Bird Dog
What the Hammaker Just Happened?
Let’s be honest with each other here. Me, you or your ma’ma didn’t call this. McAdoo, sure. Cooper, of course. Hell, Lawrence, Marchbanks or Smith would have been a good call. Even Robertson showed some signs of being a race winner last week. It’s not that Seth Hammaker hasn’t looked good this year, with 6th in Orlando and an 11th in Daytona, he’s shown promise. But damn did he look amazing in Arlington. He carried the momentum from a dominate heat win to the main where he led every lap. With three race winners in three rounds, it’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top when the gate drops on Wednesday.
Plessinger Proves Capable on Tight Track
We spoke with Scott Plessinger (Aaron’s father) earlier in the week and confirmed that Aaron’s confidence was sky high after Daytona. He also noted that Aaron has always preferred more wide open tracks like Daytona, so he was interested to see how he would do on a more traditional Arlington layout. Well, he performed. A heat win gave viewers a chance to listen to everyone’s favorite podium speaker and while he didn’t land on the podium, he moved his way through the pack after a 10th place start to finish 5th. With a better start on Tuesday, Plessinger may be looking at his first 450 overall of his career. You heard it here first.
Anderson Looks Like the Anderson of 2014
Remember 2014 when Anderson was on a war path on his way to a 250 Championship? One dude you didn’t want to be in front of with two laps to go was Anderson. He gave zero F’s as he would tear through the field with an unshakable confidence. No matter where he was in the field he was a threat to win. Well, we saw some of that in Arlington. He slammed his way past Malcom Stewart and put a painful end to Dylan Ferrandis’ night, as well. He’s out of the title hunt, but we’d love to see Anderson get on a roll this year.
Roczen’s “Little Bit More Focus” Needs More Focus
We all saw it. Roczen was shook after Webb pushed him wide off the start in Daytona. Webb got in his head and it was painfully obvious. He vowed to put in the extra work during the week, work harder and ensured Webb that he also like to play games. Well, a crash in his heat and a terrible jump off the gate in the main weren’t the type of “games” we anticipated. He spent too much time battling with the likes of Savatgy and Wilson and lost the red plate to a dominant Cooper Webb. Maybe being the chaser instead of the chasee will get him in the right headspace heading into Tuesday?
Savatgy Looked Really Good
How about Joey Savatgy! Not only has he shown consistent improvement this year, with 16th in Orlando, an 11th in Daytona and now his first top 10 of the season with a 7th in Arlington, but he looked like he belonged. Battling with Roczen and Wilson, Savatgy was throwing down heaters all night in Texas. Honestly, we were surprised to still see him making moves late in the race. His fitness appears to be on point and he’s gaining confidence as the year goes on. A top five might be a stretch given the depth of the field this year, but then again we wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if he ends up putting one together before the end of the season.
