In the 250 Class, Zach Osborne is beginning to pull away. After his second moto win last weekend (he finished second overall) Osborne holds a 31 points lead over Alex Martin just five rounds in. Jeremy Martin, who won the overall at High Point, had several crashes last weekend and dropped to third in points, 36 behind Osborne.

In injury news, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Josh Grant will race after suffering a forearm injury in practice at Muddy Creek last weekend. Grant, who elected to sit out both motos last Saturday, was initially ruled out by the team, who sent out a press release stating that he would miss this weekend. Grant then posted on his Instagram that he would be racing. We contacted a member of the team and they confirmed that Grant was feeling better and would be racing. For a full breakdown of who’s in and who’s out, check out our Injury Report.

Practice is almost underway, make sure to check back throughout the day.

First Sessions

The first set of practice sessions are done at RedBud and we have a surprise at the top of the 250 leaderboard. Prior to Muddy Creek, Shane McElrath told us his early season struggles were mainly due to an injury he sustained in supercross and that he expected to get back toward the front soon. He finished seventh overall at Muddy Creek—his best finish of the season—and has come out firing at RedBud.

McElrath set a 2:03.342 to take the top time by more than a second over Aaron Plessinger (2:04.460), who won the overall last week. RJ Hampshire finished third ahead of Dylan Ferrandis and Mitchell Harrison—the third Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha rider in the top five.

Points leader Zach Osborne was sixth, followed by Jeremy Martin, Adam Cianciarulo, Alex Martin and Justin Hill.

In the 450 Class, Blake Baggett stole the pole late in the first session with a 2:00.730. Marvin Musquin, who is riding with a torn meniscus, had the top time until Baggett put down a heater late. Musquin’s 2:01.258 was second fastest.

Eli Tomac also held the top time at one point, but his 2:02.96 was only good enough for third. Broc Tickle, who scored a podium at RedBud in 2016, was fourth over Justin Barcia, Jason Anderson, Justin Bogle, Christian Craig, Cooper Webb and Josh Grant.

Second Sessions

Practice is complete at RedBud and points leader Zach Osborne captured pole in the 250 Class. In the first qualifying session, Osborne was just sixth fastest, but he bounced back in session two with a 2:02.558, which nearly three full seconds better than his first time. He was the only 250 rider to dip into the 2:02s in either practice.

Alex Martin was second quickest with a 2:03.292, which was a few tenths of a second faster than Shane McElrath. McElrath’s 2:03.342, which was fastest in the first session, held up for third overall. Jeremy Martin was fourth fastest overall, followed by Aaron Plessinger, Justin Hill, Joey Savatgy, Adam Cianciarulo, Dylan Ferrandis and Austin Forkner.

Things are tight at the top of the 450 Class. A good sign for Marvin Musquin and Red Bull KTM came in the second session as the former points leader set the fastest time with a 2:00.759. Musquin, who’s been dealing with a knee injury, looks more in line with his early season form than the past two rounds. His time was quick enough to grab pole, though, as Blake Baggett’s 2:00.730 from the first session held up.

Eli Tomac was the only other rider to run in the 2:00 range, setting the third quickest time with a 2:00.998. Broc Tickle only completed two laps in the second session (we’re unsure what happened) but his first time was good enough for fourth overall. He’s more than two seconds off the pace of Baggett and Musquin.

Justin Barcia finished fifth, followed by Cole Seely, Trey Canard, Jason Anderson, Justin Bogle and Martin Davalos.

250 Moto One

Coming off a disappointing Muddy Creek last Saturday, Jeremy Martin needed to bounce back quickly at RedBud if he were to get back in the thick of the championship chase.

Jeremy got off to a quick start grabbing the holeshot in the first 250 moto. He had company in the form of points leader Zach Osborne, his brother Alex, Austin Forkner and RJ Hampshire.

Jeremy and Osborne were able to put a small gap on Alex early in the race. The two yo-yoed throughout the early part of the moto with Jeremy holding up under heavy pressure from Osborne. Jeremy appeared to have the moto in control as he built a three second lead late. But Osborne dug deep and put in another late charge—helped by the fact that Jeremy missed the two lap board by 24 seconds late in the moto—and closed to within a second with three laps to go. Jeremy was again up for the challenge and shook off Osborne late to capture the moto win by 4.6 seconds.

Alex finished third, 6.9 seconds behind his brother. Austin Forkner held off a late challenge by Yamalube/Star Racing teammates Dylan Ferrandis and Aaron Plessinger to take fourth.

Plessinger made a move in the rollers late in the moto to take over fifth from Ferrandis, but Ferrandis was able to rebound and retake the position. Mitchell Harrison finished seventh ahead of Adam Cianciarulo, who came from outside the top 10 to grab eighth. Shane McElrath and Colt Nichols rounded out the top 10.

Hampshire, who ran inside the top five for a good portion of the moto, had a mechanical late and DNFd.

450 Moto One

Only one point separates Eli Tomac and Blake Baggett in the 450 Class after a wild first moto at RedBud.

The moto opened with two pileups off the start with Cooper Webb losing the front and ejecting into the track markers. Trey Canard, Weston Peick, and Broc Tickle were all held up by the crash. Webb would eventually pull out of the moto. Up front it was Christian Craig grabbing the holeshot in his return after missing Muddy Creek due to a hand injury. Marvin Musquin slotted into second with Blake Baggett in third. Eli Tomac was around eighth.

Baggett was super aggressive in the opening laps and it appeared he’d quickly jump out to an early lead. But after getting around Musquin early, his charged stalled, as Musquin eventually made the pass back. Meanwhile, Tomac was charging through the pack and quickly caught onto the rear of Baggett.

On the third lap, Musquin made the pass on Craig to take over the lead. On the same lap, Tomac got around Baggett for third and Craig for second. Three laps later Tomac would take over the lead for the first time in the race. Tomac began to open a small gap over Musquin and Baggett, who had moved into third. While his early moto charge stalled, Baggett would make a huge final push. With three minutes plus two to go, Baggett moved into second and began to cut into Tomac’s lead. With a lap remaining, Baggett pulled to within a second, but Tomac responded, putting in his fastest lap of the race—2:03.084—to hold onto the moto win by 1.4 seconds. Baggett finished second ahead of Musquin.

The hard charge of the race belonged to Jason Anderson. Last week’s moto one winner was in 20th after the first lap and came back to finish fourth. Craig held on for fifth over his teammate Cole Seely, who slid out early in the race while in fourth. Justin Barcia, Dean Wilson, Justin Bogle, and Josh Grant rounded out the top 10.

250 Moto Two

A familiar winner, costly mistakes from the Martin brothers, and a surprise podium performer, the second 250 moto at RedBud featured it all.

After his first moto win, Jeremy Martin was looking to capture his second overall on the year and grabbed his second holeshot on the day with Austin Forkner right behind. But entering the second corner, Jeremy went down, as did Forkner right behind him. He would come back from last to salvage eighth. Forkner finished 14th.

With his brother down, Alex Martin inherited the lead over Mitchell Harrison, Luke Renzland and Justin Hill. Zach Osborne, who finished second in the first moto, was around eighth.

Alex Martin held a comfortable four second lead for the majority of the moto and was inline to grab the overall over Osborne. But as Osborne began to make a late moto charge, Alex lost the front end entering the rollers with seven minutes plus two to go, which gave the lead to Harrison. Alex was able to remount in second, but in the corner prior to LaRocco’s Leap, Osborne made the pass to take over second.

Osborne then began to make a charge at Harrison, the second year pro from Michigan. But Harrison rode like a veteran and held Osborne off for a brief time. With four laps to go, Osborne ducked to the inside after the rollers and moved into the lead. Harrison was still under pressure from Alex Martin and Dylan Ferrandis at the end of the moto and was in danger of finishing off the podium. Again, Harrison stood his ground and actually was catching Osborne on the final lap. He feel short of the win, but finished in second just .931 behind Osborne. Alex Martin took third, .996 behind Osborne, with Ferrandis in fourth, 1.6 seconds behind.

Justin Hill made a late pass on Renzland to capture fifth. Renzland, Chase Sexton, Jeremy Martin, Shane McElrath, and Joey Savatgy rounded out the top 10.

450 Moto Two

We have a new points leader in the 450 Class after a huge shakeup in the championship in the second moto at RedBud.

Blake Baggett grabbed the holeshot in the second moto, but was quickly passed by Justin Barcia. Jason Anderson was running third, with Eli Tomac not far behind. Anderson quickly went on the attack and tried to get around Baggett on the opening lap for second. Their lines ended up coming together and Baggett went down. He would round lap one in 35th (out of 36).

By the fifth lap, Tomac had finally made his way around Anderson and into second. He began to pressure Barcia for the lead, but couldn’t make anything stick. On lap seven, under heavy pressure from Tomac, Barcia lost the rear and went down. He remounted in fifth, and finished the moto in sixth.

Once into the lead, Tomac steadily stretch the gap over Anderson. In the end, he won the moto by 15.7 seconds. Anderson took second. Marvin Musquin finished third ahead of Weston Peick and Josh Grant. Barcia took sixth ahead of Justin Bogle, Dean Wilson, and Cole Seely.

Unlike Thunder Valley or Muddy Creek, Baggett had trouble moving through the pack in the second moto. But he charged all the way to the finish and gained two valuable spots on the final lap, passing Christian Craig and Trey Canard to grab 10th.

Tomac now holds a 13 point lead in the championship over Baggett.