The first of six 250SX East races starts off Round 7 of the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross series on Saturday in Arlington, TX and a bit of history could be made if Vicki Golden qualifies for the Main.
The much-anticipated 250SX Eastern Regional series with defending Champion Justin Bogle ready to repeat and Golden possibly becoming the first woman to qualify for a Supercross event, offers just a preview to the stretch of East Coast dates and what's turned into one of the most exciting Supercross series in recent memory.
Trey Canard and Ken Roczen battled hard in San Diego with Canard emerging as the victor and notching his second win of the season becoming just the second two-time winner thus far, along with Roczen. Ryan Dungey and Eli Tomac also have wins and Roczen's hot start to begin the season cooled off some as early indications of him running away with the season have tempered.
Dungey leads the field in points thanks to five straight podiums but Roczen's second-place finish, his first on the podium since A2 closed the gap to nine and Canard pulled away from a tie in third with Tomac. The Top 4 riders, Dungey, Roczen, Canard and Tomac are all within nine points of the rider ahead of, or in the case of Dungey, behind them. Jason Anderson rounds out the Top 5 with 85 points. He and Dungey are the only riders to finish in the Top 10 every race so far this season.
Jimmy Albertson looking for this third straight Main on Saturday
On the home front, Fredrik Noren is out of competition as he stayed in California to test ride for Honda and prepare for the Motocross season. He only made one Main but finished a respectable 17th at Oakland. Jimmy Albertson made his second-straight Main and has made four of the last five. Arlington is a "hometown" race so to speak for Albertson and Canard as both hail from nearby Oklahoma. Nick Wey finally got into the Main again at San Diego, only his second of the year, so perhaps heading east marks the start of a new season for him.
Will East Coast dates be more productive for Nick Wey?
In the 250s, Bogle won the 2014 Championship handily beating Martin Davalos by 39 points but he'll have some ripe competition in Jeremy Martin, the 2014 Motocross Champion, who finished last season with a second-place at East Rutherford and a win in Las Vegas. Marvin Musquin is a heavy favorite, Davalos is back and a crop of rookies in RJ Hampshire, Arnaud Tonus and Jordan Smith want to make a name for themselves.
But it's Golden who can overshadow everyone by qualifying. Golden brings three gold medals in Women's Moto X from the X Games and raced in the AMSOIL Arenacross series for three years. She was the first female to qualify for Supercross through the Arenacross "Ricky Carmichael's Road to Supercross" program and would have competed in the SX West series if not for a broken thumb suffered in a crash last year in Arenacross.
Mitchell Oldenburg got in some "practice" rounds in the 450SX class last month
As for MotoSport riders competing in the 250SX East class, Kyle Peters, the 2011 Loretta Lynn's 250A Champion, and Colt Nichols, the current Costa Rican Champion who also brings Arenacross experience, both ride for the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda Racing team. Mitchell Oldenburg, Albertson's teammate on ARMA Energy Drink/MotoSport.com/Yamaha team, is set for an East run after trying to qualify for some 450SX Rounds earlier this season.
Supercross Round 7 is Saturday - Valentine's Day - with practice starting at 12:30 and the Main event at 6:30 p.m. Buy tickets online or at the AT&T Stadium box office, 1 AT&T Way, Arlington, TX.
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Season Standings
450SX Class Season Standings
- Ryan Dungey (127)
- Ken Roczen (118)
- Trey Canard (109)
- Eli Tomac (100)
- Jason Anderson (85)
- Cole Seely (82)
- Chad Reed (75)
- Justin Barcia (71)
- Blake Baggett (68)
- Andrew Short (66)
250SX East Class Riders with Team Support
- Dakota Alix
- Justin Bogle
- Kyle Cunningham
- Martin Davalos
- Jimmy Decotis
- Vince Friese
- Nick Gaines
- Gregory Gehrer
- Vicki Golden
- RJ Hampshire
- Matt Lemoine
- Jeremy Martin
- Marvin Musquin
- Colt Nichols - MotoSport rider
- Mitchell Oldenburg - MotoSport rider
- Kyle Peters - MotoSport rider
- Luke Renzaland
- Anthony Rodriguez
- Joey Savatgy
- Jordan Smith
- Justin Starling
- Dakota Tedder
- Arnaud Tonus
- Jesse Wentland
- Zach Williams
- Ryan Zimmer
