Round 4 of the AMA Pro Motocross series–the first of two events held this holiday weekend at Buchanan, Michigan’s RedBud MX–featured a solid performance by Team Honda HRC, with Chase Sexton turning in the first overall podium result of his young 450 career, via 3-4 moto scores, while teammate Christian Craig posted a creditable seventh overall with a 7-8 moto tally.

Sexton started in fourth in the first moto, then took over third on lap one, and that’s where he stayed for the remainder of the race, establishing a comfortable margin along the way. The Illinois native then completed lap one of moto two in fifth place, moved up a spot four laps in and stayed there until the 17th and final lap. Craig enjoyed improved starts, and after running fourth for the majority of the first moto, he was thwarted by a tip-over, dropping him to seventh place. The second moto saw him finish in complete lap one sixth before slipping to eighth by the finish. 

 

NOTES

  • The RedBud schedule is quite unorthodox for AMA Pro Motocross, with this race taking place Friday and round five scheduled for Monday. It is the first time two races have been scheduled at the same venue on the same weekend, and the first time two races have been scheduled with only two days between races.
  • Round four was also the first AMA Pro Motocross national scheduled on a Friday since 1973 and the first national held in the month of September since 2012. It was also the 46th time that RedBud has hosted a national and the first time in 40 years (and only the fourth time overall) that the RedBud round hasn’t been held on or around Independence Day Weekend.
  • Unlike the Loretta Lynn’s and Ironman events, fans are not allowed at the RedBud nationals. 
  • The State of Michigan did not require all event attendees to be tested for COVID-19, although everyone needed to pass a health screening prior to entering or reentering the paddock. Teams were asked to practice social distancing, wear masks properly and only permit essential personnel in the team pods.
  • Chase Sexton posted the fourth-fastest lap of qualifying, at 2’03.982”. Christian Craig had an eighth-best time of 2’04.760”
  • For the third consecutive time, the 250 class saw GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin notch the overall win, and he also took his second moto victory of the season, notching a 4-1 tally. The Minnesota rider also took over the number-one spot in the points standings, and sits 12 ahead of Dylan Ferrandis. Martin’s teammate Jett Lawrence was also competitive, earning sixth overall, with Hunter Lawrence, Jo Shimoda and Carson Mumford taking 12th, 15th and 16th overall, respectively.
  • With Team Manager Erik Kehoe under the weather, Technical Director Assistant Lars Lindstrom filled his role at RedBud I. Kehoe is expected to be in Michigan for round five.

  • The top three overall finishers from each class, including Sexton and Martin, participated in a virtual post-race press conference via Zoom on Friday evening.

Media contact:

Kayla Mead // Jonnum Media // kayla@jonnummedia.com // +1 (760) 822-4786

Chase Sexton  23

“It was fun being back here for the first RedBud. I’m originally from the Midwest, so it’s nice riding a familiar track. Overall, the day was good. I qualified fourth and then in the motos went 3-4, which was pretty consistent. I had a lot of good battles and got second overall. The classes were all pretty close, so it was about being consistent both motos and trying to get results. I got a pretty good start in the second moto and almost had the holeshot, but got shuffled back a little bit. Overall we had a really good day with a first outdoor podium on the 450; looking forward to Monday.”

Chase Sexton

Christian Craig  62

“Overall the first round at Redbud was pretty good. Both motos I had better starts compared to the other rounds, which I was happy with. In the first moto I ran in fourth for a while, holding off [Eli] Tomac for about half the moto, then unfortunately had a tip-over, leaving me in seventh. In the second moto I ran my own race in eighth basically the whole time. We made a couple bike changes for the second one, which weren’t in the right direction, but no excuses; I need to be better and stay with those top guys. I’m happy to have had two consistent motos and excited to be back racing here in a couple days!”

Christian Craig

Erik Kehoe

Team Manager

“Today was a solid and consistent day for both Chase and Christian. It was a great confidence-builder for the team going into the next round. We’re really looking forward to Monday’s race!”

Erik Kehoe

Lars Lindstrom

Crew Chief

“We had a great day today with Chase going to a first overall podium. Everything went really smooth. Christian had an awesome day too. Both guys got really good starts, which we’ve been working on. Christian rode really well, especially in the first race. It was really cool having both guys in the top five, pretty much all day, even in qualifying and during the race. If it wasn’t for a tip over in the first race, Christian would’ve been top five too. We’re all super happy and have been working really hard to try and make both riders happy and it seems to be working out.”

Lars Lindstrom

Jade Dungey

Mechanic (Chase Sexton)

“It was a great day for Chase and the team. Chase rode one hundred percent every lap at RedBud and earned himself a hard-fought second overall. It was awesome to see all the hard work the team and Chase put in day-in and day-out pay off, especially in such gnarly track conditions. I’m really looking forward to RedBud II on Monday!”

Jade Dungey

Jordan Troxell

Mechanic (Christian Craig)

“It was a much better day overall for Christian. The weather was great here at RedBud. We got our starts back, with two top-five starts. He got to see the pace and run with the leaders for the first 20-25 minutes of the first moto. In the second moto he had a really good start and just lost touch with the leaders there for a little bit, but I think seventh overall was our best solid day from start to finish, so it’s something to build on and look forward to Monday with.”

Jordan Troxell

450MX Moto 1 Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 OSBORNE Zach USA 25 Rockstar Husqvarna
2 MUSQUIN Marvin 25 FRA 22 Red Bull KTM
3 SEXTON Chase 23 USA 20 Team Honda HRC
4 TOMAC Eli 3 USA 18 Monster Energy Kawasaki
5 CIANCIARULO Adam 9 USA 16 Monster Energy Kawasaki
6 BARCIA Justin 51 USA 15 Monster Energy Factory Yamaha Racing
7 CRAIG Christian 62 USA 14 Team Honda HRC
8 TICKLE Broc 20 USA 13 Red Bull KTM
9 SAVATGY Joey 17 USA 12 Monster Energy Kawasaki
10 BAGGETT Blake 4 USA 11 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS
11 ANSTIE Max 103 GBR 10 HEP Motorsports Suzuki
12 WILSON Dean 15 GBR 9 Rockstar Husqvarna
13 BLOSS Benny 60 USA 8 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS
14 MILLER Henry 81 USA 7 Trigger Racing
15 SHORT John 253 USA 6 ACM Services/ Short racing
16 RODBELL Justin 258 USA 5 SGB Racing/Maxxis/Babbitt’s Kawasaki
17 BOGLE Justin 19 USA 4 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS
18 LAMAY Ben 907 USA 3 TPJ/Fly Racing
19 LOPEZ Felix 577 MEX 2 None
20 HARLAN Grant 349 USA 1 Team Harlan

450MX Moto 2 Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 OSBORNE Zach USA 25 Rockstar Husqvarna
2 BARCIA Justin 51 USA 22 Monster Energy Factory Yamaha Racing
3 CIANCIARULO Adam 9 USA 20 Monster Energy Kawasaki
4 SEXTON Chase 23 USA 18 Team Honda HRC
5 TOMAC Eli 3 USA 16 Monster Energy Kawasaki
6 MUSQUIN Marvin 25 FRA 15 Red Bull KTM
7 BAGGETT Blake 4 USA 14 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS
8 CRAIG Christian 62 USA 13 Team Honda HRC
9 TICKLE Broc 20 USA 12 Red Bull KTM
10 NOREN Fredrik 40 SWE 11 Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing
11 WILSON Dean 15 GBR 10 Rockstar Husqvarna
12 SAVATGY Joey 17 USA 9 Monster Energy Kawasaki
13 ANSTIE Max 103 GBR 8 HEP Motorsports Suzuki
14 MILLER Henry 81 USA 7 Trigger Racing
15 RODBELL Justin 258 USA 6 SGB Racing/Maxxis/Babbitt’s Kawasaki
16 SCHOCK Coty 319 USA 5 None
17 BOGLE Justin 19 USA 4 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS
18 LAMAY Ben 907 USA 3 TPJ/Fly Racing
19 HARLAN Grant 349 USA 2 Team Harlan
20 BOWERS Tyler 69 USA 1 Bowers Racing

Rider Standings

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team
1 OSBORNE Zach USA 172 Rockstar Husqvarna
2 MUSQUIN Marvin 25 FRA 146 Red Bull KTM
3 BARCIA Justin 51 USA 133 Monster Energy Factory Yamaha Racing
4 TOMAC Eli 3 USA 129 Monster Energy Kawasaki
5 CIANCIARULO Adam 9 USA 125 Monster Energy Kawasaki
6 SEXTON Chase 23 USA 116 Team Honda HRC
7 BAGGETT Blake 4 USA 106 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS
8 TICKLE Broc 20 USA 96 Red Bull KTM
9 CRAIG Christian 62 USA 86 Team Honda HRC
10 WILSON Dean 15 GBR 77 Rockstar Husqvarna
11 ANSTIE Max 103 GBR 72 HEP Motorsports Suzuki
12 SAVATGY Joey 17 USA 69 Monster Energy Kawasaki
13 ANDERSON Jason 21 USA 58 Rockstar Husqvarna
14 MILLER Henry 81 USA 51 Trigger Racing
15 NOREN Fredrik 40 SWE 48 Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing
16 RODBELL Justin 258 USA 30 SGB Racing/Maxxis/Babbitt’s Kawasaki
17 WEBB Cooper 2 USA 29 Red Bull KTM
18 BOGLE Justin 19 USA 29 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS
19 BLOSS Benny 60 USA 29 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS
20 SCHOCK Coty 319 USA 28 None
21 MASTERPOOL Jake 146 USA 28 None
22 SHORT John 253 USA 19 ACM Services/ Short racing
23 SMITH Jeremy USA 16 Smith Racing
24 LAMAY Ben 907 USA 12 TPJ/Fly Racing
25 BOWERS Tyler 69 USA 12 Bowers Racing
26 RENZLAND  Luke USA 11 Dreamland MX Racing
27 HUBERT Matthew 647 USA 9 TPJ/Fly Racing
28 FELONG Chase 154 USA 8 Felong Racing
29 HOEFT Justin 244 USA 7 None
30 HARLAN Grant 349 USA 5 Team Harlan
Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.