The 250 Class came into Utah with Jeremy Martin and Marvin Musquin separated by 2 points, and they left separated by 2 points, as the riders tied in points with Martin getting the overall win. But it could’ve been way worse for Martin. If he wins this title, Utah just might have been a key for him. Wait, when it’s this close, isn’t every round key? 

In the first moto, Jeremy started on the far inside because he saw that the tractor disking up the start straight hadn’t gone all the way to the edge of the track, so the dirt was hard-packed on the far left. This was the move to try at High Point for about five years until someone caught onto it and made sure the dirt was deep everywhere. Not a bad strategy by J-Mart, but it backfired terribly when he got a bad jump and came off the line basically in dead last. It was a boom-or-bust type of scenario, and this one went bust. To make things worse, he got caught up in a crash and had some serious work to do. 

Although it took him a while and he didn’t do it with his usual flair, Martin eventually worked his way up after getting RJ Hampshire for third when RJ fell in the last turn. Bingo, bango, RJ’s crash gave 2 points to Jeremy right there. In the second moto, Martin was on fire and ripping through the pack when he came up on leader, and teammate, Cooper Webb. Webb simply slowed down and let Martin right on by. Bingo, bango—that’s 3 points for Jeremy. Not to mention Martin’s other teammate Aaron Plessinger basically pulling over for Jeremy in the first moto. So, as I said, Utah could’ve been a bad day for Martin, but to tie Marvin in the points for the day is pretty sweet.

Martin was really fast in the second moto and probably would’ve caught Webb without the help of Cooper pulling over, but who knows? We’ve seen Webb dominate at times since his return from injury, so I don’t think it’s a given Martin would’ve won. Do I have a problem with any of this? Nope. Not at all. This is why you have teammates, right? It’s not like they were moving over for Martin and then trying to take Marvin out. 

And then, as far as Marv is concerned, he told us this after the race: “…the two Yamaha guys [Jeremy Martin and Webb], I’m not going to lie, they were faster than me and they got around me. Jeremy was doing really good, so to leave Utah with the same point gap is actually really good.”

So Marvin is happy, Jeremy should be happy, and we’re heading into the last two motos of the year with only 2 points separating the top two. If either guy goes 1-1, they win the 2015 250MX title.

As far as the 2015 450MX title, well, that’s Ryan Dungey’s once again. The KTM rider clinched his third outdoor title with a nice ride in the first moto to zap Kenny Roczen late and take the win. Dungey’s season didn’t start off great with him being unable to do anything about Eli Tomac, but he didn’t panic. Dungey just grinded away, and by the end, despite some too-little-too-late pressure from Justin Barcia, he was the man. The old saying about winning titles on your worst day is true, and for Dungey, his worst days are ones where he’s third. Or second. It’s pretty tough to stop that. 

For me, Dungey’s high point of the season came at, and please excuse the pun, High Point. That first moto where he went from sixth to first in 4:41 was epic. There was no sitting back for Dungey; this was aggro-Dunge at his best. He was on it, used some balls-out moves, and won the moto going away. When I think of Dungey’s 2015 450MX title, moto one at High Point is what I’ll think of. He didn’t even win the overall that day, but that first moto showed he had “it.” Just like I thought James Stewart was “different” last year, I think Dungey has been “different” this year, and High Point was an example. 

Okay, I don’t think we really knew what was up with Kenny Roczen all these weeks. He’s been saying that he’s not happy with this bike, there are/were tensions between him and the team, and some of the team guys weren’t pumped with him fading a bit in motos. And me, heck, I’m just looking from the outside and wondering how this dude that was unstoppable last year could go back to being a dude that could barely break into the top three at times.

Well, before Washougal he went out testing with the team and went back to a Showa spring fork; he’s been better since then. Also, Roczen’s wrench, Kelly Lumgair, is going back to KTM next year, and the team hired Chad Reed’s old mechanic and suspension guy, Oscar Wirdemen, to work with Roczen next year. Only, he actually started this year already and has been down in Florida working with Kenny. Guess what Chad Reed rode in 2009 on his way to a 450MX title? A Suzuki RMZ-450. You know what Roczen rides, right? You know that the bikes haven’t changed much, right? Wirdemen is a smart dude, and from what I hear, Roczen’s spring Showa fork is very, very close to what Reed ran in 2009. And it’s made a difference!

I asked Roczen after the race—well, actually, former World Supercross Champion Jim Holley ambushed me and grabbed my mic to ask Roczen about his switch to spring fork, and this is what Kenny had to say. (And I swear the question was on my mind, so don’t go acting like Holley was Woodward and Bernstein here.) 

You can read the whole interview HERE. Roczen dances around the issues he’s been having with his bike. It’s super weird that he says no comment. Like, we can all see it! Other teams are talking about it, bro! He says he “can’t say a lot,” meaning someone has told him to not say that he’s back on it. Meanwhile, other riders like Chad Reed and Eli Tomac have had no problem telling everyone they’ve switched forks. I don’t get it. Add Roczen’s answer to the list of things I don’t understand about the sport.

One thing I think we can eliminate—and I was on-board with this by the way—is that Roczen’s fitness isn’t good. Yeah, Dungey appears to be a bit fitter judging by the way he caught Ken in both motos this weekend and pulled away last weekend a bit, but it appears that Roczen’s claim of the bike not being set the way he likes it is a bit true. He’s 100 percent, without a doubt, been a better rider the last few weeks since changing settings and going to spring fork. 

Let’s take a look at the results, shall we? 

250MX Results

1. 1 Jeremy Martin; Millville, MN; Yamaha YZ250F; 3-1

2. 25 Marvin Musquin; France KTM 250 SX-F; 1-3 – Oh, man, when Webb caught Musquin in the first moto, I thought there was going to be trouble. This was basically the genesis of my entire column last week—Webb is going to cause trouble for Musquin, and not because he wants to help Jeremy, but because he feels Marvin has been dirty. Anyway, Webb tried everything he could do to get around Marvin before he tipped over. Crisis averted.

3. 17 Cooper Webb; Newport, NC; Yamaha YZ250F; 2-2 ­– Musquin was saying that Webb was once again yelling at him down on the starting line. I’ve praised Webb over and over for being a chip off the old block and yet also a breath of fresh air, but if what Musquin was saying is true, then that means that’s at least twice Webb’s talked some trash to Musquin down on the line. I don’t know—that’s a little much to me. Like, why bother? Musquin’s a two-time world champion and a 250SX champion, it’s not like you’re going to scare him or something.

4. 157 Aaron Plessinger; Hamilton, OH; Yamaha YZ250F; 4-4 – Nice job by Plessinger, who, I’ve been told, is battling some ankle injuries and waiting for the season to end so he can heal up.

5. 38 Matthew Bisceglia; Tualatin, OR; Honda CRF250R; 6-6- Great riding by Matt this weekend. You hear a lot about his teammates, but guess who is the top GEICO rider in the points? Yeah, that’s right—the Bisch. Yes, the position is ninth, but still….

6. 16 Zachary Osborne; Abingdon, VA; Husqvarna TC250; 9-5 – Osborne was better in the second moto than he has been recently, and I wonder if the complete 250SX and MX season (something I don’t think he’s ever done) is catching up to him. Plus, he’s been in Colorado with the Tomacs, and I don’t think that program is easy.

7. 80 RJ Hampshire; Hudson, FL; Honda CRF250R; 7-7 – Oh, what could have been for Hampshire. He led laps and was third in the first moto when he thought a Yamaha-mounted lapper was Jeremy Martin and pinned it in the last turn. Then, literally ten feet from checkers, he went down and couldn’t start his bike. A third went to a seventh just like that. Poor RJ. He was not happy after the race, but hey, overall it’s a good thing to know you have the speed. Yeah, what happened blew chunks, but still a good day for Hampshire.

8. 31 Alex Martin; Millville, MN; Yamaha YZ250F; 8-8 – A-Mart had bubble guts all day long from something he ate or some sort of sickness. He wasn’t feeling good all day and was sort of out of it. So an 8-8 on one of your crappy days (pun totally intended by the way) is pretty good.

9. 37 Joseph Savatgy; Thomasville, GA; Kawasaki KX 250F; 5-11 – If this were the old Mickey Thompson stadium series, then Savatgy would easily win for most passing points. Years from now people will see Joe Dawg’s 5-11 scores and just say, “Ehhh,” but you had to be there to see how fast he was and how many people he passed. He went from thirty-eighth to fifth in moto one and came from outside the top thirty to eleventh in moto two. It was seriously impressive. I went to go interview him after the race, but he was gone—probably to go lie down. I can’t say I blame him.

10. 28 Jessy Nelson; Paso Robles, CA; KTM 250 SX-F; 11-9 – Nelson was up front in the first moto before he had a bad crash that set him back. He’s lucky he wasn’t hurt. The battle for third in the points between Savatgy, Nelson, Osborne, and A-Mart is going down to the wire with two motos left.

11. 40 Shane McElrath; Canton, NC; KTM 250 SX-F; 12-10

12. 718 Toshiki Tomita; Japan; Honda CRF250R; 15-13 – The Japanese MX2 points leader had a nice Utah National. Toshiki has been here since Washougal but couldn’t race ‘Dilla last weekend because of a hand injury. He’s done now, but he did a nice job.

13. 95 Nick Gaines; Ringgold, GA; Kawasaki KX250F; 16-14 – Wow, Nick Gaines is actually figuring this whole thing out. The dude’s fast and now consistent!

14. 68 Christian Craig; Plymouth, MN; Honda CRF250R; 10-32 – Craig ran up front for a bit, but a back injury he suffered at Unadilla held him back in both motos. He DNF’d the second one.

15. 47 Martin Davalos; Ecuador; Husqvarna TC250; 25-12 – I had a guy on another team tell me that he doesn’t think Marty likes me very much. I completely understand this and accept it. I have been harsh on Marty over the years because I just don’t get what’s been going on with him year after year save the Pro Circuit season.  

16. 963 Chase Marquier; Newcastle, OK; Honda CRF250R; 14-19 – MotoSport.com/GPI Honda Racing had no riders at the race with Tommy Hahn and Kyle Peters out with injuries, so they brought Marquier to the race straight out of Loretta’s. And the kid did well—he qualified well and racked up a couple of nice finishes.

17. 232 Marshal Weltin; Ubly, MI; Yamaha YZ250F; 13-35 – Nice job by Marshal—golf claps all around.

18. 450 Hayden Mellross; Australia; Honda CRF250R; 21-15 – Remember Mellross—the Aussie kid who put in some good rides at the beginning of the Nationals? Well, since Muddy Creek it’s been a bit of a struggle for Hayden (maybe it’s the Pulpmx Show curse?), and he hasn’t been able to back up those strong rides earlier on. This week he did, though, and that’s good to see for him.

19. 77 Justin Starling; DeLand, FL; Kawasaki KX250F; 18-18

20. 397 Brandon Scharer; Los Angeles, CA; Suzuki RMZ-250; 22-16 – I don’t know much about Brandon besides he’s a lone solider on a Suzuki 250F and that my wife and his old/maybe current mechanic are Howard Stern super fans. I do know that a sixteenth in the second moto is strong. With Suzuki giving away some 250Fs next year, I think they should hook up their one guy that’s been flying the yellow flag in the small-bike class for a few years now.

450MX Results

1. 5 Ryan Dungey; Waconia, MN; KTM 450 SX-F FE; 1-1 – Dungey’s been on the Pulpmx Show a couple of times this year, and I don’t think I can ever remember him being so relaxed and at ease doing interviews. He’s never been great at expressing emotions and making jokes, but he seems to be much better at these things now.

2. 1 Ken Roczen; Germany; Suzuki RMZ-450; 2-2 – I’m going to make a crazy prediction: If Roczen stays with this team next year, you’ll see some air forks back on his bike at Anaheim 1. That’s the way these things work.

3. 51 Justin Barcia; Madison, FL; Yamaha YZ450F; 5-3 – Not a good first moto for Justin. It was very weird to see him get dropped like that. In the second moto, he was much better and hung with the top two guys. If you follow Justin on social media, you can see that he’s really into racing his bicycle (sometimes the day after a national!), which kind of goes against what a lot of trainers believe, but, hey, it’s working for the bearded one.

4. 4 Blake Baggett; Grand Terrace, CA; Suzuki RMZ-450; 4-4 – Consistent day for the Chupacabra, but it’s one where I’m sure he wished he would’ve gotten better starts. He was very fast and fit, but he didn’t give himself a chance to get on the box in either moto with his horrendous starts.

5. 20 Broc Tickle; Holly, MI; Suzuki RMZ-450; 3-7 – Tickle, like Baggett, was under the radar in Utah. His first moto was something to behold, as he ripped from the back to get his first podium of the year; he was on fire. It’s rides like this that you wonder why he can’t replicate them more often. Still, it was great for him and the team, who is wrapping up a contract to stay there in 2016.

6. 41 Trey Canard; Edmond, OK; Honda CRF450R; 7-6 – Trey had a very uncharacteristic day in Utah. Last year, he won both motos going away, but this year was a bit different, as he was caught and passed late in the second moto by Dean Wilson.

7. 15 Dean Wilson; United Kingdom; KTM 450 SX-F FE; 10-5 – Wilson, in his second race back after a long layoff, improved quite a bit over last week. He actually charged hard the second moto late in the race and passed Trey. His fastest lap of the moto was his last one, and overall it was a good day for Dean.

8. 33 Joshua Grant; Riverside, CA; Kawasaki KX 450F; 8-8

9. 377 Christophe Pourcel; Dade City, FL; Husqvarna FC450; 9-9 – Pourcel had the pole position until late when Dungey snatched it away, so you knew he could go fast on the track. But we didn’t see any of the speed in either moto; he looked to be just going through the motions. You can tell how CP’s moto is going to go by the way he starts.

10. 46 Phillip Nicoletti; Cohocton, NY; Yamaha YZ450F; 12-10 – Filthy was not a fan of the track (much like his teammate Weston Peick, who crashed out of the first moto and was too banged up to continue in the second moto), but got good starts and ran up near the front for a while. In the second moto, he weirdly faded back pretty far, and then he said he got pissed and charged back up near the front. His charge was weird—you don’t normally see guys do that—but, then again, its Phil. Everything he does is different.