It was a rough start to the season for the Liqui Moly Beta Racing team when neither Benny Bloss, nor John Short (Colt Nichols’ fill in rider) qualified for the Anaheim 1 SX opener. Even though Beta has had some success recently in the off-road world, breaking into the world of Monster Energy AMA Supercross was not going to be an easy task for the Italian brand. Yet, they must be doing something right, as ever since that first awful weekend back in January, Bloss has been slowly building each week.
The turning point for Benny was Daytona, whether they found a new setting, or it could just be that his lanky frame and long legs helped him on the rough and rutted track. Either way he scored a tenth-place finish in Florida. He was then able to avoid the chaos in Nashville and come away with an eighth, his best finish so far this season as the team kept building. This is quite the feat considering the level of competition in the 450SX class this year.
It is obvious he is feeling comfortable on his new bike as he told our Tom Journet after the Philadelphia Supercross:
Speaking of Philly, it was the first time racing supercross in the city in 44 years. No one really knew what to expect as far as how the dirt would be, or how lines would form. But Bloss, who ended up 12th on the night, only had positive things to say.
“I like the long rhythm, there were two options too, which was nice. They were pretty even, I would say as well. I'm not huge on the switchbacks but, you know, it's part of it. So, it's nice to have a different track, complete differently, different layout than we've been having. So, I did like that.”
While it has been a learning season for Bloss and the team, his last five results have been: 13-12-12-8-12, respectively.
Pretty much the entire main event in Philly, Bloss was going back and forth with Dean Wilson and Justin Cooper. Wilson was tenth, Bloss 11th, and Cooper 12th. Although it did not get picked up on the broadcast, the trio was dueling it out literally all main event, although in clean fashion. Mitch Kendra was keeping tabs on this awesome battle, where eventually, Cooper made a late pass stick on Wilson for tenth. Then the battle was on between Bloss and Wilson as the #32 machine was a few bike lengths ahead. The two veterans were blitzing the whoops side by side at one point! Then, on the final lap, Bloss went at Wilson in the sand section in a last-ditch pass in the sand, but he washed his front end, allowing Wilson to hold onto 11th.
Wilson happened to get footage of their battles, which he posted in his Philly SX vlog on YouTube. Watch around the 15:16 mark when the trio starts their battle.
Content with his recent results, but if there is one thing Bloss isn’t pumped on, it's that he finally found his speed so late in the season.
“Really bummed that the season is coming to an end now that I'm like kind of picking up some pace," he said. "But it's been fun. I am ready for a break. But I'm excited for these last two. I really like Salt Lake. I've actually never raced Supercross in Denver. Got hurt last year, had COVID the year before, like just haven't raced there. So, I'm excited.”
The break he is talking about is referencing the fact that Bloss only plans on racing three of the 11 AMA Pro Motocross Championship rounds this summer. Just enough to hopefully secure his position for the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) playoffs this fall. You can bet he will be spending his time off getting even more acquainted with his Beta.
