SUPERCROSS
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS, AN FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 2 / JANUARY 13, 2017
HOUSTON, TEXAS / NRG STADIUM
P52
250SX WEST
In a bit of a departure for the 250SX
West Supercross Series, the visit to
Houston for the second round of the
championship put the West contend-
ers on a soft track surface that ruts up
very easily, and often dramatically. Most
races in the 250SX West are more
hard-packed in nature. So, in the end,
it's no surprise that the frontrunners
mostly hailed from the east coast.
To start the main event, Monster
Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Joey Sa-
vatgy grabbed the holeshot and came
under pressure immediately by round-
one winner Shane McElrath. Plessinger
rounded lap one in 10th. But it was
Savatgy's teammate Adam Cianciarulo
on the move early, going by McElrath
and pressuring his teammate Savatgy
for the lead before falling. He would fall
again later on and end up seventh.
Meanwhile, Plessinger was smoking
his way through the pack, and he found
himself fifth on lap six, then second on
lap 10 of 18. Then he bided his time and
bullied his way by Savatgy on the out-
side, as Savatgy attempted to take the
line away. Plessinger then sped off with
the win while Savatgy ended up coming
under attack on the last lap from Geico
Honda rookie Chase Sexton, who
caught fire late in the race to snatch
third in front of McElrath and Christian
Craig.
Plessinger's win was his first of the
year and put him in the points lead in
the 250SX West Championship.
"In the heat race, I got off to a bad
start and just rode around, pretty
much," Plessinger said. "But I figured
stuff out in the main, got off to an even
worse start, and then just pushed and
pushed." CN
Aaron Plessinger (23)
roughs up Hayden
Mellross as he storms
through the field from
10th place to take the
250SX win in Houston.
