450SX
It's hard to believe this is only
Aaron Plessinger's second-ever
450SX main-event win. After se-
curing his first victory a year ago
in San
Diego, Plessinger quickly
emerged as a rider we expected
to see up front. He's turned his
season around recently and has
captured a series of podiums
leading into Foxborough. AP
was the only rider embracing
the rain, and it seemed that no
amount of mud could deter "The
Cowboy" as he made his way to
the front in the early stages of
the 450SX main event.
"I had Cooper [Webb] to the
right of me and Justin [Cooper]
in front of me," said Plessinger.
"When they slowed down to go
through the ruts, I just stood
up on the pegs and just leaned
back and pinned it. As soon as
I got in the lead, I knew I had to
just go and stay up."
After taking the lead on lap
one, Plessinger made a break
for it and led all nine laps of
the shortened 12-minute main
event. Taking advantage of his
long legs and off-road experi
-
ence, Plessinger set the fast-
est lap time and cruised to a
25-second
lead to easily clinch
his second-ever 450SX main-
event victory. This win places
the number seven in seventh in
the championship points.
"I knew I had to get to the
front quick," Plessinger said.
"When the track is fresh like
that, you can kind of push it
and not really worry about the
ruts because some of them are
gone. I was worried about my
clutch at the end of the race
because on that first lap I was
really giving it the beans."
Shane McElrath achieved
a career-best second place in
the 450 main event, marking
his first podium finish in the
premier class. The Quad Lock
Honda rider got off to a great
start earlier in the night by win
-
ning his heat race, securing a
good starting
position for the
main event. He found himself
at the front again in the main
and battled with Plessinger and
VOLUME 62 ISSUE 14 APRIL 8, 2025 P71
through the field. I went down again
in the race and had some trouble
getting my bike back up, but I kept
pushing and stayed on two wheels. In
the end, I finished P9. So overall, not
a bad day. We're tied for the points
lead, and that's exciting. I'm stoked
about it."
32 JUSTIN COOPER
11TH 450SX
Justin Cooper grabbed the holeshot
and the early lead but later fell back
to 11th. "It was crazy conditions
today," Cooper said. "I was able to
holeshot the main and then led for a
lap or two. Then I made a mistake in
the rhythm before the finish and had
to make a U-turn to the rhythm prior,
so that added about 20 seconds to
my lap time and put me back to sev-
enth. I had another off-track excursion
that they said I gained time doing,
which docked me to 11th."
MYOWNRACE
(Above) Aaron
Plessinger
led all of the
shortened 450SX
main event and
claimed his first
win of the year.
(Left) Shane
McElrath had a
career-best night
with a heat race
win and a second
in the main
event.
