Cianciarulo Puts Monster Energy On the Box In Indy

250SX Class

The day got off to a strong start for Monster Energy in qualifying, with four of five riders inside the top 10 fastest times posted across both regions. No one as faster than Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy, who edged out Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger to put West Coast riders 1-2 on the charts. In fact, West Region riders posted the top four times of qualifying.

Each respective reason had its own heat race and Monster Energy starred in each. In the West heat Cianciarulo hounded Shane McElrath for most of the race and made the winning pass in the waning stages. Behind him, Plessinger and Savatagy – the top two riders in the championship – enjoyed a heated battle for third, poised to make some noise in the Main Event. In the East heat, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner seized control of the lead early and maintained it through to the finish.

With success all around in the heats Monster Energy carried favorable odds for victory in the Main Event. As the combined field of East and West region riders stormed to the first turn it was Savatgy, Cianciarulo, and Forkner who carried the edge to the inside. As they jockeyed for the preferred line Savatgy and Cianciarulo came together, which stalled their momentum and allowed Jeremy Martin to secure the holeshot. In the traffic jam that ensued from Savatgy and Cianciarulo’s contact several of the top riders were mired in the field. Plessinger and his points-leading counterpart Zach Osborne suffered the worst of it and started the race at the tail end of the field.

Savatgy, Cianciarulo, and Forkner were each able to slot into the top 10, with Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha’s Thomas Ramette not far behind. The aggression displayed by Cianciarulo in his heat race carried over into the Main Event and he soon moved into fourth. While he gave chase of his teammate Savatgy unfortunately crashed out of contention for a podium, but quickly remounted just outside the top 10. Cianciarulo continued his pursuit of third and eventually Forkner moved into fifth. Behind them Plessinger was on a tear through the field in his home race. He broke into the top 10 on Lap 4 and blew by riders all the way into sixth on Lap 8, right behind Forkner.

Cianciarulo methodically closed in on Smith for third and applied pressure for the position just past the halfway point. On Lap 14 he made his move and ensured his spot on the podium, but his charge wasn’t finished. That same lap Plessinger’s comeback moved him past Forkner into fifth. On the final lap Cianciarulo’s relentless pursuit of second culminated with an impressive pass on Luke Renzland. Plessinger came close to a pass for fourth, but settled for fifth. Forkner was sixth while Savatagy recovered to finish 10th. Ramette finished in 19th. Martin was later docked seven points for jumping through a red cross flag, but retained the victory.

Plessinger’s resilience helped maintain his spot atop the West Region standings and he now holds a nine-point lead over Savatgy. Cianciarulo closed in on his teammate in third and is now just three points out of second and 12 points out of the lead.

In the East Region, Osborne maintained his points lead with a seventh-place finish, but Forkner’s sixth-place effort allowed him to gain a point on his rival. Just seven points sit between the pair.

250SX East-West Shootout Results
    •    Jeremy Martin, Honda
    •    Adam Cianciarulo, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki
    •    Luke Renzland, Yamaha
    •    Jordon Smith, KTM
    •    Aaron Plessinger, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha
    •    Austin Forkner, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki 
10.    Joey Savatgy, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki
19.    Thomas Ramette, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha

West Region 250SX Class Standings
    •    Aaron Plessinger, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha – 151
    •    Joey Savatgy, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki – 142
    •    Adam Cianciarulo, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki – 139
    •    Shane McElrath, KTM – 127
    •    Chase Sexton, Honda – 109
19.    Mitchell Oldenburg, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha – 58
29.    Justin Cooper, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha – 14

East Region 250SX Class Standings
    •    Zach Osborne, Husqvarna – 131 
    •    Austin Forkner, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki – 124
    •    Jordon Smith, KTM – 121 
    •    Jeremy Martin, Honda – 112
    •    Luke Renzland, Yamaha – 92
10.    Colt Nichols, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha – 54 
11.    Martin Davalos, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki – 53
15.    Dylan Ferrandis, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha – 34
25.    Thomas Ramette, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha – 17

450SX Class
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac was chasing his sixth win of the season in Indy, and his fourth win in the past six races. As expected the speed was there for Tomac and he started the afternoon with the second-fastest time in qualifying. When the night show got underway Tomac easily won his heat race, and it looked as though he’d be the rider to beat in the Main Event.

Things started well in the Main Event, as Tomac exited the first turn in fourth behind early leader Marvin Musquin. While Tomac gave chase for the lead, fellow Monster Energy riders Cooper Webb and Tyler Bowers were forced to come from behind after they were caught up in a first-turn crash that also involved point leader Jason Anderson.

Tomac had already moved into second before the completion of Lap 1 and settled into a solid pace behind Musquin. As the track continued to deteriorate it amped up the intensity and the difficulty of pushing the pace. Just before the halfway point of the Main Event that fine line of risk and reward bit Tomac and resulted in a crash that took him out of contention. Fortunately, the winningest rider in the series avoided injury and eventually returned to action, where he resumed running at a stellar pace.

With his lone challenger a lap down, Musquin was able to continue unchallenged and went on to secure his second win of the season by a considerable margin in a wire-to-wire effort. Webb led the way for the Monster Energy squad and was impressive in a come-from-behind effort that saw him climb from dead last to seventh aboard his Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing machine. Bowers earned a season-best result in 11th aboard his Monster Energy Kawasaki while Tomac soldiered home to finish 15th.

Anderson, who finished fourth, still sits atop the championship standings and now holds a 35-point lead over Musquin. Tomac sits in a tie for fourth, 71 points out of the lead. Webb maintains his hold on eighth.

450SX Class Results
    •    Marvin Musquin, KTM
    •    Dean Wilson, Husqvarna
    •    Justin Brayton, Honda
    •    Jason Anderson, Husqvarna
    •    Broc Tickle, KTM
7.    Cooper Webb, Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing
11.    Tyler Bowers, Monster Energy Kawasaki
15.    Eli Tomac, Monster Energy Kawasaki

450SX Class Standings
    •    Jason Anderson, Husqvarna – 265
    •    Marvin Musquin, KTM – 230
    •    Justin Brayton, Honda – 210
    •    Eli Tomac, Monster Energy Kawasaki – 194
    •    Blake Baggett , KTM – 194
8.    Cooper Webb, Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing – 138
12.    Justin Barcia, Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing – 113
16.    Tyler Bowers, Monster Energy Kawasaki – 90
17.    Josh Grant, Monster Energy Kawasaki – 83