VOLUME ISSUE SEPETEMBER , P77
ROCKY START FOR
ROCKSTAR HUSQVARNA
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna
Team had a tough start to the
three-race playoffs. The team's top
finisher was Jalek Swoll, who went
13-9 for 11th overall. RJ Hampshire
(14th overall) suffered crashes and
Talon Hawkins (18th overall) strug-
gled with bad starts. "Man, I kind of
struggled all day," said Hampshire.
"I missed the ball on comfort and
where I was on the bike." Hawkins
said, "It was a rough one. I know I
have the speed; I've just got to get
up there on the starts."
65 ALL-STARS
The 65cc All-Stars took to the track
on Saturday for their own main event.
Jackson Vick took the win over
Easton Graves and Gavin McCoy.
Briefly...
rewarded with a small points
advantage going into round one.
He now leads by 12. Round two
points will be doubled and round
three tripled. The overall SMX
Championship winner, who will
be crowned at the playoff's final
in Los Angeles, will pocket a mil
-
lion dollars.
"I just wanted to feel comfort-
able again," Sexton said. "I didn't
have a good outdoor series,
and it was tough. But I was still
confident and knew what I could
do. Coming into this race, I knew
I was good."
Roczen returned to the start
-
ing gate and nabbed second
overall. The Suzuki rider, who
only raced one outdoor national
this year, could've fooled anyone
into thinking he's been racing all
summer. Roczen marched from
Sexton, who never led a single
lap during the entire Pro Mo-
tocross Championship, looked
eager to change things around
and get back up front. He used
his championship-winning
supercross suspension setup to
quickly take the lead in race one
and run away with the opening
victory, winning by over eight
seconds.
In race two, Sexton set the
fastest lap time late in the race,
allowing him to catch and pass
Ken Roczen (HEP/Progressive/
Ecstar Suzuki) for the lead. Sex
-
ton's 1-1 gave him the lowest
score on the day. Sexton al-
ready controlled the points lead
coming into the race, having
the most combined points from
Supercross and motocross over
the course of the year and being
Dylan Ferrandis
celebrates getting on
the podium.
