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

Grant Dawson's weekly look at the highs and lows of the previous weekend's action.

​250 Class

The Good: Aaron Plessinger | 1st Place

Aaron was not going to be denied in Seattle. He got an alright start in the main event and quickly moved himself into the lead, but a red flag meant that he'd have to do it all over again. Of course, he actually got an even worse start the second time around, but he picked his way through the field pretty easily and took over the number one spot a couple of laps into the main. From there, it looked like he was out on a Sunday cruise (even though the track was super-gnarly), and claimed his first win of the season.

This win has been a long time coming. He was picked by many as the title favorite before the season started. And even if he didn't win the title, he was expected to claim multiple wins throughout the season. Unfortunately, bad starts and a couple of off nights derailed just about any chance of him claiming the championship this year, or grabbing many wins, but this was a step in the right direction. He still has two chances to win, and technically he's not out of the championship, yet. I mean, it'd take a miracle for him to catch Hill...but we've seen some pretty crazy stuff this season. Bring on Salt Lake City.

Aaron Plessinger was not too pleased with a red flag while he was running out front in the 250 main.Click photo to change size and caption

The Good Bonus: Mitchell Oldenburg | 3rd Place

Mitch grabbed his first career 250 podium in Seattle. That's a pretty big deal, and it sounds even more impressive when you consider how much he's improved over the past few seasons. He went from a high two-digit privateer guy, to a top-10ish guy on Jimmy Albertson's team, to a fill-in type rider at TLD KTM, to a full-time TLD KTM rider with the number 28. It's been quite a ride for him, and it seems like he's just going to keep on improving. Obviously, he had the collarbone injury at San Diego, so Seattle was only his second race of the season, which, to me, means that he's not even close to reaching his full potential yet. Watch out for him to be in the hunt for a win at the final two rounds of the season.

Do you think Mitchell Oldenburg (right) was pumped with his first podium?Click photo to change size and caption

The Bad: Shane McElrath | 5th Place

Shane had a run-in with Chris Alldredge during practice, and it looked like he hit his hip and stomach pretty hard against his handlebar. It must have done at least a decent bit of damage, as he pulled out of the practice session shortly after it resumed, and wouldn't be seen again until the heat races. Understandably, he was pretty cautious throughout the night and just seemed like he wanted to get through it. He didn't seem super-aggressive, and with the track as beat up as it was he probably wanted to play it safe. He came out with a fifth on the night, which isn't bad, per se, but he's out of the championship at this point. This will be one of those seasons where we wonder what could have happened if he didn't have a mechanical at Arlington. We'll never know, but it's been a great season for Shane, regardless. First career win, several podiums, and he held the red plate for most of it, I'd say that's definitely nothing to be too upset about. On the bright side, he has a couple of weeks to heal up and get ready to challenge for the win in Utah.

Shane McElrath and Andy DaltonClick photo to change size and caption

The Ugly: Chris Alldredge | DNS

Chris Alldredge's crash during practice looked very, very bad. He just made a mistake and went down, but Shane McElrath was coming through the section and had nowhere else to go but right into Chris. He ended up being put on a stretcher and carted off, and was taken to the hospital for further evaluation. On Sunday, he released an update detailing all of the injuries he sustained. And, oh boy, it is a big list: a partially collapsed lung, grade one lacerated liver and adrenal gland, fractured 10th rib, fractured pelvis, and fractured L1, L2, L3, and L4 in his lower lumbar. Jeez, man. I can't imagine the pain he is in right now, but at least he sustained no damage to his spinal cord. Get well soon, Chris.

Doc Bodnar from the Alpinestars Mobile Medical Unit, attending to Chris Alldredge.Click photo to change size and caption


450 Class

The Good: The Chase is On

Ohhhh, yeah. You betcha. The chase is officially on. What were we wishing for just three weeks ago? A tied championship, you say? Well, we got it. We may have to wait almost two weeks, but there will be two red plates on the line in Salt Lake City. Also, remember all of the chase format rumors everyone was talking about a while back? It turns out we didn't need it! We're getting our very own points reset with only three rounds left. Right now, I'd definitely give the edge to Tomac. He was absolutely on rails in Seattle, and if he hadn't gone over the bars halfway through the main event, he may have put on a charge for the win. But it's also very hard to bet against Dungey. He was absolutely dead last on the first lap of the race, and he came all the way back to fourth! Either of these two guys could be holding the number one plate in Las Vegas, and that's exactly what we want. Strap yourselves in, ladies and gentlemen, because it's going to be a wild final three rounds.

Eli Tomac and Ryan Dungey, are now down to what's basically a three-race shootout for the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross title.Click photo to change size and caption

The Good Bonus: Marvin Musquin | 1st Place

Marvin's win was kind of overshadowed by the championship battle between Dungey and Tomac, but he rode a fantastic race to take the win; he grabbed the lead on the opening lap and was never challenged. This was his second win of the season, second win of his career, and he's also the only other active guy besides the two championship leaders to win a race this season–so I'd say that his sophomore season has been quite the success. He he might want to work on his post-race celebration routine, though...

Marvin MusquinClick photo to change size and caption

The Bad: Cooper Webb | 8th Place

Cooper isn't "the Bad" this week because he rode bad. He rode great, for...uh, about 75% of the main. Then he got passed by Jason Anderson and crashed about two seconds later. He threw away a great finish–that's really all there is to it. Well, at least there were plenty of positives to take away from the weekend, and he still has three more chances this season to grab a podium finish.

Cooper WebbClick photo to change size and caption

The Bad Bonus: Shortened Main Event

I get it, the track was pretty gnarly. But, as a fan, I am not too pleased when I don't get my prescribed dose of 450 racing. Not 17 minutes, not 15 minutes, but 20 minutes plus one lap. Those three minutes that we lost really could have made an impact this week, too, as Eli could have put on more of a charge after Musquin, and Dungey could have at least tried to close the gap to Anderson. But oh well, they made the decision to shorten the main events and that's what we got. Let's blame it on the restart in the 250 main. At least we still ended up with a great race.

Click photo to change size and caption

The Ugly: Cole Seely | DNS

There's not a whole lot to say here. It was just a bummer to see Cole have to pull out of the night show due to a torn adductor muscle. He's had a great season, and I was really hoping he'd make it all the way through without any sort of issues. Hopefully it's nothing too serious and he's back in time for Salt Lake City.

Cole SeelyClick photo to change size and caption


Words by Grant Dawson
Photos by Steve Giberson

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