CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 55 ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 6, 2018 P57
shot in the 250SX main event and
then kept it together to finish a very
solid fifth place.
CROSS-RUTTED
A few top racers hit the dirt in the
tricky, rutted rhythm sections on the
Oakland Coliseum floor. The most
notable of the victims was Cole Seely
who cross-rutted and crashed while
leading the 450SX main event just
prior to the halfway point. He ended
up sixth. TLD Red Bull KTM's Shane
McElrath, who is a definite title
contender in the 250SX West, also
cross-rutted and went down hard in
the main event. He was beat up by
the fall, and went into the mechan-
ics' area to get things checked out,
then returned to the track where he
finished a hard-fought 15th place,
garnering eight valuable champion-
ship points. He's still third in points,
just 19 behind Plessinger with five
races left to go. Other rhythm-
section victims included AutoTrader/
Yoshimura/Factory Suzuki's Malcolm
Stewart, who hurt his leg in a crash
that could've been much worse, had
he not landed on a Tuff Block. Chris-
tian Craig cross-rutted and landed
well off the track while leading the
250SX main, but in a stroke of luck
hit a Tuff Block and went down softly.
Even Jason Anderson went down
hard in one of the rhythm sections in
practice, although his night ended
Blake Baggett
stepped it up in
Oakland. He got
on the podium
for the first time
this season.
