St. Louis round 12 Supercross wrap-up
We entered St. Louis this weekend for round 12 of Monster Energy Supercross and it was promising to be a weekend to remember. The round was scheduled full of action with it being a triple crown race, also having SX futures, and KTM Juniors on the schedule. So we would be treated seeing the best riders compete in three moto format, along with next generation of athletes compete in futures and the future generation in the junior program.
250SX Class Results
Leading into the weekend a main story line was the impressive performance in Seattle by Levi Kitchen and if he will continue to try and grab control over the 250 west class or would RJ Hampshire or someone else be able to prove a serious threat. Many of the top ten riders were participants in Friday’s press activities and looked comfortable with the track and conditions. When Saturday came around it was Levi that grabbed control over the night and the season points lead extending his lead to 15 points now over Hampshire in second place.
250 moto 1
We saw Kitchen and Beaumer at the front battling for the hole shot with Kitchen moving into the lead after just a couple of corners on the first lap. He was able to dart to the inside after the first rhythm section and make the pass for the lead. Beaumer was able to mount a challenge to Kitchen and briefly grab the lead for a short time before he was passed back by Kitchen and he settled into second for a couple of laps. It would not be an easy moto for Beaumer as he had Shimoda, Smith, and Hampshire all breathing down on him for a couple of laps. We saw one rider make a move to pass Beaumer and then the other two quickly followed leaving him three places back in just two corners. The first moto ended with the following Kitchen, Shimoda, and Smith taking the podium spots.
250 moto 2
The holeshot goes to DiFrancesco getting a much better start than the first one, but is quickly passed by Kitchen for the lead after the first jump section. About halfway through the first lap Smith makes the pass for second place pushing Ryder back to third. We saw Mosiman crash on the middle triple and did not remount the bike and appeared to be gimpy and wobly after the incident. He did not continue the moto and would not line up for the third moto either. At this point Shimoda is in sixth place and apply pressure to Phil, while Smith is able to stay near Kitchen for the first half of the moto. Levi has been jumping the whoops and it looks like the faster line while he is slowly build his lead to 2.5 seconds. Hampshire has been applying pressure to thrasther for fourth place and is able to make the pass in the whoops. Levi continues to stretch his lead to just over five seconds with around one minute left. Hampshire has been pressuring Shimoda late in the moto and showed him a wheel multiple time but just not able to attempt a pass.
250 moto 3
The final moto started similar to the other two but with Levi grabbing the holeshot instead of needing to make a quick move for the lead. Sitting in second place is Hampshire looking for a badly needed moto win if its there for him. On the start we saw Ryder run into the back of Julien and tip over into the tuff blocks loosing several positions. Around two minutes into the moto we see Levin, RJ, Shimoda, Smith running in the top four positions. By mid moto we see Levi continue to ride a smooth and near perfect race and building his lead to around three seconds over second place. The top five positions remained steady for last five minutes of the race while everything seemed to be in cruise control for the leaders. Levin one the final mote and completing the sweet of the triple crown for the overall 250 win.
450SX Class Results
Most fans and analysts had already come to the conclusion that it was Jett’s championship to loose at this point and baring a serious issue he was nearing being on cruise control. This would be a triple crown which Eli and Cooper are good at and there would not be any weather issues to affect the racing. After riding press day our photographer Nicholle message to say that Eli was looking very impressive at the press ride. The feeling was he is looking like the old Eli the one that dominated outdoors hurling himself into corners and pushing the bike hard. There is no winning press day but it was good to see Eli feeling more comfortable on the bike and looking for that elusive first win of the year.
450 moto 1
After the start we see Hunter Lawrence and Oldenburg running up front when Oldenburg comes up short on first triple slowing up and taking out a group of riders. Adam was involved in the crash and hurting his ankle that took him out of the moto and he did not race for the rest of the evening. There was a number of other riders include Chase Sexton involved in the pile up. On the first lap Hunter was in the lead and Eli was charging him hard for the lead. Entering the corner following the whoops Hunter slides out and goes down giving the lead to Eli with Plessinger and Roczen running behind him. Aaron was riding very well and applying pressure on Eli for the lead as we approached the halfway point of the moto. Webb did not get a good start and was running in eighth place behind Steward. Sexton was working his way from the back of the pack after the first lap crash and was running in thirteenth at the midway point. With Jett closing in on Ken for third place something mechanical seemed to happen to Kens bike slowing him down allowing Jett by after the whoops. Jett keeps charging and reels in Plessinger later in the moto for second place with about two minutes left and was siting about five seconds back from Eli. Webb was able to pass Barcia for fifth place with just seconds left in the moto and some lapped traffic slowed but Jett and Eli on the last lap allowing Jett to close the gap to Eli. The positions remained allowing Eli to win moto one with Jett in a close second.
450 Moto 2
To start the second moto we saw Jett get a great start and slightly edge out Eli for the Ghostbusters holeshot. Shortly after we see Justin Cooper briefly make the pass for the lead with Jett and Eli just behind him. There is a mix of jumping and skimming the whoops early in the race. It does not take long for Jett to grab the lead back from Justin and only to have Eli showing him a wheel in the next several corners. Eli is able to make the pass for second shortly later with Webb closing in on Cooper also. Eli is pressuring Jett pretty quickly only to loose some time in the long rhythm second and the lead seems to stabilize with Eli trailing by a second. The two upfront begin to stretch a gap over Webb in third place.
Eli consistently tripled into the corner before the whoops and it looked so much smoother than the double single most others were doing. With three minutes to go Chase was pressuring Cooper when he slips out in front of mechanic area and gives up fourth place to Chase. Around the one minute left mark Jett was able to build a three second lead over Eli. We also saw Sexton pressuring Anderson late in the moto for third place and a couple of laps later made a nice move on the inside to take third place. This moto was shaken up by the red cross flag being out on the checkered flag at the finish. Jett and four other riders jumped it changing the results which late would leave Eli with the official win of the moto.
450 Moto 3
Leaving nothing to chase we saw Tomac grab the holeshot in the final moto with Sexon and Webb close behind him on the first lap. The top three were looking great and riding a clean race when the point that changed the evening happened. Early in the moto we saw Jett cut down early in a corner trying to pass a few other riders while Barcia was coming in low and fast to the corner most likely trying to under cut someone for a pass. This lead the two to make a nasty collision sending Jett flying off the bike. Jett took a bit to get off and stood to the side of the track a bit while he gathered himself and noticeably in pain. Jett would rejoin the race but riding slower and just trying to preserve as many points as possible for the evening. Hunter was quietly running in fourth place and looking at a third overall finish for the night. Webb was pressuring Sexton for second place and was able to make the pass after Sexton missed a triple slowing him down. With just a lap to go, Eli had a three second lead and the fans were giving him a massive ovation as he worked his way around the stadium. He held on for the win and the clean sweep of the triple crown.
SX Futures Class
This was the third SX Futures race of the season and I have to say that the riders looked pretty impressive in the two qualifying sessions in the day. This lead to the thought we would see some good racing in the evening and was thinking these young athletes have really been putting in the hard work. The moto started with Gibson grabbing the holeshot and the top five or so places remained pretty tight. The front pack was jumping the whoops section and looked much safer for it. Gordon was able to make the pass for the lead comes up short on a rhythm section and goes down taking out a KTM rider with him. Around the mid point of the moto the number of tip overs and crashes had increased and it was hard to keep track of them other than following the reaction of the crowd and looking for the yellow flags. Adams was able to make the pass for the lead over Gordon around the four minutes remaining portion. His ability to stay fairly mistake free and keep riding forward lead him to the front and the win. This is the second win for Adams in SX Futures this year going back to back with his win at Daytona.
Midwest SX Riders
The midwest athletes continue to have strong representation in Supercross. There is a pretty even distribution between 250 and 450 riders and a large number making the 450 main and a long list making into both of the LCQ races. We hope to see more 250 riders make the main this year and there was even a couple of athletes in the SX Futures class.
Mark Fineis - 11th SX Futures
Jayden Clough - 12th SX Futures
Jaxen Driskell - 15th SX Futures
Preston Taylor - 9th 250 LCQ
Alex Nagy - 10th 250 LCQ
Josh Greco - 18th 250 LCQ
Deegan Hepp - 19th 250 LCQ
Carter Biese - 22nd 250 LCQ
Devin Simonson - 14th overall 250SX
Chase Sexton - 5th overall 450SX
Benny Bloss - 13th overall 450SX
Jeremy Hand - 18th overall 450SX
Vince Friese - 19th overall 450SX
Cade Clason - 20th overall 450SX
Mitchell Harrison - 5th 450 LCQ
Henry Miller - 8th 450 LCQ
Jerry Robin - 9th 450 LCQ
Zack Williams - 17th 450 LCQ
All Photos Credit: N. Suhr