Slaw Dog
If you are looking for a full written recap from the third round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross in San Diego last night, you’re in the wrong place. We all watched the main events last night, so there isn’t really a need for Slaw to get all poetic and recap it for you. If you missed the main, go watch some highlights and come back and read this.
We Got Parity
Three rounds. Three different winners. Three different points leaders. My goodness, I don’t ever recall the 450 points being this tight through the top eight in FOREVER! Maybe it’s happened but I don’t think so. With Chase Sexton’s win last night, the top eight are separated by just seven (!!!!) points. This is wild. And I love it!
450SX Class Championship Standings
1. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Yamaha (59)
2. Chase Sexton, Clermont, Fla., Honda (58)
3. Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., KTM (58)
4. Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., GASGAS (56)
5. Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.Mex., Kawasaki (54)
6. Aaron Plessinger, Leesburg, Fla., KTM (54)
7. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Honda (52)
8. Malcolm Stewart, Murrieta, Calif., Husqvarna (52)
9. Marvin Musquin, Corona, Calif., KTM (47)
10. Dylan Ferrandis, Tallahassee, Fla., Yamaha (45)
Everyone Saw This Coming
If you didn’t think Chase Sexton was gonna grab a win this year, you obviously weren’t paying close attention. Mistakes killed an opportunity at the opener, but I had faith. I even called him for the win in Oakland. I obviously put the Slaw curse on him there. Sorry, Chase. Well, he was back in form in San Diego and rode an amazing race to capture his first career 450 win. He also moved to second in points, just one behind Eli Tomac. Let’s add Sexton to the LONG, LONG list of title contenders.
“I still can’t believe it, honestly,” he said. “This is a dream come true. I’ve come close so many times. Didn’t make any mistakes and finally got it done. Like I said, dream come true. After all the hard stuff I went through last year, to get to this point this year is unbelievable. We did a lot of hard work on the bike this week with Honda. I was at the test track until 4 p.m. testing and it paid off. Looking forward to going back to work and to getting another one of these. It’s addicting.”
Another First-Time Winner
Like Sexton, you knew Michael Mosiman was eventually going to grab his first-career win. Like Sexton, though, mistakes also seemed to come at the wrong time. Not in San Diego. With Christian Craig out of contention due to a first-turn crash, Mosiman held off a charging Hunter Lawrence to grab the win.
Fun fact: This was Mosiman’s first career win. Another fun fact: This was GasGas’ first win in the 250 Class.
“It’s a huge blessing to get the win and even what that means for the points now,” he said in a team statement. “It feels awesome to re-pay all the good people who have believed in me for so long – and to prove them right – feels really good. It’s been a long time coming and it’s a long journey, I’m just stoked to be able to pull it off. I can’t thank my team enough!”
Team Fried Goes Up in Smoke
First things first: My goodness, Jason Anderson put in a heck of a ride in San Diego. After rounding the first lap in seventh, Anderson went to WORK. He passed the likes of Webb, Roczen and Tomac to move into second. I honestly think he would have made a run at the leader, Chase Sexton, too, but we’ll never know. Shortly after moving into second, Anderson’s bike started to smoke and he had to nurse it home for a ninth. Racer X wrote in their Saturday Night Live column that it may have been a “ radiator cap somehow popping off.”
If not for the incident with Barcia at the opener and now this, we could be talking about Anderson and a big points lead. Think about that. I know, ifs and buts and Uncle’s… or something, right?
Slaw Kit of the Night
Jerry Robin didn’t make the 250 main event, but it doesn’t even matter. Did you see his setup? Oh my, this was amazing! Just soak it in, doogies.
Main image: Feld Entertainment
