By Chase Stallo and Jason Weigandt
Where’s Davi Millsaps? Muddy Creek was supposed to mark his season debut—just like, let’s see, Atlanta, Houston, St. Louis, and Glen Helen. The #18 hasn’t raced since last year’s Las Vegas SX finale! After all that time off, rumors are swirling that Davi doesn’t want to race his new KTM, that he’s already signed with a new team for ’15 and doesn’t care, or he’s been busy prepping for a "Dancing with the Stars" appearance (we made that last part up). Much gossip!
The Rockstar Energy Racing team explained this weekend that it’s not as complicated as it seems—Davi is simply still suffering from a foot injury that dates back to last fall. He has a broken navicular bone (listen up, armchair medics, we all think the navicular bone is in the wrist, but that’s actually the scaphoid, the navicular is a similar bone in the foot that is also very slow to heal). After multiple surgeries and months of the bone not healing right, Davi had it plated. Although he’s at about 85 percent and can walk around fine, he can’t ride without pain. The team really doesn’t know when he’ll be back—maybe one of the final nationals, but maybe not. Team Owner Bobby Hewitt takes the blame for putting out timetables for a return only for the foot to prevent it from happening. For now, he’s going with “out indefinitely.”
Where’s Dean Ferris? Red Bull KTM’s forgotten man, who would be racing a 250SX-F alongside Marvin Musquin if he hadn’t broken his wrist, will finally race his first motocross race of 2014 next weekend. At the Swedish GP! On a Husqvarna! As reported last week, Ferris will fill in for the injured Tyla Rattray in the MXGP class for Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing. Ferris, returning from a wrist injury suffered in testing, will make the move for rounds in Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and Belgium. Technically this is a lateral move since KTM now owns Husqvarna, and the Red Bull sponsorships line up quite nicely. But why do it? The theory we heard from KTM was that Ferris is shopping for a deal next year, and it will be easier for him to jump back into the familiar GP circuit and impress quickly instead of trying to learn the U.S. tracks, schedule and racing over the last few weeks of the season. Dean Ferris, we hardly knew ya.
On press day, Zach Bell told Racer X that his maturation this year has lead to his success—and more importantly, kept him healthy. Two days later in practice, he hit a deep rut and his foot pegs caught, sending him over the bars and injuring his shoulder. Bell told us after the race he thinks it’s just a bruise, but he has not been cleared for RedBud this weekend. "I'm now focused on working on getting my shoulder healed up," Bell said in a team press release. "Hopefully I can get a good week of training in so I can make the trip to RedBud. With a race that is definitely going to be long and hot, I really need to make sure I'm going in as healthy as can be."
Bell’s GEICO Honda teammate, Matt Bisceliga, is also awaiting word on his clearance for this weekend. Bisceglia missed Muddy Creek with stretched ligaments in his elbow. "I'm hoping to get a good week of therapy in to get ready for RedBud," Bisceglia said in a team release. "I'm going to try to ride Wednesday, and if all goes well I'm going to go for it. It really bugs me when I have to miss races and can't be out on the track."
In other injury news: Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Justin Hill sustained a forearm injury in the first moto, which sidelined him for moto two. Hill is hoping to race this weekend. “I’m not really sure what’s going on but I just couldn’t push there at the end of the moto,” said Hill in a team release. “I knew something was up and I just didn’t think it would be smart to go out there in the second moto and put myself or anyone else at risk. I’ll get things checked out next week and we’ll go from there, but my hope is I’ll be back on the line at RedBud.”
Dean Wilson returned after missing the last three rounds due to a deep laceration to the back of his knee suffered at Glen Helen. Wilson was one of many to get dragged down in the treacherous first turn at Muddy Creek in the first moto. “I was disappointed to go down in the first moto,” said Wilson in a team release. ”I wanted to get back into the rhythm of racing and unfortunately I had to do that while fighting my way through the pack. The second moto went much better since I was in a battle the whole time. I’m going to keep working to get a win this season.”
Let's take a look at the lap charts!
450 Class Moto 1
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 2 | 1:55.533 | 1 | 2:01.174 | Ken Roczen |
| 2 | 3 | 1:56.810 | 1 | 2:01.626 | Eli Tomac |
| 3 | 4 | 1:56.993 | 1 | 2:02.880 | Trey Canard |
| 4 | 1 | 1:57.296 | 3 | 2:00.203 | Ryan Dungey |
| 5 | 5 | 1:59.108 | 4 | 2:02.213 | James Stewart |
| 6 | 7 | 1:59.965 | 1 | 2:04.787 | Matt Goerke |
| 7 | 17 | 2:00.842 | 2 | 2:03.292 | Phil Nicoletti |
| 8 | 6 | 2:01.149 | 3 | 2:04.013 | Andrew Short |
| 9 | 8 | 2:01.478 | 1 | 2:05.703 | Justin Brayton |
| 10 | 37 | 2:01.641 | 2 | 2:05.651 | Ryan Sipes |
450 Class Moto 2
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 1 | 1:56.189 | 5 | 1:58.185 | Ken Roczen |
| 2 | 2 | 1:56.510 | 5 | 1:58.559 | Ryan Dungey |
| 3 | 3 | 1:57.464 | 2 | 2:01.438 | Eli Tomac |
| 4 | 11 | 1:59.681 | 4 | 2:02.578 | James Stewart |
| 5 | 4 | 2:00.138 | 4 | 2:02.793 | Trey Canard |
| 6 | 6 | 2:00.601 | 2 | 2:03.158 | Josh Grant |
| 7 | 5 | 2:00.996 | 5 | 2:03.041 | Weston Peick |
| 8 | 7 | 2:01.289 | 3 | 2:03.394 | Brett Metcalfe |
| 9 | 13 | 2:01.728 | 3 | 2:06.319 | Phil Nicoletti |
| 10 | 8 | 2:01.974 | 8 | 2:04.374 | Andrew Short |
250 Class Moto 1
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 2 | 1:59.782 | 5 | 2:01.483 | Cooper Webb |
| 2 | 4 | 2:00.032 | 4 | 2:03.142 | Justin Bogle |
| 3 | 1 | 2:00.106 | 17 | 2:01.615 | Blake Baggett |
| 4 | 3 | 2:00.300 | 5 | 2:02.826 | Christophe Pourcel |
| 5 | 5 | 2:01.226 | 6 | 2:04.317 | Marvin Musquin |
| 6 | 6 | 2:01.476 | 2 | 2:04.644 | Cole Seely |
| 7 | 9 | 2:02.178 | 3 | 2:05.075 | Jason Anderson |
| 8 | 11 | 2:02.201 | 1 | 2:05.358 | Justin Hill |
| 9 | 10 | 2:02.554 | 11 | 2:04.484 | Jeremy Martin |
| 10 | 8 | 2:02.823 | 4 | 2:04.833 | Kyle Cunningham |
250 Class Moto 2
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 2 | 1:59.366 | 7 | 2:02.791 | Blake Baggett |
| 2 | 1 | 1:59.802 | 1 | 2:01.965 | Cooper Webb |
| 3 | 5 | 2:00.282 | 5 | 2:03.237 | Marvin Musquin |
| 4 | 4 | 2:00.451 | 2 | 2:03.371 | Christophe Pourcel |
| 5 | 2 | 2:00.733 | 6 | 2:02.430 | Justin Bogle |
| 6 | 7 | 2:01.321 | 3 | 2:03.618 | Dean Wilson |
| 7 | 6 | 2:01.383 | 3 | 2:03.475 | Jeremy Martin |
| 8 | 35 | 2:01.463 | 3 | 2:03.686 | Jason Anderson |
| 9 | 8 | 2:02.721 | 6 | 2:05.814 | Cole Seely |
| 10 | 12 | 2:03.056 | 2 | 2:06.681 | Zach Bell |
More news and notes:
FMF/Orange Brigade rookie Dakota Alix is still working his way back from a broken kneecap suffered before the season, which he had to have screws placed in (how painful does that sound?). He had a his best race this season at Muddy Creek. “I’m definitely nowhere near 100 percent,” Alix told Racer X Films at Muddy Creek. “But that almost gives me confidence in a way because I know … I mean, I’m not doing great, but I’m doing alright and I know I have a lot left to prove and I know I’ll be able to do that once I get healthy.” Alix captured his first career top 15 in the second moto and finished seventeenth overall.
SmarTop/MotoConepts Kyle Cunningham finally got on track this weekend. Cunnningham secured his first top ten of the season in Moto1—an eighth—and finished tenth overall following a thirteen in moto two.
Can we just get a round of applause for Andrew Short? The dude is just solid. Fifth overall with 6-8 scores on his BTOSports.com KTM. Shorty had a ton of bad luck at the beginning of the motocross season, but he’s on his way back to his usual spot in the points. He’s tenth right now, but just keep watching.
Shorty’s teammate Matt Goerke had a great first moto in the 450 class, starting up front and grabbing a season-best seventh. He got sick back at the truck before moto two and couldn’t make it happen in the second race. He was credited with 36th, which dropped him to 14th overall.
Back problems are the story over at Monster Energy Kawasaki. Jake Weimer is still out after landing on in a gruesome early crash at High Point. Brett Metcalfe’s back started locking up during the week at home, and he wasn’t sure he would be able to race. He brought an acupuncturist with him to the track to stay loose, and it worked well enough for 9-7 scores and seventh overall. “The race went well,” said Metcalfe in a team statement. “The Monster Energy Kawasaki team did a great job setting up the bike and making adjustments between motos. It has been a hard week with my back going out, but I was able to gut through it and when I was racing I didn't really feel any pain, but in the middle of the motos it really started to tighten up. I'm looking forward to healing more this week and heading into RedBud at 100 percent.”
Speaking of Metty, there’s a nice little battle shaping up for fifth in the 450 class. Bret holds the spot by 10 points over Soaring Eagle Suzuki’s Weston Peick and 12 over JGR/Toyota Yamaha’s Josh Grant.
After a big step forward at High Point, Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard wasn’t happy to lose so much time to the Roczen/Dungey duo at Muddy Creek. “I'm really disappointed with how today went,” said Canard in a team statement. “I got a really good start in the first moto and was running second behind Eli (Tomac) but got really tight, started making mistakes and wasn't able to maintain it. We made some changes before the second moto but I still wasn't very comfortable. I got a seventh-place start and worked up to fourth, which is where I finished. We are leaving safe and salvaged points so that is good, but I really want that win."
