Good, Bad, 'n Ugly: Denver 5

250 Class

The Good: Adam Cianciarulo | 1st Place

Adam was the man in Denver all day, and made it happen in the Main Event to extend his lead in the standings to eight points with one round left. It's not a huge cushion, but there's only one more race, and with the way Adam has been riding I don't think he'll be stressing too much about it. Plus, he has always done very well in Las Vegas. So while anything can happen, unless he crashes out of the race I think Adam will be celebrating his first professional championship in a few weeks. He should be a title contender outdoors, too, and this kind of leads to the whole 450 rumor that's been floating around about him. He made sure to say that the rumors that he has already signed a 450 deal for next year are completely false, and that he still has unfinished business in the 250 class. This makes sense to me. He's only 22, and even if he is able to secure the 250 West title and then the 250 motocross title, I don't see why he wouldn't return next year and try to defend them. He's going to have several 450 teams chasing him either way. Of course, he could also be bluffing and then after outdoors we get the news that he has signed a 450 deal. It'll be interesting to see what happens, but I don't think either of his options are bad.

The Good Bonus: Michael Mosiman | 5th Place

Michael's really starting to come around! His season started out a little rough, but he has drastically improved in almost every way as the season has gone on. He gave Adam Cianciarulo a very hard time for the first part of the Main Event. Granted, it was a hard track to pass on, but Michael's pace was pretty quick and he was able to counter Adam's setup attempts nicely for the first six laps or so. He then gave Dylan Ferrandis the same treatment and by doing that he helped Adam create a sizable gap out front. I'm not sure if he would have been able to hold onto third place for the rest of the race, but a tipover never gave him the chance to try and he ended up finishing in fifth place. Still, his progression this season has been impressive and I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see him contending for podiums on he regular next season.

The Bad: Sean Cantrell | 12th Place

Alright, I should probably say straight away that I'm aware Sean is still dealing with a wrist injury and hasn't had a ton of seat time since before Houston, but this still wasn't good. He really didn't look bad in Houston a couple of weeks ago which is why his performance in Denver was a little confusing to me. Maybe his wrist was giving him problems or maybe he was struggling with the altitude, but he faded hard in his heat race and then got beat by four privateers in the Main Event. At this point, I doubt that we see the Troy Lee Designs KTM team re-sign him for next year. Also, this has just been a nightmare season for the team, and I imagine that KTM is fairly disappointed with how everything has gone.

The Ugly: Garrett Marchbanks | 22nd Place

It was a rough night for Garrett Marchbanks, although most of what happened wasn't in his control. An engine failure sent him to the LCQ, but he was able to get through that fairly easily and on to the Main Event he went. He was able to get a decent start considering the gate pick he got and things were looking up for about a third of a lap. He went down hard towards the end of one of the rhythm sections and was immediately holding the area in which no man wants to sustain an injury. He never rejoined the race after that and I haven't heard anything about his condition since Saturday, but hopefully, he's okay and able to race Las Vegas.

450 Class

The Good: Justin Bogle | 4th Place

Justin had very little time on the KTM before the season started, but his results for the first two-thirds of the season were still a little concerning. He had two top 10s in the first 12 rounds. That's...not good, especially for a rider who is trying to convince factory-level teams to sign him for next year. Something must have clicked for him recently, though, as he has now had three straight top-tens and a fourth place in Denver. It wasn't a "gimme" fourth place, either. He battled for a good portion of the Main Event with Joey Savatgy, Blake Baggett, and Ken Roczen, and he never faded or looked like he was holding up the group. It was a great ride for him, and if he can continue to ride like this through the final two rounds he may very well find himself with an offer or two for 2020.

The Good Bonus: Eli Tomac | 1st Place

Is this it? Can we officially say that Eli is on a roll?? Well, eh, I still wouldn't. If this was last year, I'd say that he's probably gonna win the final two rounds and carry it all into outdoors. But this isn't last year. He's been rife with inconsistency this year, and it's clear at this point that the combination of him and his bike may work one week and then be completely off the next. Now, if he wins in East Rutherford, then maybe he truly has found the secret ingredient, whether it be something bike-related or personal, that has allowed him to return to his old self. But we'll have to wait and see how things go down in New Jersey.

The Bad: Marvin Musquin | 3rd Place

This was the final nail in the coffin for Marvin's championship hopes. He was clearly struggling with the track and perhaps the altitude, as he looked off throughout the entire night show. He even was able to get out front during the Main Event and with the speed he has shown in the second half of the season I expected him to run away while he could, but Eli Tomac and then Cooper Webb were able to reel him in and pass him without too much drama. He cruised to a third-place finish and now he sits 23 points down with two rounds to go. He's still in it mathematically, but I don't see him making up that big of a gap. At this point in his career, Marvin has to be disappointed that another year will pass and he still won't have a 450 Supercross title.

The Ugly: Dean Wilson & Cole Seely

Oof, this one was an absolute heartbreaker to see. Dean Wilson has been riding great recently, perhaps the best of his 450 career, and it was starting to look like he may become a regular inside the top five. Then he went down during the Main Event on Saturday and had to be carted off. I'm not sure how bad the crash was since I didn't see it, but in the Husqvarna press release this week they did say that Dean was at the hospital getting evaluated on Saturday night. I sincerely hope this isn't another serious injury for Dean. He's dealt with enough of them throughout his career and it seemed like he was starting to reach his full potential on a 450. An update may be posted by the time this gets published, but for now all we can do is hope for the best.

As far as Cole Seely goes, I have no idea what happened. I'm not sure if it was a mechanical DNF or a crash, since the broadcast never touched on it. I've never really understood how when a factory rider clearly has pulled out of the race, and we didn't see the crash or incident on camera, that the broadcast crew doesn't send someone to find out what happened. It's disappointing, but considering Cole has posted to his Instagram since the race, I'm guessing it was either a mechanical or he went down and didn't sustain any injuries. It's still a bummer, though, because Cole was riding great and took a heat race win. He still has two chances to get another top-five this season.

Words by Grant Dawson
Photos by Steve Giberson