CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 55 ISSUE 18 MAY 8, 2018 P65
that Cianciarulo lost a 250SX
title by two points.
Osborne (Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna) didn't need any last-
lap heroics to win the 250SX
East title like he did last year.
Instead, Osborne held a safe
lead over Jordon Smith (Geico
Honda) going into the final
round and a top-11 finish would
give him back-to-back titles. He,
too, avoided any first-turn mis-
haps—unlike last year—and plant-
"I had a moment," Pless-
inger said. "I swapped out on the
straightaway, so after that I said,
'time to back it down.'"
It's the second year in a row
on occasions and just kind of manage
things. For me, this one had a little
different look on how to win a champi-
onship."
MOVING ON UP
Zach Osborne will now step up to the
450SX class. It will be his first AMA
big-bore race ever when he lines
up for the start at Hangtown in two
weeks. "I will be 29 when I start my
first 450 race as a rookie," Osborne
said. "My main focus is to go out
there and do my best to not do the
rookie pitfalls, if you will, and just be a
solid guy in the top five and hopefully
contest for some podiums and wins. I
don't really know. To say I'm going to
go out there and win the champion-
ship is pretty big—definitely not ready
to state that. I'd like to go out there
and see what I got."
SHE SAID YES
While celebrating the 250SX East
Championship Aaron Plessinger pro-
posed to his girlfriend—she said yes.
So, it was quite a memorable night for
the new champ.
Briefly...
(Above) Zach Osborne successfully
defended the 250SX East
Championship. No last-lap heroics
this time. A seventh in the main
sealed the deal. (Left) Adam
Cianciarulo waited until the last round
to get his first win of the year in what
was an impressive performance.
ed himself safely in the middle of
the field, while Smith worked his
way into second. Osborne even-
tually climbed to seventh which
was more than enough for him
to retain the number-one plate.
Osborne finished out the sea-
son eight points ahead of Smith
and 21 points ahead of Smith's
teammate Jeremy Martin, who
was fifth in the race after holding
second for the first seven laps.
McElrath slipped back to third
