Rockstar Energy Racing's Davi Millsaps (Photo: Suzuki Racing)

But until he makes a mistake and gives up a bunch of points, this is Millsaps’ championship to lose. He’s on the cusp of making it halfway through the season without the slightest bit of an issue and despite even getting what very well could have been his worst start of the season in Atlanta, he still found a way to battle his way into third. Moreover, Millsaps knows he has a favorable cushion in the standings and can afford to race strategically should the need arise. If he continues to ride this way, he’ll have nothing to worry about for several weeks at the minimum, and even that’s contingent upon a string of dominance from either Villopoto or Dungey.

In years past, St. Louis has proven to be a turning point in the championship. This weekend, the series descends into the heart of the country. Could a wild night be in store once again?

I thought coming into the 250SX East Region that Dean Wilson would be tough to beat as long as he got a decent start. Last weekend, he started second and stayed there. Wil Hahn rode the best race of his career and finally achieved that long overdue maiden victory and with that emerged an instant threat to Wilson.

Hahn kept Wilson at bay the entire main event, leading wire-to-wire in an unusually uneventful night in Atlanta. Wilson did go down hard earlier in the week during training and you could see the effects of it on his face. With eight races over the course of nine weeks, patience will be a necessity and I’d chalk up Wilson’s somewhat conservative ride as an instance to get some good points and move on. He probably wasn’t 100% last weekend, but with another week to recover I’d guess he’s back at it on Saturday night.

Marvin Musquin is going to make his presence felt before long as well. The Frenchman can haul on these technical tracks, but it always seems as though he’s forced to overcome a less than ideal start. Don’t be surprised to see Musquin pace practice on many occasions this season. The next step is to put it all together for 15 laps in the main event. I’d be surprised if he isn’t able to break through and join Hahn in the first-time winners club this season.

We hit the halfway point on Saturday night and it’s probably a make or break kind of weekend for many riders. We’ll see how it all goes down.