Davi Millsaps is beginning to look like the Davi Millsaps we expected to see. An illness, followed by a back injury, has hampered Millsaps for much of the season. In Indy, he broke through for just his second top-five of the season. “It is getting better every week,” said Millsaps in a team statement. “As I continue to get healthier and ride more and more during the week, we are able to get my settings dialed in. The track was tough tonight and I felt strong throughout the race. It was a lot of battling but I see a lot of positives from tonight.”
After an early crash, Eli Tomac trailed Ryan Dungey for nearly half the race on Saturday—although he was a lap down. While he applied pressure at times, he didn’t do anything drastic as he tried to regain positions. After the race, Ryan Dungey said he thought Tomac was being “respectful” at the end. “I knew somebody was there but I was more keeping my eyes on [Cole] Seely and seeing where he was at, trying to gauge with that. Once I started slowing down the last two laps, making sure I hit everything right and playing it cool, that’s when I saw he came right by. And then he let me back by and we cruised to the finish together. Actually it was really respectful of him not to do anything crazy.”
In a team statement, Tomac said he owed it to his “sponsors and team to race to the end.” "I wasn't trying to prove a point or anything like that. I was simply riding as hard as I could to the checkered flag to get the best result I could. Tonight, it was eleventh."
Jason Anderson’s top-ten streak has come to an end. Anderson began his 450SX career with ten consecutive top-tens, but wasn’t able to stretch it to eleven, after an eventful day/night in Indy. “It was kind of a weird day,” said Anderson in a team statement. “I didn’t feel well at all, and I went into the main with the hopes to recover from everything that happened earlier in the day. I ended up having two pretty good crashes. I’m just going to try and forget about this weekend and come back next weekend.” For more on what went down early in the day between Anderson and Blake Baggett, go here.
Blake Baggett also had his streak of eight consecutive top-tens end on Saturday. “Things were going good, I was working my way towards the front, and I just made a mistake, caught a rock, and went down,” he said in a statement. “I was stuck under the bike for a whole lap and just had to wait until someone came over and got it off me. The whole time the bike was still running and the chain was grinding away on me and I was pinned down. I got up and was a lap down and did the best I could. I’m going to come back strong next weekend and see what we’ve got.”
Baggett and Anderson may have lost their respective streaks, but Broc Tickle’s continued last weekend. An eighth-place finish on Saturday now gives Tickle six straight top-tens since returning from a back injury in San Diego. “We made progress each time we went out but I still struggled with speed a little bit,” explained Tickle in a team statement. “I knew that the track was going to be really rutted and normally I excel in those conditions. I wanted to put twenty solid laps together, which I feel like I did, but I was still off the pace a little bit. I’ve been training pretty hard during the week so I’m hoping a little bit of rest will re-energize me for the Detroit Supercross this weekend. I need to be stronger during the middle stages and at the end of the main. I felt like I struggled toward the end of the race and normally that’s not the case for me. That tells me I might be doing a little too much during the week.”
Jimmy Albertson, who has suffered from four shoulder dislocations over the last several years, sustained another dislocation in practice Saturday and is expected to miss the remainder of the season to have surgery on both shoulders. “This weekend’s Indy incident has finally forced Jimmy to no longer work around this issue, and he is in the process of making arrangements for surgery to correct both shoulder joints,” said a release on the Jimmy Albertson Racing Facebook page. “He is extremely optimistic about the future of Team Arma Energy Racing. Jimmy will still be attending the races every week. The focus will now turn to working with Mitchell Oldbenburg on a full time basis.”
450SX Class
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 15 | 51.147 | 5 | 53.791 | Blake Baggett |
| 2 | 1 | 51.294 | 6 | 52.823 | Ryan Dungey |
| 3 | 2 | 51.321 | 2 | 52.977 | Cole Seely |
| 4 | 3 | 51.386 | 6 | 52.764 | Trey Canard |
| 5 | 4 | 51.892 | 5 | 53.631 | Weston Peick |
| 6 | 5 | 52.179 | 4 | 53.643 | Davi Millsaps |
| 7 | 6 | 52.219 | 5 | 54.009 | Andrew Short |
| 8 | 7 | 52.560 | 6 | 53.905 | Josh Grant |
| 9 | 9 | 52.590 | 5 | 54.013 | Chad Reed |
| 10 | 8 | 52.763 | 4 | 53.805 | Broc Tickle |
| 11 | 11 | 52.791 | 13 | 54.500 | Eli Tomac |
| 12 | 17 | 52.974 | 4 | 57.063 | Jason Anderson |
| 13 | 10 | 53.170 | 8 | 54.326 | Jake Weimer |
| 14 | 12 | 53.402 | 5 | 55.505 | Kyle Chisholm |
| 15 | 16 | 53.803 | 5 | 56.693 | Kyle Partridge |
| 16 | 14 | 54.385 | 5 | 55.973 | Nick Wey |
| 17 | 13 | 53.886 | 4 | 56.130 | Phil Nicoletti |
| 18 | 19 | 55.698 | 6 | 58.078 | Ben Lamay |
| 19 | 21 | 56.249 | 4 | 1:01.286 | Adam Enticknap |
| 20 | 18 | 56.712 | 17 | 58.027 | Tony Archer |
| 21 | 20 | 57.407 | 9 | 59.397 | Killy Rusk |
| 22 | 22 | 58.324 | 3 | 1:02.189 | Dustin Pipes |
250SX Class
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 1 | 51.030 | 3 | 53.435 | Marvin Musquin |
| 2 | 20 | 51.462 | 3 | 52.453 | Joey Savatgy |
| 3 | 2 | 51.541 | 3 | 54.009 | Justin Bogle |
| 4 | 3 | 52.864 | 3 | 54.994 | RJ Hampshire |
| 5 | 4 | 53.789 | 6 | 55.382 | Jordon Smith |
| 6 | 15 | 53.823 | 6 | 56.522 | Martin Davalos |
| 7 | 16 | 54.290 | 2 | 57.557 | Anthony Rodriguez |
| 8 | 13 | 54.414 | 5 | 56.556 | Mitchell Oldenburg |
| 9 | 5 | 54.496 | 12 | 55.774 | Kyle Cunningham |
| 10 | 6 | 54.552 | 3 | 55.984 | Jimmy Decotis |
| 11 | 8 | 54.633 | 5 | 55.896 | Colt Nichols |
| 12 | 11 | 54.645 | 8 | 56.589 | Luke Renzland |
| 13 | 7 | 54.659 | 3 | 55.997 | Kyle Peters |
| 14 | 10 | 54.791 | 6 | 56.632 | Jace Owen |
| 15 | 9 | 54.855 | 5 | 56.682 | Vince Friese |
| 16 | 12 | 55.886 | 5 | 57.672 | Gannon Audette |
| 17 | 14 | 55.936 | 5 | 58.140 | Justin Starling |
| 18 | 17 | 56.990 | 2 | 58.638 | Daniel Herrlein |
| 19 | 18 | 57.160 | 5 | 1:00.942 | Taylor Potter |
| 20 | 21 | 58.052 | 2 | 58.285 | Nick Gaines |
| 21 | 22 | 58.472 | 2 | 58.472 | Dakota Alix |
| 22 | 19 | 58.474 | 4 | 1:01.480 | Logan Karnow |
More News and Notes
With Arnaud Tonus out with an illness, Joey Savatgy had to fly the flag for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki in Indy. Seeking his first podium since the opener in Dallas, Savatgy was running third before a mechanical failure ended his night. At this time there is no definite word on what the problem was. “This is obviously not the result I wanted tonight,” said Savatgy in a team statement. “I was feeling really good coming into the race. I had a good week of training and was confident all day. I know we showed we can be right up at the front and I want to get back on the podium.” As for Tonus, it looks like he will miss a few weeks with what is being described as an illness.
Savatgy’s mechanical left the door open for GEICO Honda rookie RJ Hampshire, who cruised unimpeded to his first career podium. Hampshire, who dealt with injuries early in the season, is starting to show the speed that earned him the AMA Horizon Award last year. "I couldn't be more excited to get my first podium tonight. I was feeling great after my fifth last weekend at my home race in Daytona,” he said in a team statement. "I was mainly focused on getting in the top ten, so it was a huge bonus to make it to the podium. I went from being very hurt to fifth and now third. My goal every weekend is to be in the top ten and put my best into every lap for my team."
It was a banner night all around for GEICO Honda, with Justin Bogle joining Hampshire on the podium and fellow rookie Jordon Smith, who is returning from a hand injury, riding to a career-best fourth. "I gained a lot of experience, which I've said in the past is all I'm really trying to do right now,” Smith said in a statement. “During the week I've been trying to work on things that I've been struggling with. It paid off today. The track was really tough and a lot of people were going down. I just had to really be on point tonight, and I made it happen.” Although he was successful in Indy, Smith concedes there is more work to do. “Both main events that I have been in so far, I've been basically dead last coming out of the first turn. I need to work on getting a good start, get through the first lap clean, and then I can hopefully run up front."
As we reported yesterday, Martin Davalos is dealing with Epstein-Barr. Since the start of the season, Davalos has seemed off, but it wasn’t made public until Monday what was affecting him. Here is what he had to say in a team press release. “I’ve been struggling with my health since January. I figured that, since I broke my foot, it was my body trying to adjust again. I didn’t have any adrenaline or fire in me, which isn’t me. I went to the doctor to get checked out and found out that I have flair of Epstein-Barr. I’m just trying to get myself going again but I don’t want it to get worse. I’m struggling with my energy levels, and my adrenal glands aren’t working. I just wanted to save as much energy as I could for the main event. I got a good start, and my bike is awesome, but I’m just not on point.”
Motosport.com/GPI/Honda Racing had their best results of the season Saturday night as both Kyle Peters and rookie Colt Nichols made the top ten. For Peters, who injured his back in Daytona, it was his second consecutive seventh-place finish. It was Nichols' first career top-ten.
Privateer Jace Owen had a career-best finish in Indy. His tenth was a career first, besting his previous best of eighteenth last year in Atlanta and Indy.
