First Qualifying Sessions

The first qualifying sessions have wrapped up at Budds Creek, and no surprises at the front of the 450 Class, as Eli Tomac and Marvin Musquin, the top two in points entering today, went 1-2. Tomac just edged Musquin with a 2:06.158 to Musquin’s 2:06.170. Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson were both in the 2:06 range as well with Barcia putting down a 2:06.329 and Anderson a 2:06.842.

Cooper Webb was fifth with a 2:07.110. Blake Baggett, Phil Nicoletti, Kyle Cunningham, Brandon Scharer, and Weston Peick rounded out the top ten. Ken Roczen struggled in this session, finishing 12th overall.

Justin Cooper edged RJ Hampshire to take the top time in the 250 Class. Cooper’s 2:05.30 was fastest overall in the first session. Hampshire put in a 2:05.490. Points leader Aaron Plessinger was third fastest with a 2:05.687. Chase Sexton and Colt Nichols rounded out the top five.

Unadilla overall winner Dylan Ferrandis was just seventh fastest behind Shane McElrath. Joey Savatgy, Austin Forkner, and Jordon Smith rounded out the top ten.

Second Qualifying Sessions

Eli Tomac dropped nearly two full seconds off his first session time and was the fastest qualifier today with a 2:04.648. Marvin Musquin trailed Tomac again, but he dropped a full second off his first time and took second overall with a 2:05.959.

Jason Anderson, in his first race back, slotted into third with a 2:05.405, edging out Justin Barcia and Ken Roczen.

Blake Baggett was sixth fastest over Cooper Webb, Phil Nicoletti, Weston Peick, and Kyle Cunningham.

The second 250 timed session belonged to the Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha team as thy captured four of the top five overall qualifying times. Justin Cooper was once again fastest and he dropped his time by a few tenths. Cooper was the only rider to dip into the 2:04s and was the fastest qualifier with a 2:04.810. 

Teammate Dylan Ferrandis shaved more than two seconds off his first qualifying time and took second overall. RJ Hampshire broke up the Star Yamaha party and slide into third with a 2:05.490. Colt Nichols (2:05.623) and Aaron Plessinger (2:05.687) rounded out the top five.

Chase Sexton finished sixth overall ahead of Joey Savatgy, Alex Martin, Austin Forkner, and Jordon Smith.

250 Moto One

Aaron Plessinger entered the moto with a chance to clinch his first career 250 Pro Motocross Championship. All he needed to do was not lose three points to second place Alex Martin. Plessinger was never in trouble in the first 250 moto at Budds Creek, as he grabbed the holeshot—doing a fist pump in the process—and pulled away for an easy win and his first 250 title in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. 

“On the hot lap I started getting chills,” Plessinger said to MAVTV after the race. “I had to tell myself to calm down and ride my own race.”

Plessinger took the holeshot over RJ Hampshire, Mitchell Harrison, rookie Mitchell Falk, and more. As Plessinger and Hampshire pulled away, Forkner was on the move, passing Harrison for third after a mistake from the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider. Falk moved into fourth around Harrison as well, but crashed going down Henry Hill shortly after. He finished 18th.

Harrison had more trouble, as a huge battle broke out for fourth. Harrison had to fend off a charging Jordon Smith, Chase Sexton, and Michael Mosiman. Coming off his first career overall podium in the mud at Unadilla, Harrison held strong and pulled away from Smith to grab fourth.

Plessinger took the win by 6.7 seconds over Hampshire. Forkner finished third ahead of Harrison and Dylan Ferrandis, who made a late charge to grab a top five. Smith took sixth ahead of Sexton, Mosiman, McElrath, and Alex Martin.

Fastest qualifier Justin Cooper went down in the first turn and would come back to finish 14th.

450 Moto One

Ken Roczen stole the championship thunder in the 450 Class in the first moto at Budds Creek. With Eli Tomac buried off the start, Marvin Musquin had a golden opportunity to pick up a handful of championship points on Tomac, but Roczen was too strong down the stretch. 

Musquin grabbed the holeshot over Roczen, Justin Barcia, and Jason Anderson. Tomac has struggled with starts all season and was buried again on the start at Budds. Roczen quickly took over the lead and with his championship rival in second, Tomac was stuck around 14th. None of this mattered to Roczen, as he opened up a three second gap on Musquin early in the race. Meanwhile, Tomac began to work through the pack. He made it up to seventh by the second lap and fifth by lap three. Then he seemed to lose momentum and struggled to get into podium contention. A few laps later, he was clicking again and passed Jason Anderson for fourth. He went to work on Barcia and made the pass for third on lap eight.

Musquin was starting to click as well and closed the gap on Roczen to less than a second. By lap 12, the gap was down to a few tenths. But Roczen responded. He wicked it back up and built a 2.5 second gap two laps later. Musquin struggled down the stretch and Roczen pulled away to a 13.8 second win. Musquin took second and picked up two championship points on Tomac. The gap is now 13 with three motos left. 

Jason Anderson moved into fourth late over Barcia, who fell all the way back to sixth behind Blake Baggett. Phil Nicoletti, Cooper Webb, Benny Bloss, and Kyle Cunningham rounded out the top ten.

250 Moto Two

Having clinched the 250 title in moto one, Aaron Plessinger had little on the line in the second moto. Yet, the champion went out and grabbed the holeshot over RJ Hampshire, Austin Forkner, Mitchell Harrison, and more. Plessinger held the lead before being passed by Hampshire on lap four. He lost second to Chase Sexton and then dropped back to fourth. He then crashed in a corner and fell back to tenth, which he where he finished. It didn’t matter, as the work had been done in the first moto.

Up front, after he moved into second, Sexton started to pressure his GEICO Honda teammate. But every time Sexton would close, Hampshire would open it back up. The lead never really reached more than five seconds, but Sexton never got close enough to make a move for the lead. Hampshire held on to clinch his first career moto win, and with a second in the first moto, his first career overall as well. Sexton took home second in the moto and second overall on the day.

The battle for the final podium was intense. Mitchell Harrison and Forkner swapped the position a few times throughout the race. On lap 13, Harrison pushed Forkner wide off the track and took over the spot. Forkner dropped back a few spots and eventually fell all way back to seventh.

Harrison’s work was far from done, as Alex Martin and Justin Cooper caught him with two laps to go. On the final lap, Harrison dropped back to fifth and lost a spot on the overall podium to Plessinger. Cooper took third in the moto over Martin, Harrison, Shane McElrath, Forkner, Colt Nichols, Mosiman, and Dylan Ferrandis, who was down in the first turn and came all the way back to a top ten.

450 Moto Two

Just when you thought Eli Tomac was going to suffer through another points swing in the second 450 moto, he put in an incredible charge to the front and captured the moto win, and with some help, the overall.

The holeshot went to Phil Nicoletti with Marvin Musquin and Justin Barcia in tow. First moto winner Ken Roczen was around fifth, with Tomac buried in eighth. On the opening lap, Musquin moved into the lead, with Barcia following. Roczen was on the move early and took over second on lap three. Two laps later, Roczen jumped into the lead over Musquin and was looking to take the overall via 1-1 scores.

During the early portion of the race, Tomac couldn’t seem to find his form. He wasn’t moving forward with any urgency and couldn’t find a rhythm. Then it clicked. And, like we’ve seen some many times this year, he went on a tear. He was putting three seconds a lap or more on the field and passed Baggett for fourth on lap seven. Later that lap, he moved into third when Barcia washed the front. Then he went after Musquin. On lap nine, he blasted into second through the rollers and started making his way toward Roczen. There was no stopping Tomac late, as he took over the lead on lap 11 and ran away with the moto win. 

Roczen was still in line for the overall and would have gotten it if not for Blake Baggett. Baggett made a huge charge late to get Musquin for third and then got Roczen for second on lap 13. The pass would cost Roczen the overall. Tomac took the moto win over Baggett, Roczen, Musquin, and Barcia.

Tomac’s 3-1 was also good enough for the overall over Roczen (3-1) and Musquin (2-4).