best bike setup), as his nearest
rival in the championship, Ken
Roczen, who got caught up in a
first-turn pileup and had to fight
his way up from near dead last.
Webb didn't put up much of a
fight when Sexton and Tomac
came calling, saying afterward,
"I wasn't pumped with that ride.
I got a good start like I needed
and was put in a really good situ-
ation. Plessinger was riding really
well out front and he had that
mistake, so I got into the lead,
but I just didn't execute. Guys
got around me and pulled away,
definitely not the best race for me
Once he went down there was a
little extra hope. I feel like I was
getting better as the race went
on. I found a better line in the
whoops. That gave me the hope
to push to the end."
Earlier in the day, Tomac said
patience was the key on this track.
Points leader Webb (Red Bull
KTM) joined Tomac and Sexton
on the podium. Webb put himself
in contention for a possible fourth
consecutive win after starting
the race in second, but Webb
seemed to play it cautious (but
would later say that he just wasn't
riding well and didn't have the
"It was a challenge out there,"
Sexton added. "I was struggling
in the whoops, couldn't find a
flow. I'd like to re-do those last
two turns [but] getting on the box
is good."
"The track changed through-
out the main," Tomac said. "I
switched up the whoops, made
up some time [there]."
For the first part of the race,
Tomac ran behind leader Pless-
inger, Sexton and Cooper Webb.
"Aaron was pretty far out, and I
was pretty nervous," Tomac ad-
mitted. "I didn't know if we were
going to end up catching him.
SUPERCROSS
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES
ROUND 13 / APRIL 10, 2021
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY / ATLANTA, GEORGIA
P68
A simple fall might have cost Aaron
Plessinger (7) his first 450SX win.
