RC Hard Charger Award
This award is presented to the rider who passes the most riders in a moto each weekend. The officials simply look at the first lap positions and the final lap positions and see who moved up the most, so the majority of these trophies go to riders who went down on the first lap.
The idea is to honor Ricky Carmichael's never-give-up spirit, and we get that. But honestly, you can count the amount of RC first-turn crashes on your fingers. Somehow that hardly ever happened.
| Hangtown | Malcolm Stewart & Cole Seely |
| Thunder Valley | Jason Anderson |
| Tennessee | Justin Bogle |
| High Point | Broc Schmelyun |
| Budds Creek | Phil Nicoletti |
| Moto-X 338 | Ryan Villopoto |
| RedBud | Adam Cianciarulo |
Each one of these awards tells a story, which is nice when the results sheet can't tell it all. For example, Jason Anderson went from last to 12th at Thunder Valley to get the award.
Oakley Bomb Award
Handed out each week to the fastest qualifier in each class.
| Hangtown | 450 | Justin Barcia | 01:58.0 |
| 250 | Eli Tomac | 01:57.5 | |
| Thunder Valley | 450 | Ryan Villopoto | 02:03.4 |
| 250 | Eli Tomac | 02:03.7 | |
| Tennessee | 450 | Josh Grant | 02:03.4 |
| 250 | Ken Roczen | 02:02.0 | |
| High Point | 450 | Ryan Villopoto | 02:13.5 |
| 250 | Blake Baggett | 02:14.8 | |
| Budds Creek | 450 | James Stewart | 01:58.6 |
| 250 | Eli Tomac | 01:59.9 | |
| Moto-X 338 | 450 | James Stewart | 01:55.0 |
| 250 | Eli Tomac | 01:58.3 | |
| RedBud | 450 | Ryan Villopoto | 02:15.7 |
| 250 | Eli Tomac | 02:18.0 |
What sticks out most on this list is Eli Tomac snagging five of these in seven rounds! On the other end, isn't it strange that Ryan Villopoto only has three of these?
Motorcycle-Superstore.com Holeshot Award
The actual rules for the end of the year holeshot bonus is a little complicated. A moto 1 holeshot is worth 1 holeshot point, a moto 2 is worth 2, and getting both in one day gives you a bonus for a total of four.
That's all well and good as it leads to a $25,000 bounty in the 450 class and $15,000 in the 250s. But it kind of muddles up the stats on who is really the best starter. So let's just tell you who got the holeshot in each moto this year.
| Hangtown | 450M1 | James Stewart |
| 450M2 | James Stewart | |
| 250M1 | Blake Baggett | |
| 250M2 | Zach Bell | |
| Thunder Valley | 450M1 | Justin Barcia |
| 450M2 | Justin Barcia | |
| 250M1 | Zach Osborne | |
| 250M2 | Jeremy Martin | |
| Tennessee | 450M1 | Ryan Villopoto |
| 450M2 | Justin Barcia | |
| 250M1 | Justin Bogle | |
| 250M2 | Eli Tomac | |
| High Point | 450M1 | Justin Barcia |
| 450M2 | Josh Grant | |
| 250M1 | Zach Osborne | |
| 250M2 | Marvin Musquin | |
| Budds Creek | 450M1 | Mike Alessi |
| 450M2 | Mike Alessi | |
| 250M1 | Wil Hahn | |
| 250M2 | Wil Hahn | |
| Moto-X 338 | 450M1 | James Stewart |
| 450M2 | Ryan Dungey | |
| 250M1 | Wil Hahn | |
| 250M2 | Ken Roczen | |
| RedBud | 450M1 | Josh Grant |
| 450M2 | James Stewart | |
| 250M1 | Wil Hahn | |
| 250M2 | Zach Osborne |
| Number of Holeshots | |||
| Justin Barcia | 4 | Wil Hahn | 4 |
| James Stewart | 4 | Zach Osborne | 3 |
| Mike Alessi | 2 | Zach Bell | 1 |
| Josh Grant | 2 | Jeremy Martin | 1 |
| Ryan Villopoto | 1 | Eli Tomac | 1 |
| Ryan Dungey | 1 | Marvin Musquin | 1 |
| Ken Roczen | 1 | ||
| Blake Baggett | 1 | ||
| Justin Bogle | 1 |
| Holeshot Points | |||
| 450 Class | 250 Class | ||
| Justin Barcia | 7 | Wil Hahn | 6 |
| James Stewart | 7 | Zach Osborne | 4 |
| Mike Alessi | 4 | Zach Bell | 2 |
| Josh Grant | 3 | Jeremy Martin | 2 |
| Ryan Dungey | 2 | Eli Tomac | 2 |
| Ryan Villopoto | 1 | Marvin Musquin | 2 |
| Ken Roczen | 2 | ||
| Blake Baggett | 1 | ||
| Justin Bogle | 1 | ||
Laps Led
There isn't an award for this but it's one of our favorite stats to check. Much more than holeshots and qualifying, the laps led really shows you who is on it, and you'll note how closely they reflect the actual point standings in each class.
Laps Led (total)
250MX
Ken Roczen - 109
Eli Tomac - 72
Marvin Musquin - 34
Darryn Durham - 10
Blake Baggett - 4
Zach Osborne - 2
Cooper Webb - 1
450MX
Ryan Villopoto - 152
Ryan Dungey - 28
Justin Barcia - 23
James Stewart - 25
Andrew Short - 6
Josh Grant - 3
