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00:00Let's see his form here in this heat.
00:04First one for the 450s here in MetLife Stadium.
00:08Good start, Justin Hill on the inside.
00:11Good start, Barsha, and also Chase Sexton.
00:15I thought Chase Sexton was going to get closed down,
00:18but, man, he crept around the inside.
00:21He's got the preferred line right here.
00:23This is going to set him up perfectly to make the move.
00:26On the inside of Shane McElrath, who made a brilliant start.
00:29Career-high result recently,
00:32his first-ever podium in the Premier Class for Shane McElrath.
00:35So confidence is high in the quad-lock Honda camp.
00:38Then Justin Barsha, and then the Suzuki of Ken Rockson
00:41making a swift move on the inside.
00:43I love that 90-degree corner right before the finish line.
00:46Rockson's got for it again.
00:51Gotcha.
00:52Yeah, he's able to do it.
00:53Had a good drive out of that corner,
00:54put the power to the ground,
00:57dope to the inside,
00:58closed the door on the 12.
01:01These next couple laps would be interesting to see
01:03if Kenny can make some ground up on Chase Sexton.
01:07Kenny always so explosive early on in these races.
01:12And I'll tell you what,
01:13Ken Rockson has done an incredible job racing banged up.
01:16Oh, look at,
01:17McElrath wasn't able to triple out of that corner.
01:20Justin Barsha looking for options and looking around
01:27because he knows that Justin Hill is not too far behind.
01:30Yeah, that was great for the 12 of Shane McElrath to hold that position
01:36because I thought for sure that the 51 of Barsha had him covered,
01:38but go back to Ken Rockson.
01:40He's been banged up for the last four or five weeks.
01:43He had an AC separation on the shoulder.
01:46He told me last week that that's actually feeling a lot better,
01:49but it's his ankle,
01:50and any external rotation really just hurts him.
01:54He's got some ligament damage there,
01:56just trying to make it to the end of the season
01:58with the best finish that he can do.
02:01Looking at Shane McElrath aboard the 12 in third,
02:03Barsha fourth.
02:04Let's go up to the head of the field
02:05because Rockson has some pretty swift pace going at the moment
02:09as he chases down Chase Sexton, race leader.
02:14He was the fastest guy on the track.
02:17He was three tenths, two and a half tenths faster last lap.
02:21What you got, JT?
02:22I'm just thinking about Ken Rockson.
02:24He's been so fast early on,
02:25which is really his calling card, as you mentioned, Ricky.
02:28Now, what I'll be watching for is can he sustain this pace
02:31because that has been the problem.
02:33You see him poke up the inside.
02:34They're trying to make a move on Sexton.
02:36It's the late laps, maybe a minute 12 and on
02:39where the ankle injury and the shoulder injury
02:41starts to add up a little bit.
02:42It's a little bit too much to hold on to.
02:44So let's see if he's been able to close that gap
02:46on the injury here coming into East Rutherford.
02:49And I got an update from Ken today
02:51saying he just got the MRI back on the ankle
02:54that you guys were just talking about there
02:55and torn ligaments, like you said,
02:57drinking some bone bruising too.
02:58But the good news from the team
03:00is that he did turn some laps during the week.
03:02That has not been the case in past weeks
03:04since the injury.
03:06Usually he just kind of keeps it mellow,
03:07even through qualifying.
03:09He pushed harder through qualifying today.
03:10So maybe a good sign moving forward for Ken Rockson.
03:13The 30-year-old has displayed so much grit this season
03:16and so close to a championship.
03:20Hey, it's not over yet, but it sort of is.
03:24And he knows that, that he's up against it with just today
03:27and three more rounds left in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.
03:31He's done so well.
03:32Got that career big one,
03:34he's done that first victory in Daytona earlier in the season
03:37and has just holistically has been riding so very well.
03:41Just him and the team and Larry Brooks, the team manager,
03:44what they've been able to build
03:46and the culture over there
03:48is something that Ken has really taken a liking to,
03:53has a lot of confidence in that race team
03:55and his results speak for that.
03:57And Larry Brooks is an incredible team manager
04:00and has many, many Supercross championships
04:04working with legends in the sport
04:05like Jeremy McGrath, the king of Supercross.
04:08Well, last time we were here in MetLife Stadium
04:11was two years ago
04:12where the rider of the 51,
04:14the rock star Gas Gas, Justin Barsha
04:16stood on the top step of the podium.
04:19It was a horrendous night for weather
04:22and the mud and the rain
04:24and the lightning and the storms were
04:26but Justin was the one who came out of it the best.
04:29So happy memories here in Jersey.
04:31Adversity Lee does not seem to bother Justin Barsha
04:34and he's got something that he's facing right now too.
04:37A week and a half ago, he took a practice crash.
04:39The bar hit his finger on his right hand,
04:42split it open and he had a laceration.
04:44Unbelievably no fracture
04:46but he's had to take up those fingers
04:48so his index finger there on that right hand,
04:51that's his front brake.
04:52He's had to take those two fingers together
04:54in order to get enough strength to use his brake.
04:56He said, once I can start moving that finger more
04:58and the swelling comes down,
04:59I'm going to need those fingers back to grip the bike.
05:02So making the decision right now,
05:04a tough one,
05:04do I grip the bike
05:05or do I use my front brake?
05:07It's a, everything's a compromise.
05:12One thing about Justin Barsha,
05:14he's going to give it 100%.
05:16Grew up in this area.
05:19A lot of friends and family here support him
05:23and let's be honest, everywhere you go,
05:24he's got a lot of fans and support.
05:27Here we go, inside move on Shane McElrath.
05:29Nudges up alongside him,
05:31a little bit of contact there
05:32and Barsha is through in the third spot.
05:39Meanwhile, just a few moments ago,
05:41check out this from the Liqui Moly beta rider,
05:43Benny Bloss.
05:44Yeah, 57 and Benny Bloss overjumps
05:48that jump in the rhythm lane there
05:52and that was a nice save.
05:54And he has now fallen very, very close
05:57to Kate Clayson who's in 10th,
06:00looking for that ninth and final spot.
06:03So championship leader Cooper Webb
06:05is watching his rival out in front,
06:07Chase Sexton,
06:08who's now inside the final two laps from home
06:12and another heat victory.
06:13Nobody has more heat wins this year
06:15than this man in the top box,
06:17Chase Sexton.
06:20Looking really good
06:21and I like how if I'm Chase Sexton
06:24and knowing or watching that bike
06:27and how it works in these drier,
06:29looser conditions,
06:30I feel like this is where his bike excels
06:33and really caters to his riding style.
06:36Much different than earlier today.
06:39This might be playing right into Chase Sexton's hands, Will.
06:42Ricky, just a quick point here.
06:45I heard from the team
06:46that he has not touched the bike all day today.
06:48I know that's very telling for you.
06:50Yeah, when you're riding your motorcycle
06:53and you don't have to make any adjustments to it, Lee,
06:55that just means that you are super comfortable.
06:58When you look at the complexion of the top nine
07:02going straight through to the main,
07:04huge for all three Suzuki riders,
07:07Ken Rockson, Chisholm, and Nichols,
07:10they're all in direct transfer positions at the moment
07:12and both beta riders,
07:14Mitchell Oldenburg's in sixth behind Justin Hill.
07:16Oldenburg, we watched him up close earlier today
07:19and he's been pretty snappy all day long.
07:21Yeah, he had some serious speed in the whoops
07:24in particular.
07:25I'm like, wow, man, this guy is rolling.
07:28From the eye test,
07:29he looked to be one of the fastest guys
07:30and that beta racing team
07:32have done a great job
07:33at extending their contract with Benny Bloss.
07:36And Oldenburg just re-signed his.
07:39Nice.
07:40End of the first 450 heat
07:42and nobody better than Chase Sexton.
07:45Yet another heat win this year.
07:49Nobody has more.
07:51That's six.
07:52That's six.