View From The Floor: Let's Take It To Vegas

It was a beautiful sunny day in Salt Lake City as we headed into the penultimate round of the '18 Monster Energy Supercross series. You know, the day Jason Anderson was supposed to clinch the 450 crown. Opening ceremonies were about the time that the wind also started kicking up.

In the 450 class...

At the start of the 450 main, Blake Baggett quickly jumped out front, but it was contact between Jason Anderson's front wheel and Eli Tomac's peg (maybe via a bump between Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson) that created a little more drama than expected.

This might be about the point that Jason Anderson realized that the day wasn't going to end exactly as he'd hoped.

There are at least three spokes gone here. The way Jason sends it, it wouldn't have been a good idea to stay out there.

The time it took to change the wheel seemed torturously long. Jason was doing a good job of keeping calm, but by the time the wheel was changed, he was already a couple of laps down. He rode the wheels off of it for the rest of the main, but still finished in 17th spot.

Blake Baggett led the first three laps before Marvin Musquin got by him.

Eli Tomac had started out in the tenth spot, but before the midway point of the main, he'd worked his way past Justin Barcia, and into fourth.

The first time that Eli tried to get by Blake Baggett for second spot, he clipped a Tuf-Blox and had a minor step-off. He then had to work his way back by Christian Craig, and then Blake Baggett...this time for good. If he hadn't gond down, the battle for the win might have been a lot more interesting. He was definitely making time on Marvin Musquin.

We'd guess that everyone involved was happy to put the drama of Foxborough's main event behind them. The crowd was pretty rough on Marvin Musquin during opening ceremonies but was much kinder during post-race interviews.

Coming into Salt Lake City, Marvin Musquin didn't have much of a shot at the '18 450 title. With a 14-point gap to Jason Anderson, it's still a longshot, but it's also a whole lot better than before.

In the 250 class...

After being MIA in Foxborough due to injuries to their East coast riders, it was good to see the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki guys making an impression at the start of the 250 main event.

Joey Savatgy jumped out to an early lead, with the usual suspects battling behind him. Adam Cianciarulo, Aaron Plessinger, and Shane McElrath.

The dust and roost was a bit on the crazy side.

Adam Cianciarulo and Shane McElrath were battling for position.

Aaron Plessinger couldn't hang with the lead trio and finished in the fourth spot. He'll go to Las Vegas with a 13-point lead over Adam Cianciarulo in the chase for the 250 West title.

Shane McElrath's mastery of the whoops allowed him to go by both Joey Savatgy and Adam Cianciarulo at the same time and take over the lead.

Chase Sexton grabbed the fifth spot.

Phil Nicoletti grabbed a sixth-place finish.

Shane getting congratulations from Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM's Matt Winter.

Miscellaneous...

Chad Reed came out rocking a Utah Jazz jersey, much to the delight of the locals.

We can't say we've seen a water truck on the start straight before the 450 main event anytime in recent memory...but it was necessary. Chatting with some of the Dirt Wurx crew afterward, they said they'd put 40,000 gallons of water on it between build day and the race, and it was still overly dry.

How dusty was it out there? Yeah, like that.

We also spotted quite a few riders sporting goggles while waiting for their races...

...or mechanics wearing them in the signal area.

And just look at the hair on the Monster girls.

Mitchell Harrison had two crashes in his heat race, and still made the main event. Here he tangles with Martin Castelo.

Jason Anderson wasn't the only one with wheel trouble. AJ Catanzaro had a mechanical issue that resulted in a trashed rear wheel. We do have to give his team (and FXR) some props on the Slayer addition to the jersey, though.