Aaron Plessinger Talks Houston | Vital MX Interview 1

Aaron Plessinger was a revelation in Houston, as he battled for the race lead early on and showed some of the potential that he possesses. It started with a brilliant start and it is no secret that is an area where he has had trouble thus far in 2023 Monster Energy Supercross. What led to such a clear improvement? Plessinger is quite candid in explaining what he did and how it helped, so this Vital MX interview from Houston is worth your time. The written version is below, as well as the audio option for those who prefer to listen.

Vital MX: It was a good night for you, but it could have been better. You definitely had podium speed and maybe even race-winning speed. The signs are there that this is heading in the right direction, so this is positive.

Aaron Plessinger: Yeah, for sure! I am really, really happy with my riding. I got off to a great start in the main and, man, Eli [Tomac] and I had a really good battle. If it had continued like it did, who knows? I was hyped up and ready to roll. Unfortunately, Dylan [Ferrandis] went down and I hope that he is okay. We had to restart. It was a staggered start and I slid a little bit off the line, so Jason [Anderson] got to the inside of me and I got passed right away. Chase [Sexton] got me and I kind of settled in fourth for a little bit. Overall, I am really happy with my riding and the stuff that I can do on the bike now. I wish that I could have got up to third, but it is better than eighth or ninth!

I guess that it is one of those things where, after the restart, it all just started happening very quickly. If Anderson had not got you so fast and you could have settled into second, maybe it would have been different?

Definitely, definitely. I call for the staggered restarts to be like a rolling start in NASCAR. No, Anderson is good at that, rattling people, and that is what he did tonight. That is where experience comes into play. My off the rip speed was good at the start and then, after the restart, I was lagging a little bit.

Did you surprise yourself off the original start? You were clearly faster than Eli and all over him. Were you riding thinking about how much better it was going than you expected?

Well, no. Not really. I knew that I had it in me and have known that it is in me. With a bad start, you just cannot run through these guys. These guys are all past champions, pretty much, so you are not going to run through them like it is a breeze. I have started in twelfth and ninth, then where you start is where you end up unless you are really good at something. I do not think that I surprised myself – I just showed a little bit of my potential tonight.

Every single interview that you did last week, you spoke about starts and how you need to be better there. You clearly made improvements, so did you test this week or was it a mental thing? What did you do?

I figured out what I was doing wrong.

What was it? Come on! Come on...

I was starting like a chicken; I had chicken wings over here. My elbows were down and I needed to get them up, so that I could control the bike.

Seriously? It was just a technique thing?

A lot can come from a little bit of a change. I raised my elbows a little bit and that made me get my weight over the front a little more. I was able to tighten my shoulders to keep me straight and in line. That is what I did and it helped out a hell of a lot.

Last question. Tonight was good and I feel like that will give you the bit between your teeth. You have actually got some momentum. Let's get it on, right?

Yeah, man. I showed the speed that I have in the week and I think that all is up from here. I have just got to stay on two and keep plugging away at this season. If you look back at the stats, I have not finished a full 450SX season yet and that is my goal. I definitely want to get podiums along the way, but finishing the season is ultimately the goal right now. I think that if I keep getting starts like this and riding with them, I will latch on and know the speed then soon enough I'll be winning these things.