proclaimed two days before
Saturday's race that the state was
relaxing its restrictions on crowd
gatherings due to the coronavi-
rus, and a surge of last-minute
ticket buyers gave the race the
biggest crowd we've seen to date
in the series. The rough, sandy
track put the riders to the test,
with Osborne and Ferrandis both
showing that they are up for all
challenges as they close in on
their respective titles.
450MX National
Osborne, who entered the ab-
breviated 2020 season without a
single 450 overall win outdoors
now has four in seven rounds.
He had his work cut out for him
in Florida, with challenges from
both younger prospects like class
rookies Cianciarulo and Team
HRC Honda's Chase Sexton, as
well as the class veterans in Red
Bull KTM's Marvin Musquin and
Kawasaki's incumbent three-time
450MX Champion Eli Tomac.
Musquin almost missed the race
after crashing violently in the sec-
VOLUME 57 ISSUE 39 SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 P63
IIIMY OWN RACE:
32 JUSTIN COOPER
2ND (4-2) 250MX
Jus n Cooper had his best result this
season. "Once again, it was really hot
here," Cooper, last year's winner, said.
"I knew it was going to be hot coming
in. I was at the track yesterday, so I
kind of got to feel the heat here. It
was just a good, solid day. We had a
be er first moto and an even be er
second moto. I knew I had second
overall if I beat Jeremy (Mar n), so
that was the goal. Dylan was riding re-
ally well today. He got past me pre y
early in the first moto and I tried to
latch onto him. From there, I just tried
to ride my laps and focus on myself.
Overall, it was a really good day. I'm
proud to put it back on the podium."
12 SHANE MCELRATH
5TH (7-4) 250MX
Shane McElrath usually stays up front
a er ge ng the holeshot, but not this
me in the first moto. "It was tough,"
he said. "It was a hot day today and the
track was really rough. I'm not happy
with my first moto. I started out front
and ended up going back to eighth at
one point and then somebody went
down, so I ended up seventh. I just
didn't ride very well. I didn't feel very
good at all. The sand here, it's pre y
tough to ride in. My second moto was
be er though. It felt harder, but I just
rode be er and ended up fourth."
