"This was my first time in Denver, and it was tough!" said Aaron Plessinger in a Red Bull KTM press release. "I had an exceptional qualifying, but after that, I struggled. If you know me, I'm more of a soft dirt kind of guy, so the conditions here were challenging."
It was surprising to hear he had somehow never raced in Denver before. Aaron Hansel caught up with him after the race to learn more.
Racer X: Take us through your night, it seemed kind of up and down. You got a good start but then dropped back a little bit.
Aaron Plessinger: Yeah, it was just inconsistent riding. I can’t really ask for too much, for the first time being here.
This is the first time you’ve raced Denver? I didn’t know that.
Yeah. I’ve been hurt. I haven’t finished a supercross season since 2021, and we didn’t come here that year. It’s tough. Supercross and elevation man, it’s pretty gnarly. I’m all right with fifth. I got pretty winded up here. We’ll go back, take this week a little easier, and come back in Salt Lake and hopefully get a podium to end the season.
| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Chase Sexton | 25 laps | 49.967 | La Moille, IL  | KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition | |
| 2 |  Cooper Webb | 8.624 | 51.105 | Newport, NC | Yamaha YZ450F | |
| 3 |  Justin Cooper | 0.448 | 50.931 | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | Yamaha YZ450F | |
| 4 |  Malcolm Stewart | 4.098 | 51.188 | Haines City, FL | Husqvarna FC 450 Rockstar Edition | |
| 5 |  Aaron Plessinger | 11.112 | 51.121 | Hamilton, OH | KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition |
You mentioned the elevation. Do you think that played a role in the consistency you talked about?
Yeah, at the end for sure. I don’t know, I was decent until about halfway, then after J-Coop [Justin Cooper] got by me I made that mistake and kind of imploded. It was just tough, and these conditions aren’t my best. I don’t really mesh with hardpack and acceleration bumps too much. So a top five is pretty good for me right now.
Was it pretty slick out there?
[Laughs] Dude it was like riding on ice! I got on the gas before the whoops and almost did a 360. You had to watch yourself, it was pretty crazy. It was a really tough track and it broke down a lot. But I’m pumped with fifth.
Hey that kid you were trading jerseys with a minute ago, do you know him, or was he a random fan?
He was a random fan. I did a number plate swap with one kid and a jersey swap with another. The jersey swap, the kid was actually #7, so that was pretty cool.[Laughs]
Were they KJSC kids?
Yeah. That was pretty awesome.
Last question, any supercross during the week or have you moved on to motocross?
[Pauses] I don’t know. Maybe just outdoors this week? [Laughs] We’ll see, we’ll see.
