Here is what the riders had to say and post after Round 12 of the Monster Energy Supercross at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts:
450s
Aaron Plessinger — Winner, 450s: "When I got off to the start, I had Cooper [Webb] to the right of me and [Justin Cooper] in front of me; when they slowed down over here to go through the ruts I just stood up on the pegs, and just leaned back and pinned it. As soon as I got in the lead I knew I had to just ‘go’ and stay up, but I knew Shane was right there… It’s crazy. With how the season started I would have, man, I was sitting in California [during the early rounds] not two months ago and I was like, ‘What am I doing here? I don’t know what’s going on [with poor results].’ But I’ve just got to give it up to the whole team, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, they never stopped believing in me. I’m kinda getting emotional, but it was a tough start to the season, and for these guys to stick behind me and not stop believing in me, that’s a lot for me to ask for. So, hat’s off to them."
Shane McElrath — Finished 2nd, 450s: "Praise the Lord. We’re back up here again. This week was a really good week mentally… and tonight was all about opportunity. I was on the line and I was praying, ‘God, just give me traction.’ That’s all I want on the grate, and I got a good start, leaned back, and started shifting. I almost lost it in the first corner… I want to keep this progression going… This is the first time in the 450 class where my whole program has been in unison, and that’s what I’m really excited about, so we’ll keep at it."
Cooper Webb — Finished 3rd, 450s: "In these kinds of conditions you don’t know what can happen. It’s so stressful when you’re leading the championship. You’re hoping your motorcycle makes it first of all, and then just getting into the Main you’re like, ‘All right I can breathe a little bit.’ These are bummer conditions. Nobody truly, I don’t think, wants to race in this unless you’re [Aaron Plessinger], maybe…. [Early on] I had a great pace… then I get excited, and I fall. So, I get up, and you kind of go into panic mode, and then you fall again. So, I fell twice and finally was like, ‘All right, I’m going to just calm down, I’ll take the points loss, but let’s minimize the points, let’s at least get as far up as we can.’ And that’s what happened. I shut my brain off and it’s crazy what happens. You start sending it, you start finding a flow. I don’t know what happened the last lap, I just jumped all the jumps, like my buddy says. It was cool. I’m stoked to be up here on the podium again."
Ken Roczen — Finished 4th, 450s: "Anything is possible with these conditions. My ankle has just gotten [worse]. I hurt it as I hurt my shoulder [15 days ago], but wasn’t paying attention to it. But as I kept putting my foot down, it would twist my toe out and I kept hurting it more and more… In practice today I caught it again and it was the worst I’ve hit it. So, I wasn’t even, honestly, going to race because it’s not getting better, it’s getting worse…. I ended up coming out here and giving it a whirl… Ended up fourth on the night, so I couldn’t be more stoked with how the night went. I’m glad I went out here [and raced]. This was a brutal race, it really was."
Justin Barcia — Finished 5th, 450s: "Wet one that . P5. See ya in Philly ."
Chase Sexton — Finished 6th, 450s: "That was gnarly ."
Benny Bloss — Finished 7th, 450s: "Had an absolute blast in the mud, bike ran great with no issues. Season best 7th, definitely had speed to finish better but happy with the result after a pit stop and a couple crashes. Looking forward to another one in Philly!"
Colt Nichols — ...
