Steve Cox | January 29, 2017
2017 Phoenix 250 Supercross Results – Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Justin Hill came into the 2017 season less physically prepared than he would have liked to, but he’s turning it around quickly. He scored a fifth place at round one of the 2017 Monster Energy/AMA Supercross Series in Anaheim, but then caught fire about halfway through the main event at round two in San Diego, coming up just short of good friend and former teammate Shane McElrath at that event to finish second.
2017 Phoenix 250 Supercross Results
But the past two weekends have been all about Justin Hill. Tonight in Arizona, Hill posted the fastest qualifying time during the day, then backed that up with the fastest time of the night in winning his heat race. In the main event, he started inside the top five, but he had his work cut out for him by the time he moved up into third behind his rookie teammate Austin Forkner (out front) and his former TLD/Red Bull KTM teammate McElrath in second.
McElrath got around Forkner on lap four and attempted to set sail as Hill tried to find a way around his teammate for the next few laps. But once into second place, Hill began reeling in McElrath right away, and when he finally got on McElrath’s tail around lap 11 of the 16-lap race, McElrath was getting balked by lappers almost every lap. Hill eventually took advantage and sprinted past to take the lead with only two laps to go.
“It was just heart tonight. Shane [McElrath] was riding awesome,” said Hill. “He got around Austin [Forkner] and just pulled away from us. When I finally got around Austin I had so much ground to make up. [Shane] made me earn it, all the way to the end. When I saw the white flag I thought to myself, ‘no way did I just do this.’ I’m just so happy.”
McElrath stayed close, but came up just a couple seconds short at the finish. Hill took the win over McElrath, with Forkner taking his first supercross podium of his career in third. Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger missed the podium for his first time this season after starting well outside the top 10 and finishing fourth despite setting the fastest laptime of the main event.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos won his heat race but had to settle for fifth in the main event, just in front of Plessinger’s teammate Dan Reardon. Then came Munn Husqvarna’s Josh Hansen, GEICO Honda’s Jimmy Decotis, JGR Suzuki’s Phil Nicoletti, and the rest of the field.
Decotis’s teammate Jeremy Martin had to sit out the night show after suffering a concussion in practice in a collision with Tyler Bowers. Bowers suffered a fractured femur in the incident.
With four rounds down and five to go for the 250cc West, McElrath’s points lead has shrunk to five points over Hill, and 10 points over Plessinger. It’s still anyone’s game between the three. They all control their own destiny in their march toward a 2017 championship.
2017 Phoenix 250 Supercross Results
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