McThoughts: A2 450 SX
By Jeff McConkey
Round 3 wasn’t as exciting as the first 2 rounds, but it still gave us some solid racing. The track was pretty technical which led to a fair amount of carnage. Poor Trey Canard had a rough night and his status for next week and beyond is up in the air. With Canard’s exit, we can add his name to the list which includes Justin Bogle, James Stewart, Blake Baggett, and Broc Tickle to name a few. That’s a serious list full of talent. With names like that, you’d think that the class would be getting depleted. Well, that’s not true this season. This year’s class is so deep, it’s a big deal to earn a top 10. Let’s take a look at the results and see my thoughts:
450 Class
1st Ryan Dungey: Dungey led 17 laps in what seemed like an easy victory. Ryan is doing everything right in the off season and during the week to make it look easy on Saturday night. Parents and kids, take note.
#1 Ryan Dungey. – Spikman photo
2nd Chad Reed: Supposedly, the guy is over the hill and should pack it in. Yeah, right! Chad is in a very good place and will win a couple of these very soon. Like I’ve said before, it just looks right, seeing the 22 on a factory Yamaha.
3rd Ken Roczen: Ken started 9th and moved forward to a nice 3rd place finish. If he is going to have any hope of winning a few of these, he will have to keep working on his starts. I think this podium will be the little boost Ken needs to reassure him that he can win.
#94 Ken Roczen.
4th Eli Tomac: Eli moved forward and almost had a podium if it wasn’t for a slide out late in the race. He still isn’t ready to compete for wins with Dungey, but he will be there soon. Good ride for Eli.
5th Jason Anderson: Anderson started 12th and had a good ride to get a 5th. He’s going to need to start better if he wants to stay in this title fight, as Chad Reed bumped him into 3rd place in points.
#21 Jason Anderson.
6th Cole Seely: Solid ride for Cole to move forward to 6th. If I would have told you a few years ago that Cole would be the top guy at Factory Honda, you’d think I was drunk. Well, it’s 2016 and it’s true. If I was making the calls at American Honda at the end of the season, I’d let Canard go, try to resign Seely and make a big push for Roczen for 2017. Just my opinion.
7th Davi Millsaps: Davi had a great start and went backwards, but the good news is that he is healthy and riding pretty well. I don’t think he can win one, but he can fight for top 5’s.
#18 Davi Millsaps.
8th Juston Brayton: Brayton went backwards 2 spots, but it was WAY better than the 9 spots he went backwards last week. He looks to be riding well, but the Brayton podium threat looks to be a thing of the past.
9th Marvin Musquin: Marvin is slowing getting up to speed. He should be inching forward slowly, each and every round.
#25 Marvin Musquin.
10th Jake Weimer: Good to see Jake up in the top 10. He rode great all day and would look a little better on the 2nd Monster Kawi ride than Will Hahn at this time, in my eyes.
Biggest Stud: Chad Reed is my stud. Two impressive rides back to back, both for 2nd place, for a plus 30 guy gets my nod.
Biggest Dud: Weston Peick faded like a cheap shirt. I know it was only his first main event, but he shouldn’t have gone that far backwards.
#28 Weston Peick.
Biggest Surprise: Poor Dean Wilson pulled out with a possible knee injury. Let’s hope it’s not serious and he’s back sooner than later. Dean’s future can’t afford another injury setback.
Thanks for reading, see you next week.
