McThoughts – St. Louis SX|450 Class
By Jeff McConkey
Round 14 took place this past weekend in St. Louis. The track was once again a little soft, and that made it hard for a lot of the guys. Ken Roczen kept his good starts going and challenged the champ before a small mistake cost him. It was nice to see Chad Reed start his 200th start in the 450 class. That is very impressive and hats off to him for that. Let’s take a look at the results and see my thoughts.
450 Class
1st Ryan Dungey: Dungey was, once again, near perfect. He isn’t boring, he just works that hard to avoid any mistakes. I really think if he was in the McGrath era, he would be the ‘King of SX’ and not MC.
#1 Ryan Dungey.
2nd Ken Roczen: Ken has been great lately, it’s just a shame that Ryan Dungey has been better. I do appreciate that Ken has not given up and continues to push harder. Another win will come soon.
3rd Jason Anderson: Finally, a good start for Jason and he rode well. Some will bag on him for edging out Justin Brayton early on, but it was a racing incident. I still think he’s the best passer in the 450 class.
#21 Jason Anderson.
4th Justin Bogle: Career best ride for Justin. His starts have been really good and that is huge in this class. As good as his ride was, I don’t think he could pass his way to 4th with a bad start.
5th Trey Canard: Trey’s start, once again, held him back. He has been riding great lately, but he just can’t spot the other fast guys such a head start. With a good start, Trey could run the pace with Dungey and Roczen, I’m just not sure he can limit the mistakes like they do.
#41 Trey Canard.
6th Josh Grant: What a pick up for Monster Kawasaki. Grant has been really good so far. Let’s hope he stays healthy and continues to impress.
7th Chad Reed: 200th start in the premiere class is a very big accomplishment. He’s never been a gate filler and I’m sure he’ll figure out his starts and remind us how bad ass the old Aussie really is. Not a terrible ride, but you know Reed isn’t happy with it.
#22 Chad Reed.
8th Eli Tomac: 20th place start to 9th at the checkers is a good ride for most, but not Tomac. After qualifying 1st, Eli has got to be fuming at his starts. This is not the Eli we all love. I’d expect him to turn this around for the outdoors. He’s too much of a competitor to be this high up the standings.
9th Justin Brayton: Justin went backwards, but was still able to secure a top 10. He had a great ride going until he got edged out by Anderson. I feel bad for him, but it looked like he had a chance to chop the throttle and avoid the tuff blocks. Was it clean? No, but this is SX and that’s what happens.
#10 Justin Brayton.
10th Mike Alessi: This was a great ride for Mike. He didn’t get the holeshot, and he didn’t need it this week. He only lost one spot from where he started. I think this is the best Mike has ever ridden indoors and I think it will transfer over to a run at the CMRC MX1 Championship.
Biggest Stud: Roczen gets my stud this week. I love that he isn’t throwing in the towel and focusing on the outdoors .
Biggest Dud: Ashley Grant is my dud this week. It’s sad when racers’ wives or girlfriends can’t keep to themselves and interfere.
Biggest Surprise: I didn’t think I’d ever see Bogle get 4th in this stacked field. Congrats, Justin!
#19 Justin Bogle.
Thanks for reading. See you next time.
