you’re all good AP 💪#SupercrossLIVE #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/cUX2S5JOLr
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) March 19, 2023
"That one hurts, that one hurts a lot,” said Plessinger to Peacock’s Jason Thomas after officially finishing 13th. “I was riding so good and, man, I didn't stand up in that rut the whole moto – I sat down and put my foot out... The one time I think it's alright to stand up, it catches my foot and rips me right off the bike. I couldn't believe it, flying through the air like that and I just tried to tuck, because it was a hard hit. I tried to get back up – I probably could have finished – but man, that hurts. You know, get back up on the saddle and I'll get back up there in Seattle. I love it there, so don't count me out, I'm not done yet. I was riding so good, I'm so proud of my riding and I love these fans. I could hear them the whole way! You know, it happens, we'll be back with a vengeance. My starts are good, I'm good, my fitness is good... I've just gotta stay on the bike next time. Thank you to the fans, I wish I could have won it, but we'll get them next year!"
Incredibly, it was Sexton who picked up the pieces and win. That’s the same rider that has thrown away so many would-be victories in the late stages.
“Yeah, that’s pretty ironic,” said Sexton with a laugh.
Sexton, in fact, crashed just last weekend in Indy, while chasing Roczen for the lead, and it was a similar section of the track, even.
“It almost reminded me exactly of what I did last weekend,” said Sexton of Plessinger’s fall. “Obviously he caught a foot and that ripped him off the bike. It’s the same section just going the other way, it was a right where last week it was a left. I thought he caught a peg, because that’s what I did. But I saw the replay and he just folded into the next jump, which was pretty bad. That’s a bummer. These tracks get so broken down and you’ve got to be locked in the whole time. They can bite you at any time, and that’s what I’ve found out plenty of times. Like I said, bummer for him and I hope he’s okay.”
If you’re a Plessinger fan, and there are many, you have to hope this situation repeats itself, but this time Aaron brings it home. Perhaps some lessons can be learned about sealing the deal for the next time. Winning the first race is a big deal, and Sexton was actually thinking about that.
“Like I said before, I’ve been in that position so many times where you feel like, at least in my position, I had the race won and it can go south really fast, especially when you haven’t won a race, like Aaron,” said Sexton. “It weighs on you the last couple laps, and stuff like that just seems to happen, especially to me. So I just kept my head down. Anything can happen, especially with lapped traffic. It’s not easy. With how gnarly the whoops were, it’s just easy to make mistakes. I wasn’t going to give up and really that’s the key.”
This time, the key moment of the race happened in Sexton’s favor. Fans are hoping Aaron Plessinger gets his full-circle moment soon.
