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/979046
CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 55 ISSUE 18 MAY 8, 2018 P55 crowned on this night. Both Aaron Plessinger (Yamalube/ Star Racing Yamaha) and Zach Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) were in similar situations as Anderson, both needing about midpack finishes in the Dave Coombs Sr. East/ West Shootout to sew up the titles in their respective classes, and they did—Plessinger in the West and Osborne in the East. Osborne got it done with a sev- enth in Vegas, and Plessinger with an eighth. It was Pless- inger's first title and Osborne's second. (Osborne successfully defended the East title.) Adam Cianciarulo finished off the night with the win, his only vic- tory of the season. 450SX Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) closed out the 2018 SX season with his eighth win and must have left Sin City ask- ing himself "what if?" What if he hadn't crashed while leading Anaheim I all alone and injur- ing his shoulder that resulted in a 22nd-place that night and a DNS the following week; what if he didn't have mechanicals and crashes that resulted in 13th-, 22nd- and 15th-place finishes at Oakland, San Diego and Indianapolis? He can probably guess. After all that, however, he still finished out the season in third, though well behind runner-up Musquin. Obviously, Tomac had the speed to win the title but lacked the needed con- but I feel like I handled it re- ally well and came out with the championship," Anderson said. "I'm so excited. We put our whole lives into this, we've been riding dirt bikes for so long and to win this championship, me and my team, it's the most sur- real moment of my life up to this point." Anderson wasn't the only rider PRESSURE RELEASE It didn't outwardly seem like the pres- sure of the championship was wearing all that heavily on Jason Anderson, but the newly crowned champion revealed that he was definitely feeling it. "The whole off-season I just did what I felt was right and it really manifested into winning that championship, and that's all I thought about," said Anderson. "It's been a lot of pressure and I'm proud that I handled it decently. I have no words and I'm still kind of shocked on everything that has happened. I feel like I could've won more races; some of those races I was thinking about points and everything like that, so it was kind of tough to really send it." CIANCIARULO SITS OUT THE SUMMER Adam Cianciarulo surprised everyone after the Las Vegas race, saying he's been riding with a knee injury since last year's Indianapolis Supercross and will undergo surgery to have it repaired, which means he will not compete in the upcoming Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. "Tonight I rode like I had nothing to lose," Cianciarulo said. "I've had a torn ACL for a year…I've worn the menis- cus away. I completely tore my ACL at Indianapolis when Osborne and I got into it, and it was fine all last summer, it was kind of okay, then I hyper-extend- ed it again at the USGP…ever since then it's been filling up with fluid pretty much every time I ride; everyday life it's fine, I don't feel it too much, but I don't think I would make it through the outdoors. Every time I dab it, it's pretty terrible pain and I can't ride for a few days. It's just time [to get surgery]." He plans to be back for AMA Supercross in 2019. Briefly...