Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/656086
SUPERCROSS ROUND 11 / MARCH 19, 2016 DETROIT, MICHIGAN / FORD FIELD P66 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES My Own Race: 21 JASON ANDERSON 1 ST 450SX A win is a win, and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's nabbed his second vic- tory of the season. He crossed the finish physically in second place but was awarded the win when the AMA later docked Ryan Dungey two positions for not adhering to the red-cross flag. Still, Anderson put himself in the right position by riding well in Detroit. He posted the second-fastest time of the day and was in the mix through out the main event. He took over third place on the fifth lap, and then took over second place when Marvin Musquin went down. "I had a great day of practice," said Anderson. "My day went really well. In the heat race I came out, got to fourth and stayed there to qualify. When I got to the main I got a pretty good start based on where my gate was. For the most part I just kind of stayed behind Marvin, and he ended up falling so he kind of gave me second. It felt good to see the leader the whole time and know I was on-pace. I mean, I always knew I had the speed, but I'm finally starting to show it." 25 MARVIN MUSQUIN 2 ND 450SX Red Bull KTM's Marvin Musquin was again a front- runner in the 450SX main. His day start- ed off well. Musquin was the top 450SX- class qualifier but crashed in his heat race and was forced to transfer to the main via a semi (which he won). He and his teammate Dungey fought it out for the holeshot in the main, with Dungey getting the nod. Musquin passed Dungey for the lead, but was back out in front before the first lap was over. Musquin chased Dungey for the rest of the race but with two laps to go, washed out in a turn, handing second place to Jason Anderson. Musquin was awarded second following Dungey's penalty. "I struggled a little bit in the whoops tonight but other than that I was happy with how I was riding until that one mistake near the end," Musquin said right after the race. "It's a bummer to finish in third but I know it's good in the bigger picture to be on the podium every weekend." 50 MALCOLM STEWART 1 ST 250SX GEICO Honda's Malcolm Stewart recorded his first win of the year and did so not feeling 100 percent, hav- ing come down with an "illness" during the day. "It's unbelievable," said Stewart. "Coming out and being sick, and then to turn the race around like that. I felt good on the track and felt bad in the truck!" Stewart logged a perfect night, taking fast qualifier honors and winning his heat race and then the main. "It was one of those ones that you feel good and just hope for the best," Stewart said. "It was a clean sweep. I can't thank GEICO Honda enough for that. I was just letting it come to me because every time I force the issue I've gone down and made some bonehead mistakes." Stewart took the lead in the whoops, where he excelled on the track, on lap five. "I knew my strongpoint was in those whoops and I knew that those guys were kind of struggling," said Stewart. "So I just hit the left side of the whoops because I knew that was the point where everybody was not hitting them, so I knew that I could make it work here. That's the reason why we get a parade lap. I just kind of mapped it out myself. This is exactly where I'm going to pass people. Everybody else was pretty much even around the track except for those whoops, so I knew that was a big part." 30 SHANE MCELRATH 3 RD 250SX Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil/Red Bull KTM's Shane McElrath got on the 250SX West podium for the first time this season. He was 12 th in his qualifier, finished third in his heat race and managed to avoid the first- turn pileup in the main that collected a number of riders. He rounded the first lap in fifth, quickly worked his way up to third where he would eventually finish, about eight seconds behind runner-up Aaron Plessinger. "We've been making progress every week and it feels good to be back on the podium," said McElrath. "I needed this before the break. Just racing incidents have kept me from being up here [on the podium] and I'm ready to make this a regular thing." McElrath, who started the series coming off an injury, is 11 th in the championship.