Cycle News

SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS ROUND 7 / FEBRUARY 17, 2018 AT&T STADIUM / ARLINGTON, TEXAS P66 iii My Own Race: 25 MARVIN MUSQUIN 2ND 450SX Marvin Musquin snatched second place for the second week in a row. "It was re- ally challenging, especially those whoops," Musquin said. "But, yeah, I was trying to be creative and consistent. I could see Blake [Baggett] behind me, and he was pushing pretty hard, but I thought we had a good pace after Jason [Anderson] went down. Obviously Eli [Tomac] put in some pretty crazy laps at the beginning, and I guess he controlled the race. It was tough with the lappers, and maybe I thought I could capitalize on that, but there was nothing I could do. Maybe I would catch him a little bit, but nothing to put a charge on him. But I'm happy. When you see the heat race, when I went down, and I was battling with Cooper Webb, that was super-intense, and getting seventh in the heat race was not good. I was all the way on the outside on the start, but I got a great start, so I put myself in a great posi- tion, and that's what I needed to be on the podium tonight. Second place is good." 4 BLAKE BAGGETT 3RD 450SX Blake Baggett almost didn't come to Arlington after suffering a hard crash during the week, but he gritted his teeth and got on the podium for the third week in a row. "Definitely the track was tough," Baggett said. "It was one of those weekends where I had a big crash on Thursday and wasn't even planning on coming. I was just going to throw in the towel. I was a little too sore to come. At the last minute, I jumped on a flight. Our goal is to win races. Three-for-three and we're third, so... two spots to go." 21 JASON ANDERSON 4TH 450SX Jason Anderson was in a good position early in the Arlington 450SX main event, running second to Tomac, but the pace proved a bit too much for the points leader and he ended up going down a couple laps into the race and had to work his way back through the pack. "I made it happen this weekend," said Anderson. "I quali- fied third and was second in my heat. I was second in the main then tipped over and made it back to fourth. I was able to make up some points and now I just need to keep the ball rolling." 14 COLE SEELY 5TH 450SX Cole Seely fought hard for fifth place in the 450SX main. "I'm obviously frustrated because I want to be further up there and on the podium, but tonight was the hardest-fought fifth I've ever had to work for," Seely said. "I think I rode a lot better than the result shows. I was also happy with how I managed the race, my energy and effort. I came from seventh and had to battle with riders on the way up, then [Jason] Anderson was charging and we battled back and forth a bit until he got by. Then I went straight back to being pressured by [Cooper] Webb until the end. I laid it all out there, especially on that last lap because I knew Cooper was behind me and was going to try and stick a wheel in anywhere he could; I was just trying to ride defensive but still be fast. It was a hectic night of racing so I'm happy to get out of here uninjured." 34 WESTON PEICK 7TH 450SX "Practice went really well. I qualified sixth, which I was happy with," said heat- race winner Weston Peick. "I didn't get the start I was hoping for in the heat race, because I got tangled up through the first turn. There were a few times where I had to get aggressive in order to get around riders, but it worked in my favor. It was nice winning the heat race and having that momentum heading into the main. I didn't re- alize how rough and choppy the track was going to get. We went a bit too stiff with the rear shock setting, which wasn't the right choice when the track developed into what it was. Regardless, I showed good speed. I need to capitalize on those."

• Cover