By Chase Stallo and Jason Weigandt
At Budds Creek, Jason Anderson polished off his first 250 national moto win ever, but during the week he had an eye on the future, riding his new Husky 450. Anderson will be on that machine for his rookie 450 season next year. “I think it’s cool that KTM and Husky have that relationship,” says Anderson of being able to switch back and forth between brands right now. “I’m looking forward to the 450, even though I know it’s going to take a lot of work. I weigh 170 without gear so I think I’m one of the bigger guys in the 250 Class.”
Jeremy and Alex Martin have been hinting at big changes at their home national at Millville next weekend, as the big hill in the center off the track, which formerly went about three-quarters of the way up a ridge, will now go all the way to the top. “It’s probably not as high as Mt. St. Helens (at Glen Helen), but it will be close,” explained Alex. The Martins’ parents own and operate the track. “In past years growing up, I was always the test dummy on stuff, and now this year I’m not there,” said Jeremy with a laugh. “So we’ll see how it is. I think it’ll be rough. It’ll be cool for the fans and cool for TV.”
RCH Soaring Eagle Suzuki’s Weston Peick bounced back strong this weekend with 6-5 finishes and fifth overall. But what the heck happened last week at RedBud. “I hit a tree in the first moto and crashed really hard,” he said. “I’m okay now, though, had to take a few days off while we visited the Soaring Eagle Casino in Michigan anyway, so once I got back on the bike I felt pretty good.” As always when we talk of a crash for the burly Peick, we need to check the status of whatever else he hit. “Yeah, I think I took some gnarly chunks out of that tree,” he said with a smile.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe hasn’t been quite as consistent as we usually expect of him lately, but there was a reason for his eleventh in moto two. A rock cut his rear brake line early in the moto. “I almost cleaned a bunch of people out the first time I tried to use it,” he said. “It’s was scary.” Somehow Metty moved through the field for eleventh. Combined with a first-moto seventh, he got eighth overall.
CycleTrader.com Rock River Yamaha’s Ben LaMay has been coming on strong lately, but his Budds Creek wasn’t perfect. “My starts were pretty bad, and then I crashed in the first moto, which made it worse. I was thirtieth or so and came back for eighteenth, and that kind of got me mad and got me motivated for the second moto. I took that aggression and got a twelfth.” Lamay, who has been riding at Andrew Short’s place in Texas, has a goal of getting into the top ten, and beyond. “It’s been long enough that I’ve been riding in the back of the pack or mid pack. I know I can get in the top ten."
Our buddy “Top” Jimmy Albertson performed one heck of a perty trick at Budds, as his shoulder came out in the first moto, only to be put back in by our own Davey Coombs. “I explained to him how to do it,” said Albertson. “It happens to me here and there, and it actually doesn’t really bother me.” In the second moto Albertson was way back, nearly thirtieth, but plowed forward for thirteenth. It was one of his best rides of the year.
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 | 1 | 1:58.906 | 3 | 2:00.541 | Ken Roczen |
2 | 2 | 1:59.088 | 4 | 2:00.693 | Ryan Dungey |
3 | 4 | 1:59.280 | 4 | 2:01.610 | Eli Tomac |
4 | 3 | 1:59.297 | 2 | 2:01.645 | Trey Canard |
5 | 5 | 1:59.392 | 6 | 2:01.799 | James Stewart |
6 | 8 | 2:02.355 | 2 | 2:05.267 | Andrew Short |
7 | 7 | 2:02.373 | 4 | 2:04.527 | Brett Metcalfe |
8 | 6 | 2:02.435 | 5 | 2:04.215 | Weston Peick |
9 | 14 | 2:02.645 | 1 | 2:06.914 | Justin Brayton |
10 | 9 | 2:03.033 | 6 | 2:05.605 | Josh Grant |
450 Class Moto 2
Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
1 | 1 | 2:00.936 | 5 | 2:03.398 | Ryan Dungey |
2 | 3 | 2:00.948 | 4 | 2:03.655 | Eli Tomac |
3 | 2 | 2:01.204 | 5 | 2:03.621 | Ken Roczen |
4 | 31 | 2:02.588 | 5 | 2:04.324 | James Stewart |
5 | 4 | 2:02.836 | 10 | 2:04.374 | Trey Canard |
6 | 16 | 2:05.093 | 5 | 2:11.339 | Fredrik Noren |
7 | 6 | 2:05.137 | 1 | 2:08.350 | Josh Grant |
8 | 5 | 2:05.244 | 4 | 2:07.813 | Weston Peick |
9 | 38 | 2:06.574 | 4 | 2:07.681 | Ryan Sipes |
10 | 22 | 2:06.745 | 4 | 2:11.484 | Ivan Tedesco |
250 Class Moto 1
Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
1 | 3 | 2:00.968 | 15 | 2:03.198 | Blake Baggett |
2 | 2 | 2:01.594 | 17 | 2:03.227 | Jeremy Martin |
3 | 1 | 2:02.187 | 17 | 2:03.204 | Jason Anderson |
4 | 6 | 2:02.492 | 3 | 2:05.198 | Christophe Pourcel |
5 | 4 | 2:02.788 | 2 | 2:04.721 | Justin Bogle |
6 | 5 | 2:02.951 | 3 | 2:04.605 | Cooper Webb |
7 | 7 | 2:03.472 | 4 | 2:05.175 | Dean Wilson |
8 | 8 | 2:03.527 | 6 | 2:05.307 | Marvin Musquin |
9 | 9 | 2:04.309 | 3 | 2:06.397 | Anthony Rodriguez |
10 | 12 | 2:04.507 | 5 | 2:07.582 | Joey Savatgy |
250 Class Moto 2
Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
1 | 1 | 2:01.479 | 11 | 2:03.974 | Blake Bagett |
2 | 2 | 2:02.537 | 6 | 2:04.988 | Jeremy Martin |
3 | 3 | 2:02.762 | 4 | 2:06.288 | Christophe Pourcel |
4 | 4 | 2:02.969 | 3 | 2:06.548 | Cooper Webb |
5 | 5 | 2:05.210 | 3 | 2:06.815 | Justin Bogle |
6 | 6 | 2:05.247 | 3 | 2:07.462 | Justin Hill |
7 | 7 | 2:05.255 | 2 | 2:08.179 | Jason Anderson |
8 | 16 | 2:05.305 | 17 | 2:07.085 | Dean Wilson |
9 | 9 | 2:06.125 | 7 | 2:08.743 | Cole Seely |
10 | 14 | 2:06.492 | 6 | 2:08.453 | Marvin Musquin |
More news and notes:
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Justin Hill is still suffering the effects from an elbow injury sustained at Muddy Creek. “’I’m just kind of nursing it,” he told Steve Matthes after Budds Creek. “The first motos I’ve just been kind of going easy, trying to make sure that it’s all good.” More relaxed in the second moto, Hill’s results have improved. At Budds Creek, Hill fought back from a thirteenth in moto one to finish sixth in moto two—his best finish since the second moto at High Point.
Budds Creek didn’t go as well for Hill’s teammate, Dean Wilson. In just his third race back, Wilson found trouble again off the start. He, among others, was collected when Marvin Musquin went down in the tight, hairpin first turn. “I’m definitely not happy with how things ended up there in the second moto, but I did all I could given the circumstances,” said Wilson in a team statement. Coming from nearly dead last, Wilson passed twenty-one riders en route to a sixteenth, earning the RC Hard Charger Award. It was a good ride for Wilson, but he’s still not content. “There’s nothing I want more than to contend for a win, so my goals are pretty simple right now.”
The growing pains for GEICO Honda’s Matt Bisceglia continued at Budds Creek. A rookie mistake cost him dearly in the first moto. “I over-jumped the little tabletop in the middle and landed on a kicker," Bisceglia said in a team release. "It sent me end-over-end pretty hard and knocked the sweat into the inside of my lens on my goggles. It bent my bike and my levers up a little bit, and we had to get everything straightened out." Bisceglia finished the moto twenty-sixth and fifteenth overall on the day.
Bisceglia’s GEICO Honda running mate Zach Bell had his troubles on Saturday as well. “My back brakes went out on the first lap, so the first moto didn't go as planned," Bell said in a team statement. "I ended up falling. I was running in the top ten, trying to make my way back up." Bell finished one spot behind Bisceglia for sixteenth overall, following a fifteenth in moto two.
Rockstar Energy Energy KTM’s jubilance extended only to Jason Anderson. It was a sour day for Joey Savatgy and Ryan Sipes. “Weekend was just a struggle. I had a good qualifying time, but I ended up in a first turn pile up in moto one and crashed in moto two. I really need to have a better day at Millville," said Savatgy in a team statement, following an eighteenth overall finish. “This weekend—for a lack of better terms—sucked,” said Sipes, who injured his ankle in the first moto and had to retire early from both motos.
Since an eleventh in moto two at Hangtown, JAB Motorsports’ Matt Lemoine has struggled. His moto scores since that time have been: 21-12-14-14-16-34-35-22. He finally got back on track matching a season-high, with an eleventh in the first moto. He finished the day fourteenth overall following a seventeenth in moto two. Lemoine is still searching for his first top ten of the season.