Zach celebrates his first with with his wife Brittney and his daughter Emory. Photos by: Chase Yocom
A week ago, at the opening round of the 2017 Eastern Regional 250SX Supercross Championship in Minneapolis, Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne didn’t get the win, but the #16 was the fastest rider from the opening qualifier through the main event. Zach finished third after a crash, and left round one with a head full of confidence that he had everyone covered in the speed department. He brought that newfound confidence into Atlanta on Saturday night and parlayed it into a dominant first ever main event win at round two.
Winning your first ever main event 11 years and 49 main events after your first attempt is memorable in itself, but doing it at the same stadium that you won a KTM Jr. SX Challenge at 19 years ago is no doubt a whole other level of gratification. 19 years ago, Zach lined up for the KJSC on a 50cc KTM as an eight year-old inside the Georgia Dome and started the SX dream with a win. With the Georgia Dome getting demolished later this year, Zach made his last chance at reliving that moment as a professional count.
After Zach’s win, MotoXAddicts’ Chase Yocom talked to the very excited main event winner.
I believe they said this is your 49th start. To finally get that first win has got to be a huge weight off your shoulder.
Oh, for sure. After Budds Creek [win] this year, that should have taken weight off of me, but this was still in the back of my mind. To finally pull it off is unreal.
Well, I was at Budds Creek and I’m here. Maybe I’m your good luck charm. (laughs)
I know. (laughs)
You got off to a pretty good start. You had the Troy Lee Designs guys in front of you and made some pretty quick passes. You almost rode the whole race by yourself.
Once I got into the lead, it was pretty easy. I just kind of rode my own race and managed my lead a little bit once I got a little bit out there. I can’t complain about any of it. It was a great night.
In the last lap as you bring it in for your first win, can you talk about what was going through your mind?
Yeah, with like three or four to go, I felt pretty comfortable with my gap. There weren’t a lot of lappers in between me and the finish line. Just going around on the last lap, I kind of took it easy. I can’t really put it into words. It was really unreal. It’s still unreal right now. It’s a blessing to have the opportunity.
A lot of guys nowadays don’t want to celebrate too early, but you were throwing fist bumps over the triple and everything. (laughs)
After the triple, I only had one whoop section left, which may have been the sketchiest part of the whole track, but I went for it anyways.
How hard was the track for you? Obviously the whoop section was crazy. The Georgia clay seemed to hold up fairly well, but then there were spots that were down to the cement.
I found the track awesome. Both weekends so far, nobody has been real pumped on them, but our tracks at the training facility [Bakers Factory] are gnarly and I think I’m more used to it. Tonight was really good for me, and I enjoyed the track and the dirt. I was a little nervous in practice. I’m not gonna lie, this week felt a little different. I was not quite as spunky. Maybe feeling a little pressure and I really, really, really, really wanted to win this and I was letting it get to me a little bit. I got a win in the heat race, just cleaned it up in the main and won.
Aldon Baker’s boys 1-1 tonight in the 450 and the 250. Not sure if that’s been done before, but that’s pretty cool too.
Yeah, I don’t know if he’s done that before, but he’s a successful dude. He kind of is our backbone right now, so it’s good to repay him with some wins.
Did he have anything to say to you after the win?
He’s stoked for me. We work hard, and I just try to do the right thing all the time. It’s paying off.
What did Brittney and Emory [Zach’s wife and daughter] have to say to you? (laughs)
Brittany cried a lot, and I cried a little bit. I think with Emory, she’s too young to quite understand it, but it’s good for her to be here and we’ll have the memory down the road.
I saw the Ayrton Senna celebration again. I love it. What was it like to be on that top step of the podium?
Awesome! I don’t know why, but when I watched the movie I thought, “That’s so cool. No one does that.” It’s so cliche to spray the Monster Girls or whatever, so I just felt like it’s a cool thing to do. He’s an unbelievable champion, so it’s cool.
Congratulations and good luck. Take that momentum into next weekend.
Thanks, man.
