CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 55 ISSUE 17 MAY 1, 2018 P71
250SX West
Coming into the penultimate round of the
2018 250SX Western Regional Super-
cross Series, Aaron Plessinger (Mon-
ster Energy/ Yamalube/ Star Racing
Yamaha) held a 17-point lead over Adam
Cianciarulo (Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit
Kawasaki), which meant that if Plessing-
er won the round in Salt Lake City, Utah,
he could clinch the title one round early
as long as Cianciarulo finished sixth or
worse. But on the dusty, windy, unpre-
dictable track, it wasn't to be.
Cianciarulo's teammate Joey Sa-
vatgy got the holeshot to start the
250SX main event with Cianciarulo,
Shane McElrath (TLD Red Bull KTM)
and Plessinger giving chase. A couple
turns into the race, Savatgy bobbled
slightly and the chain reaction opened
the door for Plessinger to go by both
McElrath and Cianciarulo and take over
the runner-up spot. However, once in
that spot, Plessinger couldn't find a
way by Savatgy. In fact, he lost second
and third place in consecutive turns as
he attempted to move forward about
halfway through the race, which put him
in fourth, and Cianciarulo and McElrath
on Savatgy's tail.
A couple of laps after that, Savatgy
found a line in a tricky set of whoops
and went by both Cianciarulo and Sa-
vatgy as the pair floundered through the
awkward section.
From there, McElrath checked out
and Cianciarulo got by Savatgy at the
same time for second.
Cianciarulo finally figured out the two
whoop sections and made a run on
McElrath at the end, especially through
the last turn. McElrath rolled across the
finish line less than a half second ahead
of Cianciarulo.
Shane McElrath
won an exciting
250SX West final.
