VOL. 55 ISSUE 22 JUNE 5, 2018 P59
ment. The riders regrouped for the restart based on
their running positions.
On the restart, it was Ken Roczen (Honda HRC)
and Blake Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/
WPS KTM) who led the field up the main hill. Barcia
managed a third, followed by Tomac. Baggett, last
year's winner, ended up falling and giving up several
positions, which included letting Tomac by, who was
soon on the heels of Roczen.
This is the way the field played out until the closing
minutes when Tomac finally got around Roczen to
take the lead. When he did, the Colorado fans erupt-
ed in cheers that followed Tomac all the way around
the track. Roczen then came under fire from a reju-
venated Baggett, but managed to keep a small gap
between them. Tomac won the moto with Roczen
second and Baggett third. Trailing them was Mus-
quin, who had gotten around Barcia; the Yamaha
rider was not quite able to get the groove going that
had him leading before the red flag. Benny Bloss
(Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS KTM) and Weston
Peick (Autotrader/Yoshimura Suzuki) finished sixth
and seventh, respectively, with Phil Nicoletti finishing
ANDERSON SIDELINED
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team,
like most elite-level factory race teams,
utilizes Glen Helen Raceway for both
practicing and testing on Thursdays.
Unfortunately, that particular SoCal
tradition has now cost the team both
its 450MX stars. First, it was Dean
Wilson who collided with a rider in
midair and blew out his knee, end-
ing his season prior to the Hangtown
National, and now it's newly crowned
450SX Champion Jason Anderson,
who according to multiple witnesses,
collided with another rider while he
and the other rider were both actually
off the track. Apparently, as everyone
on the track was routed off the track
and around another downed rider
who was still on the track, one of the
riders sharing the infield with Ander-
son realized his friend was the person
down and turned instinctually to go
toward him, but that put him right in
Anderson's path and the two collided.
Anderson had surgery on his foot on
Friday and the team hopes he'll be
back before the end of the nationals,
likely by Unadilla on August 11. Ander-
son wrote on Instagram: "A bump in
the road but I will be back as fast
as possible and I will race before
the season is over. Sorry everyone I
won't be making it this weekend, but
I will be back ASAP."
HE'LL TAKE IT
Blake Baggett was hoping to return to
his winning form that nabbed him the
win here last year, but he was happy to
leave the track on the podium in third.
"I've had luck here in the past and to
come away here with a 3-3 and get on
the podium today is good," Baggett
said. "I'll take anything I can get at this
moment. The first two rounds were
Briefly...
Ken Roczen
celebrates his
second-place
finish from the
450MX podium.
It was well
deserved.
