WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 52 ISSUE 18 MAY 5, 2015 P91
E A S T / W E S T
S H O O T O U T
THE DUEL THAT WASN'T
East Champion Marvin Musquin
and West Champion Cooper
Webb each came into the 250
East/West Shootout with six
wins under their belts in their re-
spective divisions, so the heav-
ily anticipated Musquin/Webb
shootout was certainly legit. But
when fans started arriving at the
stadium, they soon learned of
the bad news that Cooper was
scratched from the evening's
racing program with a sprained
ankle, the victim of one of the
track's most benign obstacles—
a slow-speed left-hand turn. A
lapse of concentration, or more
likely, a lack of traction, left
Cooper clutching his ankle. Just
like that, his day was done. What
a bummer.
At this point, the West's
hopes rested entirely on Mal-
colm Stewart's shoulders.
The GEICO Honda Team rider
might've finished the champion-
ship in seventh—the victim of a
few hard crashes and injuries
over the eight races—he at least
had a win and a second-place
finish over the course of the
season and was riding well as of
late. TLD/Lucas Oil/Red Bull/
KTM's Shane McElrath, second
in the championship, was also
a distant West hopeful, but he
is still seeking his first win. He,
too, however has been riding
well lately, having finished sec-
ond two times in the last three
rounds.
Stewart confirmed his Shoot-
out threat by winning the West
qualifying heat over Rockstar
Energy Racing Husqvarna's
two Zachs—Zach Bell and Zach
Osborne. Musquin crushed the
East qualifier, finishing nearly
five seconds ahead of GEICO
Honda's RJ Hampshire and Ya-
mahlube/Star Racing Yamaha's
Anthony Rodriquez, and that
included a small front-end wash-
out in a turn midway through
the race that let Hampshire get
close, real close.
Any hopes the fans had of
someone giving Musquin a fight
for the win was quickly dashed
when the KTM rider emerged
from the outside-the-stadium
start area already way out in
front. It was clear that no one,
not even Stewart or McElrath,
or anyone, else for that matter,
was going to beat Musquin on
this night. He was just too good.
Only a big mistake by Musquin
would prevent him from winning,
but that wasn't likely going to
happen by the way he was rid-
ing. True, he fell once earlier in
the evening, but everyone knew
that he wasn't going to let that
happen again. Musquin took the
checkered flag by a massive 11
seconds over the West's best
rider, Stewart.
Musquin, who will move up
(Above) Cooper
Webb was hoping to
end the night on the
podium, but instead
ended it on crutches.
(Left) Weston Peick
fended off Chad
Reed and 18 other
riders to make it on
the podium for the
second time of his
career.
