tory back in Tampa. His finishes
of 3-2-3 were impressively con-
sistent across the three hectic
main events,
giving "Mookie"
a clear advantage for second
overall. This achievement marks
his second podium of the year
and moves him to fourth in the
series standings.
"I'm really stiff right now after
the hit to my hip," Stewart said.
"As soon as I got off the bike,
it started hurting. I hit my hip
pretty good and gave myself a
nice little charley horse, and we
did everything we could with Dr.
G helping me out. It's racing, and
we have a job to do, so I just had
to put my head down, toughen
up and then I can cry later."
Red Bull KTM's Aaron Pless
-
inger finished third overall after
leading the first
two mains over
his teammate, Sexton. Plessing-
er earned the Southern crowd's
approval,
as "The Cowboy"
fought his way to a second and
a third to kick off the night. He
exchanged finishes with Stew-
art, and the two training part-
ners entered the final race tied
on
points. Ultimately, Plessinger
crossed the line fifth in race
three, marking his worst finish
of the night. With a total of 10
points, he still secured third
overall and matched his season-
best result.
"These last couple of races
have given me a lot more confi
-
dence," Plessinger said. "That's
showing
in my starts, which put
me in a really good position to-
night. Ever since Daytona, I feel
like
we've been rolling; it gave
me the belief that I can run with
the boys at the front, and that's
(Above) Aaron
Plessinger led the
way in the first
two 450SX races.
(Left) Cooper
Webb finished
fourth overall after
winning the final
450SX main event.
He still holds the
red plate.
everything to me."
Webb finished fourth overall
with 7-4-1 finishes. A solo tip-
over in race one made things
hard on the series leader, but he
continued to improve with each
gate drop. Race three saw every-
thing come together for Webb,
but
even a win couldn't bump
him onto the overall podium. He
VOLUME 62 ISSUE 12 MARCH 25, 2025 P61
on putting in clean, consistent
laps. I started midpack but made
some quick moves early to get into
sixth. From there, I kept pushing,
and when the leader went down, I
moved up to fifth. I kept charging,
made another pass for fourth, and
just kept fighting all the way to the
end. The race really came to me,
and I was able to take the win. I'm
super happy with how the night
turned around and how I was able
to regroup after a tough start to the
day. It definitely wasn't easy, but I
just kept my head down and made
it happen."
BIRMINGHAM NOTES
Country music singer Bailey Zim-
merman attended the Birmingham
race... Yamaha Star Racing's
Christian Craig, who has been
recovering from a knee injury,
made his 2025 debut in the 450SX
class and finished 12th overall...
Yamaha's Nate Thrasher was
the only rider on the podium in
both classes who was aboard a
Japanese motorcycle... Yamaha
currently leads the manufacturer
points standings (which includes
both classes). KTM, Kawasaki,
Honda and Husqvarna round out
the top five.
Briefly...
