For the first time in 2015, Davi Millsaps has consecutive top-five finishes. Illness and injury thwarted his early season, but over the last few weeks Millsaps has continued to build. “Tonight was the strongest I’ve felt yet and expect that to continue each weekend,” said Millsaps in a team statement. “I continue to build myself each week, but so does everyone else. I’m playing catch up, but I know with time I can be back battling for podiums and wins.” He finished fifth in Detroit, he second fifth in as many weeks. For better or worse, readers voted Millsaps as the second-most-likely rider to get his first podium before the year is out.
Jason Anderson’s season long top-ten streak ended last week at Indy. Detroit was worse, as the rookie went for a wild ride in the main event Saturday night. In the second rhythm section, which claimed a numbers of riders throughout the day, Anderson made a mistake and hit his chest on the bars before being ejected into the next jump. After being attended to by medical personal on the track, Anderson went to a local hospital for precautionary reasons. According to a Rockstar Energy Drink press release, the early prognosis is positive. Early reports say Anderson has no broken ribs or serious internal injuries. We will have more on his status for St. Louis later in the week. “After my toughest weekend of the year last weekend in Indy, I really wanted to rebound this weekend,” said Anderson in a team statement. “My practices were just average but I felt really good when it was time to race. I qualified directly out of my heat race and felt like I was riding well. I got a decent start in the main and made my way into the top five. I thought I had at least a fourth in me, but then I went down hard in a rhythm section and I'm pretty beat up.”
Broc Tickle’s run of top-tens has reached seven following a seventh-place finish in Detroit. The Michigan native said he struggled with some of the same things he did a week ago, and that he needs to continue to work on his starts. Yes, this has been a Tickle constant throughout his career. “I was a little slow in a couple segments during practice so we made some changes for the heat race and the semi and we definitely went in the right direction,” he said in a statement. “We made another change for the main and that was even better so we made progress all day. We tried some stuff with the starts and that didn’t really work. That’s something I need to work on so I can be better out of the gate and closer to the front. I think that’s what held me back in the main event. As a team, we’re going to go back to the basics this week and work on starts. Bottom line is that I need to put together better starts to get better results. When I have a bad start, I get into a place where everyone runs in the same position all night long and that puts me in a bind. I need to get out front when the gate drops and see what we can do from there.”
A week after his worst finish of the season (fifteenth) in Indy, Blake Baggett returned to the top ten in Detroit—his ninth top-ten this year. His eighth-place finish could have been much better, but Baggett went down on the final lap after having to change lines and clipping a Tuff Block. “We were able to find a really good setup for the Semi,” said Yoshimura Suzuki team manager Mike Webb in a team statement. “After getting his arm hooked with another rider on that shuffle in the second turn he was as far back as twelfth at the start of the main. He began picking them off and worked his way up to sixth, and then on the last lap a lapped rider moved over right in front of him and Blake went down pretty hard on the tabletop jump and [Josh] Grant and [Broc] Tickle got by. All and all it was a good night. He was fast again and put it all together in the main.”
Weston Peick walked away from a gnarly crash in Detroit Saturday night. Peick was trying to make a pass on Davi Millsaps in the first rhythm section and went over the tabletop, while Millsaps jumped on. Peick swerved to miss him on the next jump and “OJ’d left and then OJ’d back right.” He slammed into the ground, hit his nose, and was unable to continue. He told Racer X’s Jordan Roberts that he will race this weekend in St. Louis. “I’m fine. I just busted blood vessels up in my nose. I was just gushing blood out of both nostrils. Other than that I think everything’s good. Next race good to go.” Did you really think a smashed face was going to keep Peick from racing?
Are you up for some lap times?
450SX Class
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 1 | 51.967 | 6 | 53.414 | Eli Tomac |
| 2 | 2 | 52.589 | 4 | 54.074 | Ryan Dungey |
| 3 | 3 | 52.952 | 4 | 54.354 | Cole Seely |
| 4 | 5 | 53.411 | 5 | 55.015 | Davi Millsaps |
| 5 | 22 | 53.455 | 3 | 53.736 | Weston Peick |
| 6 | 21 | 53.627 | 4 | 54.190 | Jason Anderson |
| 7 | 4 | 53.677 | 8 | 54.802 | Chad Reed |
| 8 | 8 | 53.898 | 4 | 54.832 | Blake Baggett |
| 9 | 6 | 53.951 | 9 | 55.163 | Josh Grant |
| 10 | 7 | 53.973 | 7 | 55.228 | Broc Tickle |
| 11 | 13 | 54.447 | 2 | 58.166 | Kyle Partridge |
| 12 | 9 | 54.505 | 6 | 55.930 | Andrew Short |
| 13 | 11 | 55.050 | 4 | 56.482 | Kyle Chisholm |
| 14 | 10 | 55.129 | 3 | 56.354 | Justin Brayton |
| 15 | 15 | 55.393 | 11 | 57.951 | Phil Nicoletti |
| 16 | 12 | 55.459 | 7 | 57.168 | Nick Wey |
| 17 | 18 | 56.343 | 4 | 57.873 | Nick Schmidt |
| 18 | 14 | 56.645 | 4 | 58.417 | Ben Lamay |
| 19 | 17 | 56.745 | 4 | 1:00.952 | Ronnie Stewart |
| 20 | 19 | 56.976 | 4 | 1:00.592 | Alex Ray |
| 21 | 16 | 57.039 | 3 | 59.626 | Killy Rusk |
| 22 | 20 | 59.615 | 4 | 1:03.225 | Heath Harrison |
You can see above that the Peick and Anderson crashes really ruined what could have been decent results—they had speed. You can also see that Eli Tomac was fast, and you really didn't need the lap chart to know that, right?
250SX Class
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 2 | 52.809 | 6 | 54.322 | Marvin Musquin |
| 2 | 1 | 53.004 | 7 | 54.207 | Justin Bogle |
| 3 | 3 | 53.553 | 2 | 54.708 | Joey Savatgy |
| 4 | 4 | 53.579 | 11 | 54.675 | Jeremy Martin |
| 5 | 6 | 54.465 | 5 | 55.986 | Colt Nichols |
| 6 | 5 | 54.531 | 3 | 56.071 | Anthony Rodriguez |
| 7 | 11 | 54.771 | 4 | 56.121 | RJ Hampshire |
| 8 | 7 | 54.998 | 3 | 56.280 | Kyle Cunningham |
| 9 | 8 | 55.321 | 3 | 56.614 | Mitchell Oldenburg |
| 10 | 9 | 55.468 | 7 | 57.340 | Jimmy Decotis |
| 11 | 10 | 55.667 | 6 | 58.126 | Jace Owen |
| 12 | 12 | 56.434 | 5 | 58.436 | Justin Starling |
| 13 | 16 | 56.588 | 3 | 58.219 | AJ Catanzaro |
| 14 | 20 | 56.616 | 5 | 57.431 | Gannon Audette |
| 15 | 13 | 56.647 | 6 | 58.098 | Kyle Peters |
| 16 | 21 | 56.667 | 5 | 57.715 | Jordon Smith |
| 17 | 14 | 57.715 | 7 | 59.159 | Daniel Herrlein |
| 18 | 17 | 57.733 | 5 | 59.908 | Taylor Potter |
| 19 | 15 | 57.758 | 4 | 59.488 | Zack Williams |
| 20 | 18 | 58.023 | 4 | 1:02.970 | Bryce Stewart |
| 21 | 19 | 1:00.366 | 3 | 1:05.362 | Adam Gulley |
| 22 | 22 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Martin Davalos |
Davalos didn't complete a full lap so hence no time for him. Musquin did log a faster lap than Bogle so no cause for alarm over there at Red Bull KTM.
More News and Notes
Matt Lemoine’s return from a broken finger, which sidelined him the previous two rounds, was cut short in Detroit. In practice, Lemoine crashed hard in the second rhythm section, ending his night. We will have more on Lemoine’s status for St. Louis later in the week.
Mitchell Oldenburg collected his second top-ten this season in Detroit, but it came at a cost. Oldenburg, who has struggled with crashes this season, went down hard in the same rhythm section as Lemoine in practice. He was able to regroup and finish a season-high eighth. “With all the bad things that have happened recently in this sport I'm so thankful to be safe after this practice crash!,” he wrote on Instagram. “Really wanted to call it a day after that but momma didn't raise no quitter! When the going gets tough, the tough get going!”
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Arnaud Tonus, who has missed the last three rounds with an illness, is expected to return before the supercross season is over. According to a Kawasaki press release, Tonus consulted his doctors in Switzerland and has “rid himself” of the problem and will soon return to the US.
More good news for a PC squad still looking for their first win in 2015: Adam Cianciarulo has been cleared to start riding. AC, who sustained a shoulder injury this off-season, is expected to return for Lucas Oil Pro Motocross.
Martin Davalos just can’t seem to get his season turned in the right direction. Last week, it was revealed that Davalos has been dealing with Epstein-Barr. Davalos said in a team statement he’s happy to at least know what the problem is. “I'm just happy I found out what is going on with me so I can work on it and make a plan on race day. My practices were solid all day.” In the main, Davalos clipped the landing of the triple in the first rhythm section and shot into RJ Hampshire—taking them both down. Davalos flew over the berm and was unable to continue. “I was up around fifth in the main and was working on moving forward. I clipped the landing of a triple and it shot me up into the berm,” he said. “I hit another guy and it caused me to pin it and I flew over the berm onto the concrete. I'm feeling pretty sore from the crash, but hopefully I will be okay for St. Louis."
Anthony Rodriguez, who ripped off three consecutive eighth-place finishes before a sixteenth in Indy, held onto his first career top-five in Detroit. “Last night I was able to accomplish one of my goals by finishing in the top 5. I would like to thank everyone who helps me, especially my family and my second family @mtfmx,” said Rodriguez on Instagram.
Privateer Justin Starling also had a season-high in Detroit. Starling has made six of six mains this year. He finished twelfth Saturday night.
