“Honestly, I got out of the gate good but got wheelspin and I got swallowed up,” he explained after the race about his two poor starts. “Then the first turn was so tight and so slippery that even if you come in okay, people were sliding into you. In the second one, I had to roll the whole section, I felt like I was going parade lap speed. I just had to sit there.
“I felt like I rode like garbage,” he explained when he stuck in the back. So then he got going. “The last one I was pissed to be buried, I saw Eli (Tomac) up there and I know I was tied with Coop (Webb) for the overall so I had to go.”
Roczen said he accidentally tapped his rear brake and almost went down, and that’s what led to his off-track excursion. He charged forward and did enough to get the overall on a day where every rider had good and bad moments.
“I come around before the triple, my boot hit the brake and I cased the crap out of the triple, I went into the tough blocks, Webb and (Vince) Friese got back by,” Roczen explained about that scary off track excursion. “I came closer and closer to Tomac and I was going to go after Haiden (Deegan) but it was two laps to go and I knew I had it. I’m really riding well, maybe the best I have in a long time.”
So Roczen moves into the points lead with two rounds to go but he’s exiting the series to get enough prep in for the AMA SX that’s starting in January. His teammate Colt Nichols will be taking his spot. When asked why he’s leaving, the WSX people say he couldn’t come to an agreement with his team…but people on his team deny that. So, yeah, whatever. Roczen said leaving the series after a few races has been the plan for him the whole time.
Second overall was maybe the story of the night with Quad Lock Honda’s Christian Craig going 3-9-1. His ninth would’ve been much better if he hadn’t fallen twice including in the last turn. In the WSX series though, the third main event is worth much more (the standard 25-22-20) than the two sprint races (10-9-8 etc) so CC’s win was huge for his second overall.
And he earned it! Craig didn’t holeshot and check out or anything like that, no, no. He moved from third to first, passing Haiden Deegan and Eli Tomac in the process. He pulled away from there, unchallenged, for maybe his most impressive ride since he was on a 250F for Star Yamaha. Cool to see, Craig’s been riding very well at all the first three races of WSX, and this was his best yet.