SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts/Honda | 2019 Indianapolis Supercross Recap
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The 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series went from one iconic racing city to another with the eleventh round of the season, the 2019 Indianapolis Supercross. As the home to two of the biggest events in auto racing and many car racing teams, the Indiana city has a feel for racing unlike any place else. For the SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts/Honda team, the weekend in Indianapolis posed a number of challenges as Justin Brayton continued to deal with an ankle injury and Mike Alessi worked his way back into the routine of racing. Even with the issues, both riders easily made the 450 Main Event and scored crucial points for the championship standings.
Due to the cold Midwest weather outside, the team elected to work inside the stadium’s designated pit area. This decision brought the team closer together and allowed them to stay in constant communication as they discussed settings of the CRF450R motorcycles, lines on the track, and how the pace of the race had felt.
Managing the ankle injury has become the priority for Justin Brayton. The veteran racer has been unable to put in his usual training program for a few weeks and at Indianapolis, he said that the discomfort was worse than ever. To limit the pain, Brayton has made slight adjustments to his riding style and the team will work this week to find a suitable foot peg setup to help alleviate the issue. All seemed well ahead of Indianapolis until a slight mistake in the technical whoops hyperextended the ankle and added to the pain, but Brayton clicked off the necessary laps in the 450 Main Event and finished the night in tenth place, his tenth top-ten finish of the year. “I felt good coming in, I hadn’t practiced during the week for two weeks, but on Sunday or Monday it came around pretty quick,” said Brayton after the race. “I felt like riding on Wednesday but decided not to. I felt good until I hyperextended it backwards in the whoops. I definitely wasn’t going to pull it in, I just managed it. I just really hope it’s not fractured. It’s tough because I can’t ride on the ball of my foot, I’m riding on my heel. Tony Alessi, was just trying to figure out how to get me a different foot peg to manage it—but I’m definitely going to keep racing.”
Indianapolis was the third round of the season for Mike Alessi and he showed improvements in every session on the track, from the first practice to the last lap of the Main Event. Alessi and the team have spent recent days developing the Honda CRF450R to Alessi’s liking and race day included the usual suspension setting adjustments that are necessary to fine-tune the motorcycle. The veteran rider’s route to the Main Event included a dominant win in the 450 LCQ, which he led from start to finish. The feature race was somewhat of a challenge for Alessi in that he crossed the scoring loop on the first lap in twenty-first place and then climbed up the running order through the course of the twenty-six-lap race to finish seventeenth place. With three Main Event finishes to his credit, Alessi is now twenty-sixth overall in the championship standings, one position lower than injured teammate Malcolm Stewart.
Before the race weekend began, Mike Alessi joined the Monster Energy Supercross Series staff for a trip to the Day Early Learning Center and spent the day with the children that are a part of the daycare facility that caters to employees for the state of Indiana. In addition to the usual autograph posters and t-shirts, Alessi and Feld Motorsports presented the Day Early Learning Center with two unique wagons for the facility’s playroom. Made to look like a motorcycle, the wagons will surely help familiarize youngsters with the idea of Supercross. Will a future SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts/Honda superstar come from this introduction to racing?
The 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series now heads to the Pacific Northwest for the twelfth round of the year, the 2019 Seattle Supercross. As the hometown round for MotoConcepts, the team will host a number of friends at the race and looks to put in season-best finishes at CenturyLink Field.
