An incident in last week’s Round 12 of the Supercross season proved costly for Marvin Musquin, but the riders he rode past paid a greater price with the toll on their bodies.
When Chad Reed and Justin Brayton had a midair collision, they both landed hard and needed medical attention. Musquin saw the red cross flag requiring him to roll through the section, but did not slow enough and doubled two jumps. For the infraction, he was penalized seven points and forfeited the purse. He was allowed to keep the win, however, because he did not make a pass for position in the disputed territory.
Instead of being seven points down to the leader Cooper Webb, he has twice the distance to make up with five races remaining on the schedule.
Musquin is still in contention - more so now than he was entering Seattle - and has momentum with back-to-back wins.
That is not the case for Reed and Brayton.
According to a post on his Instagram page, Reed sustained eight broken ribs, a broken scapula and a collapsed lung after being landed on by Kyle Chisholm in the Lap 1 crash.
Reed would like to return before the Supercross season is over, but he may have to wait until 2020 to make his 250th start.
He has earned two top-fives this year with a best of third in Detroit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvcF87bA_PC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Early this week, Brayton announced on Instagram that he has a torn MCL and sprained ACL in his knee - neither of which will require surgery. He is aiming to return for Round 16 at East Rutherford, but for now his seat will go to Ben Lamay.
Brayton earned one top-five finish this season at Minneapolis.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvdBgXYFPil/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Reed was not the only rider to get landed on.
In the 250 Last Chance Qualifier, Gage Schehr crashed and was landed on by another rider. He managed to get to his feet during a red flag and walked to the cart, but had his right arm splinted and was in obvious pain. Transported to the Intensive Care Unit at a local hospital, he sustained injuries to his liver and kidney as well as damage to his ribs, spine and lungs, according to an Instagram report by Swapmotolive.
Schehr was originally listed in stable condition, but needed additional surgery and is still being evaluated.
Justin Barcia also had a pair of crashes during the night. He went down in his heat and again in the Main. He rode the Feature in obvious pain, but finished the night and should be riding in Houston this week.
Before his heat, Shane McElrath announced he would not ride at Seattle due to a back injury sustained at Atlanta. Now that his title hopes are over, McElrath’s return for the remainder of the season is questionable.
By the time the series rolls into Las Vegas for the finale, the grid is going to look very different than it did in Anaheim.