In our latest edition of rewind, we reflect on Aaron Plessinger’s 250SX championship on the heels of his first 450SX podium finish at Daytona.

The 2021 Daytona Supercross was a breath of fresh air for Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Plessinger, returning to the podium following a tough start to his 450 career. After two seasons under the factory Yamaha tent, the factory effort was shifted to Star Racing, reuniting Plessinger with the team he had much success with throughout his entire 250 career.

The crown jewel of that success being his 2018 250SX West championship. In what was his fourth year in the pro ranks, the Ohio native had finished inside the top five in the points standings in the previous three years, his best finish a runner-up to now teammate Malcolm Stewart.

Image: Supplied.

This created what would be a bit of a make-or-break year for Plessinger, and he made the most of it despite it being a bit of a roller coaster. He started the season with a second-place at the opening round in Anaheim, with Shane McElrath taking the win. Adam Cianciarulo, who would turn out to be his main rival for the championship, finished third.

As the series shifted to Houston, Plessinger grabbed his first win of the season in a race that would turn out to one of the deciding factors in the championship when looking back, as Cianciarulo had issues that resulted in a seventh-place finish.

After a dip in results at Anaheim 2, he bounced back to take two victories at Glendale and Oakland. The important point here was that Cianciarulo finished seventh in Oakland, giving up a good chunk of points.

The points from those two wins would come in handy, as he’d only find the podium in one race out of the next four which was his win in Seattle. Cianciarulo meanwhile managed consistent 2-2-3-2 finishes in those rounds, closing the points gap to just 13 as the final round approached in Las Vegas.

Image: Supplied.

When the gate dropped on the finale, Plessinger crossed the line in 11th on the opening lap. As Cianciarulo took the lead, the fight was on for the title. While Cianciarulo would go on to take the win, Plessinger recovered to eighth which was enough to take the title but just two points.

To top off his season in 2018, Plessinger carried his momentum to the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series where he took nine podiums, six of them wins, and only finished outside of the top five in one out of the 12 rounds in route to the 250 championship.

If there’s one thing we can take away from recounting the 2018 season, it’s that Plessinger clearly has the capability to carry momentum and has plenty of podiums under his belt. Can he carry the momentum from his career-first 450 podium last weekend and land himself there more in the future? Time will tell.

He’s currently seventh overall in the 2021 championship and is just nine points off of his teammate Stewart in fifth. They return to action this Saturday for the first of three rounds of the Arlington residency at AT&T Stadium.