MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, made its return to Minnesota on Saturday for the eighth round of the 2014 season. The legendary Spring Creek MX Park in Millville hosted the La Crescent Wine & Spirit Spring Creek National in what ended up being an memorable afternoon for the eventual winners, with GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac capturing his first career 450 Class win and Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha's Jeremy Martin claiming victory for the first time at the facility owned and operated by his parents.
Through partnerships with series sponsors, the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will recognize the riders who achieve the series' specialty awards all summer long. Each week, MX Sports Pro Racing will recognize the riders who are able to lay claim to the Oakley Bomb Fastest Lap Program, the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award in each moto, and the Ricky Carmichael Hard Charger Award throughout the 2014 season.
The Oakley Bomb Fastest Lap Program is designed to present a unique challenge for the 2014 season, providing a different twist by recognizing the rider who sets the fastest lap of practice in both the 250 and 450 Classes. Each rider will receive special Oakley Bomb trophy, specially designed by the brand.As the season wears on, the total number of Oakley Bomb awards a rider receives will be tallied into a final season total. The competitor with the most awards at season's end will be presented with an Elite Oakley Time Bomb II Swiss Automatic Watch.
For the fourth time in 2014, Red Bull KTM's Ken Roczen posted the fastest lap of practice in the 450 Class, earning the Oakley Bomb Award and cementing his advantage in the quest to earn the Elite Oakley watch. Roczen narrowly edged out his hometown teammate Ryan Dungey for the top time, with his 2:04.326 surpassing Dungey's 2:04.479 by just a tenth of a second. Roczen was able to carry that momentum into the opening moto, leading the bulk of the laps, but in the end was not a factor for the overall win.
In the 250 Class the story stayed the same, as Valli Motorsports Yamaha's Christophe Pourcel not only secured his seventh Oakley Bomb Award in eight attempts, but also claimed the Elite Oakley Time Bomb II Swiss Automatic Watch. His time of 2:05.784 was almost a full second ahead of the second place time set by Martin. With four rounds remaining, the most awards another rider could achieve is five, guaranteeing Pourcel's status as not only the best qualifier in the 250 Class, but arguably the entire series. The Frenchman has a keen sense for laying down a fast lap and he's set the standard in the division for speed throughout the summer. However, Pourcel's accolades in Millville didn't end there.
The Motosport.com Holeshot Award is brand new to Lucas Oil Pro Motocross this season and it awards $500 to the rider who gets the holeshot of each moto - in both the 450 Class and 250 Class - at every round of the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. A total of $2,000 will be up for grabs at each event between the two classes, thanks to Motosport.com.
At Spring Creek, Pourcel's uncanny ability to position himself at the front of the field translated into a pair of Motorsport.com Holeshot Awards, giving him a class-leading five holeshots this season. He generated the most speed out of the long Spring Creek start straight and was able to maintain the momentum into the sweeping right first turn to cross the holeshot line first in each moto and control the early tempo in each race. As a result of his pair of strong starts, Pourcel remained at the forefront of the 250 Class to finish fourth overall following 3-6 moto scores.
In the 450 Class, Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey raced to his fifth Motosport.com Holeshot Award of the season in the opening moto. As the Minnesota native looked to make an early statement, he engaged in battle with his teammate Roczen out front and eventually settled for third following a crash. Dungey rebounded from his slight misfortune in Moto 2 to challenge Tomac for the win and ultimately finish second, securing the runner-up spot overall.
The start of the second moto was the key to Tomac's success in securing his first career 450 Class win. The rookie was tested after the initial start in which he earned the holeshot was red flagged, but he lined up again and proved it wasn't a fluke, edging out Toyota/Yamaha/JGRMX's Justin Brayton at the line. With nothing but clear track ahead of him, Tomac seized control of the moto to complete what ended up being a dominant breakthrough afternoon for the Colorado native, sweeping each of the day's motos.
The RC Hard Charger Award is entering its sixth season in 2014. Named after Ricky Carmichael, the most winning motocross rider of all time, the award recognizes the one competitor at each of the 12 rounds of the championship who overtakes the highest number of his fellow racers in any of the four championship motos between the 250 and 450 Classes.The award is a testament to "The Greatest of All Time" or "The GOAT" and his never-give-up attitude over the span of a career that warranted 10 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross titles and 102 wins - two feats that will likely never be duplicated. All recipients of the RC Hard Charger Award are given a custom-designed trophy.
One week after he claimed the first moto win of his career, Rockstar Energy Racing's Jason Anderson had his resiliency tested in the opening 250 Class moto at Spring Creek. As the field roared through the first turn, Anderson found himself on the ground with several other riders following a wild incident. The New Mexico native was able to get back on the bike and return to action, eventually crossing the line in 36th on the opening lap. No doubt motivated by the adversity he already faced, Anderson put on an impressive charge through the field on one of the series' most demanding tracks, ultimately overcoming 25 riders en route to an 11th-place effort and earning him his first RC Hard Charger Award of the season. Anderson's fortunes were much better in Moto 2, where he started 10th and fought his way onto the podium in third, landing him sixth overall. Honorable mention goes out to GEICO Honda's Christian Craig who managed to overcome a dead-last start of 40th in the opening 450 Class moto to pass 21 riders and finish inside the top 20 in 19th.
2014 Specialty Award Winners
Oakley Fastest Lap Program
450 Class
Glen Helen - Ryan Dungey
Hangtown - Ken Roczen
Thunder Valley - Trey Canard
High Point - Ken Roczen
Muddy Creek - Eli Tomac
Red Bud - Ken Roczen
Budds Creek - James Stewart
Spring Creek - Ken Roczen
250 Class
Glen Helen - Christophe Pourcel
Hangtown - Christophe Pourcel
Thunder Valley - Christophe Pourcel
High Point - Jeremy Martin
Muddy Creek - Christophe Pourcel
Red Bud - Christophe Pourcel
Budds Creek - Christophe Pourcel
Spring Creek - Christophe Pourcel
Motosport.com Holeshot Award
450 Class
Glen Helen
Moto 1 - Josh Grant
Moto 2 - Ken Roczen
Hangtown
Moto 1 - Ryan Dungey
Moto 2 - Jake Weimer
Thunder Valley
Moto 1 - Josh Grant
Moto 2 - Trey Canard
High Point
Moto 1 - Chad Reed
Moto 2 - Chad Reed
Muddy Creek
Moto 1 - Eli Tomac
Moto 2 - Ryan Dungey
Red Bud
Moto 1 - Ryan Dungey
Moto 2 - Ken Roczen
Budds Creek
Moto 1 - Justin Brayton
Moto 2 - Ryan Dungey
Spring Creek
Moto 1 - Ryan Dungey
Moto 2 - Eli Tomac
250 Class
Glen Helen
Moto 1 - Jeremy Martin
Moto 2 - Jeremy Martin
Hangtown
Moto 1 - Zach Bell
Moto 2 - Jeremy Martin
Thunder Valley
Moto 1 - Jessy Nelson
Moto 2 - Zach Bell
High Point
Moto 1 - Christophe Pourcel
Moto 2 - Christophe Pourcel
Muddy Creek
Moto 1 - Christophe Pourcel
Moto 2 - Justin Bogle
Red Bud
Moto 1 - Matt Biscegila
Moto 2 - Joey Savatgy
Budds Creek
Moto 1 - Justin Bogle
Moto 2 - Jeremy Martin
Spring Creek
Moto 1 - Christophe Pourcel
Moto 2 - Christophe Pourcel
RC Hard Charger Award
Glen Helen - Josh Grant (+22)
Hangtown - Andrew Short (+24)
Thunder Valley - Fredrik Noren (+21)
High Point - Shane Sewell & Zack Williams (+14)
Muddy Creek - Josh Grant (+29)
Red Bud - Fredrick Noren & Joey Savatgy (+21)
Budds Creek - Dean Wilson (+21)
Spring Creek - Jason Anderson (+25)
Round 9 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship heads to Washougal, Washington, for the Motosport.com Washougal National on Saturday, July 26.