VOL. 55 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 23, 2018 P55
a real positive to get in there, be-
cause we made a real jump on the
bike. I was nervous because if we
go the wrong direction and I don't
qualify, I'd look like an idiot, so it
kind of had to be a guesstimate,
but something that maybe you've
done before in the past. So, it
was totally a gamble, but it was
somewhat of a calculated gamble.
It worked. I holeshotted and I won
the race [LCQ]."
WEIMER TIME
Motoconcepts/SmarTop Honda's
Jake Weimer has been healing up
since early fall after he had a hub
break on his bike while out practic-
ing. He came away with a litany
of injuries, but he's been riding
for a few weeks now and plans to
race next weekend in Arizona. "I'm
going to dive in next weekend and
get going," Weimer said. "I mean,
I contemplated racing here at
Anaheim II tonight, but ultimately I
decided not to just because of the
format. I'm not against the format—I
like it—but I knew it was going to
be really intense with some shorter
races, and with the last one being
almost the length of a normal main
event anyway, and I just figured
I wasn't ready for that. I'll get in
there next week, and I'm sure
there will be some building blocks
along the way. I'll be getting back
in race shape as I'm racing, and at
least I'm healthy, so I'll be fine. I'll
sort it out."
MARVIN MENDING
After injuring his shoulder last
week, Red Bull KTM's Marvin
Musquin surprised many when he
showed up at Anaheim II and not
only competed, but he was fast.
He qualified second during the
day, and he was competitive in the
races, although he suffered from
some bad starts. He went 9-11 in
the first two mains, but dropped
out of the final main event of the
night because of his shoulder. He
ended up 13th overall. "Tonight
was tough," Musquin said. "The
plan was to take it session by
session today and that's what we
did. We qualified second fastest
and made it through the first and
second races so that was good.
Starts were everything on this
track but I didn't make the most of
them or put myself in a place that
made it easier, especially consid-
ering I'm battling a shoulder issue.
And battling midpack only made
things harder. By the third race I
just didn't have it to hang in there
for the entire race. Not going to lie,
my shoulder is very sore but given
Thursday I didn't even know if I
would be able to race, I'm happy
salvaging 10 points and will keep
working on helping my shoulder
heal this week to see where it's at
by Phoenix."
DEANO'S BACK
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's
Dean Wilson crashed out of his
heat race big-time at Anaheim I
and was forced to sit out round two
in Houston with a bum shoulder.
Briefly...
