Lots of action over the weekend at the Twisted Tea RedBud National, round four of Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross. Before that event fades from the rearview mirror, here's a bevy of quotes from riders we haven't yet heard from on Racer X Online this week. We culled these quotes from team press releases, post race. Enjoy!
450 class
Eli Tomac | 4-1 for second overall
“The fans today were awesome. I was in a real dog fight the first moto but hearing the crowd cheering and screaming helped me keep pushing. We switched my rear tire to Dunlop’s paddle tire after the first practice, which gave me a bit more pace. Despite missing out on the podium in Moto 1, I still felt good with how I rode. Moto 2, however, was a much better race. I got a good start off the gate, which allowed me to battle for the holeshot and stick close to the lead rider before making a pass for first and pulling away. I’m feeling a lot like my old self on the bike again and think I’m ready to get back to consistently battling for podiums and wins.”
Ken Roczen | 2-6 for fourth overall
"I was excited coming into RedBud for Fourth of July. It's always a special race and the fans always go wild. We had a pretty decent couple of qualifying sessions. I ended up going fifth to the gate, which was totally fine. I felt pretty good on the track and was ready for the moto. In the first moto, I think I was third after the start and just kind of worked my way up there into second right away and made a move on [Aaron] Plessinger and was leading most of the race until about two laps to go. I kind of lost my rhythm a little bit. The track is really hardpacked underneath and soft on top, so it was really tricky to ride. It just wasn't really my best performance, but at the same time I was okay with the second place. I got passed there with a couple of laps to go and tried to hang on behind [Dylan] Ferrandis and tried to make a pass back, but it just wasn't enough. I was looking forward to the second moto. Moto 2 was kind of like when everything came undone. I was battling really hard to get to the front. I was in third and [Eli] Tomac was leading and Plessinger was second. I made my way past Ferrandis and just sat in third for a while trying to see what the race gave me. I had a bad case on [LaRocco’s] Leap, as Plessinger’s roost slowed me down so much. I hurt my wrist a little bit, but then a couple laps later I fell right after the leap. I tucked the front end, had a pretty big get-off, and my bars were a little bent. I’m glad I was able to finish at least in sixth and minimize the points damage. We're healthy leaving RedBud and I'm just looking forward to prepping for next weekend's race."
Christian Craig | 5-5 for fifth overall
“It was a super fun day at RedBud. I was happy to have a better weekend and riding in the front of the pack where I belong. I still need to work on my starts, but overall it was a positive improvement on my season thus far! I’m looking forward to Southwick next weekend!”
Cooper Webb | 7-9 for seventh overall
Webb: “Today was an up-and-down day at RedBud. In the first moto, I had a good fight for seventh and I felt okay with that but Moto 2 was a bit of a struggle. I fought my way up from a so-so start and then I cased LaRocco’s Leap about 20 minutes in and jammed my back my pretty good and I just kind of limped it to the finish. Overall, it’s not what we want but we’ll come back at Southwick looking to improve.”
Justin Barcia | 9-8 for eighth overall
“I had my best qualifying of the year, so that was good. I didn’t get the best start in the first moto and I had two crashes, so it wasn’t the ideal moto I was looking for. In the second moto, I had a pretty good start and then got pinched in the second corner and got stuck a bit, and then battled with Cooper for way too long. I tried my hardest and definitely looking to regroup this week and put the bike up front.”
Brandon Hartranft | 11-13 for 10th overall
"It was a great day from the time I put my wheels on the track to the last lap of the second moto," said Hartranft. "I hit LaRocco's Leap for the first time. This year it was actually massive; there were a bunch of people not making it, so it was a good feeling that I was greasing it. In the second qualifying we figured the track would've been slower, but there were about three of us that wicked it up, and I was one of them. I dropped a second off my lap time, which put me ninth for that session. In the first moto I had a decent start, but then got arm pump early and people passed me. I finally broke the arm pump and made some passes back and ended up 11th, which felt awesome. In the second moto I had a pretty good start again and had a great battle. The track was absolutely gnarly, there wasn't one smooth spot, so RedBud was RedBud. I ended up 13th in the second moto for a tenth overall. We didn't expect a top ten yet. I knew I could, I've been building every race and every day I've been training. I'm really, really proud of myself."
Marvin Musquin | 38-7 for 14th overall
“It was definitely a rough day. Unfortunately, I broke the wheel launching the single over LaRocco’s Leap (not going triple but double-single) and I landed hard on the single so I had to DNF, which is really bad. In the second moto, I knew it was going to be hard to get a good start but I did my best and tried to rail the berm on the outside and put myself in the top-10 on the first lap. I came back to seventh and I had a better feeling in the second moto but I’m looking forward to going back to Southwick and putting this one behind me.”
Max Anstie | 27-11 for 16th overall
"I was inside the top ten for most of the second moto and ended up 11th, so that wasn't too bad," was Anstie's summation of his day. "Unfortunately, in the first moto I blew my wheels out so I had to come into the pits and then ended up about two laps down. You know, one of those weekends. We're refocusing and getting back on it for next weekend in Southwick."
"RedBud was a good step in the right direction," reported Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki Team Manager Dustin Pipes. "Brandon had a great day from the very start of practice. He posted top ten qualifying times and finished his day tenth overall. He is really starting to jel with his bike and the speed he has shown during the week is finally starting to break through on race day. Max had an up and down day, but it ended on a positive note. He came up short on LaRocco’s Leap and had to come in to change parts during the first moto and then went off the track while running in the top ten during the second moto. The good thing is his speed is definitely improving and the testing sessions during the week are translating into good settings for the race. I am looking forward to the chance to keep the momentum going at Southwick."
Dean Wilson | 36-DNS for 41st overall
“It’s a disappointing way to end the weekend. We were looking for a good first moto and with just two laps to go, I drug pegs off a rut on the tabletop and I had to step over the bars. It happened so fast and I landed on my feet luckily but I bruised my inside organs a little bit. Unfortunately, I have to sit today out, which is hard to take because I want to get good finishes and keep getting better but unfortunately, we had this. We’ll see if we can make next weekend.”
250 class
Hunter Lawrence | 3-4 for fourth overall
"My weekend wasn't bad; it wasn't great, but we'll take it. We went 3-4 moto scores for fourth overall. I missed out on the box by two points. That second moto I was in a 'do or die' position to catch J-Mart [Jeremy Martin] and make that pass. I was pushing to make up a lot of ground on him, coming from a pretty bad start, so I was 'damned if I did, damned if I didn't'; I had to risk it and push. I ended up laying it down and got back up, managing to finish in a position where I was chasing down fourth. All in all, I'm really happy with how the team worked together to make changes on the bike for the second moto, which benefited us a lot. It maybe wasn't a moto-score result, but as far as my feeling on the bike, and everything else, we left better than what we started in the first moto, so I'm happy with that. RedBud was awesome. That was my first proper Fourth of July RedBud experience, so it was pretty cool. I also checked something else off my bucket list; I really wanted to scream 'RedBuuuuud' into the microphone. I hadn't been able to do that until today, so that was cool."
Jeremy Martin | 5-3 for fifth overall
“It was a solid day for me going 5-3 for fifth overall. I didn’t have the speed of the top guys today on a very rough track, so I’ll see what I can do this week to find a little more!”
Jo Shimoda | 6-5 for sixth overall
“Sixth isn’t where I want to be,” said Shimoda. “I know I have the speed to fight up with the front guys. My starts have been better than where we were at the start of the season, but still plenty of room for improvement. I rode tight in the first moto and then couldn’t find a good flow on the track for the second moto. It was tough out there today, but we’ll take the sixth and move on to Southwick.”
Pierce Brown | 7-7 for seventh overall
“It was a good day at RedBud, I’m stoked on everything today! It was a quiet day with two sevenths but all-in-all I feel like my riding was really good, I just need to be further up there off the start and hang with that top-five group for the first five laps. We’ve been building since the off-weekend and I finally feel like I’ve got my body at 100% and it showed today. Hopefully we can keep building for Southwick next weekend and keep the momentum going for that.”
Stilez Robertson | 12-8 for eighth overall
“Our speed isn’t bad, we just need to put it all together. Our starts are good and the bike was really good the second moto, so I can’t thank the team enough. I was running fourth and made a dumb mistake, tucked the front and ended up eighth. Next up is The Wick, so let’s have some fun!”
Max Vohland | 10-11 for ninth overall
“Overall, I think it went pretty good today. I’ve got a pretty well-set base now, I just need to work on some stuff both off and on the bike and try to keep getting better results one-by-one each weekend. I’m looking forward to Southwick, I really like the sand and hopefully we can do well there.”
Jalek Swoll | 8-14 for 10th overall
“I feel like today could have been good but I found myself on the ground too many times. It’s all good, I know I have the pace to do good things this season, so I’m just going to go back, get some rest and come back firing at Southwick. We’re just going to put it behind us and keep having fun.”
Garrett Marchbanks | 14-10 for 11th overall
“RedBud was a tough one for me starting first moto off going down hard after the start. And just wasn’t connecting with the track all day but managed to come back up to 14th. Moto 2 started behind the pack and finished 10th to come out with 11th overall for the day. Not happy with my results at all, moving on to Southwick.”
Nate Thrasher | 39-9 for 13th overall
“I started the day with some issues before the first moto, but I lined up to give it a shot and had to pull off after a few laps due to a technical issue. I had a decent start from the outside gate in the second moto and managed to come through the pack to finish ninth. The track got pretty beat up and made it pretty tricky, but we made the best of it, and we’re ready for more next weekend.”
Austin Forkner | 20-12 for 16th overall
“I always love coming to RedBud,” said Forkner. “Between the track and the fans, it’s a fun experience. Today I just didn’t find what I needed to be at the front with those guys. I will regroup this week and keep focusing on what’s ahead to try and give my team a good result.”
Colt Nichols | 11-DNF for 17th overall
“It was not our best RedBud. I had a bad start in the first moto and struggled to move my way forward. I managed to finish 11th, but then we had an issue at the second moto and was unable to finish. That’s racing sometimes. We are going to put it behind us and move onward and upward at ‘The Wick.’”
Jarrett Frye | 16-17 for 18th overall
“I got a great start in Moto 2, but I kind of struggled to find my flow today at RedBud. I ended up finishing 16th and 17th for 18th overall, which is not the results I want. We are going to keep working and try for better at Southwick.
Dilan Schwartz | 13-20 for 19th overall
"In Moto 1 I had a decent start and kind of settled into 13th the whole moto. In the second moto I pulled a great top ten start, but unfortunately on the opening laps I tipped over, which put me back. I had another tip-over later, but only lost one spot that time. It was not the best weekend, but we live and learn and I'm excited for the next one!"
Michael Mosiman | 35-15 for 21st overall
“RedBud was a rough day. We had a lot of good things going – my fitness was good and my speed was good – but I had a guy crash in front of me in the first moto, I crashed on the start in the second moto and just some stuff I wish we could have gotten away from. But, it’s on to the next one and we will make progress. I’m happy with my speed, fitness and looking forward to getting back into a groove.”
Kailub Russell | 38-39 for 37th overall
“Overall, I’m not super stoked on how anything went today. I tried to turn it around and felt like I rode better as the day wore on but I didn’t set the tone straight away. I’ve had a problem with my ankle ever since I broke my jaw and I’ve got it taped up but it’s just not strong enough. In the second moto, I was going around the turn and I kind of dabbed my foot and the back tire kind of sucked it up and tweaked it pretty hard. It’s one of those where you immediately think the worst because it takes the breath out of you and you’re kind of stuck there for a second, so that was pretty much the end of my day.”