Photos by: Chase Yocom

Over the weekend in Arlington, Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin became the fourth different 450SX winner in 2017 with the first 450SX win of his career. Marvin was joined on the podium by HRC / Honda’s Cole Seely in second and Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson in third. Dungey somehow increased his points lead by one point with a fourth place finish in Arlington.

In the 250SX class, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Justin Hill made it four wins in a row, but up until Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Shane McElrath’s mechanical failure late in the race it looked like Hill’s streak would end at three. Shane looked on his way to taking back the red plate heading into the break with his third victory of 2017, but instead he’s now back in third and trails Hill by 25 points.

Check out some post race quotes from Arlington below.

Marvin Musquin: (1st in 450SX) “Actually, I was super calm. I was trying to stay relaxed and not put any pressure on myself. I had a great start, and was basically pacing myself with the guys behind. I mean, I was looking behind and the gap was pretty good. Cooper [Webb] was behind and I guess he crashed. I was looking behind and Cole was second. I was just doing my own thing and doing my laps. I was just staying calm. It happened, I didn’t make any big mistakes, and stay on the bike. Last year in Atlanta I had the pressure of Ryan Dungey behind me, and today I was pretty much by myself. So it’s kind of not weird, but defiantly more relaxed. If I had have won in Atlanta last year it probably would have been more crazy than today, with the pressure of Ryan behind. I am really happy.”

Justin Hill celebrates his fourth win in a row.
Justin Hill celebrates his fourth win in a row.

Justin Hill: (1st in 250SX) “Today was awesome. Fastest qualifier, won my heat after a great battle with Austin and capped it off with a victory in the Main Event. My start was pretty solid, I worked my way up through the field and unfortunately the leader had bike issues, but I was there to capitalize and I’m happy with another win. Four in a row and the red plate going into the break feels good!”

 

Jason Anderson: (3rd in 450SX) “I qualified well all day. It was a good day. I felt good and it was definitely a step in the right direction. I feel like I need to be on the podium every week. I had a rough few weeks, but I’m 100% healthy now with my arm. I just put in some good laps in the main. I had an incident in the heat race when I got hit by another bike and my bike ended up doing a 1080 – so I had to take it back to get repaired. I was able to come back and make it in the semi. Then I got a decent start in the main, put head down and moved forward and got into third. I was all by myself out there, and just rode it home for a podium. I’m really looking for that win – I know I can win – and that’s the goal for next week.”

 

Austin Forkner: (2nd in 250SX) “I had a lot of fun today. I was pumped to leave the west coast races behind and race on some dirt I’m used to. I trained in Oklahoma all week and had some fun before heading to Texas for this weekend. I’m obviously stoked on my best supercross finish yet, and now I get to take some time off before heading to Seattle.”

Ryan Dungey finished 4th, but still managed to see his lead in the Championship grow.
Ryan Dungey finished 4th, but still managed to see his lead in the Championship grow.

Ryan Dungey: (4th in 450SX) “Overall it was a good night. Obviously our positioning wasn’t the best off the restart but I gave it my all to fight my way back up there. We caught a couple breaks to move into 4th and all-in-all we made up some ground in the big picture.”

 

Aaron Plessinger: (3rd in 250SX) “It was pretty hectic. I had to go around some hay bales and then get back on the track. I don’t even know how many people I passed, but it was a lot. I had to dodge the carnage, it was crazy. I came through and got 3rd. I’m happy to be on the box.”

 

Trey Canard: (11th in 450SX) “It was really nice to be back on the bike. I actually hadn’t gotten any races under my belt until tonight so it was good to put some time out there. I felt good on the bike all day, although I’m not quite where I want to be fitness/speed wise. But I feel like the next few races we can get things to where we want them and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”

 

Martin Davalos: “I would say the night went alright. It’s just that during the main event Hill got checked up before the triple, and I was committed to it, and just decided last minute to not do it and just cased it pretty hard. I wanted to pull off. My back was out and my thumb was messed up so I was just trying my hardest to get some points. I did my best and got seventh. Luckily I’m going into a break so I can work on everything and recover a little bit. Hopefully I can do some 450 rounds, if not I’ll be ready to battle until the end.”

Austin's 2nd in Arlington was another career milestone for the rookie.
Austin’s 2nd in Arlington was another career milestone for the rookie.

Justin Bogle: “This weekend in Dallas went quite a bit better than the last few weeks have gone. The bike felt good and I’m feeling healthy again. I got great starts all night. I won my first heat race of the year, which was great for confidence. I got the holeshot in the main event and came around up front. I got passed a few times and ended up going down but still finished out the race in ninth. It was a bit of a rough main event but all in all the day was quite a bit better and we made a lot of progress. I’m feeling good about everything moving forward.”

 

Eli Tomac: (15th in 450SX) “We started off really well today. We had some trouble in our heat but recovered strong in our semi. In the main my start after the red flag was much better. I felt pretty strong until my front end issue. I knew that recovering as best as possible could be key at the end of the championship, so I dug deep and fought all the way to the end. It’s a long season and we still have a lot of laps left.”

 

Jimmy Decotis: (4th in 250SX) “For sure! I thought I was fifth. I didn’t know Shane [McElrath] had a problem, so I feel like tonight was a fifth. Just bad fortune for Shane. I know that’s racing, but I want to be better than that. My laps are good enough to be better than that, so I just have to keep working on it. I got a little tight in that main event in my arms. That affected me a lot, but I know I can do it. I ride smooth and I feel confident when I’m up there with those guys—I’m never freaking out. It’s just the little things that’s keeping me off that podiums, and wanting it so bad is probably hurting me a little bit too. I need to just let it flow like I do during the week. I have seven weeks to bask in the glow of another 4th place (laughs). We’ll come back in Seattle.”

 

Dean Wilson: (5th in 450SX) “The night didn’t start off amazing, but it ended up being really good. It took a little while to get going in the heats and semis, but then in the main I got a decent start and just tried to ride smooth and consistent every lap. I ended up with a fifth, which I’m over the moon about. It’s almost like a win to me just because it’s been a rough couple years – so I’m stoked.”

Dean Wilson surprised everyone with a 5th in just his second race on the Rockstar / Husky.
Dean Wilson surprised everyone with a 5th in just his second race on the Rockstar / Husky.

Jeremy Martin: (6th in 250SX) “Tough race in Dallas. Struggled on the gate again, had to come from behind in the main to sixth. I can’t tell you how many starts I’ve practiced in the last three or four weeks! I’ll have to just keep working on them. Looking forward to the break to build and get better.”

 

Cole Seely: (2nd in 450SX) “This is where I feel like I can be each week. I know this is a long season and we’re only just finishing Round 6, but I’m really happy with how we’ve progressed so far. We’ll keep putting our heads down and chipping away at the points.”

 

Broc Tickle: (6th in 450SX) “I got a good start. There was a lot of chaos but I put myself in a good place to ride some clean, solid laps for the whole race and ended up finishing sixth. It was a big improvement from the last few weeks. I’m looking forward to making some more progress and seeing what we can do to get better. I felt like I was riding smoother and more like how I ride during the week. I was pumped to be riding more consistently and feeling like myself.”

 

Author

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