Cycle News Staff | April 16, 2016
Jeremy Martin became the first repeat winner of the 2016 250SX East class after scoring a wire-to-wire victory at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri, April 16.
Jeremy Martin had a flawless 250SX East Main event. Photography by Hoppenworld.com
Martin, of the Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha Team, rebounded nicely after crashing out of last week’s race in Indianapolis. He quickly filed that bad night away and replaced it with an impressive win in St. Louis, which still keeps him in the title chase with three rounds left to go. However, he is still quite a ways back, as he trails leader GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart by 16 points. Luckily, for Martin, Stewart had an awful main event.
But Stewart’s night looked promising after having set the quickest lap in qualifying and then winning his heat race later in the evening. Stewart then dodged a bullet in the main event after nearly getting taken out in a first-turn pileup. It seemed as though Stewart could do no wrong, but how quickly things can, and often do, change, because after that narrow escape, it was almost as if he could no right.
Before the first lap was over, Stewart stalled his bike in a sand turn and seconds later, having just started moving again, he got slammed to the ground by another rider who had actually ran off the track moments earlier trying to avoid the stopped Stewart. Stewart finally got going again in 11th place. Later in the race, however, Stewart went down again on his own, this time pretty hard, losing a couple of positions. Then, on the last lap, he hit the deck one last time. Luckily, it was a minor washout in a turn. Moments later, he took the checkered flag in eighth place. The only saving grace for him on this night is that he leaves St. Louis still with points lead, but by only one over Aaron Plessinger, who took second on the night, making it a Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha Team 1-2.
Third on the night went to Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Red Bull KTM’s Shane McElrath. It was his second podium of the year, the last time also a third in Detroit.
Stewart leads the 250SX East Championship with 115 points to Plessinger’s 114, and Martin is in third with 99 points. Martin Davalos (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing), who was one of the many riders caught up in the first-turn pileup and ended up finishing 15th, is in fourth with 83 points. Tyler Bowers (ninth on the day) is fifth, five points behind Davalos.
