Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2 / MAY 26, 2018 GLEN HELEN RACEWAY / SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA P72 iii My Own Race: 23 AARON PLESSINGER 1ST 250MX (1-1) "This week [after Hangtown], we pretty much worked on sprint speed," said 250MX winner Aaron Plessinger. "That is where these guys excel, and I worked on that. [Plus] I really jelled with this track, everything was work- ing great—I'm not really sure what the change was [from Hangtown to Glen Helen]. I just felt really good today. I got two really good starts." 91 ALEX RAY 18TH 450MX (19-12) Alex Ray made his factory debut for the Monster Energy Yamaha team at Glen Helen, and it was an eventful one. He qualified 13th, then in the first moto he went down trying to avoid Christian Craig's downed motorcycle on the backside of a tabletop on the opening lap. He got up 38th and scored points, then ran in the top 10 for most of the second moto. "I was definitely nervous coming in," Ray said. "I had a rough morning but we turned it around after the first moto. We came pretty much from last place to score points, so that was a big confidence booster for me. Coming into the second moto, I just knew I had to get a good start and make it through the first lap and put myself in a good position and that's what I did. I ran ninth until three minutes to go and a couple people got by me, but I feel like 12th is solid for my first weekend." 17 JOEY SAVATGY 5TH 250SX (6-4) Joey Savatgy was in battles almost all day during his two motos but still managed to snare a very solid top-five finish. "All in all, today was a better day than the opening round, but we've got more to show and I'm hoping to make it happen next week," Savatgy said. "My starts didn't help today, either, so that's another thing we can focus on this week. I'm really looking forward to getting a fresh start in Colorado." 21 JASON ANDERSON 3RD 450MX (4-2) After winning his first 450SX title only a few weeks ago, Jason Ander- son seemed a little off at Hangtown a week ago, but at Glen Helen he qualified first, then led almost the entire second moto, only to fall victim to Eli Tomac in the final laps. "This weekend was definitely better than last weekend," Anderson said. "I qualified first, which was pretty cool. I started up front in the first moto, but I got a little tight so I ended up fourth. I pulled a big holeshot in the second moto and led all the way up until two laps to go until I got passed by Tomac. I got caught up with lappers a little bit, but at the same time, Eli was just crushing it out there. He closed that gap up on me and I was trying my hardest. I couldn't really see anything different to do, but he blew by me and I saw his lines and was like, 'I get it.' I understood how fast he was going." 39 WESTON PEICK 6TH 450MX (7-5) Autotrader/Yoshimura Suzuki's Weston Peick had a solid showing at his local track, despite nursing a hand injury. "Glen Helen is my hometown track, and I would have liked to do better," Peick said. "The conditions were pretty tough on my hand, with all of the uphills and downhills. The track put a lot of stress on my hand, which took me out of my groove. The first moto went fairly well. It took me some time to find a good pace, and I ended up in seventh. We made some suspension changes between motos and found some new things that will help for this upcoming weekend at Lakewood. The second moto at Glen Helen went quite a bit better. I moved into third for a few laps and settled into a pace. I'm happy with the result, given the circumstances of my hand."