Vital MX Perspective: East Rutherford

There's often a bit of extra excitement heading into East Rutherford. Riders and team staff dig it, with the proximity to New York City. The series like it, with the possibility scoring some extra corporate sponsor and NY media visibility. On the racing side, there was the added elements of a 250 East series that's been heating up; and a 450 series that's already been red-hot, with the battle between Ryan Dungey and Eli Tomac.

Let's take care of a few highlights, and then dive into the mains.

Ronnie Stewart has struggled this season while on the mend from a seriously tweaked wrist. He's only made a handful of mains in '17, but you can count on the home state New Jersey fans coming out strong for him in East Rutherford.

Tyler Enticknap and Deven Raper were duking it out for the last transfer spot in the first semi, and both were looking to make their first main 450 event. In the last corner, with the finish line in sight, this happened. Tyler dove inside, and Deven's leg got sucked into the rear wheel, grinding all forward progress to a halt.

250 Main Event Action

Jordon Smith (Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM), Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), and Kyle Cunningham (AutoTrader.com/Suzuki/JGRMX) led the way into the first turn. But that's not the wildest thing about this photo. Check out how far back Zach Osborne is in this photo...and we'll revisit that in a few.

Dylan Ferrandis (Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha) has been on the podium a few times during his rookie season here in the U.S., and has challenged a few other times. But East Rutherford was his best effort so far, scoring a second-place finish.

In his first race with the GEICO Honda squad, Cameron McAdoo matched the best finish of his 250 SX career so far, with a ninth.

With his fourth-place finish (later amended to third after Joey's penalty), Jordon Smith goes into the final round as the 250 East points leader...but he's only one point up on both Joey Savatgy and Zach Osborne.

After the race, it looked like Joey Savatgy was having some issues with one arm, but when asked about it, he said it was okay. On the podium, it looked like someone had replaced his normal arm with something off of a mannequin.

Zach's ride through the pack puts him squarely back into the running for the 250 East title, but with the points up for grabs coming from the combined East/West Shootout, just about anything can happen. Next week should be wild.

450 Main Event Action

Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna) grabbed the holeshot, and looked to be in a prime spot to take a win here...until he crashed in the corner after a triple. He did end up remounting and grabbing the final spot on the podium.

Among the championship contenders, Eli Tomac and Ryan Dungey were third and fourth at the end of the first lap. Eli was on the move, and made it to the lead, with Dungey following him through the pack...

Davi Millsaps (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC-KTM-WPS) scored a fourth in NJ.

With Jason in third spot on his Husky, and a pair of KTMs in front and behind him, they swept the top five spots.

If you've seen the race, you know that Marvin bobbled on the last lap, allowing Ryan to get by. With Eli's eighth-place finish, that gives Ryan a nine-point advantage heading into the final round. It Eli wins, and Ryan finishes in fifth, they'd tie, but Eli would take the tiebreaker.