Fans at the Georgia Dome were treated to a solid night of racing from the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX class, though the eventual winner did not have them sitting on the edge of their seats. Still, the series is far from over, and the top three riders are keeping things interesting. Let’s see who came out on the Upside, or Downside, this past weekend.
2015 Atlanta II 250SX Commentary, Upside
Marvin Musquin – Red Bull KTM: Making last week’s result look like a mere hiccup, Musquin returned to form at Atlanta II with a decisive win, starting with the Supercrosslive.com Holeshot Award and ending with an unopposed 4.3-second margin over second place. Having gone down in his Heat on the last lap, Musquin was clearly happy to have regrouped for the Main, saying from the podium, “I’m really proud of myself because I mean, it’s tough when you do a bad heat race, you get back to the truck and you’re so mad you don’t want to talk to anybody. I was actually acting a little bad with my wife, but she was hard on me, but everybody was hard on me! The track was tough, the whoops were sketchy.”
Jeremy Martin – Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha: Martin didn’t turn in back-to-back wins at Atlanta, but he did the next best thing, collecting second place points at Atlanta II after his win last week. Martin slips a few points farther away from Musquin, but builds his lead to three points over Justin Bogle; it’s tight quarters between the top three riders in the first third of the season, which we fans like. Said Martin from the podium, “Marvin got the holeshot, he put himself in a very good position tonight and I need to get on it more and get out front…I tried to run Marvin down, but he was the better man tonight.”
Jimmy Decotis – Team Riverside Harley-Davidson Honda: After two sub-par races where he finished 15th and 16th, Decotis skipped the Top 10 at Atlanta II and put his CRF250R into the top five by tripling out of a rhythm section on the last lap, putting a very hard pass on Arnaud Tonus to nab a fifth-place result. Great result for the five-year veteran, who said he had been thinking of hanging it up after last week’s performance.
Two Guys: Making the Main for the first time this season, recent Amsoil Arenacross “Road to Supercross” grad Joshua Cartwright rode to an 18th place finish at Atlanta II. Joining him for his first Main event of the season was Bryce Stewart, finishing in 21st. Both riders were mounted on Yamaha YZ250Fs.
2015 Atlanta II 250SX Commentary, Downside
Martin Davalos – Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna: In a series as short as Monster Energy 250SX Supercross, one has to string together good results immediately to be a contender. Davalos has not done that, despite flashes of speed. His sixth place finish aboard his FC 250 was two positions lower than at Atlanta I. “I didn’t get a great start,” said Davalos. “I got pushed
around. I was in the back of the pack and, on this tight track, it was hard to get around people. The bike was good, but I rode tight and just have to work on some things. It’s definitely a struggle knowing that last year I was running up front. I look forward to improving on this weekend.”
Matt Lemoine – JAB Motorsports Kawasaki: Falling out of the top ten this weekend, Lemoine went down on the second lap and found himself working his KX250F from last place to a 12th place finish. Staying focused on the positives, Lemoine tweeted, “Not bummed on my riding just on the result. Guess I thought I was in Cozumel playing in the sand. Thanks for the support.”
Vince Friese – SmarTop/MotoConcepts Honda: Friese’s night looked promising enough when he got the holeshot in his Heat, though he slipped back to fifth by the end of the six laps. Running in the same direction in the Main, Friese got off to a mid-pack start, but his CRF250R drifted backward the entire race, and his 13th place result dropped him out of the Top Ten for the first time this season.
Mitchell Oldenburg – Arma Energy/MotoSport.com Yamaha: What a difference a week makes — from the Upside last week, where he almost cracked the Top 10, to the Downside this week as he crashed in practice and had to sit out the rest of the night. Tweeted the frustrated rider, “No racing for me tonight, Knocked myself out first timed practice! Still a lot of positives to take from today!”
2015 Atlanta II 250SX Results from Georgia Dome, Round 3:
1. Marvin Musquin – KTM 250SX-F Factory Edition
2. Jeremy Martin – Yamaha YZ250F
3. Justin Bogle – Honda CRF250R
4. Joey Savatgy – Kawasaki KX250F
5. Jimmy Decotis – Honda CRF250R
6. Martin Davalos – Husqvarna FC 250
7. Arnaud Tonus – Kawasaki KX250F
8. Anthony Rodriguez – Yamaha YZ250F
9. RJ Hampshire – Honda CRF250R
10. Luke Renzland – Yamaha YZ250F
11. Kyle Peters – Honda CRF250R
12. Matt Lemoine – Kawasaki KX250F
13. Vince Friese – Honda CRF250R
14. Gannon Audette – Kawasaki KX250F
15. Kyle Cunningham – Honda CRF250R
16. Justin Starling – Yamaha YZ250F
17. Colt Nichols – Honda CRF250R
18. Joshua Cartwright – Yamaha YZ250F
19. Jace Owen – Honda CRF250R
20. Daniel Herrlein – Honda CRF250R
21. Bryce Stewart – Yamaha YZ250F
22. Dakota Alix – KTM 250SX-F
2015 Eastern Regional 250SX Class Season Standings (after 3 of 9 rounds):
1. Marvin Musquin, 72 points
2. Jeremy Martin, 65
3. Justin Bogle, 62
4. Joey Savatgy, 54
5. Martin Davalos, 45
6. Matt Lemoine, 39
7. Vince Friese, 38
8. Arnaud Tonus, 38
9. RJ Hampshire, 38
10. Anthony Rodriguez, 34
11. Kyle Peters, 29
12. Jimmy Decotis, 27
13. Luke Renzland, 20
14. Gannon Audette, 19
15. Justin Starling, 15
16. Colt Nichols, 14
17. Mitch Oldenburg, 11
18. Dakota Alix, 9
19. Kyle Cunningham, 7
20. Brady Kiesel, 6