Image: Octopi Media.

After one of the heaviest crashes we’ve seen in Monster Energy Supercross, Cameron McAdoo returned to the starting line and fought for a podium finish, later explaining how his night unfolded to the media.

The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider was charging through the field in the opening stages of the 250SX West main event on Tuesday night when he suffered a massive crash.

Flying through the air still connected to the bike, McAdoo slammed the ground and it appeared his race was finished. When a red flag saw the race come to a stop, McAdoo pleaded his case to Alpinestars medical staff to let him continue.

Cleared to race, he lined back up and brought it home in third place, salvaging his championship hopes. Following the race, McAdoo recounted the heroic performance.

“The crash was obviously crazy,” McAdoo explained. “I just [saw] it. I hit my leg really bad and I couldn’t move it. So I was struggling to get my leg back moving and I was doing my best to get up and I was wanting to go back to my bike. So I had the medics telling me ‘no you probably shouldn’t.’

“I got back to my bike after they red-flagged it and rode back and told them ‘I want to race, I’m okay’ and obviously Dr. Bodner came over and they checked me out thoroughly because they were concerned about my head.

“I passed all the tests and my bike was mangled. The mechanics did the best they could, they were taping shrouds on, zip-tying stuff because everything fell apart.

“My bars were really rolled back and pretty bent but I didn’t even really realize that so much until I came around the first turn, I don’t think I got the holeshot but yeah I was leading and it was tough.

“It was a tough race and about five minutes in when the adrenaline kind of wore off I really realized how beat up I was and yeah, I’m pretty sore now.”

It was unclear how the crash actually happened initially, McAdoo later detailed how it unfolded from his perspective.

“I think really what happened was I over jumped the triple in a little bit,” he continued. “The pocket to the face of that next double was pretty steep and I think my suspension was still compressed.

“I tried to push through that double while the suspension was still compressed, which obviously gave me the kick over the bars and I think that was kind of how it went.

“That was a pretty steep little transition and I didn’t catch that pocket just perfect. So yeah, Supercross is obviously gnarly and you have to respect it.”

McAdoo’s performance keeps him in the championship hunt as the series comes down to the wire, just nine points behind Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) in the lead. He’ll have three days to recover before returning to action for the last of three races at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday.