McThoughts: 450 Supercross – Atlanta | Direct Motocross Canada

McThoughts: 450 Supercross – Atlanta

By Jeff McConkey

On Saturday night, the action headed East. East to Atlanta, Georgia. The traditional red clay rutted up and made a not-so-tricky track technical. The crew added a sand section that was difficult to navigate for all. There’s something about heading East that spruces certain riders up. The 450 main event had solid action throughout the pack and was fun to watch. Marvin Musquin stepped up and inserted himself as a future star of the 450 class. Let’s take a look at the results and see my thoughts.

450 Class

1st Ryan Dungey: Dungey rode another great race. He just couldn’t pull the trigger on Musquin. He never let up, and now heads into Daytona with an impressive 33-point lead.

#1 Ryan Dungey.

2nd Marvin Musquin: Jeff Emig said it best, “Have a good time on here blowing me up about the last lap. When it’s for the win on the last lap u gotta know to not get in the middle of it.” Other than that, Marvin rode an amazing race. I was bummed that he did not win, but his ride Saturday night showed that he is capable of winning, and that he will win soon. As upset as Marvin was after the race, he was still very classy and should hold his head high.

3rd Chad Reed: Chad rode great in Atlanta. I’m disappointed in myself for not picking him to do better. He just looked happy all day long, and that is a dangerous Chad Reed. I saw him walking, holding hands with his wife and he looked like a youngster more than the veteran of the class. I heard that he changed a few things about himself to get out of the funk, and it worked.

#22 Chad Reed.

4th Davi Millsaps: I really doubted Davi in the pre-season. Boy was I wrong. He keeps getting better and better, and is looking like the Davi of old. He just never looked good to me on the Kawi, but he looks like he’s been on the KTM for years.

5th Justin Brayton: Great ride from Brayton, his start was great. He went backwards a little, but who cares. A 450 SX top 5 in 2016 is a podium any other year.

#10 Justin Brayton.

6th Ken Roczen: Bad start for Kenny. He pushed hard to get a 6th. With this much talent in the class, the starts are even more crucial.

7th Jason Anderson: Rough race for Anderson. He went backwards and looked like he got pushed around a little. He needs to find his holeshot magic from the Monster Cup.

#21 Jason Anderson.

8th Justin Bogle: Solid ride for Justin. Did you know Justin’s long-time mechanic, Grant Hutcheson, wrenched up in Canada for Cernics Kawasaki? Now you do.

9th Christophe Pourcel: I still don’t understand how Pourcel can throw down the fastest lap then proceed to cruise in the main. His fast lap looked effortless.

#377 Christophe Pourcel.

10th Cole Seely: Cole needs a good start to finish well. When he starts up front, that’s where he finishes. But when he doesn’t get the start, he just doesn’t seem to move forward like he should. He’s too good to be in 10th.

Biggest Stud: Marvin Musquin is my stud. He rode a great race for 99.5% of the main, and in my books won that race.

Biggest Dud: My dud is the way people reacted to the Musquin / James Stewart incident. Yes, I would have liked James to move over a lane earlier in the whoops, but those things are hard enough to navigate at race speed. I think he moved over plenty down the lane towards the dragon back, and Marvin, unfortunately, just mistimed it. James isn’t to blame, it was just a small hiccup from Marvin.