WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 54 ISSUE 14 APRIL 11, 2017 P63
With rain and wet weather leading up to
the race, AMA officials made the deci-
sion to shorten all of the qualifiers and
main events for the 2017 Seattle Super-
cross to minimize wear and tear on the
track. The main events were shortened
to 12 minutes (from 15) for the 250SX
class, and 17 minutes (from 20) for the
450SX class. Still, the 450SX class put
in 20 laps in their main event, and the
250SX class put in 14 laps, if you don't
count the laps prior to the red flag.
Even with the shorter races, the track
developed severe ruts all around the
track, making it one of the most techni-
cal courses of the year.
Honda's Cole Seely sat out the 450SX
main event. In practice, he tore a
muscle and felt that it was best to call
it an early night. "I've been dealing with
[a] torn adductor muscle since last
weekend and dabbed my leg in practice
today tearing it again," he said via his
Instagram account. "So bummed to be
sitting out the race today in one of my
favorite stadiums."
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's
Austin Forkner and Geico Honda's
Jeremy Martin also skipped the Se-
attle Supercross. Both suffered crashes
during the week that prevented them
from suiting up. Forkner is dealing with
an injured hip. Martin did not reveal
the specifics of his injury, just that he's
"sore." Both riders are hoping to be
ready for the Salt Lake City round in two
weeks.
Seattle was Cade Autenrieth's very
first supercross race, and unfortu-
nately it didn't go well. He was riding an
Autotrader JGR Suzuki. As the second
250SX heat race was lining up and the
30-second board was up prior to the
start, he was having difficulty starting
his bike and had to pull it from the start
line and attempt to push-start it to no
avail. He returned for the LCQ but got
a terrible start from the far inside gate
and then fell early in the race, ending
his night.
TLD Red Bull KTM's Shane McElrath
went down in the day's only practice
session when he collided with Chris
Alldredge's downed Yamaha. They both
had to be assisted by the Alpinestars
Mobile Medical Unit. McElrath came
back to qualify for the main with a solid
second place in his heat race and then
raced to a top-five in the main event
despite being bruised and battered.
Alldredge, on the other hand, was not
able to continue and will, unfortunately,
be out of action for quite some time. He
suffered a long list of injuries: a par-
tially collapsed lung, a grade-one liver
laceration, adrenal gland laceration, a
fractured 10th rib, a fractured pelvis and
lower lumbar spine fractures in L1, L2,
L3 and L4.
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Josh
Grant suffered a big crash in his heat
race, got up, circulated the track slowly
before pulling off. He didn't show up for
the start of his semi. On his Instagram,
he posted a video of his crash, saying,
"Not exactly how I planned my weekend
in Seattle, but after watching the video,
Doc said I was done for the night. Rang
my bell a little. On a good note those
ankles be looking solid!" Grant had his
ankles repaired in the off-season.
Ride365.com Suzuki's Malcolm Stew-
art ran as high as fourth early in the
Seattle 450SX main event, but he hit
the ground near the halfway point and
ended up 14th.
Briefly...
Justin Hill gave
up a few points to
Plessinger but is still
in the driver's seat
in the 250SX West
Championship.
