Photos by: Chase Yocom
The 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship went to RedBud for America’s birthday weekend and officially hit the half way point of the series.
In the 450 class, Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac used a 1-1 day and another first lap crash from Rocky Mountain ATV/MC / WPS / KTM’s Blake Baggett to take the red plate and a 13-point lead in the championship.
In the 250 class, Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne once again put himself in all the right places to take advantage of mistakes from others, and he left RedBud with his third overall win and a 38-point lead in the points.
Climbing onto the 450 podium with Tomac was Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson in second and Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin in third—Marvin’s first podium since injuring his knee. Standing on the 250 podium along side Osborne was Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Alex Martin grabbing second and GEICO / Honda’s Jeremy Martin in third.
Eli Tomac: (1st in 450) “We had an all around good day. The fans are awesome here and I could feel the energy! As wide as the track is here, there seemed to only be one line so I really had to work for it. I didn’t want to rush anything though, being that we were already going at a fast pace, so I had to be patient on making a move. It feels good to head into next weekend with the red plate and I’m really looking forward to riding in the sand at Southwick.”
RJ Hampshire: (39th in 250) “We are in a way better place then I have been before. DJ [practice mechanic] and I do our own thing back home and a lot of people may not agree with it, but I’m loving every minute of it. I believe in my team and know we will be battling for a podium here soon. Considering I was sick all week and could barely make a 20-minute moto on Thursday, I was happy to make it that far in the first moto. We will give it another go next weekend!”
Zach Osborne: (1st in 250) For a while I was marking Alex and we were kind of tit for tat, but I was behind people. I thought if I could get a clear track quick enough I could maybe do some damage, but then it took me like five or six laps behind Justin Hill to pass him and then I wasn’t really making any ground. I had my sights set on getting into second, but then I came around the corner, the flag was out and Alex was down. I couldn’t really believe it, but it feels really good to take the overall here. This is kind of the crown jewel of them all when it come to outdoors. It was awesome.
Jason Anderson: (2nd in 450) “I was able to come around and do pretty well. Although I was in a first turn pileup in the first moto, I worked really hard and came back to fourth. I was up front right away in the second moto and was swapping spots with riders. I tried to hold on as long as I could. I feel like I can still do better.”
Alex Martin: (2nd in 250) “The goal was to come in and make sure we didn’t lose any more points and I just made a rookie mistake that cost me a few. Thankfully we still have a lot of racing to go at a lot of tracks I really love so I think we’re still in good shape to be there at the end.”
Marvin Musquin: (3rd in 450) The podium was the goal. I’m almost back to where I want to be. I was able to practice in good conditions this week. I’ve been doing a bunch of leg exercises to help the knee to get stronger and gain more confidence in the leg when I’m riding. That’s exactly what’s happening right now. Two weeks ago, I didn’t know if it was going to happen. I had lost all my confidence and strength with my leg and just couldn’t do what I wanted to do on the bike. Especially with my left turns. Even just riding and holding the bike with my legs hurt my knee. Right now it’s a big difference in a short time so I’m really happy.
Jeremy Martin: (3rd in 250) [In moto one] I got the holeshot and was riding good, but the guys were right there—Zach[Osborne] was right there. We’d hit lappers, he would catch me. I’d get away, he would hit lappers. Alex was right there. We were yo-yo’ing the whole time. I think I got a little lucky with the lappers, and I was able to keep him at bay. [In the second moto] I got the holeshot again and I’m really comfortable with the GEICO / Honda out of the gate. Unfortunately, I lost the front end in the first turn.
Martin Davalos: “I love this track. It’s rough, though, because I struggled with my starts and made a lot of mistakes. I had some big crashes throughout the motos which is frustrating. I was hoping to build on the momentum from last weekend. I think I rush too much in the first couple laps, so I think I need to work on being more patient. I look forward to going to the sand next week at Southwick.”
Austin Forkner: “I had great starts in both motos this weekend. I wasn’t able to find the speed in Moto 1 and a fourth place finish wasn’t what I was planning on, but I can’t really complain. I felt good on the bike and feel like I rode well. I got caught up in the crash in Moto 2 and tried to quickly get back up. I went really hard for the first 15 minutes and had to take a breather. I’m happy to have pulled off a seventh overall and am ready to keep the momentum and these successful starts going.”
Dean Wilson: (9th in 450) “I was eighth first moto and eighth second moto, which is pretty average for me. I just need to get a bit faster and work on a few things this week. I think I did ok considering I had food poisoning and spent most of the week resting. I’m happy to get another top-10, but feel like I can do better.”
Shane McElrath: (8th in 250) “I have felt really good the past two races. My races were pretty uneventful, which sometimes is harder to race because you really have to focus on riding hard and hitting the right lines. We’ll see how Southwick goes.”
Cole Seely: (7th in 450) “After having to sit out last weekend, it was good to be on the gate and racing in front of the amazing RedBud fans. I think I could have done a little better, but it felt good to be back in the top 10 again and hopefully get some momentum going for the rest of the season.”
Adam Cianciarulo: (11th in 250) “It’s always a good time at RedBud and the fans were out in full force. We’re going to focus on getting better starts this week and looking forward to Southwick.”
Trey Canard: (12th in 450) “I just kind of struggled today. The track was really tough and bumpy. It was pretty warm the second moto, but I think there were some good things to pull from. I had a first turn crash in the first moto and was last. I still made a good charge, so that was good. I hung on as long as I could in the second moto. All-in-all I’m just happy to be back racing and hopefully I can continue to get more comfortable.”
Joey Savatgy: (10th in 250) “This weekend was tough. I struggled with myself and finding my flow. I have a great team and we will look into making some changes to prepare for next weekend.”
Cameron McAdoo: (40th in 250) “I was really excited to get back to racing at RedBud. I got off to a pretty good start in moto 1 and was running with the front group, which I was happy with, but unfortunately my day was ended early with a small crash that resulted in re-injuring my shoulder.”
Josh Grant: (6th in 450) “I always love riding the track at RedBud. I think I made the right decision to race this weekend after all. Although my forearm is sore, I’m just pumped I was able to race today. I wasn’t too happy about getting caught up in the opening crash in Moto 1, but I feel like I rode well today and I’m ready to take this momentum into next weekend.”
Justin Hill: (12th in 250) “I felt good and had the bike dialed this week. All the guys were really fast this week. It was tough coming back from the early crash in Moto 1, but I was glad to finish in a top-five spot in Moto 2. The team and I will continue to do our work and improve each and every week.”
Christian Craig: (11th in 450) “Felt good to be back at the races! Got this sweet start and led some laps! Back to work.”
Chase Sexton: (9th in 250) “Overall the day was good! I was actually just having a lot of fun being back in the Midwest and riding RedBud! First moto got an awful start and fell in the third turn but came back from almost last to 12th. Second moto was fourth or fifth off the start and then when Jeremy fell I ran over his bike and got passed by a few people but was able to make some passes back and just put in some solid laps to get seventh. Overall happy with the weekend and looking forward to getting back to work!”
