Hahn and Musquin race for career-first championship in Las Vegas finale.
With the 450SX crown already securely mounted on Ryan Villopoto’s head for the third consecutive year, the main focus of the Supercross finale in Las Vegas this weekend will be the championship battles for the Eastern and Western Regional 250SX classes. Let’s take a moment to see how the stage in the East has been set and how the final scene could play out.
The Stage
Eastern Regional 250SX
The Players
Wil Hahn – 2 Wins, 178 Points
Marvin Musquin – 4 Wins, 173 Points
What a season it’s been for GEICO Powersports’ Wil Hahn. He took the first win of his career in Atlanta and followed it up with another victory a week later in St. Louis. He hasn’t won since then, but he hasn’t missed the podium once either, despite a few bad starts. That’s good for him, because as long as he can get second place or better in Las Vegas the championship is his, no matter what Musquin does. If Musquin, who also got his first (as well as his second, third and fourth!) career AMA Supercross win this season, wins and Hahn takes third, which he’s done twice this season, the title will become the property of the friendly Musquin. In case you’re wondering, in that final scenario Musquin and Hahn would be tied in points, but thanks to Musquin’s superior win count, he’d get the nod for the title.
The element of uncertainty is provided by Blake Wharton and Tyler Bowers. Wharton has been eliminated from title contention, and Bowers, who is riding as a replacement rider for the injured Dean Wilson, was never in striking distance to begin with. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want to win, and they certainly won’t be politely pulling over to give Hahn or Musquin any sort of points boost.
Wharton has won a race this year (that count would be two, if it weren’t for throwing away the sure win with less than a lap remaining in Indianapolis), so we know he’s got the speed to be a spoiler in Vegas. The same goes for Bowers. He’s only raced two supercross races this year, but he was fast right away, he recently wrapped up his third straight Arenacross title and was even on his way to a solid third place in Minneapolis before Blake Wharton took him out in a corner after a determined Bowers refused to let off the gas while railing an outside line.
Regardless of who walks away with the title, both Hahn and Musquin should be proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish this year. They both nailed down their first wins, represented their sponsors well and both are closer to a supercross championship than they’ve ever been.
Stay tuned for Part II of The Showdown, in which we take a look at what could happen in the Western Regional 250SX series.