Well, we FINALLY got to see a real race this weekend in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. As in, it wasn’t just a rain-filled disaster. Loretta Lynn’s 1 survived the rain pretty well but the track was definitely impacted by the weather, and then Loretta Lynn’s 2 was a straight-up mudder. Ironman Raceway was pretty sloppy for the first practice, but man, by the time the motos started, the track was primo. Now that we didn’t have mud, we’re starting to see some stuff get figured out in the series.
Let’s get into the results, yeah?
250 Class Results
1st | 2-1 | #6 Jeremy Martin | Millville, MN | Honda CRF250R
J-Mart got beat down in moto one by Dylan Ferrandis but hey, in moto two it all came back around for him and he got his second straight overall win! If you’re a Jeremy supporter, it sucks that his main competitor for the title was on the ground in the first turn and he still only gained five points but hey, Jeremy did all he could do. In three years at GEICO Honda, Jer had only managed to win three nationals (obvi there was that injury which cost him all of ‘19) but he’s got two already in three rounds this year.
2nd | 1-3 | #14 Dylan Ferrandis | France | Yamaha YZ 250F
Dylan was amazing in the first moto, as he just took off from J-Mart and put on a clinic. Second moto, well we saw what happened there. To get all the way up to third was quite an amazing ride. But like last week, he wasn’t happy and seemed to be pointing fingers. This could just be a lost-in-translation thing for a guy who doesn’t have great grasp of English, or he could be actually pointing fingers. Last week he was mad at his team about a tire, this week he was mad at his teammate Shane McElrath for running into him into turn one. Look, when you start on the very inside gate you have a chance of it going real shitty. He should know that. If he’s mad at life because he’s been by far the fastest guy and just has one win in three races then he should just say that.
3rd | 3-4 | #30 Brandon Hartranft | Brick, NJ | KTM 250 SX-F
All I hear from Seth Rarick, Brandon’s trainer, is how hard Brandon works and how fast he is during the week. Well, now we know this is actually true! Great work for Brandon all damn day as he fought hard to get his first career 250 Class podium. I hear the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM team has to choose between Hartranft and Drake for 2020 and to me, it’s a no brainer.
4th | 8-2 | #32 Justin Cooper | Cold Spring Harbor, NY| Yamaha YZ250F
First moto we got the mystery Justin Cooper that we’ve seen the previous four motos (well, maybe not a mystery because we know he’s coming back from some injuries) and then the second moto, BOOM- there was the normal J-Coop. Sooooo when something like this happens you’re like, “Wait, I thought it was the injuries?” but then an hour later, he’s a different guy! This sport is hard to cover sometimes as a media guy because this makes no sense.
5th | 4-5 | #83 Jett Lawrence | Australia | Honda CRF250R
THE JETT was very good, he was charging hard both motos and involved in some good races all day long. He was going for it trying to get Hartranft in the second moto and it was a cool thing to watch. Good for THE JETT.
6th | 7-6 | #26 Alex Martin | Millville, MN | Suzuki RM-Z250
Well, “we” didn’t get the starts “we” needed and there was also an off-track excursion in there also. “We” don’t have Eli Tomac type of speed so starts are key for “us.” “Our” game plan is to get good starts and wear everyone down. That’s how “we” do it. Onto RedBud!
“We” just hope RedBud goes better this last year!
7th |6-10 | #12 Shane McElrath | Canton, NC | Yamaha YZ250F
McElrath went down in the first turn in the second moto with RAM IT (Cameron Mcadoo) and Ferrandis and as I said, I guess Dylan was upset by that? I saw Shane get the jump out of the gate and then…move to the inside to the first turn. Wow, what a dirty rider. I can’t believe he did that. Insert eye roll here.
8th | 12-7 | #84 Jo Shimoda | Japan | Honda CRF250R
Just one week too late for my PulpMX Fantasy team! But seriously, I’m sure this is a relief for Jo and the team, that second moto he rode very well.
9th | 11-8 | #74 Mitchell Harrison | Brighton, MI | Kawasaki KX250
Harrison’s always been a good starter and so far in 2020, he’s been a great starter on the fill-in Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki machine. His fitness still needs some work but I’m sure he’s so stoked to not be in France racing the GPs. I mean, he’s originally from Michigan and he gets to race at his home track twice this weekend.
10th |13-9 | #220 Carson Mumford | Simi Valley, CA | Honda CRF250R
As I said on the review podcast this week, Mumford has been “good.” Has he been “great”? No, but he’s been solid in my opinion. With the GEICO Honda team about to lose the GEICO title sponsorship next year, a kid like Mumford might be in danger of losing his ride.
11th | 10-12 | #57 Derek Drake | San Luis Obispo, CA | KTM 250 SX-F
Solid day for Drake, if you’re on a factory 250 and not in the top ten, it’s not a good look. Then again, there’s (roughly) 73 factory riders in the 250 class, so there’s that.
12th | 5-17 | #24 RJ Hampshire | Hudson, FL | Husqvarna FC 250
RJ was good again, first moto was strong but couple of mistakes in moto two cost him. Still, the speed was there.
13th | 9-15 | #29 Cameron Mcadoo | Sioux City, IA | Kawasaki KX250
Weird, last week in the mud and slop, RAM IT didn’t seem to crash that much. This week in the dry, he ended up on the ground. Good charge though in the second moto although I suppose if you measure it against Ferrandis’ ride, it was just okay.
14th | 16-13 | #117 Stilez Robertson | Bakersfield, CA | Husqvarna FC 250
Good race for the rookie, in fact probably his best one yet. Yogi was a great rookie with #117 by the way.
15th | 15-14 | #239 Mason Gonzales | Fortwalton Beach, FL | Yamaha YZ250F
Do the AMA people that hand out the AMA Nicky Hayden Amateur Horizon Award at Loretta’s want a redo? Asking for a friend. The award is handed out to the rider they believe shows the most potential as a pro. “Speedy” and his privateer bike has been better than Stilez (who won the award) on the factory bike through six motos.
16th |19-11 | #35 Hunter Lawrence | Australia | Honda CRF250R
Hunter was a race time decision to line up due to his shoulder injury from last week, so his results weren’t great. However, I think there’s more to this. Hunter was not only hurt, but he stayed at a Super 8 in Crawfordsville… those hotels are NOT super by any means. I blame the possible bed bugs for his 19-11 rides. I know The Jett rode well and most likely also stayed there but he’s a kid, he doesn’t know any better.
17th 14-20 | #373 Hardy Munoz | Chile | Husqvarna FC 250
The Hardy Boys was solid for both motos, man it’s tough being a full privateer in the 250 class. But between Hardy and “Speedy,” we’re seeing some kids without the factory bikes make it happen out there.
18th | 18-18 | #67 Jerry Robin | Hamel, MN | Husqvarna FC 250
Jerry put together two solid motos in Indiana and that’s good to see.
19th 38-16 | #355 Joey Crown | Metamora, MI | Yamaha YZ250F
Crown is fast…remember, he was the surprise in 250SX East Region before getting hurt. He’s DNF’d two of the four motos he’s raced so far this year but we’re heading to two races at his hometown RedBud track so that should be good for him.
20th | 17-32 | #163 Pierce Brown | Sandy, UT | KTM 250 SX-F
Anyone know what’s up with Brown? Please let Tyler Keefe know ASAP please and thank you.
450 Class Results
1st | 2-1 | #1 Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | Kawasaki KX450
Many eyebrows were raised when Tomac, coming off his DNF-DNF rides at round two, was just 13th in practice. But ET’s day turned out fine. He didn’t get Marv in the first moto but that wasn’t a big deal because Musquin has been able to straight-up beat him at times. Second moto was tour de Eli and his race with Justin Barcia the last ten minutes was amazing. Talk about two guys just giving it their all out there! Eli made up 13 points this weekend although I feel like we’re going to be watching him and counting points the next few weeks, we have to realize that like James Stewart in more than a few title chases, he’s got zero room for error here.
2nd | 1-6 | #25 Marvin Musquin | France | KTM 450 SX-F
Great to see Marv’s ride in moto one where he took off and even pulled back out on Tomac when Eli got close. Man, it’s been a LONG time since Musquin had raced and he’s only three races into a year off. Yeah, it’s been a year! So, okay he didn’t quite have the same juice in moto two but that’s to be expected right? Quietly, Musquin has been very good and he’ll get better one would think.
3rd | 3-4 #9 Adam Cianciarulo | Clermont FL | Kawasaki KX450
AC has led 11 laps so far this series and has looked good with two straight podiums. He did drop back a bit in moto two after leading but as he told me after the race he was closer this week than he was last week and he’ll keep pushing as hard as he can for as long as he can until he figures it out. And that’ll happen at some point.
4th | 6-2 | #51 Justin Barcia | Greenville, FL | Yamaha YZ450F
Well, Bam Bam gave us the show that we wanted at Ironman when he tracked down Eli Tomac in the second moto. Then he was all over him. ET wicked it up also and the race was on. Barcia was LOOSE! It was fun to watch and it was truly a heart on your sleeve type of ride. I understand that if ifs and butts were candy and nuts but give Justin just 15 points from that second moto DNF last week and he’s right there. We had him on the PulpMX Show Monday night and it seemed like he’s going for this thing in his typical style.
5th | 7-3 | #16 Zach Osborne | Abingdon, VA | Husqvarna FC450
Zacho’s day went a little off the rails in moto one when he hit a lapper and the crashed by himself later on. He redeemed himself for moto two when he caught and passed AC for a podium. Still, he lost 13 points to The Shark AKA Eli Tomac. We’re coming to some good tracks for Zacho, but, breaking news, every track is good for Eli Tomac.
6th | 4-5 | #23 Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL | Honda CRF450R
Sexton’s been riding with AC at Stew’s house and Adam tells us that Chase works him during the week. Well this week AC beat him in the race but Chase was very good. Man, he looks great on a bike, right?
7th | 5-7 | # 4 Blake Baggett | Grand Terrace, CA | KTM 450 SX-F
I thought the Chupacabra was coming on in the first moto as Blake started ripping through the pack, alas he couldn’t get it all the way up on the podium but it was still a good ride for BB4.
8th | 8-8 | #15 Dean Wilson | United Kingdom | Husqvarna FC 450
Oh hey, look at this! I guess Deano just needed to get away from Loretta’s and away from the mud to show us that he’s good again.
9th | 9-10 | #20 Broc Tickle | Holly, MI | Yamaha YZ450F
I’ll be honest, I never really noticed Broc out there much but I know he worked up from the back both times. JT says he passed a bunch of guys late in one of the motos and showed a lot of heart and fitness to get the spot. I think at this point, Tick should be satisfied with top ten’s indoors and out.
10th | 12-12 | #62 Christian Craig | Corona, CA | Honda CRF450R
Funny how it works, right? CC finished 11th in the first moto and that was just okay. Second moto he was on the ground in the second turn and came alllllll the way back to 12th which was awesome. Years from now, people will not understand the difference in efforts between these two motos.
11st | 10-13 | #31 Fredrik Noren | Sweden SUZ RM-Z450
Fast Freddie’s day could’ve been a lot better if he hadn’t fallen in, I think, both motos. All in all, Freddie’s doing Freddie things to start the series and I expect him to get better from here.
12th | 12-14 | #48 Henry Miller | Rochester, MN | KTM 450 SX-F
Miller’s been the first true privateer through the first three rounds and we’re coming up to Millville where he’ll be really good. Props to Hank for the riding so far.
13th | 13-16 | #43 John Short | Pilot Point, TX | Honda CRF450R
Short (probably wisely) avoided the first two rounds at Loretta’s and came out to this race which was an actual real race. Probably saved a lot of money on bike parts. And he did John Short stuff out there to no one’s surprise.
14th | 40-9 | #17 Joseph Savatgy | Tallahassee, FL | Suzuki RM-Z450
Joey twisted an ankle in the first moto and DNF’d. That’s two out of the six motos to start the year that he’s hurt something so that sucks. When he’s been able to finish, he hasn’t been as good as last year on the Kawi but that’s too be expected. What he’s got to do is stay healthy and get some time on the RM-Z. Listen to a sad J-Bone talk about his team’s day in my post-race Ironman interviews.
15th | 37-11 | #50 Benny Bloss | Oak Grove, MO | Husqvarna FC 450
Benji’s had a lot of weird problems and they continued this weekend when the oil site glass window came out of his Husqvarna. WTF? Yeah, that’s weird, anyways the 11th with a crappy gate pick was a good start for Benny to start building some momentum.
16th |16-17 | #78 Jake Masterpool | Paradise, TX | Husqvarna FC 450
Jake’s been up and down to start the year as a privateer but as we saw, there’s also been some really crappy mud races to start the year which is tough for privateers to deal with. This was a good result for Masterpool.
17th | 15-18 | #75 Coty Schock | Dover, DE | Honda CRF450R
Coty is very fast, he’s also a tad sketchy. You wouldn’t think a move up to 450s would smooth him out but somehow it has. He’s been solid to start the year, right? Maybe some of the sketchiness was a SX thing with him?
18th | 14-37 | #103 Max Anstie | Great Britain | Suzuki RM-Z450
What a shitty day for Mad Max. First his bike broke last lap of moto one dropping him from a top ten to 14th. Then he ate poop in moto two and his team owner said he broke his jaw and they were talking to guys about filling in. Turns out Max does not have a broken jaw and might be lining up this weekend?
19th | 34-15 | #19 Justin Bogle | Cushing, OK | KTM 450 SX-F
It’s been rough for Bogle to start the year, he just can’t string together finishes and get some sort of base under him.
20th | 17-38 | #42 Ben LaMay | Anchorage, AK | KTM 450 SX-F
LaMay was Henry Miller not too long ago in case you were wondering. I think he got frustrated with lack of help for a guy that was as fast as he was. Still out there grinding though…
Thanks for reading people…REDDDDDBUDDDDD time. Two races in four days coming right up! Should be great, send me an email if you want to chat about this race or anything else at matthes@racerxonline.com.