Tampa SX - Rider Comments
Malcolm Stewart: Big bro, you know. You’ve done this a long time, racing Daytona and Jacksonville, and you know there’s something about that hometown crowd, buddy. I don’t know if they were twisting the throttle for me, because, for a split second, I was like, ‘Alright I need to get this done.’ I was feeling really good, and you know what, Stewart is back in the whoops, Y’all!”
Cooper Webb: “I ended up spinning out of the gate and that was all she wrote. I made a good charge through the pack. I’m a little bummed on myself. I was right there with Malcolm coming through the pack and he got around guys and I wasn’t able to [as quickly]. And as you saw with me and Kenny [Roczen], the lappers were really bad… With that being said, Malcolm was crushing the whoops, he deserved that win, and I got a little bit of a gift with Chase going down. But just gotta be better… We’ll take a hard-charge second tonight.”
Jason Anderson: “To be honest, tonight I was more likely to be a fifth place guy, but I hung in there. It was a bummer for what happened to Ken, it was out of his control, and I was able to pass Chase at the end, so that was nice. This class is tough, and you never know what can happen. Congrats to Malcolm, it’s pretty cool to watch him win his first one after so many tries. It’s cool.”
Max Anstie: “Pierce [Brown] went down. I hate to see that. He was riding so well and just spun and ended up going over the bars… After that, it kind of took the wind out of my sails. They red-flagged it, me and [teammate] Dax were up front and it was like a day at the Goat Farm [Training Facility]. And honestly, I was like, ‘Let’s not do anything silly right now.’ The whoops were really tricky and it’s round one so you’re always a little more nervous.”
Daxton Bennick: “I told [Max], I looked at him and said, ‘Hey, it’s just like the practice track now, so we’ve got this covered.”
Cameron McAdoo: “I’m so grateful for the strength that God gave me to be able do this tonight and to be here racing. It was a difficult day. It’s been difficult since the occurrence [of the knee injury one week prior] and we’re making the best of it. I’m so stoked with how tonight ended and how we were able to manage.”
Tom Vialle: "I had a big crash through the whoops in qualifying, so I was lucky to get away with that one. I didn't feel great in practice or qualifying, although felt a bit better for the night show and P5 for our first Main Event of the year. It's not bad, and although it's not where we want to be, we'll build from here and get better for next weekend."
Chase Sexton: "Not the way I wanted to end my night after a good day in Tampa. I was solid all day and qualified fastest, but on a bad lap in the Main Event I went down in the whoops while leading and damaged my front brake and throttle, so basically just had to salvage what I could, limping it home to finish out the race – not an ideal way to finish out the weekend. We’ll get to work again this week and come out swinging at Detroit."
Aaron Plessinger: "The afternoon was tough, but we found a setting heading into the Heat Race and felt like I ripped in that one! I made a few good passes in the first couple of laps, then ended up second. Come the Main, my start was decent before I got shuffled back early, and just rode around in eighth from there. That was the best I had today, so we'll go back and do some homework before Detroit."
Justin Barcia: "Tampa was a step in the right direction and the day went much better. In the Heat Race we got off to a good start, before I got a bit tangled up in the first turn, so I made a push to make up positions. Later on, I got off to a pretty good start in the Main, the track was super-technical, and we had some good battles. I'm really hungry to get that podium and I know with how we're working we'll get there soon."
Austin Forkner: "I woke up this morning with some sort of sickness. Every single time I got on the track I was better, which is positive. I was in seventh in the main and satisfied. I made one little mistake in the sand, then someone ran it up the inside of me and took me out. It took me a minute to get up and I was pretty far behind, so I just focused on finishing. I would have been happy with a seventh or better, considering how the day went, but that is just the way that it goes."