Adam Cianciarulo and Aaron Plessinger detailed their injuries on Instagram this week after suffering separate accidents in Round 14 of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Series at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Cianciarulo is on concussion protocol; Plessinger hopes to race this week in Nashville after injuring his hip.
Cianciarulo jumped into the back of the eventual New Jersey winner Justin Barcia and crashed hard.
“Start of Q2 - good practice start - I came around and I was already committed to the double, a pretty basic jump. ,” Cianciarulo said on Instagram. “Justin got a little out of control on the bottom and swerved into me and I landed right into him. It’s kind of a blur from there.
“Bonked my head pretty good and looking back at the tape, it seems like it’s kind of a whiplash thing. Really took a lot of G forces when I hit him there and the bike kind of got me on the back of the head when I was coming down. I got up a little bit dazed, obviously.
"[...] I will do anything to get back out on the bike and make it work. I have no problem riding with a little bit of pain. Basically, didn’t feel good. The speed was off and I’m going to have to make a decision to call it this weekend [in New Jersey]. Not what I want to do. I’m going to go into concussion protocol. ... It’s a really tough call for me to make, but I think it’s the right call.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrWxtnTJx95/
Cianciarulo missed most of the 2022 Supercross season with a knee injury and returned to action for Anaheim 1 earlier this year. He sat out the Arlington and Daytona rounds to let a wrist injury heal. In 11 rounds in 2023, Cianciarulo has not yet cracked the top five, but he has finished in the top 10 in all but two races. He is currently eighth in the standings, one point ahead of Justin Hill.
Plessinger has top 10 finishes in all but one of the 13 rounds he’s competed in with one podium finish, a third in Tampa. His best effort came in his only finish outside of the top 10, however; Plessinger was leading in Detroit and well on his way to a victory when his toe dug into the dirt and he was pitched from his bike, giving the win to Chase Sexton.
“As most of you know, I had a crash on Saturday morning that kept me from racing in the absolute mudfest on Saturday night,” Plessinger said in an Instagram post. “The Alpinestars medical crew did a great job of getting me off the track and into the mobile unit where they did some x-rays and some tests. Everything checked out alright and I was able to get on out of there and on my way back to Florida where I got an MRI on my hip.
“Everything checked out alright with that. I have a bunch of bruising - a bunch of swelling there - but overall I’m good. Hopefully I will be able to race this weekend [in Nashville], but I’ll keep you guys posted on that. Just kind of dealing with the soreness right now and I’ll see where it leads from here.”
Plessinger is seventh in the points’ standings.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrdtXIlNIu6/
Other 2023 Injury News
450 riders
Christian Craig, elbow
Dylan Ferrandis, concussion | May return before the end of 2023
Marvin Musquin, wrist
Malcolm Stewart, knee
Colt Nichols, head | returned at Glendale
250 riders
Nate Thrasher, collarbone
Stilez Robertson, leg
Cameron McAdoo, shoulder
Jalek Swoll, arm
Seth Hammaker, arm and wrist
Austin Forkner, knee | Injury isn’t the hardest part
Jo Shimoda, collarbone | returned at Atlanta
