ST. LOIUS, FLA. (March 17, 2018) – Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Jordon Smith is making his trip to the podium a regular occurrence as he earned his third-straight podium finish of the season inside The Dome at America’s Center. By collecting third-place at the Eastern Regional 250SX Round 5 and a string of good finishes, Smith now sits only 13 points out of first place in the championship. Teammate Sean Cantrell put in a great come-from-behind ride to pass 11 riders on his way to his third top-10 finish in ninth.
The night started out a little tough with Smith having to come from behind to break into a qualifying spot in his heat. With a less than ideal gate pick, Smith was still able to push his KTM into the top 10 on the start and started picking off riders. At the halfway mark, Smith was stalking the top five and was able to move into fourth before capitalizing on a mistake and sliding into third. He held on for the remainder of the race to secure his third-straight podium finish. After five rounds, Smith has positioned himself just 13 points out of the championship leader.
“I got off to a pretty good start and was able to salvage what I could from an outside start,” said Smith. “When I got into third, I settled in a little more than I think I should have and wish I would have pushed a little more to see if I could have challenged for second. I am happy with my result though and it’s put me in position to see the top two guys in the points. There is still a lot of racing left and we’ll see how the showdown comes into play next week.
Cantrell faced the same challenge as Smith with a start on the outside but didn’t enjoy the same fortune as his teammate on the start. When Cantrell saw the green flag after the first lap, he was 20th and had a lot of ground to make up. That didn’t stop him from charging until the end where he was able to break into the top 10 and score ninth for his third top-10 finish of the season.
“It’s really tough to know you have an uphill battle from the very start of the race, but all I could do is try and pick off as many riders as I possibly could,” said Cantrell. “Working hard to push forward paid off and I was able to get inside the top 10. I’ve been able to get a couple of top 10 finishes and would really like to break into the top five. Next week will be my first showdown race so we’ll see what I can do with the different format.”
The KTM Junior Supercross riders were back and they put on a show for the fans. Ely Gross had the lead for the entire race, but it wasn’t without a challenge from Levi Wilkins, who eventually settled for second. He was only 0.3 seconds back when the checkered flag flew. Rounding out the podium was Lucas Skelton in third.
With the indoor lights shining on the duo, Smith and Cantrell showcased the SE Air Jersey Metric Navywith the SE Air Pant Navy. They rounded out the racewear with the SE4 Carbon Helmet Metric Navy.
See all of the 2018 gear sets and the 2018 Moto Helmets online and at your local TLD retailer.
250SX Class Main Event Results - ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
- Zach Osborne (Husqvarna)
- Jeremy Martin (Honda)
- Jordon Smith (KTM)
- Kyle Peters (Suzuki)
- Austin Forkner (Kawasaki)
- Brandon Hartranft (Yamaha)
- Luke Renzland (Yamaha)
- Michael Mosiman (Husqvarna)
- Sean Cantrell (KTM)
- Thomas Ramette (KTM)
250SX Class Eastern Region Points Standings
- Zach Osborne (Husqvarna), 115
- Austin Forkner (Kawasaki), 107
- Jordon Smith (KTM), 102
- Jeremy Martin (Honda), 93
- Luke Renzland (Yamaha), 71
- Kyle Peters (Suzuki), 70
- RJ Hampshire (Honda), 57
- Sean Cantrell (KTM), 56
- Colt Nichols (Yamaha), 54
- Martin Davalos (Kawasaki), 53
KTM Junior Supercross Challenge
- Ely Gross
- Levi Wilkins
- Lucas Skelton
- Lincoln Nielsen
- Ries Seeba
- Garrett Brown
- Ryder Mcgee
- Ty Payton
- Lucas Streznetcky
- Tom Luberda