2014 Muddy Creek Motocross Results
Following a one-week break, the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship headed to Muddy Creek Raceway in Blountville, Tennessee, for round five – the Red Bull Tennessee National.
And for the third time this season, Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen was victorious. The rookie KTM SX-F 450 rider finished 2-1 at Muddy Creek, enough to give him the overall win.
Joining the German on the overall podium was his teammate Ryan Dungey (1-2) and GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac (3-3). As for Tomac, this was the debut 450-class debut for the reigning 250 class winner.
Tomac showed strength from the beginning, immediately setting the fastest lap of practice, and carried this momentum into the opening moto, taking the Motorsport.com Holeshot Award. Roczen followed, and the two pulled away from the pack as a pileup occurred on the first turn that included Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart, Discount Tire Racing/TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed, and Toyota/Yamaha/N-Fab/JGRMX’s Josh Grant.
Tomac’s time out front was short; Roczen passed him on the opening lap, but crashed on following, falling back to fourth. Tomac then held off Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard and Dungey, the latter closing in quickly.
Dungey passed Canard, finally made it pass Tomac on lap nine. Behind, Roczen also regained his composure and got up front. But though he tried, he couldn’t get pass Dungey, who took his first moto win since the opening round. In this race Roczen finished second, and Tomac third. Taking fourth was Canard, with Stewart taking fifth after passing nearly the entire field after crashing on the opening lap.
In moto 2, Dungey took to the Motosport.com Holeshot Award, but was quickly passed by Roczen on the opening lap. As these two battle up front, Tomac slotted into third ahead of Canard, who put much pressure on the rookie.
Near the end, Dungey was able to get close to Roczen, and the two battled. But Roczen would ultimately take the win. Though they had identical moto results, Roczen’s win in the second moto gave him the overall win. This was also the third time KTM finished 1-2 this season.
“I felt good out there. I got a good start [in the second moto] and even had a close call out there with about two laps to go which caused me to lose a bit a time, but I still made it happen,” said Roczen, who has finished third or better in every moto this season. “I’m happy it’s over. It was another good weekend and we were able to keep the points lead steady.”
“All in all it was a good day,” said Dungey. “I pushed it that whole second moto. I tried [to close in on Roczen] and got fortunate with the lappers coming in there, but then they came my way and it kind of averaged out. We gave it all we had and that was all I can do.”
Finishing third overall was Tomac with 3-3 finishes, and Canard with 4-4 finishes. BTO Sports KTM’s Andrew Short took fifth overall with 6-8 in the mottos.
Stewart endured even more misfortune in the second moto to soldier home with an 11th-place finish and land eighth overall (5-11), one round after his dominant win.
In the points battle, no points were exchanged up top. Roczen continues to lead Dungey by 16 points. Stewart remains in third, but is 43 points back, one point ahead of Canard.
With no points being exchanged between Roczen and Dungey, 16 markers still separate the pair at the top of the championship standings. Stewart’s challenging day dropped him to 43 points out of the lead in third, with just one point separating he and Canard in fourth.
In the 250 Class, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb broke through for his first career win to become the 75th different winner in the history of the division.
Coming into Muddy Creek, every moto win and overall victory in the 250 Class was split between two riders – Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett. The former series champion Baggett entered the day with back-to-back wins at the previous two rounds, while Martin controlled the championship points lead, MX Sports says.
As the gate dropped on the first moto, Frenchman Christophe Pourcel put his Valli Motorsports Yamaha out front for the Motosport.com Holeshot Award, with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Justin Hill hot on his rear fender. Behind them, Martin found himself on the ground in the first corner following a multi-rider incident and started at the rear of the field, MX Sports says.
As Pourcel and Hill did battle out front, GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle and Webb closed in. Both Bogle and Webb moved past Hill before Webb then took over second place from Bogle just a couple laps later. Baggett started inside the top five and also began a surge to the front, and before long it became a three-rider battle for the lead between Pourcel, Webb and Baggett, MX Sports says.
On Lap 11 Webb took control of the moto from Pourcel and brought Baggett with him. The pair pulled away in the closing laps, which allowed Baggett to make a desperate move in the final corner and somehow pass Webb on the outside to edge him out at the line by .080 seconds. Pourcel finished third, with Bogle fourth and Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin fifth. Martin fought his way through the field to finish 10th, MX Sports says.
With a four moto winning streak in his favor, Baggett sought to claim three-straight overall victories for the first time in his career but had to overcome a slew of riders at the start of the second moto. Bogle earned the Motosport.com Holeshot Award but was pushed by Pourcel and Webb early, with each rider making the pass to set the tone out front. Webb wasted little time in putting himself in control, passing Pourcel for the lead before the conclusion of the opening lap, MX Sports says.
Once out front, Webb was able to maintain his advantage even though Baggett made his way from another top five start to come within bike lengths of Webb with just a handful of laps remaining. After several pass attempts, Baggett made a slight bobble that opened some space between he and Webb, MX Sports says.
Shortly thereafter, Baggett made contact with a lapped rider that forced him to the ground, allowing Bogle to assume second and causing Pourcel to crash as well. Webb raced on knowing the win was his and capped off a career day by winning his first career moto and securing his first overall victory in the process. Bogle finished second with Baggett coming back to finish third, MX Sports says.
“I’m on cloud nine, I’m not going to lie. I was beating myself up when I got passed in the last turn [in Moto 1], but I was able to come back and get the job done,” said Webb, who hails from North Carolina and considers Muddy Creek to be his home race. “To do this at my home race, I could hear these guys [the fans] every single lap. Baggett was on me the whole moto, but I told myself I wasn’t going to let him by. I’m so pumped.”
Webb had earned five runner-up finishes in nine motos prior to the win, including two second place overall finishes. Baggett’s 1-3 results placed him second overall, while Bogle’s runner-up finish in the second moto helped move him to third overall (4-2). Pourcel was fourth (3-4) while Musquin rounded out the top five (5-5), MX Sports says.
Martin was never a factor in either moto after difficult starts and ultimately finished a season-worst seventh overall after posting 10-6 moto scores. Despite that, he still sits atop the 250 Class standings albeit by just eight points over his teammate Webb. Baggett closed in to within 17 points of the lead in third, MX Sports says.
“The only thing I’m concerned about is getting a good week of practice and coming out strong at RedBud,” said Martin, who also earned his first career win earlier this season. “I rode as hard as I could today and gave it everything I had, so I can walk away knowing I did everything I could. We’ll just come back stronger.”
The 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will reach the halfway point next weekend with its annual 4th of July tradition at the Red Bull RedBud National. RedBud MX in Buchanan, Michigan, will host the sixth round of the season on Saturday, July 5. Action begins at 1 p.m. ET.
2014 Muddy Creek Motocross Results:
450 Class (Moto Finish)
Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM (2-1)
Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM (1-2)
Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda (3-3)
Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda (4-4)
Andrew Short, Colorado Springs, Colo., KTM (6-8)
Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Suzuki (10-5)
Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Kawasaki (9-7)
James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki (5-11)
Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha (11-6)
Justin Brayton, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Yamaha (8-15)
450 Class Championship Standings
Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM, 230
Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 214
James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 187
Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda, 186
Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Kawasaki, 141
Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Suzuki, 131
Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 129
Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 108
Chad Reed, Australia, Kawasaki, 105
Andrew Short, Colorado Springs, Colo., KTM, 102
250 Class (Moto Finish)
Cooper Webb, Morehead City, N.C., Yamaha (2-1)
Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki (1-3)
Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda (4-2)
Christophe Pourcel, France, Yamaha (3-4)
Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (5-5)
Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda (6-8)
Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha (10-6)
Jessy Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda (7-10)
Dean Wilson, Scotland, Kawasaki (14-7)
Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Honda (8-13)
250 Class Championship Standings
Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha, 203
Cooper Webb, Morehead City, N.C., Yamaha, 195
Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki, 186
Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda, 166
Christophe Pourcel, France, Yamaha, 166
Marvin Musquin, France, KTM, 143
Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., KTM, 129
Jessy Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda, 116
Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda, 115
Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Kawasaki, 103
