Eli was a different rider at round four. All Photos by: Chase Yocom

When the winner of the first two 450SX main events of the season—HRC / Honda’s Ken Roczen—went out injured at round number three, a reset button was hit on the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, and the reboot at the 2017 Glendale SX was incredible. Don’t take me wrong; we at MotoXAddicts along with the fans are not enthused about losing the most polarizing and possibly the most talented rider in the sport to a brutal injury, but the racing it inevitably created at round four of the 450SX Supercross Championship was nothing short of amazing.

Over the first three rounds, Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac and Monster Energy / Yamaha’s Chad Reed had not even sniffed the podium, but at round four, they were completely different riders. Eli pulled a very uncharacteristic holeshot and was gone. The #3 pulled out to an 18-second lead at one point and cruised in for his first win of the season, while the 34-year-old Reed came from a sixth place start to catch and pass Red Bull / KTM’s Ryan Dungey and finish second on the night. Dungey went on to finish third, and in his Dungey’esque way, was still able to stretch his points lead to 15.

Chad Reed was on fire in Glendale.
Chad Reed was on fire in Glendale.

In the battle for the fastest lap times of the night, the top three mimicked the results with Eli (59.181) on top and Chad (1:00.230) and Ryan (1:00.238) off Eli’s pace but very close to one another. On what was by far the best race track of the season, Eli was more than a second a lap faster than anyone, and even more impressive, the #3’s average lap time (1:00.989) was faster than the fifth fastest single lap of the night. Whatever arm pump Eli had the first three rounds was definitely not a factor at round four.

The fourth and fifth fastest laps of the night belonged to the fifth and eighth place finishers in the main event: Rocky Mountain ATV/MC / KTM’s Davi Millsaps (1:00.315) and Monster Energy / Yamaha’s Cooper Webb (1:01.200). Davi was very close in speed to Reed and Dungey’s times, but it took the #18 a while to get moving. In fact, Davi’s fastest lap—nearly a second faster than his 2nd fastest lap—was set on the final lap of the main while trying to catch HRC / Honda’s Cole Seely for fourth. Seely’s (1:01.269) fastest lap was the seventh fastest of the night, but he capitalized on a great start.

Seely #14 and Dungey #1 were locked in battles all night long in both the heat race and main event.
Seely #14 and Dungey #1 were locked in battles all night long in both the heat race and main event.


450SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.

Top 10 450SX Times Top 10 250SX Times
1. E. Tomac – 0:59.181
2. C. Reed – 1:00.230
3. R. Dungey – 1:00.238
4. D. Millsaps – 1:00.315
5. C. Webb – 1:01.200
6. J. Brayton – 1:01.228
7. C. Seely – 1:01.269
8. M. Musquin – 1:01.425
9. B. Baggett – 1:01.439
10. J. Anderson – 1:01.702
1. A. Plessinger – 1:01.842
2. S. Mcelrath – 1:01.870
3. J. Hill – 1:01.879
4. M. Davalos – 1:02.001
5. A. Forkner – 1:02.219
6. J. Decotis – 1:02.826
7. D. Reardon – 1:03.251
8. J. Hansen – 1:03.435
9. P. Nicoletti – 1:03.680
10. C. Martinez – 1:03.970

Full 2017 Glendale SX results here>>>

Justin Hill is beginning to cement his name at the top of the 250SX West Championship favorites list.
Justin Hill is beginning to cement his name at the top of the 250SX West Championship favorites list.

In the 250SX Western Regional Supercross Championship main event in Glendale, the red plate holder, Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Shane McElrath, got to the front early and checked out to a six-second lead over the two Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasakis Austin Forkner and Justin Hill who were battling for second. On lap seven, though, Hill passed and broke away from Forkner—who finished third—and set off after the #38. Over the next seven laps, Hill chewed away at the gap and, with just a lap and a half to go, made a pass stick on McElrath for the lead and the eventual win. It was an incredible show of desire from the #46 and one that cut McElrath’s lead in the points to just four.

Last weekend, Hill broke Star Racing / Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger’s fastest main event lap time streak for ’17, but Plessinger (1:01.842) was back on top with the fastest lap in Glendale. With Plessinger still struggling with starts, it doesn’t matter that he matched both McElrath (1:01.870) and Hill’s (1:01.879) speed because, by the time he got clear of the pack, they were gone. The top three fastest laps were separated by a mere three-thousandths of a second, but at the checkered flag, Aaron was still eight seconds back in fourth place. Even more telling, Hill had the fastest average lap time of 1:02.602 and Plessinger was just two-tenths off (1:02.837). The #23 can obviously run the pace, but if he wants to race for wins and the Championship, he better get those starts figured out.

The fourth and fifth fastest 250SX laps belonged Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos (1:02.001) and Forkner (1:02.219). Davalos finished the night in fifth after stalling while trying to stay in touch with the leaders. In stark contrast to Plessinger, Forkner used his holeshot and the fifth fastest lap time and the fourth fastest average lap time (1:03.169) to get his first career podium. Forkner has holeshotted his last two heat races and the last two main events and is holding the pace of the leaders longer each week.

Shane McElrath maintains a slim lead over Hill in the point standings.
Shane McElrath maintains a slim lead over Hill in the point standings.


250SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.

You can check out the top ten average 250 and 450 times from the 2017 Glendale SX below. Scroll down to see how the main events broke down lap-for-lap with MotoXAddicts’ lap-time comparison charts. Also, see how the top 3 250SX riders matched up against the top 3 450SX finishers lap-for-lap.


Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.

Updated 2017 250SX West and 450SX Championship Points>>>

Top 10 450SX Avg Lap-Times Top 10 250SX Avg Lap-Times
1. E. Tomac – 1:00.989
2. C. Reed – 1:01.317
3. R. Dungey – 1:01.604
4. D. Millsaps – 1:01.906
5. C. Seely – 1:01.989
6. B. Baggett – 1:02.225
7. J. Brayton – 1:02.306
8. C. Webb – 1:02.367
9. M. Musquin – 1:02.496
10. J. Anderson – 1:02.616
1. J. Hill – 1:02.602
2. S. Mcelrath – 1:02.678
3. A. Plessinger – 1:02.837
4. A. Forkner – 1:03.169
5. M. Davalos – 1:03.462
6. D. Reardon – 1:04.440
7. J. Hansen – 1:04.527
8. C. Martinez – 1:04.878
9. P. Nicoletti – 1:05.009
10. J. Decotis – 1:05.067


250SX vs 450SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.


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Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.