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Action shots at the 2017 Las Vegas Supercross Final
NEWS

Adam Cianciarulo Weighs-In

May 112017

Last Saturday night on the high-speed circuit that played host to the Dave Coombs Senior East/West Shootout in Las Vegas, Nevada, Adam Cianciarulo was able to pull down yet another big win as he dominated the bicoastal main event with a masterful gate drop-to-checkered flag victory. A few days ex post facto of his Vegas jackpot, Monster caught up with the pride of New Smyrna Beach, Florida while getting things sorted out in Southern California in preparation for the fast approaching Hangtown Motocross Classic.

Monster riders at the 2017 Las Vegas Supercross Final Action shots at the 2017 Las Vegas Supercross Final Action shots at the 2017 Las Vegas Supercross Final Action shots at the 2017 Las Vegas Supercross Final Action shots at the 2017 Las Vegas Supercross Final Action shots at the 2017 Las Vegas Supercross Final

Q&A

Adam, that was a flawless performance you put on at Sam Boyd Stadium last Saturday night. You made it look almost effortless…

Yeah, thank you. It did kind of go perfect. It was interesting because I actually been fighting a virus, a little head cold, for the past couple of weeks. I had it in New Jersey and I couldn’t shake it in time for Vegas. I thought I might dull expectations in my head, but even on Friday morning on press day, even though I still felt sick, I felt so comfortable on the bike and I felt so good. I don’t know what it is about the west coast dirt, the slick stuff, but I felt really good from press day forward. Even moving into practice and the heat race and the main, it just seemed like everything clicked. After practice went well I just kind of had this goal of getting the holeshot and, honestly, leading every lap. That was my goal and that just what I felt like I was going to do. It’s hard to explain. Both races I’ve won, Daytona and Vegas, it was like I knew I was going to do it before I did it. I could see it happen before it actually did. It was cool to be ahead of the craziness that was going on behind me and just kind of do my own thing and end the season on that strong note.

So you were aware of what was going on behind you, huh?

Yeah, I heard the crowd go crazy a few times with the riders behind me. I knew somebody has crashed on the opening lap and it turned out to be Joey, and that gave me a little bit of a gap right away. I ended up getting about a five second gap on Justin Hill and it kind of gives you a little bit of comfort to know that you have a teammate behind you. Obviously, we’re out there and we’re competing and he wants to beat me, but it just gave me a bit of calmness and I was able to just ride my race and focus on my lines and hit my marks. It was one of those races to where I feel like if you marked where I went around the track every lap, I was probably within a foot of the same line every lap. It was a difficult track. Vegas always is. And the roost was pretty gnarly heading out of the stadium. I hadn’t actually ridden Vegas since I was there racing the Amateur All-Star class at the Monster Energy Cup. I forgot how bad that roost hurts and that was definitely one of the reasons why I wanted to go ahead get that holeshot.

In the waning stages of the thing you were within a few points of actually winning the East Region Championship. Did you go back and watch it on TV?

I did. I had to find the race on YouTube that night when I was laying in my hotel room. It was crazy, man. I just heard the crowd going nuts so many times during the last five laps or so. I knew I definitely didn’t have a lot of eyes on me; I knew the eyes were on the battle behind me, for sure. When I rolled over the finish line after I won the race, I actually turned right and rolled into the rhythm section and Justin Hill came up and congratulated me and told me good job. I was actually watching Joey and Zach go through the last set of whoops before the last few corners there and I watched that whole pass happen. Joey is a buddy of mine and, obviously, we’ve both been through a lot of adversity this season and we’ve been able to overcome that, but to watch him get taken out like that with two corners to go was weird because I never felt like that before. When I watched that happen I just didn’t even know what to think. It was definitely an interesting emotion I was feeling. The whole race was something I’ll never forget, for sure. You know people are calling it one of the greatest supercross races of all-time and I’d probably have to agree with them. It was pretty nuts.

What did you think of the Osborne deal?

It was one of those deals where it was for the championship and emotions were running high. Of course Joey was my buddy and I don’t want to see him get taken out. That was my teammate and that’s never fun. Zach and I got into it earlier in the year (Note: the two clashed during practice at the Indianapolis Supercross) so it wasn’t like I was cheering for him. I kind of understand in the fact that it was for the championship and in the last corner and you’re kind of going for it, but at the same time, for me, it was difficult to watch.

You won two races this season and also had the most holeshots with four as well as the lowest average finish in the entire 250SX class at 3.8. All things considered, what do you think? Good year?

I’m happy with my year. I’m happy, but not satisfied. Like I said before, I really feel like I have a lot more in the tank. I feel like there are a few races, for sure, I wish I could go back and redo. It’s just kind of a part of learning curve. It had been a few years since I raced supercross and it’s easy to get lost in the excitement of it all. I just wanted to go out there and win. But like I said, there were a few races there where I didn’t do what I wanted to do, but all in all I’m happy with the year and happy with how things are looking heading into the summer.

Full results HERE.

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