The Monster Energy Supercross Championship rolled into Pittsburgh for round 15 of this year’s series, with riders welcoming the new venue, fans, and surface in the Steel City. Hear directly from the racers in this Reaction feature from Acrisure Stadium.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Chase Sexton (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – Second:
It was a tough track tonight, I knew the start was going to be key, and Cooper [Webb] got off to a good one. From there I really needed to be mindful of how hard I pushed as it was easy to lose the rear-end in these conditions. I felt like I rode well, just couldn’t get close enough to make a pass, but I didn’t want to override the track – finding that limit was tough. It’s disappointing to lose this race tonight, but it was a dogfight, and I gave it everything I had.

Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – Fourth:
Pittsburgh was a fun city and a very cool venue! It was a weird day for me. I felt really good in practice and then got off to an awesome start in the heat race. P2 in that one, which was pretty good, but it was a strange main event after getting off to an awesome start. On the first lap, I cased the big triple, and I think that threw me off a bit, took me a bit to get going. Around the halfway mark, I came alive and managed to come back to fourth, so it’s a cool feeling to not give up on myself and rebound mid-race – we’ll take the speed into Denver and try to end this Supercross season with two more podiums!

Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – Fifth:
Pittsburgh was very, very cool. We had a good race track tonight, and I ended up P5, which was really good. I felt like I rode well and made the best out of what was a chaotic start to the race for me. I’m looking forward to Denver as it has always treated me well, and Salt Lake is also one of my favorites. It’s an emotional time for me now too, with the ‘Stewart 27’ documentary coming out tomorrow, so I’m really excited for everyone to see what myself and everybody involved have been working on!

Dean Wilson (Honda HRC Progressive) – 10th:
Overall, tonight was definitely an improvement for me. The result was one spot worse than last week, but I was in a good position for most of the race. There was a rhythm section right after the start that gave me trouble all night, and that’s where I kept getting passed. It was frustrating because once I cleaned it up in the last 10 laps, I was right in the mix. The ball was in sight, and I fought hard the whole way. It was a step forward all around, but I’m not fully satisfied yet. My goal is to break into the top seven, so we’ll keep fighting for it.

Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – First:
Pittsburgh was an amazing day for me. I qualified first in the first session and got second in the next one. In the heat race, I finished second, and then in the main event, I executed well. I got the holeshot and led the whole thing. I had a heck of a lot of pressure from Chase [Sexton] and was able to get it done. It’s just huge from a momentum side to get another win, and to skew the points and give myself a little bit more breathing room. It was much needed, and we’ll head into Denver with a lot of confidence.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Third:
It was a really good day. I qualified fifth but really came out firing in the heat race. I felt like that’s the best I’ve ever ridden. I got a lot of compliments after that performance, and it just made me want to do the same in the main. I didn’t get the best of starts and got shuffled around a bit on the first lap. I was fifth or sixth and had a good battle with AP [Aaron Plessinger] and then went back and forth with Kenny [Roczen] for third. It took me a little bit to get to third, and once I did, I tried to latch on to those front two. I put in a bunch of good laps, but just really couldn’t close down on the gap much. So I was a little bit deflated, and I didn’t change up my lines once the track started getting rougher, so that hurt me a little bit. From there, I was kind of riding around in no man’s land in third, and just maintained it from there.

Christian Craig (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – 14th:
It was fun racing in Pittsburgh. I felt pretty good all day, but a bad start in the main made it hard for me to do much. I know I’m a lot better than my results. We’re going to keep working to finish the last two rounds on a high note.

Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki) – Sixth:
It was cool coming here to Pittsburgh. The stadium was super packed, and the fans were going crazy. We’ve just been trying our best on the weekends. The last two weeks have been really tough, and I’m definitely not at my best right now. I need some time to heal and get back to peak performance, so right now it’s been a bit rough. I’m really trying to go in the beginning, and the whoops were super tough tonight. I almost ended myself in those and decided to start jumping them. It wasn’t necessarily the fastest, but I was trying to hang in there. We were riding in third and fourth for quite some time, and I just made a couple of mistakes throughout the race. Another rider and I got together in the end, too. Right now, we’re just maintaining. Unfortunately, the results are not there, but we have a couple to go, and we just want to stay on two wheels and do our best to stay in the game.

Colt Nichols (Twisted Tea Suzuki) – 12th:
I actually was in the fight at the beginning of the race. I came out of the gate much better in the main event and rode well for the first bit of the main. I got a little bit tight, made some mistakes, and went a little bit backwards, but overall, it was a better night in a lot of ways for the main event. I finished P12, so there’s still a lot of work to do, a lot of things to improve, but I’m taking the positives from tonight and going into Denver excited for the last two rounds.

Kyle Chisolm (Twisted Tea Suzuki) – 16th:
We had a bunch of rain overnight, so we had a shortened day again. It’s kind of the theme here up in the Northeast with these races. It turned out to be a pretty dry racetrack. I just never really felt as good as I wanted to out there today. It wasn’t my best stuff. I wish I were a little bit better, I’m trying to do my best, but it just wasn’t my best… I want to be up close to the top 10, and I’ve got two more rounds to do it. We’ll go back to work this week and try to finish out these last two strong.

250SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – First:
This race win was very important, I feel like I had to win [tonight] to have a chance at the championship in Salt Lake. I had a rough start to the day with a pretty big crash in practice, but overall, I got pretty lucky there. I felt great in the main event, the bike felt really good too, and after the start I knew that I had to make it happen tonight, and thats what we did.

RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – Fourth:
I felt great today with qualifying P1 and then winning my heat race. I had a good main event going, put myself in a good position, and then made a small mistake with a few laps to go that really cost me. We’re leaving here three points down heading into the finale with a shot at winning this thing, so we’ll put our heads down for two weeks and be ready to win in Salt Lake.

Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – Fifth:
The day went pretty well here in Pittsburgh. I ended up P2 in qualifying and felt really good on the bike and comfortable with the track. In the heat race, I got the holeshot, led every lap, and felt strong the whole way through. Heading into the main event, I spun really badly off the grate at the start and put myself in a tough spot right away. The first few laps got a little sketchy, but I focused on climbing my way forward and was able to work up to a fifth-place finish. Now we’re only one point out heading into Salt Lake, and I’m taking everything I’ve got into that final round. Super excited and ready for the battle ahead.

Chance Hymas (Honda HRC Progressive) – Sixth:
Round 15 here in Pittsburgh, and overall, it was a decent night for me. We did a lot of testing and took some big swings with the bike setup. I ended up sixth in the main, so it’s something to build on going into the final East round. The team and I are working hard to put all the pieces together, and I’m looking forward to finishing strong in Salt Lake City and heading into outdoors.

Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Second:
It was a good night overall. I’m definitely a little bummed, but we gave it everything we had and can’t be mad about it. A couple of mistakes cost us tonight. So I’ve just got to clean that up and be a little bit better. Overall, my riding’s pretty good. We have a little bit left to work on, but we’re in a better spot than we were a couple of weeks ago, so I’m happy with that. We’ll go back to work and try to be better for Salt Lake.

Austin Forkner (Triumph Racing) – 15th:
I had a good heat race. My starts were great last night, but not ideal tonight, and that held me back. I started back in the pack in the main event. Another rider checked up in front of me in the whoops – I jumped right to avoid them but landed on a tuff block. I rode well after I got back up. I mean, my pace was good all day! I was taken out by someone else later in the race, too, but it is what it is. I could have just phoned it in, but I actually rode well. The results just do not show that!