The 2018 AMA Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada today for the final round with three Championships still up for grabs. Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger (13 point lead in 250 West), Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne (15 point lead in 250 East) and Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson (14 point lead in 450) all have double digit point leads, but in SX no lead is safe.
Today will definitely be testing the riders fitness with temperatures pushing the triple digits. With that, the track was super wet in the first free practices, but already we are seeing the blue grooves forming and the dust starting to show up. In the first 250SX East free practice, Osborne (1:08.0), Smith (1:08.7) were the top of the board with the surprise rookie of ’18, Brandon Hartranft (1:09.8), with the third fastest lap time. The track was still sloppy on top, so expect their times to come down quite a bit in qualifying.
By the time the 250SX West hit the track the lines were beginning to form up and the lap times went down with it. The top time in the West was Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo (1:05.5)—my pre-race favorite for the win tonight—with GEICO / Honda’s Chase Sexton (1:06.1) and Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Shane McElrath (1:06.3) in the top three. Points leader in the West, Plessinger (1:07.3) , had the 6th fastest lap lap.
The best the track was during free practice was for the 450SX Group A session, but only Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin (1:04.8) , Monster Energy / Yamaha’s Justin Barcia (1:05.0) and Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac (1:05.1) laid down a faster lap than AC on the 250. If Marvin can convert that speed into a win tonight, Anderson needs to get 10th or better to win the title. The #21 was 7th fastest (1:06.3) in the free practice session.
