Good, Bad, 'n Ugly: Salt Lake City 5

Good? Two rounds to go. Bad? Supercross will be over. Ugly? Not the scenery here...

250 Class

The Good: Austin Forkner | 1st Place

There has been a bit of a power shift since the 250 West guys have resumed racing in Salt Lake City with Austin Forkner taking both Main Event wins so far. It was impressive to watch him reel in Dylan on Sunday and make the pass stick with a move that Dylan couldn't be too mad about since Dylan himself has done it before. Austin still sits seven points behind Dylan in the standings, though, and with only one round left (which happens to be the 250 Showdown) I think it might be a little too late for Austin to win this title. I respect that he's still going all out and that he's making it much more interesting than I originally thought the conclusion this 250 West series would be, but I don't believe we'll see Austin win the showdown and Dylan finish in fourth place or worse. I believe they're both better than the East guys and won't finish more than a spot or two apart from each other. It's going to be a very intense 15 minute + 1 lap Main Event, though, that's for sure. 

Austin Forkner (with Cameron McAdoo not far behind).

The Good Bonus: Jett Lawrence | 3rd Place

It has been a long time since we watched Jett Lawrence almost win Anaheim 1, but it was just as cool to watch him secure his first career podium right before the series concludes. I'm sure it was a huge weight off of his shoulders with the high expectations everyone has for him, and it should get his confidence level in a good spot as we start to prepare to head outdoors. Also, knowing Jett...he probably had a well deserved donut or two after the race. 

Jett Lawrence.

The Bad: Christian Craig | 10th Place

It wasn't a horrible race for Christian, but it was another missed opportunity for a podium or top five finish. He was solidly in third place when he got off balance in a rutty corner and hit the deck. He took a while to get going again and that was basically all she wrote for his Main Event.   These past two races have been better on paper for Christian, but, man, he could really use a solid outdoor season after what has been one of the roughest Supercross seasons of his career. 

Christian Craig.

The Ugly: Alex Martin | 21st Place

Salt Lake City 5 was actually Alex Martin's first DNF of the season so I can't rag on him too much. Crashes happen and pretty much everyone outside of the title contenders has a throw away race each season. This was also the first race of the year where he finished outside the top 10, so it hasn't been a bad year for Alex. Would I like to see him challenging for wins and podiums more often? Absolutely, but I think finishing around the top five fairly often and staying within the top 10 at this point in his career qualifies as a decent season. I do expect for him to light it up with some podiums when we head outside, though. 

Alex Martin.


450 Class

The Good: Ken Roczen | 1st Place

Well, I was way wrong when I predicted that Ken wouldn't win another race in Salt Lake City. He had previously announced that he had formed a mild case of asthma and then in a separate post announced that he had been diagnosed with Shingles, so I don't really think that my prediction was entirely unwarranted....but he sure did prove me wrong on Sunday. He was able to make the move on Cooper Webb and hold him off for the entirety of the Main Event, and he looked damn good doing it. Could he win out if he can keep his physical condition in the form that we saw on Sunday? I don't see why not. He beat Cooper who already has nothing to lose, and I don't see Eli risking everything in the world to beat Ken with the points lead he has. I don't think he has really any shot at the championship, though, as both him and Cooper would need Eli to have a serious issue in one of these last two rounds to have any shot at the #1 plate. 

Ken Roczen.

The Bad: Justin Hill | 14th Place

Justin Hill seemed to be on the rise before the series had to take a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He had strung together six straight top 10 finishes with a top five and two sixth place finishes included in there. Since the series has resumed in Salt Lake City? He has finished 16-10-15-13-14, which is not the most encouraging set of results. I'm not sure if it's the altitude, if they went the wrong way with the bike over the break, or if his motivation wavered a bit with how long the series was on hold, but something has happened here. He looks like a different rider out there and he doesn't have a whole lot of time to turn things around. Now, I'm not sure what his contract situation for 2021 is. Maybe he already has a deal in place with MCR Honda for next year and these last two races don't really matter, but I'd like to see him get back on track before the series concludes or we'll have the same questions about him heading into 2021 as we did heading into this year. 

Justin Hill.

The Ugly: Jason Anderson | 22nd Place

Now that was an ugly race for Jason. A crash on the opening lap made things difficult from the get-go, and then as he was trying to slice his way through the pack he got caught up in the aftermath of a collision between Benny Bloss and Vince Friese. Jason's front wheel got stuck in Vince's rear wheel, and you could tell Jason knew at that point that his race was over. He's not in the title fight so this result isn't the end of the world for him, but he had just moved into fourth place in the standings and now he's back to fifth place with not much time to make up ground on Justin Barcia. This is another points battle to keep an eye on as the series winds down.

Jason Anderson and Cooper Webb.


Words by Grant Dawson
Photos by Steve Giberson

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