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View From The Floor: What's Dirty? 2

These guys are the best Supercross riders in the world, but it's not always pinkies up and elegant out there.

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GuyB
4/23/2018 5:06 PM

View From The Floor: What's Dirty?

Jason Anderson is in a pretty enviable spot right now. He's got a 34-point lead after Foxborough, and can pretty much have a chill race next week...all he has to do is qualify for the main...and he'll wrap up the 2018 Monster Energy Supercross 450 title with a race to go.

The first 250 heat sat on the line for a while, and the temps were relatively cool...which meant some pre-race warm-ups were not a bad idea.

Michael Mosiman grabbed a killer start from the outer half of the gate in the first 250 heat.

For being a 180 sand corner, the sand section was actually pretty much drama-free.

Zach Osborne grabbed the first 250 heat win.

Jeremy Martin looked like he was possibly on his way to a third straight win in the 250 East class, after qualifying fastest, and winning his heat.

Jason Anderson leading the charge for the first 450 heat. He won this one.

Malcolm Stewart doing some sandblasting. We're hoping to see him on the track this summer for the outdoor series.

It's always cool to run into the Godfather of East Coast moto photogs, Paul Buckley.

It was cool to see Chad Reed get the holeshot in the second 450 heat, and lead for a bit. Yeah, it looked like the new Factory Edition Husky that he'd picked up this week made a difference.

Justin Barcia edged out Eli Tomac for the final 450 heat race win, and it made for an entertaining battle.

The 250s head down the rocky start straight on the way to turn one.

Sean Cantrell got the jump on the pack, and finished fifth.

Jordon Smith got into second early, and kept the pressure on Zach Osborne. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't quite put the laps together to make a charge on the leader.

Jeremy Martin went down on the first lap of the main, and did a great job of charging back to fourth...after being dead last. Here he's about to get by Thomas Ramette for eighth.

Kyle Peters had a great race, especially considering the press release that the Autotrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing team had issued earlier in the week, announcing that he'd injured his leg in Minneapolis...after crashing in the snow and ice on the way to the track. A third on the day showed some grit.

Click the start button below to hear a post-race interview with Kyle Peters.

That's a third win on the season for Zach Osborne.

That's one more race down, and now the 250 East title chase will go down to the wire in Vegas. Zach will go there with a 15-point lead.

Marvin Musquin made quite a charge from the near the box to line himself up for the first turn...

Chad Reed was in the mix on the start, but went down on the first lap. He still charged back for a tenth-place finish.

...but it still wasn't as big as the run down the straight that Vince Friese made. He'd started outside the box. His teammate is also right there in the mix. Apparently the Smartop MotoConcepts Racing bikes aren't short on horsepower.

One thing that makes daytime races different than being under the lights was a variety of lighting conditions. In and out of shadows, glare from the suite windows on the east side of the stadium, and more made it a bit tricky. We'll admit, there's a sparkle to Supercross under the lights...but being on the big Fox network also has its advantages.

Dean Wilson grabbed a fifth...not bad considering he hit the deck early in the day, and landed on the shoulder that he injured at A1.

Eli Tomac spent a bit of the main lurking behind Musquin, giving him lots of study time.

Kyle Cunningham was having his best race in a while, hovering right around the top ten, but got blinded and caught a soft rut over a triple...right in front of the leaders. Fortunately other than being a bit beat up, he's okay.

Jason Anderson played like a potential champ should, and grabbed an other consistent finish.

Here's Eli Tomac's pass of Marvin. No drama.

This may be one of the few times that Marvin has won a race that we haven't seen the heel clicker celebration.

Eli and Brian Kranz check out the missing grip, tweaked throttle tube and front brake lever. It's fortunate for them that the bikes didn't get tangled, or otherwise we might have had a podium made up of Jason Anderson, Blake Baggett, and Dean Wilson.

Lurch had already completed a post-race interview for the fans in the stadium with Eli Tomac, and the crowd was definitely leaning in Eli's favor. Marv opted to not do a post-race interview in the stadium, and we don't entirely blame him. It's not often that we hear the race winner booed, and there wasn't much he could have said that would have turned them around. Hopefully next week will be a little more drama-free. Our take? Marv got into the corner hotter than he wanted to, and Eli cut down more than Marvin expected. But it was also for the win in a 450 main. That means the difference of a chunk of bonus money, a chance to trim a few more points off of Jason Anderson's lead...and keep the dream of a title alive. Was it the prettiest thing we've ever seen? No, and SX/MX fans certainly have a hyperactive sense of what's right or wrong. Yeah, these guys have to have a certain amount of trust in each other out there, and I don't think any of them want to intentionally hurt another rider. These guys are the best in the world at SX, but it's not always pinkies up and elegant out there. Saturday night was an example of that.

Here's your top three from Foxborough, and it's off to Salt Lake City next week for Jason Anderson's coronation.


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