VOLUME 57 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 21, 2020 P59
450SX
For the past few years, Tomac
has been one of, if not the out-
right favorite to win the Monster
Energy AMA Supercross Cham-
pionship, but every year some-
thing, or someone, seems to get
in his way. After the first couple
rounds of 2020, things again
weren't looking that good for him.
He failed to get a podium in the
first two rounds, but even worse,
he didn't really look like the Eli
Tomac we've come to expect on
race day. He wasn't a threat to
win either race or even get on the
box at any time.
But at Anaheim 2, the Eli
Tomac we expect to see on
race day showed up. He was
fast (almost fastest) in daytime
qualifying, he won his heat race
going away (setting the quickest
heat-race time of the night), and
despite his number-one gate pick
for the main event, he still started
COOLING OFF
Adam Cianciarulo looked ab-
solutely fantastic in his first two
professional 450cc races—the
Monster Energy Cup last Oc-
tober, and the 2020 Monster
Energy Supercross Series
opener in Anaheim two weeks
ago, where he finished second—
but he's looked a bit more human
since then. At Anaheim 2, he ran
as high as fourth place before
losing a couple spots to Zach Os-
borne and Jason Anderson and
finishing sixth. He still qualified
first, though, during the day, but
his team said Cianciarulo is just
searching for some settings—as
many other racers are—especially
in the whoops.
LOSING GROUND
Austin Forkner lost significant
ground in the 2020 250SX West
title chase at Anaheim 2 after a
crash relegated him to a 17th-
place finish. He's 22 points out
of the lead, but his team believes
defending champ Dylan Fer-
randis is the guy that ultimately
Forkner should be competing
with for the title, and Forkner only
trails Ferrandis by 10.
WHERE'S THE
INTENSITY?
Aaron Plessinger (Monster
Energy Yamaha) has not enjoyed
the same success—or apparent
level of comfort on his factory
YZ450F—as his teammate Justin
Barcia has so far in 2020, but he
said on Friday that he's improving
his motorcycle's settings as the
series goes. He also said it's not
just about the bike, but his own
intensity level. He said he's able
Briefly...
