CHAMPIONSHIP
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 16 APRIL 20, 2021 P75
at hand and tried to salvage as
many championship points as
possible."
The ever-consistent Justin
Cooper got up front, once again,
after the restart and rode a
nearly perfect race. Much of the
spotlight was on his champion-
ship competitor, but Cooper's
focus and was unmatched
throughout the night.
"You just have to put yourself
back in the zone, keep your
mind calm and your heart rate
down and just re-execute what
you did before," Cooper said.
Honda's Hunter Lawrence
also regrouped after the restart.
A come-from-behind ride saw
the young Aussie pass his way
through the field, even stealing
the position from McAdoo late in
the race.
250SX West Atlanta 3
The action didn't slow down for
Saturday's race either. During
qualifying, McAdoo suffered
another horrendous crash. The
small double and was pile-driven
by the bike into the face of the
over-under bridge. Stuck to the
machine by his foot, he flipped
up and over, ultimately landing
on top of the bridge and was
slow to his feet. Due to his posi-
tion on the track, the race was
red-flagged and track medics
helped McAdoo off the track.
McAdoo miraculously re-
mounted his machine and head-
ed back to the start gate. The
Kawasaki was mangled, even
missing the front number plate,
but McAdoo pleaded with the
medical team and was deemed
fit to race. He would nearly
holeshot the restart and gut out
a third-place finish, keeping his
title hopes alive in the meantime.
"We're in the middle of a
heated battle for the 250SX
Western Regional Champion-
ship, and I'm going to give it my
all until the very last lap," said
McAdoo. "Once I got the okay
from the Alpinestars medical
team, I refocused on the goal
Tomac rounded out the
podium at round 15. Another
come-from-behind start really set
back the number-three, but he
battled past the likes of Barcia
and Plessinger on his way to a
third-place spot.
"It was a little frustrating know-
ing we left something on the
table on Tuesday," said Tomac.
"We made the change...and I
had them in sight."
Aaron Plessinger had an-
other standout performance
on Saturday. The Yamaha rider
has voiced his liking of these
outdoorsy tracks and started up
front during the main event. After
running with Roczen and Webb
for the early portions of the race,
he only fell three positions, all
to the title heavyweights. Pless-
inger's 6-8-4 results in Atlanta
moved AP up to fifth in series
points.
Justin Barcia was notable in
Atlanta, too. He had great pace
early on but a tip-over midrace
dropped him back a few spots.
He regrouped and ultimately
brought home another fifth-place
finish. His results have re-
bounded from 10th at the Atlanta
opener to a 4-5 at the second
and third rounds, respectively.
250SX West Atlanta 2
Fans got their money's worth
and more with the 250SX West
class this week. In the opening
laps of Tuesday's race, Cameron
McAdoo was looking to make
his way to the front with rival
Justin Cooper. He misjudged a
Atlanta 2 250SX West Highlights
