While the Grand Prix riders involved in the 2018 MXGP Motocross World Championship series raced away at the Autodromo Internazionale e Dino Ferrari at Piazza Ayrton Senna da Silva in Imola, Italy, back in Southern California, Aaron Plessinger was finishing up and finalizing his testing and training for what will likely be the most important race of both his life and career as in seven days’ time the gate will drop on the opening moto of the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations at RedBud MX in pastoral Buchanan, Michigan. It’s been one hell of a year for the racer from Hamilton, Ohio, Plessinger winning both the AMA 250SX West Region Championship as well as the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship 250MX National Championship. But that was then and this is now, and in the fierce reality that is professional motocross a rider is often times only as good as the last thing he does, and, well, upwards of 60,000 American motocross fans are hoping, expecting and demanding a win of Plessinger and his Yankee teammates Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac at the Motocross of Nations next Sunday afternoon in the Midwest.
On Sunday evening, and as the 22 year-old Plessinger was beginning to pack his bags for the slog back to Michigan, we spent a bit of time with the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha Racing 250cc pilot who will defend the American way of moto life from such competitors as Jorge Prado of Spain (Prado won the MXGP of Italy at Imola on Sunday), Ben Watson of Great Britain, Calvin Vlaanderen of Holland, Hunter Lawrence of Australia and Jago Geerts of Belgium.