2017 Seattle Supercross 250SX Results and Coverage |
Plessinger, Hill, and Oldenburg Podium
Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger claimed his first victory of the season at CenturyLink Field in the Seattle round of the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX West regional series. The Pacific Northwest round delivered a technical track that rutted up significantly due to a soft, rocky soil composition.
The Main Event began with a holeshot by GEICO Honda’s Jimmy Decotis, and Plessinger working his way from fourth to first before a red flag forced a restart as a result of crashes from 51Fifty Yamaha’s Noah McConahy and Proven Moto Honda’s Chase Marquier. McConahy reported on Instagram that he had broke his L5 vertebrae, but says he will recover and return to racing.
On the restart, it was Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Martin Davalos who claimed the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot ahead of Decotis and Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Shane McElrath. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Justin Hill, the championship points leader, started fourth while Plessinger slotted himself into fifth.
Davalos set the pace out front on his FC 250 as Decotis and McElrath battled for second. Hill closed the gap on them and eventually found his way into third on the first lap and quickly made his way past Decotis for second, taking control of the position on the same lap.
Hill wasn’t the only rider near the front making moves. After making the pass for fourth, Plessinger moved into podium position after getting around Decotis on the second lap. Plessinger then set his sights on Hill, and battled his way past him the following lap. A lap later, Plessinger made quick work of Davalos to move into the lead. Like Plessinger, Hill made a pass on Davalos, moving into second place position on Lap 5.
Plessinger and Hill both remained unchallenged for their positions while Davalos dropped back after getting passed by Decotis on Lap 7 and Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Mitchell Oldenburg on Lap 9. Oldenburg and Decotis battled for the final podium position, with Oldenburg getting around Decotis on Lap 12 of 14.
Plessinger took his first win of the 2017 season and the second of his career by 6.3 seconds over his nearest competitor.
“I got out front the first time and then they red flagged it. I thought to myself, ‘I can’t catch a break,’“ Plessinger said. “But, I did it again and put my Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha out front, and it was amazing. I haven’t won a race this year, and it feels great to finally get back on top of the box.”
Hill’s runner-up finish ended a four-race winning streak for the championship leader, who has finished off the podium just once in the seven 250SX West Region races so far this season. Rounds in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas remain.
“The track was pretty crazy tonight,” Hill said. “Early on I fell into my groove and did what I needed to do to stay safe. I was a bit more conservative than I probably had to be, but I doubt that increasing the risk would have benefitted me. I have an 18-point lead in the championship now with two races to go, so I’m happy with where we are.”
Seattle was Oldenburg’s first race back after breaking his collarbone at Round 2 in San Diego.
“It’s amazing to be up here [on the podium],” Oldenburg said. “We had an amazing off season and the whole team put in a lot of work. It was a big bummer to get hurt right after the season start and I just put my head down once I got back on the bike. This is where I want to be; I do want to win. I don’t know what it was, but at the start of the week I just had a good feeling about this race. I’m really excited.”
Plessinger was able to take three points out of his deficit to Hill in the Western Regional standings, but 18 points separate the pair with two races remaining. McElrath, who won the first two rounds of the series, and made the podium in the first five races, finished in fifth place. He is 31 points behind leader Hill and four points ahead of Davalos.
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner missed the race due to a hip injury earlier in the week. Forkner, who was coming off a second place finish at the previous round, drops to sixth in the Monster Energy Supercross 250SX West Region Series.
Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX West Region Results – Round 14 – Seattle
- Aaron Plessinger – Yamaha YZ250F
- Justin Hill – Kawasaki KX250F
- Mitchell Oldenburg – KTM 250SX-F
- Martin Davalos – Husqvarna FC250
- Shane McElrath – KTM 250SX-F
- Jimmy Decotis – Honda CRF250R
- Hayden Mellross – Yamaha YZ250F
- Kyle Chisholm – Honda CRF250R
- Cole Martinez – Yamaha YZ250F
- Justin Hoeft – Yamaha YZ250F
- Dan Reardon – Yamaha YZ250F
- Jon Ames – Yamaha YZ250F
- Justin Starling – Husqvarna FC250
- Josh Hansen – Husqvarna FC250
- Ryan Breece – Kawasaki KX250F
- Ryan Surratt – Kawasaki KX250F
- Chris Howell – Husqvarna FC250
- Zac Commans – Kawasaki KX250F
- AJ Catanzaro – Yamaha YZ250F
- Heath Harrison – Yamaha YZ250F
- Chase Marquier – Honda CRF250R
- Noah McConahy – Yamaha YZ250F
Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX West Region Standings (after 7 of 9 rounds)
- Justin Hill, 150 points (4 wins)
- Aaron Plessinger, 142 (1 win)
- Shane McElrath, 129 (2 wins)
- Martin Davalos, 124
- Jimmy Decotis, 106
- Austin Forkner, 90
- Dan Reardon, 82
- Kyle Chisholm, 73
- Cole Martinez, 64
- Jeremy Martin, 55