Progress

Chase Sexton needed a win in Glendale to start clawing his way back into the battle for the title. Well, he didn’t get it, but his riding was fantastic. His speed in the second race, which he won, was incredible! And most importantly, he also managed to avoid the costly mistakes that have been plaguing him all year, which is big. We’ll see if he can carry the progress he made in Glendale into Atlanta and come away with a win. -Hansel

Trending Up

Things have been so exciting at the front that you may have missed the steady improvement Adam Cianciarulo has been exhibiting lately. In Glendale he finished sixth, matching a season-best finish (Indianapolis), and he’s been well within the top ten after missing two races with a wrist injury. Considering his recent upward climb, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Cianciarulo in the top five in Atlanta. -Hansel

Back East

With the racing heading back east, the 250SX East Region will resume racing in Atlanta after being off for two races. Hunter Lawrence is sporting a 35-point lead over Nate Thrasher in second, so don’t expect any drama for the championship lead, but things are pretty tight behind Lawrence. Thrasher leads Haiden Deegan by just five points, who holds a mere two-point advantage over Jeremy Martin in fourth. To make matters even more interesting, Max Anstie, who’s been great this season, is only five points back of Martin in fifth. With the points that tight, we could see a big shakeup in Atlanta! -Hansel

Max Bounce

As mentioned above, Anstie has been fantastic this season. The Firepower Honda rider has three podiums this season, and before Detroit, hadn’t finished outside of the top five. Well, that changed in Detroit when Anstie finally had a bad night and DNF’d after crashing early. Look for Anstie to bounce back with another top-five, and quite possibly a podium, in Atlanta. -Hansel

Heat Race Shenanigans

In case you’ve been living under a gigantic pile of old bent-up spokes, there was a bit of controversy in the heat race between Jordon Smith and Deegan in their heat race in Detroit. Deegan seemed to race Smith extra hard, especially for a heat race, and Smith ended up crashing and later, not being able to transfer to the main out of the LCQ. It seems pretty unlikely anything like that will happen again, but you know if Smith and Deegan find themselves battling for the lead in a heat race again, you’ll be watching extra closely! -Hansel

Natural Lighting

This weekend is not only at a speedway, but also a daytime race, which means they will be racing under the light provided by mother nature. It also means East Coast fans do not have to stay up until 1:00 a.m. to see the conclusion of the 450 main like in Glendale. Of course, this means the riders need to start their day earlier, and the track crew will be battling the hot Georgia sun baking the track all day. But at least the fans get a nice leisurely Saturday and an early bedtime. -Sarah Whitmore