#9 Dylan Wright came into Round 4 with a 22-point lead over the 2019 Rockstar Triple Crown Tour 450 champion, #54 Phil Nicoletti. With Dylan growing up just down the road from the track, expectations were high for the rookie 450 rider to be difficult to beat.
Rain gave the riders yet another mud race to deal with and then the sun came out for Sunday and the track gave riders every type of condition possible.
Here’s a look at the 450 class from this past weekend at Sand Del Lee.
#317 Cooper Larche gets the ‘Lanterne Rouge’ in the 450 class. I didn’t see what happened to him during the races, but I liked how he was lining up on the inside of the gate trying to be aggressive. He decided to save the bike for better days and called it a weekend.It’s great to see #136 Derek Hamm back at the Nationals. His weekend didn’t go as planned as he is scored with a 34th in the first moto and is shown DNF-DNF on Sunday.#777 Tim Tremblay was the fill-in for Cole Thompson but they decided to pull him off the track in that first mud moto so they could put all their efforts into Jess Pettis. He came back for Sunday and got tangled with Dylan Wright and went down hard. He took the handlebars to the stomach and that was it for Round 4. He’s a question mark for the final round this week.It’s also great to see #150 Mitch McColl racing. 28-25-28 put him 32nd.I know his mom wishes she could still be here, so here’s a shot of #778 TJ Martin from the maritimes. 25-28-26 put him in 30th.Obviously wearing old gear for practice, #57 Dario Zecca got better each time he was on the track. 26-24-23 put him 27th.I didn’t see #156 Cole Wilson digging anyone out this week. He was on a trail bike which may have been the right choice for the conditions. He cracked the top 25 with 20-29-22 motos.#343 Max Filipek didn’t enjoy the mud on Saturday and came back with solid motos on Sunday. 37-22-18 put him 21st.Like everyone, I was happy to see #4 Jeremy Medaglia back on the track. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well and he pulled off the track early on Sunday with apparent electrical issues. I hope we see him back this weekend. #35 Eric Jeffery was in some good battles, especially with #76 Bryan Cormier. 17-21-15 for 18th.#83 Tommy Dallaire was always one of Jeff’s favourite riders to watch, probably because his kit is always fresh and he’s got great style. Tommy finished 16th (19-17-14).#26 Josh Cartwright had a rollercoaster of a weekend and was in the best battle of the day. 31-7-30 means DNF’s for him and he’s scored in 15th.#76 Bryan Cormier got a taste of the leaders’ pace after grabbing the moto 1 holeshot. He finished with 12-16-12 motos for 13th.It was also nice to see #117 Michael DaSilva back on the gate. He is always a top 10 threat and hit 10th in the mud moto. 10-15-13 put him in 12th.#208 Logan Leitzel has been being treated very well by the Sand Del Lee locals. He still needs to stay up with the frontrunners’ pace late in the motos to finish where he’s capable of. 14-11-10 put him 11th.#50 Bobby Piazza was at the back of the pack off the start in one moto and never stopped making passes. He needs a great start to prove what he can do, too. 7-12-11 for 10th.#36 Parker Eales is a big kid and I think people don’t realize he’s only 21. He keeps getting better and is due for a breakout result. 11-8-9 put him up in 9th place.Like Halstead in the 250 class, #64 Liam O’Farrell is money in the 450 class. No matter where he starts, he’s going to find a way up to the top 10. 9-9-8 put him 8th.#28 Sam Gaynor didn’t get his usual great starts this weekend and was in some good 4-way battles. He finished 8-10-7 for 7th.#10 Keylan Meston has now inserted himself into the top 5 conversation. His bike showed signs of steam and smoke but he kept pressing for 4-6-6 motos and 6th overall.#5 Tyler Medaglia got a steam bath in one moto and was stuck like glue to his teammate, Goerke. 5-4-5 gave him 5th.#2 Matt Goerke and #5 had an amazing final moto battle. Matt definitely wants to finish off the MX season strong, so watch for that this weekend. 3-5-4 put him 4th.Not that we should really be surprised, but #3 Shawn Maffenbeier is now a podium regular in the 450 class. He had a great battle with #9 Dylan Wright and ended up 3rd (2-2-3), just 1 point out of 2nd. If not for that moto 1 first turn crash, #54 Phil Nicoletti was going to be tough to beat at Round 4. He came from farther back than anyone I’ve ever seen to challenge the group from 3-5th on the last lap. Seriously, he sat in the first turn for like ever! 6-1-1 gave him 2nd.#9 Dylan Wright did what he had to do to take this win. 1-3-2 isn’t what we’ve gotten used to seeing this year from the rookie 450 rider, but it got the job done and added 2 to his points lead.450 Podium: Dylan Wright HON, Phil Nicoletti YAM, Shawn Maffenbeier YAM.
