Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/976068
SUPERCROSS ROUND 16 / APRIL 28, 2018 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH / RICE-ECCLES STADIUM P64 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS Christian Craig (Honda HRC) started the race in third and only lost one position to Tomac for a strong and much-needed con- fidence-building fourth. He has been struggling as of late. Justin Barcia (Monster Energy Factory Yamaha) rounded out the top five. Justin Brayton (Smart- op/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda) Justin Brayton was sixth, followed by Weston Peick (Auto- trader/Yoshimura Suzuki), Benny Bloss (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/ WPS KTM), Vince Friese (Smart- op/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda) and Tyler Bowers (Mon- ster Energy Kawasaki). though, the race was winding down and Tomac had no chance of catching the KTM rider. "I got a little impatient and tried to shoot up the inside, and I clipped a Tuff Block and shot off to the right and may have touched Blake's rear tire or something and just dumped it over. I just tried to make a move and washed the front end a little bit." Musquin took the checkered flag 6.067 seconds of Tomac, who was 10th after the first lap. After leading the first three laps, Baggett hung on to finish third for his fourth podium of the year. racing. I didn't steal it. And it's really great to win here. It's defi- nitely not a track that suits me. It's hard and slippery, but the bike was working good. This was a tough day for me, but it made me stronger." The race for the win could've gotten very interesting had Tomac, the fastest man on the track, not fallen while chasing Baggett for second. He lost the front end while braking for a turn and nearly took Baggett down with him. However, Tomac quickly remounted and reeled Baggett back in, this time pass- ing him a few laps later. By then, few laps of the main. While Ander- son's tuner, Chris Loredo, was fran- tically swapping out Anderson's front wheel, Wilson's mechanic, Daniel Castloo, suddenly found himself springing into action when Wilson suddenly pulled into the pits while Loredo was still working on Ander- son's bike. Wilson had crashed after tangling with Weston Peick and was forced to get his front end and controls re-aligned. LOST OPPORTUNITY Chad Reed got off to a promising start in the main event but let a great opportunity for a top finish slip away. He was running fifth after the first lap when he suddenly went down landing from a jump and losing the front end in the same area that would later snag both Blake Baggett and Eli Tomac. Still, Reed got up in 14th place and finished out the race in 11th. He is currently 13th in the 450SX championship, trailing Vince Friese by eight points. LIGHT AS AIR Jason Anderson skipped Friday's pre-race press conference for the top five riders in the 450SX-class championship, held at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Anderson has in the past struggled with altitude sickness and with Salt Lake City's 4600-foot ele- vation, Anderson didn't want to take any chances. He has found that the best way to deal with altitude sick- ness is to not even try to acclimate his body to it, but instead arrive at the track at the latest possible mo- ment, do his business and then get out of town. It worked for him last year at the Lakewood National MX near the Mile-High city of Denver. At Salt Lake, Anderson flew into town late Friday night and saw the track for the first time Saturday morning during the 7 a.m. track walk. "I think we all suffer from it at least a little bit," said Anderson, "but it hits me a little harder." FOOTING IT OUT Justin Hill (Autotrader/Yoshimura Suzuki), the 250SX West defending champ, struggled with a sore foot en route to a 14th-place finish in the main. "I was feeling good, but then jacked my foot up in practice," said Hill. "It was muddy and I framed the triple. I was chasing the leaders in the main event, switched up my line, and came up short again on a jump. After that I was riding around cau- tiously. Initially I thought I broke my foot. There was no way I was going to pull off, but my result suffered. My foot seems to be okay, and I plan on racing the supercross finale. It's a bummer deal, but that's how it goes." Briefly...