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Austin Forkner’s bid for the 250SX East crown in the 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship is over after an error at East Rutherford’s penultimate round saw him forced to withdraw from proceedings with increased pain to his injured knee.

Forkner, who won five of the first six races, injured his knee during practice at Nashville’s supercross, forcing him to sit out the night while accepting a significant loss of points in the standings.

Still carrying the red-plate, the Pro Circuit Monster Energy Kawasaki contender lined-up for Saturday’s encounter, however he came up short while landing in the main event, prompting him to retire from the outing.

“We worked really hard to make it to this point and it’s disappointing to see all that hard work not end up becoming a championship,” said Forkner. “It’s probably hardest because we were so close. The whole team has been amazing with their support and now I’m ready to start the recovery process and get back out there at 100 percent.”

Geico Honda’s Chase Sexton has now inherited the points lead after taking out his first victory of the season, and currently holds nine-point advantage over Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) ahead of this weekend’s season finale in Las Vegas.