Annual Salt Lake City Supercross races draw fans from across area; heated competition going into Vegas finale

MONSTER MOTOCROSS MADNESS
    Motocross fans from Carbon and Emery counties trekked to the annual Monster Energy AMA Supercross races last Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
    Fans were not disappointed.
   Team Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Marvin Musquin took home the 450SX first place trophy with Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing’s Eli Tomac in second place and Rocky Mountain ATV/MC WPS KTM of Blake Baggett in third.
    Coming out of the gates, Baggett was quick to grab holeshot—the strongest start and quickest to get up to racing speed–with Musquin running a close second.
    Points leader Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson crashed in the first turn of the race after his front tire went into Tomac’s foot peg, breaking three spokes and sending him straight to the mechanics area for a tire change.
    “I actually felt Jason’s front wheel go into my foot peg. You know, going around the first corner I was like ‘Holy crap! What was that,’” Tomac said.
    Anderson could have secured the championship in Salt Lake City by racing just to get points he needed; Musquin didn’t even know his competition for points leader wrecked until after the race.  
    “Obviously towards the end I was going through lappers. I knew Jason would have kind of taken it easy today and got the points he needed. I was looking if he was ahead of me. But no, I only knew when the race was over,” Musquin said.
    As Tomac was battling to the top after a 10th place start, Musquin made the pass on Baggett for the lead after three laps. Musquin kept his lead throughout the rest of the race.
    Tomac finally found his groove and caught up to Baggett only to hit a tough block in the second turn with seven minutes left in the race, leaving him struggling in fourth place for a bit after Honda rider Christian Craig made a successful pass of.
    Tomac would recover by the checkered flag, passing Craig and Baggett and finally finishing in second place.
    “I just got a little impatient and tried to shoot up the inside and I actually think I clipped the tough block and then shot off to the right and then maybe tapped Blake’s rear tire or something and then just dumped it over,” Tomac said.
    Anderson finished seventeenth after going two laps down and holds a 14-point lead over Musquin heading into the season finale in Las Vegas.
    “Sometimes it’s not the fastest guy that wins the race,” Musquin said after the finish. “You’ve got to be very consistent. The whoops are really, really tough and you know I was just trying to be safe and get it done. I was happy to win here. It’s definitely not a track that suits me. It’s hard and slippery, but the bike was working good. It was a tough day for me, but that made me stronger.”
    In the 250SX class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s team members Joey Savatgy and Adam Cianciarulo lead the race until the second set of whoops. Troy Lee Designs Red Bull KTM’s Shane McElrath pinned it through the whoops to get first place, leaving Cianciarulo in second and Savatgy in third.
    “I definitely heard the battling going on, you hear the crowd and they react. I went from first to third in three whoops so that was about it for me,” Savatgy said.
    In the press conference after the race all 250SX rider were asked to go over their thoughts on the overall race and track conditions.
    “It definitely was a tough race. You really just had to wait on the mistake from the person in front of you. It was pretty fun honestly. It’s nice racing clean but racing hard. I know people have talked smack about Adam saying that he races them hard but if you do something stupid then you need to pay for it,” McElrath said during a press conference after the race.
    With the last lap left, Supercross fans were on the edge of their seat. Cianciarulo had finally figured out the whoop sections, gaining time on race leader McElrath. In the second set of the whoops, McElrath was pinched off by a lapper, leaving it down to one turn before the finish line. Cianciarulo went to the outside and McElrath took the inside just barley making it over the finish line before Cianciarulo pinned it through.
    “I knew he was that close. I played it safe in the first set because I felt like that that was my worse set. Then I caught up to a lapper so I wasn’t able to skim second set. I knew he was close but not really close to run it through,” McElrath said.
     Cianciarulo was only .455 seconds behind first as he jumped the finish line.
    “I almost wish it was little bit farther away. Now I’m thinking to myself, ‘Man I needed to pin it through those whoops that last lap,’” Cianciarulo said.
    The 250SX race next Saturday in Las Vegas will bring more of challenge to our West Coast riders as they compete against the East Coast riders for the ultimate showdown.
    “Throw in a whole other group of riders that want to win and you just have a whole different scenario,” Savatgy said.
    Anderson and Musquin will compete for the championship in Las Vegas with Anderson leading the season with 338 points, Musquin with 324, and Tomac at third so far with 292.