The Monster Energy Supercross series made its third and final stop at Angel Stadium for round five of the 250SX West Region Championship.
And after some red-flag issues that caused restarts, Yamaha’s Cooper Webb earned his third win of the season. Joining him on the podium was KTM’s Jessy Nelson and Webb’s teammate, Aaron Plessinger.
The track was slightly different than the rest of the courses seen so far in the championship, and featured moist dirt, a 180-degree sand corner, and an elevated start.
The start itself proved to be a key factor in the racing as a malfunctioning gate held Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne at the line while the rest of the competition blasted into the first corner.
It wasn’t until lap six that the AMA officials red flagged the race in order to conduct a restart. Upon further examination, Osborne’s gate did indeed malfunction as his front tire was not up against it to prevent it from falling.
Prior to the restart, GEICO Honda’s Matt Bisceglia pulled the holeshot after spending two rounds on the sidelines as a result of not being able to pass a concussion test deeming him healthy enough to race. Bisceglia held the lead until lap five when he was passed by Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb in the sand section. The red flag was waved shortly after, with Webb throwing his hands up in the air, clearly upset at having the lead and having to restart the race.
During the restart, Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/KTM’s Jessy Nelson grabbed the holeshot. Nelson was undoubtedly happy about the restart as he was buried in the pack in the red flagged race. Cooper Webb got another great start following Nelson around the first corner along with his teammate, Aaron Plessinger and Matt Bisceglia behind him.
After stalking the KTM rider for eight laps, Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb made the pass on Nelson through the whoop section to take the lead where he would remain for the rest of the race to take his third victory of the season.
“I finally got some killer starts. We came out here and just really wanted to win tonight” said Webb. For my teammate and the whole Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha team, it’s pretty cool to finish 1st and 3rd. It was a spectacular night. I really enjoy Anaheim. I didn’t do good here at the first race, but the second and third were spectacular.”
Jessy Nelson kept his championship hopes alive with a 2nd place finish to secure 2nd place in the point standings as well. “The restart was great for me as I sucked on the first start” said Nelson. “Finishing in 1st place would have been a lot better tonight, but I’ll take what I can get. Cooper (Webb) rode really good and I just made a couple of mistakes and rode tight. A 2nd is not bad and I will take it.”
Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha rookie Aaron Plessinger has been steadily improving since the first round and was able to card his best finish of the season and his pro career with a 3rd place. After starting the race in 4th, he was able to gain one position passing Zach Osborne to take the final podium spot.
“I got off to a medium start on the first start and then it was red flagged” said Plessinger. “I got off to a great start on the restart coming into the first corner in 4th place. I battled with Zach Osborne for the first half of the race and then got by him. It was smooth sailing from there. The whole Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha team is just stoked right now. We rode great and there will be many more podiums from us to come.”
Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/KTM’s Shane McElwrath, Motorsport.com Kawasaki’s Josh Hansen, Red Bull KTM’s Justin Hill, CycleTrader.com/Rock River/Yamaha’s Alex Martin, and Strikt/Slayton/Yamaha’s Cole Martinez rounded out the top ten, respectively.
Former Arenacross champion Tyler Bowers had a night he would rather forget. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider was running in fifth place on lap four, but fell far back in the field after going over the bars at the end of the rhythm section.
While he was able to remount his Kawasaki KX250F, he was only able to salvage a 15th place finish. He now sits 27-points behind series leader, Cooper Webb.
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Western Regional 250SX Results – Round 5 – Anaheim
1. Cooper Webb – Yamaha YZ250F
2. Jessy Nelson – KTM 250 SX-F Factory Edition
3. Aaron Plessinger – Yamaha YZ250F
4. Zach Osborne – Husqvarna FC250
5. Matt Bisceglia – Honda CRF250R
6. Shane McElwrath – KTM 250 SX-F Factory Edition
7. Josh Hansen – Kawasaki KX250F
8. Justin Hill – KTM 250 SX-F Factory Edition
9. Alex Martin – Yamaha YZ250F
10. Cole Martinez – Yamaha YZ250F
11. Jackson Richardson – Honda CRF250R
12. Tommy Hahn – Honda CRF250R
13. Zack Freeburg – Yamaha YZ250F
14. Chris Alldredge – Kawasaki KX250F
15. Tyler Bowers – Kawasaki KX250F
16. Trevor Reis – Yamaha YZ250F
17. Malcolm Stewart – Honda CRF250R
18. Ryan Breece – Yamaha YZ250F
19. Austin Politelli – Yamaha YZ250F
20. Blake Lilly – KTM 250 SX-F
21. Zach Bell – Husqvarna FC250
22. Johnny Jelderda – Honda CRF250R
2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Western Regional 250SX Season Standings
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha, 111
- Jessy Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., KTM, 93
- Zach Osborne, Chesterfield, S.C., Husqvarna, 87
- Tyler Bowers, Corona, Calif., Kawasaki, 84
- Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., KTM, 78
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha, 74
- Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Honda, 68
- Shane McElrath, Canton, N.C., KTM, 64
- Josh Hansen, Elbert, Colo., Kawasaki, 61
- Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha, 59
