SEXTON SIDELINED
At Houston 2, Chase Sexton suf-
fered a shoulder injury that pre-
vented him from suiting up for round
three. X-rays revealed no broken
bones but he sat out Saturday night,
nonetheless. No timetable has been
announced as far as a possible
return. "[I] made a small mistake that
cost me big—hit the ground pretty
hard," Sexton said after the race.
"I'm really sore and my right shoulder
is pretty beat up. I hope to be back
racing here soon and try to finish the
job and get my first win."
TOMAC:
FREAKING OUT
Eli Tomac admitting that he was
a little concerned about his poor
result at round one. "I would be
lying to you if I told you that I wasn't
a little bit freaking out coming into
today," Tomac said after Tuesday's
victory. "Starting the season out 16
points in the hole is not something
you want to do, but tonight proved
that the field is incredibly deep, and
anything can happen. It's crazy to
think we are now only four points
out of the lead."
CIANCIARULO:
SLIGHT MISTAKE
Tuesday, Adam Cianciarulo got off
to a good start in the main event
but a fall on the fourth lap put him
out of the hunt for the win. "Chase
and I had a hot pace going in those
opening laps, but I made a slight
mistake in the sand sweeper and the
rest was history," Cianciarulo said.
"I hit my hand that I got worked on
during the offseason pretty good
which made it hard to be aggressive
the rest of the race and I just knew I
needed to manage." Cianciarulo had
another good start Saturday but this
time rode smart, solid and fast to get
on the podium.
CONSIDERED
YOURSELF WARNED
Jett Lawrence had a visit from the
AMA after his third place Saturday
night. Lawrence got physical with
Michael Mosiman in a corner,
which resulted in the GasGas
rider hitting the ground. Lawrence
admitted he got a talking to by AMA
officials and that he was warned
not to do that again, but said he
wasn't put on probation. "It was just
a warning," Lawrence said. "A slap
on the wrist."
HARTRANFT: I'VE GOT
A LOT TO LEARN
Brandon Hartranft (Twisted Tea/
H.E.P. Motorsports Suzuki) admit-
ted that he's still getting used to the
450SX class. "In the main event, I
had an outside gate pick and actual-
ly had a killer start, all my starts were
good, but I just need to be more
aggressive off the first few laps,"
he said after Tuesday's 17th. "About
five minutes into the main event, I
jumped off the track and kind of lost
my flow until six minutes to go. I've
got a lot to learn and a lot to prove."
Unfortunately for Hartranft, on Satur-
day, he crashed out of the LCQ and
did not qualify for the main.
Briefly...
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 26, 2021 P57
Cooper Webb
capped off the
week in Houston
with the 450SX
main-event win.
Championship is close, as well,
but it's safe to say that three rid-
ers—Colt Nichols, Christian Craig
and Jett Lawrence—have broken
out as the favorites to win the
title. Heavy-hitters Austin Forkner
and RJ Hampshire saw their title
hopes vanish after sustaining inju-
ries during practice/qualifying at
Houston 3, leaving them unable
to race.
