This weekend will be the first of two east/west shootouts we will see this year. It feels like each coast is pretty stacked already so combining the two coasts together will be exciting to see. What I think is really exciting is that the points leader on each coast has been very fast but sometimes struggle with their starts. Now that we are combining the two coasts together it will be a lot harder to work your way through the pack if you get a bad start. This could really impact the points battle on each coast if someone like Savatgy or Forkner has a great night and Plessinger or Osborne have a bad night. It will be really exciting to see how things play out.
On the west coast Aaron Plessinger has been on fire lately. The only question is can he keep carrying that momentum? Or has long break allowed the fire to burn out? I think he will be the fastest 250 rider this weekend. I don’t know if he will win since his starts are so inconsistent, but if he can start top 5 I think he takes the win. Justin Hill has also been on fire at the last couple west coast races and then shocked everyone with his amazing rides in the 450 class. Unfortunately he crashed and broke some toes while racing the 450 but he should be able to line up and race tomorrow night. Hopefully he is at 100% because if he is he could really battle for the win. Adam Cianciarulo has been fast all year but has either crashed or has had a terrible start that ends up holding him back. Adam is going to be really fast and if he can pull the holeshot I think he runs away with it (unless he throws it away).
On the east coast Zach Osborne has been solid. He hasn’t been as dominant as I thought he would be but hey he’s the points leader so whatever he is doing is working. Austin Forkner does not want to let this championship out of his sight and he will do everything in his power to finish in front of Osborne to stay alive in this championship chase.
It is very difficult to pick my top 5 in this 250 shootout but I will give it a shot.
1st Place: Aaron Plessinger
2nd Place: Adam Cianciarulo
3rd Place: Zach Osborne
4th Place: Austin Forkner
5th Place: Joey Savatgy
In the 450 class it is hard to not take Eli Tomac. Marvin Musquin and Jason Anderson should both be able to do well. Blake Baggett should do well in the rutted conditions we will see in Indianapolis. Justin Brayton has been super solid all year and appears to have stepped up his game even more since his win in Daytona. At some point we will see Tickle or Wilson jump into the top 5, maybe this will be the race we could see one of them do it? Here’s my top 5 for the 450s this week.
1st Place: Eli Tomac
2nd Place: Marvin Musquin
3rd Place: Jason Anderson
4th Place: Blake Baggett
5th Place: Justin Brayton
The Moto Report 