VOL. 55 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 14, 2018 P57
the race, but then his goggle's
roll-off system failed and he
(smartly) made a quick pit-stop
for fresh goggles. He lost one
spot to Baggett's teammate Ben-
ny Bloss but he quickly regained
that spot on the next lap, and by
the end of that lap, he was right
back on Baggett.
Soon after, Baggett pitted for
fresh goggles, rejoining the race
GETTING CLOSER
After an inconsistent start to the
season, Aaron Plessinger has
become the dominant force in
the 250MX class that he seemed
destined to be much earlier in
his career. Since RedBud, he's
gone 1-1-1-1-4-3-2-2 and leads the
championship by 78 points with
two rounds left over Alex Martin
(TLD/Red Bull KTM). All he has
to do at Budds Creek is score 22
points to secure his first-ever AMA
Pro Championship, which means
finishing in the top two in moto
one, or (averaging out the points)
a top-10 in both motos.
HELLO MUDDER
The rain at Unadilla came as a
bit of a surprise to the track crew
and forced them to cut the track
a little bit short, routing the racers
around the section formerly known
as "Screw-U," a tight, steep
downhill with a 180-degree, off-
camber left-hander at the bottom
that sends the racers back up the
exact same steep hill. This section
isn't easy to negotiate in prime
conditions, much less in the mud.
OFF-ROAD CRED
Red Bull KTM brought on five-
time GNCC champ Kailub Russell
starting at Unadilla as a fill-in
rider for Broc Tickle. He said
he had been wanting to race
some AMA Nationals for a long
time, but really didn't feel ready
until recently, after spending a
lot of time training with KTM/
Husky official trainer Aldon Baker
at the Baker's Factory. Russell
qualified 12th then finished a very
solid sixth in the first moto. In the
second moto, he was running
near the front when he got taken
out by Justin Barcia, who crashed
in front of Russell. Russell got up
and was running inside the top 10
without a rear brake, then tucked
the front end in a sweeper and
endoed. The bike chased him
down and drilled him, banging up
his left elbow. He scored a DNF,
but at this point the plan seems to
be that he'll be lining up again at
Budds Creek next weekend.
ANDERSON READY
It sounds like Jason Anderson
(Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) is
going to return to action at Budds
Creek next weekend. The reigning
AMA Supercross champ has been
out since suffering a broken foot
in a practice crash. He'll be giving
the injury-maligned Husky team
a stronger presence at Budds,
joining Phil Nicoletti, who has
been holding down the fort in the
450MX class for the team quite
well. Nicoletti went 3-5 for third
overall at Unadilla.
UPHILL BATTLE
Justin Hill (Autotrader/Yoshimura
Factory Suzuki) suffered another
setback when he reinjured his leg
in the first moto. "Unfortunately, I
caught my previously injured leg in
a rut in the first moto and that was
it," Hill said. "I had to sit out the
rest of the day. My goal is to work
hard this week to get the swell-
ing out of my knee and line up for
Budds Creek."
Briefly...
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
RED
BULL
CONTENT
POOL
