Page 128 - GRRIT-11

AARON PLESSINGER
If there’s anything to take away from the first couple rounds of the 250 East this year, it’s that it may
be one of the most unpredictable championship battles that we’ve seen in a long time. Aaron Plessinger
is a dark horse for the title in only his sophomore season of 250 SX. Being teammates with a two-time defending National champion and the defending 250 West champion has to do wonders for a rider’s confidence. Plessinger posted a GoPro video before the series moved east of himself tailing Cooper Webb around the Yamaha test track, keeping pace with Webb in a smooth and calculated manner. The Ohio native comes from a woods racing background which may have fooled some people into thinking he would struggle adapting to the style of Supercross racing. Instead, he scored a podium in his rookie year and started off the first race of this season with an impressive 3rd place finish ahead of his teammate. Plessinger has encountered some bad luck so far throughout the 2016 season; battling back from a poor start in Atlanta, fighting an illness in Daytona, and suffering two first lap crashes in Toronto. Despite the misfortune that
he’s dealt with across the first 3 rounds of the series, he only lies 20 points behind his teammate who leads the way after an amazing comeback ride last weekend from practically dead last to 2nd. Plessinger has shown the speed to place on the podium and win races in practically every session this year, he’s putting on an incredibly impressive performance for a sophomore of the class. To put his results in perspective, Jeremy Martin failed to qualify for multiple main events the past two seasons of Supercross. If Aaron can get his starts dialed in consistenly and put his Star Racing Yamaha up front early, he might be able to walk away from the field and put in a comfortable victory. Be prepared for Plessinger to stand on the top step of the box before the shootout in Las Vegas.
128 GRITMOTO • MARCH.21.16