Ride it like you stole it.
For Jess Pettis, there was no other choice.
After finishing 18th out of 20 riders in the heat race, the 21-year-old from Prince George had to put the hammer down in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross SX-250cc last-chance qualifier to make the cut into the main event.
That meant nothing less than a fourth-place result in the LCQ and Pettis got what he was after. He led the LCQ for three of the six laps on the course Saturday in Glendale, Ariz., and finished second, which qualified him for his second supercross main event of the season and a chance for him to top his impressive 10th-place finish at the season-opener a week ago in Anaheim, Calif.
As the lone Canadian racing the AMA supercross circuit he stayed on the lead lap of the 16-lap feature race on the Arizona course and ended up 12th out of 22.
Riding for the KTM Red Bull THOR Factory team, Pettis finished the main 1:08.278 behind the winning pace set by Adam Cianciarulo of Port Orange, Fla., racing a Kawasaki. Colt Nicholls of Muskogee, Okla., who won the main in Anaheim, was second aboard a Yamaha and KTM rider Shane McElrath of Canton, N.C., was third.
After two events Pettis now ranks 10th in the 250-SX standings with 23 points, picking up where he left off last year when he made his debut racing the world’s best motocross riders on the AMA supercross circuit.
Last year in his supercross debut a year ago in Oakland, Calif., Pettis turned heads as a relative unknown, gaining the holeshot in his heat race after qualifying 19th quickest. He went on to qualify for two main events in the four AMA Supercross races he entered and captured the outdoor Canadian Rockstar Energy MX-1 championship and Canadian supercross series title.
The AMA Supercross series returns to Angels Stadium in Anaheim for Round 3 on Saturday.
