The depth of the 250 Class was once again on full display in moto 1 at Freestone. Ravished by injuries, the Troy Lee Designs team was forced to call up amateur sensation Jessy Nelson earlier than expected. Nelson quietly finished his pro debut in 16th but emerged from the shadows at Freestone.
The laid back California native took the early lead in moto 1 but was quickly overtaken by Eleven 10Mods Phil Nicoletti. Showing the poise of a wily veteran, not a rider in his second pro race, Nelson would charge back to regain the lead. Nicoletti would then come under fire from the red-hot duo of Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen. Things continued to go downhill from there for Nicoletti, as he reportedly ran out of fuel while running inside the top ten late in the moto.
Winless since his remarkable pro debut at Hangtown in 2010, Tomac was looking for redemption at a track that has tested the Colorado native both physically and mentally in the past. Tomac catapulted into the lead early and would run away from the pack en route to his first win since 2010.
In was has become an all too common theme, Blake Baggett was off to another bad start in moto 1. But in what has also become a common theme with Baggett he would blitz his way through the field en route to a second place finish.
Ken Roczen, putting to rest any questions on how he would handle the Texas heat, finished a strong third to round out the podium. Doing his best Blake Baggett impersonation Justin Barcia overcame a horrendous start in moto 1 to capture fourth. Marvin Musquin, Blake Wharton, Jessy Nelson, Jake Canada, Kyle Peters and Gareth Swanepoel capped off the top ten.
250 Moto 1 Overall:
- Eli Tomac
- Blake Baggett
- Ken Roczen
- Justin Barcia
- Marvin Musquin
- Blake Wharton
- Jessy Nelson
- Jake Canada
- Kyle Peters
- Gareth Swanepoel
- Ivan Tedesco
- Wil Hahn
- Kyle Cunningham
- Martin Davalos
- Zach Freeberg
- Alex Martin
- Hunter Hewitt
- Travis Baker
- Joey Peters
- AJ Catanzaro
- Killy Rusk
- Jason Anderson
- Schmelyun
- Shane Sewell
- Ryan Zimmer
- Travis Bell
- Vann Martin
- Pauk
- Michael Akaydin
- Barbaree
- Crawford
- Vonlinger
- Dakota Tedder
- Phil Nicoletti
- Roman
- Myles Tedder
- Beau Hudson
- Tevin Tapia
- Malcolm Stewart
- Johhny Moore
