By now everyone knows the story of how Team USA ended up with the team they had for MXoN. The original team of Chance Hymas, Chase Sexton, and Aaron Plessinger was looking very strong until both Hymas and Sexton got hurt. It’s hard enough to find riders to commit to this race (with injuries, switching teams, more travel on top of an already long race season), let alone commit at the last minute. That is something that was not lost on the only original team member Aaron Plessinger. When our Steve Matthes sat down with him after the race, AP barely had anything to say about his own race, he mostly sung the praises of his teammates who stepped up to the challenge, Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb.
“Given where we were three weeks ago, or even Saturday night in Vegas, we weren’t coming," Plessinger said after Sexton's injury at the SMX finale. "We weren’t supposed to be here. We had two guys in Cooper and Eli that stepped up. I was committed all the way, whatever. For those guys to step up, Coop only raced one outdoor. Eli only raced two outdoors, and then SMX. For them to want to come over here so we can race this race, and not be at home chilling, it’s hats off to them. For them to divert their plans to come here is unreal.”
The team really put in a hero’s effort to place second overall with such little prep time.
“I think we showed some people, Eli especially, and Coop and I had some consistent results," Plessinger said. "It was crazy. I can’t give enough thanks to my two teammates though, they really stepped up when the time was needed. I had some consistent results, but Eli definitely put the team on his back. And Coop, I can’t say enough about it. It’s been like seven years since he’s ridden the 250, and it's crazy for him to jump on and be like, 'Yeah let’s go.' I think going into Vegas he had one day on the thing.”
If you read what Tomac and Webb had to say after the race, there was one common theme amongst the teammates. While the whole world may be impressed with the team’s valiant effort, there’s no denying the riders themselves seem a little disappointed with second place. Plessinger was no different calling his 7-8 moto scores (fourth overall in the Open class) “decent.”
"So, hats off to both of my teammates, I rode decent, but they pulled through for me,” he said.
Besides his teammates the one thing that did impress Plessinger though, was the fans at Matterley Basin.
“Yeah man, I had some really cool experiences over here," he said. "I hope I’m gaining some European fans over here. I had to be mean over here, man! I’m usually outside signing autographs for hours. I couldn’t do that, I had so many obligations here. It’s just such a different atmosphere over here. I had fans around the track cheering for me on the last lap. That’s so cool. For them to cheer for me and realize they watch me on TV and really know who I am. I’ve heard three nicknames this weekend. It was Cowboy, it was AP, it was Plessy. For them to know me that much, to call me by that name, it’s cool. It’s just my second time over here in Europe, it was really special.”
Of course, with MXoN coming back to the states next year, Plessinger would love to have another chance to race in front of the American fans.
“I felt so much better than I did last year, it’s crazy," he said. "Go Team USA, lets’ go. I hope I get picked for next year. It’s at my favorite track [Ironman Raceway] so let’s go.”
Related: Official: Indiana’s Ironman Raceway to Host 2025 Motocross of Nations
