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MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 1 / MAY 19, 2018 RANCHO CORDOVA, CALIFORNIA / PRAIRIE CITY SVRA PARK P68 iii My Own Race: 4 BLAKE BAGGETT 5TH (7-4) 450MX Rocky Mountain ATV-MC KTM's Blake Baggett came into Hangtown a title threat after leading the points during the 2017 championship, and although his day wasn't as awesome as he'd likely hoped, he did better at round one than he did last year. "It's the first round, so it's a long season," Baggett said. "Last year, we were kind of in the same spot. I think we went 9-6 here and then had the red plate by round four, so just got to get things going. We're on a whole new bike and I haven't been in the swing of outdoors. We've been in supercross [mode] and I feel that I know what I need to fix and we'll be there soon." 21 JASON ANDERSON 4TH (4-6) 450MX Newly crowned 450MX Supercross Champion Jason Anderson has never won an AMA National moto, and at Hangtown he definitely looked like he has a few things to figure out after concentrating so much on winning the Supercross title. "I mean, my starts were good today, my first half of the races were good, but after that I was pretty much trash," Anderson said. "But we'll figure it out. We'll come out swinging at Glen Helen and try and figure it out." 51 JUSTIN BARCIA 3RD (3-3) 450MX Justin Barcia had a very strong showing at Hangtown, putting in a solid 3-3 and at times challenging the two racers who beat him on the day. "I got a little tight in the be- ginning of the [second] race," Barcia said. "I was definitely frustrated because I wanted that podium bad today and then I loosened up a little. My whole Monster Energy Yamaha team did a great job today. This is going to be a really good year. I'm having a lot of fun on the bike and the track was typical Hangtown. It's a great place to race." 23 AARON PLESSINGER 3RD (3-4) 250MX Aaron Plessinger came into Hangtown as a championship favorite after winning his first 250SX title a couple weeks earlier, and although the day could have gone better, he was in the mix all day. "I got off to a pretty bad start in the first moto and pushed my way up to third," Plessinger said. "Got out front the second moto and just didn't really ride like I knew how to and kind of faded back a little bit. Once I got my groove it was almost too late, so going to have to go back and do some homework. I've done my work this season. I'm ready to battle with these guys. I'm ready to be up here every weekend." 62 JUSTIN COOPER 5TH (5-9) 250MX Justin Cooper has been wowing trackside observers with his raw outdoor speed for weeks leading up to the Hangtown opener and expectations were high. He got the holeshot in the first moto and led a handful of laps, but without a lot of experience lead- ing a national moto, he ended up fading a bit at the end to finish fifth. He got knocked around a bit back in the pack in the second moto and was only able to muster ninth, but fifth overall was a solid start for his championship. 182 GARRETT MARCHBANKS 10TH (12-6) 250MX Rookie Garrett Marchbanks made his pro debut at Hangtown and came away with a top-10 finish. He also scored a very solid sixth place in the second moto. "Today was good," Marchbanks said. "Our goal was to leave here top-10 and that's exactly what we accomplished, so I'm happy. I tried to not let my nerves get the best of me, and once I got out on the track I knew I belonged here."

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