2025 Supercross East Rutherford - 450 Heat 1 #supercross #motocross #MXGP #MXGP 2025 #AMA Supercross #PRO Motocross
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00:00...in Anaheim, California, then at Phoenix.
00:03He won in Birmingham and last weekend in Philly
00:06to keep his championship aspirations alive.
00:09He's just 12 points back from Cooper Webb.
00:13Let's see his form here in this heat.
00:16First one for the 450s here in MetLife Stadium.
00:21Good start, Justin Hill on the inside.
00:23Good start, Marsha, and also Chase Sexton.
00:26I thought Chase Sexton was going to get closed out,
00:31but, man, he crept around the inside.
00:33He's got the preferred line right here.
00:35This is going to set him up perfectly to make the move.
00:38On the inside of Shane McElrath, who made a brilliant start.
00:42Career-high result recently, his first-ever podium
00:45in the Premier Class for Shane McElrath.
00:48So confidence is high in the quad-lock Honda camp.
00:51Then Justin Basher, and then the Suzuki of Ken Rockson
00:53making a swift move on the inside.
00:55I love that 90-degree corner right before the finish line.
00:59Oh, there goes Ken.
00:59Oh, there goes Ken.
00:59Gunford again.
01:03Gotcha.
01:04Yeah, he's able to do it.
01:05Got a good drive out of that corner.
01:07Put the power to the ground.
01:09Dope to the inside.
01:11Closed the door on the 12.
01:14This next couple laps would be interesting to see
01:16if Kenny can make some ground up on Chase Sexton.
01:20Kenny always so explosive early on in these races.
01:24And I'll tell you what, Ken Rockson has done an incredible job.
01:27Racing banged up.
01:28Oh, look at McElrath wasn't able to triple out of that corner.
01:32Justin Basher looking for options and looking around
01:39because he knows that Justin Hill is not too far behind.
01:43Yeah, that was great for the 12 of Shane McElrath to hold that position
01:48because I thought for sure that the 51 of Basher had him covered.
01:51But go back to Ken Rockson.
01:53He's been banged up for the last four or five weeks.
01:56He had AC separation on the shoulder.
01:58He told me last week that that's actually feeling a lot better,
02:02but it's his ankle and any external rotation really just hurts him.
02:06He's got some ligament damage there.
02:09Just trying to make it to the end of the season
02:11with the best finish that he can do.
02:13You're getting Shane McElrath aboard the 12 in third.
02:16Basher, let's go up to the head of the field
02:18because Rockson has some pretty swift pace going at the moment
02:21as he chases down Chase Sexton, race leader.
02:26He was the fastest guy on the track.
02:29He was three tenths, two and a half tenths faster last lap.
02:33What you got, JT?
02:35I'm just thinking about Ken Rockson.
02:36He's been so fast early on, which is really his calling card,
02:39as you mentioned, Ricky.
02:40But what I'll be watching for is can he sustain this pace
02:43because that has been the problem.
02:45You see him poke up the inside.
02:47They're trying to make a move on Sexton.
02:48It's the late laps, maybe a minute 12 and on
02:51where the ankle injury and the shoulder injury starts to add up a little bit.
02:55It's a little bit too much to hold on to.
02:57So let's see if he's been able to close that gap on the injury
02:59here coming into East Rutherford.
03:02And I got an update from Ken today saying he just got the MRI back on the ankle
03:06that you guys were just talking about there
03:08and torn ligaments like you said, Ricky, and some bone bruising too.
03:11But the good news from the team is that he did turn some laps during the week.
03:15That has not been the case in past weeks since the injury.
03:18Usually he just kind of keeps it mellow even through qualifying.
03:21He pushed harder to be qualifying today.
03:23So maybe a good sign moving forward for Ken Rockson.
03:26The 30-year-old has displayed so much grit this season
03:29and so close to a championship.
03:33Hey, it's not over yet, but it sort of is.
03:36And he knows that, that he's up against it with just today
03:39and three more rounds left in the Monster and GAMA Supercross Championship.
03:44He's done so well.
03:44Got that career big one, that first victory in Daytona earlier in the season.
03:49And it's just holistically has been riding so very well.
03:54Just him and the team and Larry Brooks, the team manager,
03:57what they've been able to build and the culture over there
04:00is something that Ken has really taken a liking to,
04:05has a lot of confidence in that race team, and his results speak for that.
04:10Larry Brooks is an incredible team manager
04:12and has many, many Supercross championships working with legends in the sport
04:18like Jeremy McGrath, the king of Supercross.
04:21Well, last time we were here in MetLife Stadium was two years ago
04:24where the rider of the 51, the rock star Gas Gas, Justin Barsha stood on the top step of the podium.
04:32It was a horrendous night for weather and the mud and the rain and the lightning and the storms well.
04:39But Justin was the one who came out of it the best.
04:41So happy memories here in Jersey.
04:43Adversity Lee does not seem to bother Justin Barsha and he's got some that he's facing right now too.
04:49A week and a half ago he took a practice crash.
04:52The bar hit his finger on his right hand, split it open and he had a laceration.
04:57Unbelievably no fracture.
04:59But he's had to take up those fingers.
05:01So his index finger there on that right hand, that's his front brake.
05:05He's had to take those two fingers together in order to get enough strength to use his brake.
05:09So once I can start moving that finger more and the swelling comes down,
05:12I'm going to need those fingers back to grip the bike.
05:14So making the decision right now, a tough one, do I grip the bike or do I use my front brake?
05:23Everything's a compromise.
05:25One thing about Justin Barsha, he's going to give it 100%.
05:28Grew up in this area.
05:31A lot of friends and family here support him.
05:35Let's be honest, everywhere you go, he's got a lot of fans.
05:39Support.
05:40Here we go, inside move on Shane McElrath.
05:42Nudge is up alongside him, a little bit of contact there and Barsha is through in the third spot.
05:51Meanwhile, just a few moments ago, check out this from the Liqui Moly beta rider, Benny Bloss.
05:57Yeah, 57 and Benny Bloss overjumps that jump in the rhythm lane there, and that was a nice save.
06:07And he has now fallen very, very close to Kate Clayson, who's in 10th, looking for that ninth and final spot.
06:15So, championship leader Cooper Webb is watching his rival out in front, Chase Sexton, who's now inside the final two laps from home and another heat victory.
06:26Nobody has more heat wins this year than this man in the top box, Chase Sexton.
06:30Looking really good, and I like how, if I'm Chase Sexton and knowing or watching that bike and how it works in these drier, looser conditions,
06:42I feel like this is where his bike excels and really caters to his riding style, much different than earlier today.
06:52This might be playing right into Chase Sexton's hands, Will.
06:55Ricky, just a quick point here.
06:57I heard from the team that he has not touched the bike all day today.
07:01I know that's very telling for you.
07:02Yeah, when you're riding your motorcycle and you don't have to make any adjustments to it, Lee,
07:08that just means that you are super comfortable.
07:12When you look at the complexion of the top nine, going straight through to the main, huge for all three Suzuki riders,
07:20Ken Roxton, Chisholm, and Nicholls, they're all in direct transfer positions at the moment,
07:25and both beta riders, Mitchell Oldenburg's in sixth behind Justin Hill.
07:29Oldenburg, we watched him up close earlier today, and he's been pretty snappy all day long.
07:34Yeah, he had some serious speed in the whoops, in particular.
07:38I'm like, wow, man, this guy's rolling.
07:40And from the eye test, he looked to be one of the fastest guys in that beta racing team,
07:45have done a great job with extending their contract with Benny Bloss.
07:49And Oldenburg just re-signed his.
07:52Nice.
07:52End of the first 450 heat.
07:55And nobody better than Chase Sexton.
07:58Yet another key win this year.
08:02Nobody has more.
08:03That's six.
08:05That's six.