In Quotebook, a selection of riders detail how their races played out at round 10 of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross championship, the first of three races at AT&T Stadium in Orlando.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) – First:
This is an incredible night. I got a bad start in the heat race but I made some passes and ended up third. In the main event, I got a great start and made my way into the lead early on and I led every lap. It’s awesome and it feels great to have these Texas fans here. It was a huge night and to get the red plate is great, I’m super grateful.

Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – Second:
It was a good week leading up to this, I did a lot of testing and my team did a great job helping me get comfortable and feeling good again. Tonight was very special for us, our boss from Austria was here, so that’s super awesome to get second and make him proud in front of these Texas fans. The track was super challenging and I pushed hard and closed on Cooper [Webb] a little but I just couldn’t make it happen, he rode really well. I’m looking forward to the next two rounds here, I’m going to push it hard and try to take another win.

Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Third:
I’ve been following those guys all year and I want to be on the podium and want to start doing good, so I’m going for it and that’s all there is to it. We’re going to be firing every time we come out of that gate for the rest of the year. Let’s go!

Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Ninth:
Overall, the night was a step forward for me. My starts were awesome and that’s definitely something to be proud of. I put in a fairly good ride for the first half of the Main Event but unfortunately, after that, I got really bad arm pump. It was pretty uncomfortable and I had to fight through it but I just tried to be smart. I just want to keep this momentum with starts and hold it up there.

Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Fifth:
I’m stoked about how the heat race went with the win. Then we went into the main, and there weren’t too many great gates, so I just tried to pick the one that I felt would be best. I got a mid-pack start and just charged. I tried to ride my own race, and I started to click off people one by one, but the track was tricky; it was rough and started to dry out. You had to be patient in the berms otherwise it was easy to go down. We’ve been clicking off the check marks the past few weeks, and I’m ready to get back out here Tuesday and do some work.

Malcolm Stewart (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – DNF:
All day was great. The main event was going good but [Jason] Anderson just got into me. It wasn’t a big deal. I was just going to square him up, but when I went to square him up, my tire hooked up, and I went straight into the guy. That wasn’t my intention at all. It wasn’t the night we were looking for, but I’m just glad I didn’t get hurt when I hit the concrete because I went flying. It’s nice having these three races because we can quickly regroup and come back out for more.

Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – DNF:
The day started off well, I had a good start in both my heat and main event. Unfortunately, I got kicked out by another rider which made me crash. I hit my leg pretty hard and it was too painful to finish the race.

Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – Eighth:
Well, that was disappointing to say the least. The track did not have many passing spots and truthfully it all came down to who got a start. You had to have a good qualifying position in order to do well on this track tonight solely because of the start. If you look at both classes, both winners got the holeshot and never looked back, but nonetheless, we are not going to make excuses for ourselves, we are lucky that we get to line up again on Tuesday and have another go at it. Only seven races left this season, time to make them all count.

250SX West

Image: Octopi Media.

Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – DNS:
It’s a bummer because I came into today super confident. I just had a small tip over in free practice and messed up my thumb a little bit. We weren’t sure what was wrong with it so we just kept on trucking through the day but it was bothering me all day so we got an x-ray after the last practice and found out that it was fractured. We’re going to get it reviewed on Monday and hopefully, we’ll be back soon.

Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Sixth:
I started off pretty good, led a bunch of laps in the heat race, which were the first led laps for me in Supercross, so that was fun. I got through the main event, I slapped my hand pretty hard in practice so it was a little bit tough to hang on but it is what it is, no excuses, we’ll gather up and be ready to go for Tuesday.

Stilez Robertson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Seventh:
My night was okay, I don’t feel like I was riding like myself but we’ll go back and work harder. I feel like the first eight minutes of the main event were not so good but the last eight were okay. I have a lot of little things I can improve on and we’ll try to get back up there on the box.

Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – First:
That was the longest race of my life. I was just trying to think about hitting my lines clean and getting to the end. I’m so stoked on this. To start the season, my first goal was to get into the top five and I have felt like I’ve had the speed but circumstances kept me from hitting that goal. But now we checked off a win and it’s hard to not want more. Getting that start really helped and hopefully we can do it again on Tuesday.

Cameron McAdoo (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – Third:
That was a hard-fought one. I made a mistake on the start and I was buried. I was happy with parts of how I rode and not really happy with others. I got to third and couldn’t make anything happen beyond that. Everyone was riding really good, but super happy with the points lead. There is so much work that goes into being in this place and we won’t take a solid finish for granted.

Jordon Smith (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – 22nd:
Tonight was definitely another rough one. Coming into this race, I did not get a lot of seat time during the week due to my crash in Daytona. However, I felt solid all day today and I think my riding showed that in qualifying and the heat race. I had a great battle with Seth in the heat race all the way to the finish. In the main event, it was like déjà vu with both of us out front again battling. I knew Seth was fast and that I needed to make a clean pass, but after making a few mistakes, I let Hunter [Lawrence] get by me and then I saw Cameron trying to get by. I was trying to protect the inside line but the track was slippery tonight and I just lost the front end out from underneath me and then the way the bike flipped up it hit me in the chest and it took me a minute to regroup. I am bummed to say the least, but there is no quit in me, so we will rest and be ready to go again on Tuesday.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Fourth:
My night was a bit up and down. It was a good start to the night getting the win in the heat race, but I got a pretty bad start in the main and was kind of just fighting for track position with everyone. I slowly made my way through the pack because it was really hard to pass. I got up to fourth and could see the leaders ahead. They were riding really well. I reeled Cameron [McAdoo] in and was able to make the pass but we went back and forth. I tried for a pass on the last lap and ended up washing out the front in a turn. Those guys are riding really well and I can’t afford to give them that much space at the beginning of the race.

Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – 10th:
We had a rough practice and heat race. I was off the times since they were close, but that’s something we can work on. For the main event, I felt good throughout the whole race. I didn’t have a good gate pick and got a bad start. I tried to push as much as I could but ended up getting a little arm pump at the end and couldn’t push any further. Overall I feel like we have top speed, we just need to get a better start, especially on a track that’s hard to pass. You really had to pick your spots to make them work. We’ll work on getting that better start and hopefully get ourselves up on the podium.

Jarrett Frye (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – 21st
It was a really tough night for me. We’re going to regroup and do some more homework and come back swinging on Tuesday.