Atlanta Supercross - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 2

After his performance last week, it was pretty obvious that Zach Osborne would claim the first win of his career at some point during this season. It was just a matter of time, but clearly he didn't want to wait any longer as he went out and won in convincing fashion in Atlanta. He looked very, very good out there. He's fit, fast, and aggressive. That's a championship-winning combination, and his competitors are gonna need to step it up if they want to stop him from running away with the 250 East title. Honestly, I thought that Joey Savatgy was the heavy title favorite coming into the season, and even after last week I thought he was the favorite. But this week may have changed my mind. Joey got a bad start and struggled a bit to move through the field, while Zach got a great start and ran away with the win. Man, we could be in for a real treat if they both start up front in a race... Let's hope that happens in Toronto.

RJ seems to be a very hot or cold rider. He is either on it and puts in a great performance, or he isn't feeling it and he just hangs around the top ten. At least that's what I've picked up over the past year or so. He's going to have to grow out of that at some point if he ever wants to contend for a championship, because his current level of inconsistency is holding him back big time. Truth be told, I pegged RJ to be the next big thing after he dominated Loretta's a few years ago, but it just hasn't happened. He's been "alright," but he's never really shown the speed necessary to win races, and he has seldom shown the speed to podium. I'm not entirely sure what he needs to do, but I hope he figures it out soon.

Man, oh man, could this season get any worse for GEICO Honda? Jeremy Martin didn't pan out on the West Coast, Chase Sexton has gotten seriously injured twice, and now Christian Craig's 250 East Championship hopes have been dashed. It already wasn't looking good after Christian got a bad start last week and struggled throughout the main event, but it's really not looking good now. He got a bad start in the heat and crashed twice. Unfortunately, one of the crashes was pretty big and he ended up with a concussion as a result. That meant he was out for the rest of the night, and thus any chance he (and GEICO Honda) had at the championship was gone. Tough deal for both him and his team. He has the speed to win, but he also has a tendency to make mistakes when coming through the field and hit the dirt. This black cloud hanging over GEICO has to disappear at some point, right? I truly hope that either RJ or Christian can get up on the podium soon; otherwise, this season will be a huge swing and miss for the team.

"What's wrong with Ryan Dungey?" Nothing. He's been managing the championship the same way he has the past two years. Sure, he hasn't won as much, but the field is incredibly stacked this year. Have we really forgotten about that? Eli Tomac has been on fire, but he also had a rough start to the season and a bad weekend in Arlington. Marvin Musquin has been fast, but he's gotten bad starts at some of the races and has struggled to come through the pack. Jason Anderson has been quick, but is a bad starter and got disqualified at Anaheim 2. But Ryan Dungey? He's been consistently on the podium, getting good starts (and when he got a bad start at Arlington he came back to fourth), and he hasn't made any major mistakes. Add all of that together and bam... Ryan Dungey has a 25-point lead in the standings after eight rounds. Now, I do think the insane track deterioration these past few weeks has played a part in Dungey's finishes. We've had some nasty tracks lately, and I think Dungey has been very smart to not override the track or go balls out trying to get the win. He has a very solid lead right now, and there's no reason for him to push himself to the point to where he may make a costly mistake. Everything is going according to plan. Now let's see if he can continue to increase his control over the championship lead these next few rounds.

This was a big podium not only for Blake but for his team as well. The Butler brothers really wanted to get a podium this year, as it is something that has eluded them in all of their years racing. Well, they finally got it in Atlanta. Blake Baggett rode a great main event to grab his second ever 450 Supercross podium. Blake was pumped, the team was pumped, and I think most of the industry was pumped as well. A good guy and a good team finally achieving what they've been working towards for a long time–what's not to love? Congratulations to Blake and everyone at Rocky Mountain ATV/MC - KTM.

It was a weird main event for Cole. He got a decent start, but he seemed to fade back through the field. In fact, he was kinda quiet all day. He never really caught my eye during qualifying or during the heat races. He just quietly moved his way through the day and into the main event. My guess is that he just wasn't feeling the track this week, which is understandable. Everyone has and off week every once in a while. And honestly, when a sixth-place finish is considered mediocre, it's pretty obvious that he's been having a pretty great season. There's no doubt in my mind that Cole will be back up on the box soon.

Well, this isn't going all that well. Yes, I'm fully aware that Justin is coming back from a fairly serious injury, but I fail to see how his first two weeks back could be considered successful in any way. He made the mains... I guess that's good news. His riding has not been the best, though, and he has yet to make the top 15. I guess that's what is the most surprising to me. I expect for someone of Justin's caliber, even when he's coming back from injury, to at least be able to finish inside the top 15. Hell, he should at least be around twelfth in my opinion. Now I'd love for him to go out and get a top ten this coming weekend and say he's finally back to 100%–essentially proving me wrong. But I just don't see that happening. He needs to get the train back on track soon, or else he may struggle to find a factory ride for next year.