2017 High Point MX Results and Coverage | Baggett, Tomac Trade 450MX Moto Wins
Blake Baggett won his second-straight round of Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross, with a win in Moto 1 and a second in Moto 2 at High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pa. With the victory, Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM) moves into the Pro Motocross 450MX Championship Series lead after four rounds.
Marvin Musquin, who came into High Point leading the series, suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee on Thursday. This forced Musquin (Red Bull KTM 450 SX-F) to ride both motos with his feet on the pegs almost the entire way.
Musquin struggled to 16th in Moto 1, but appeared to master the style in Moto 2, allowing him to put on a late-moto charge and finish sixth (11th overall).
Eli Tomac suffered from another inconsistent Saturday, this time due to a first-lap crash in Moto 1 while running in the top three. Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450F) remounted in last place, but was only able to work his way up to 12th place.
Moto 2 saw Tomac start in the top three, and then charge past Broc Tickle (RCH/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing) and Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing) quickly. Tomac never looked back and won handily.
Moto 1 got off to a rocky start as the gate failed to drop twice. When it finally functioned as intended, Josh Grant (Monster Energy Kawasaki), a returning Christian Craig (Team Honda HRC), and Tomac jumped out to lead the pack. When Tomac went down, Australian Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) took over third behind leader Grant and second place Craig.
A few minutes in, Ferris passed Craig to take the second place slot. On Lap 4, Craig made an error, letting by Baggett, Anderson, and Justin Bogle (RCH/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450), in that order. Craig, who was riding with a broken hand, eventually pulled off and did not ride Moto 2.
With 6:30 gone in Moto 1, Ferris caught Grant and a battle for the lead ensued. Less than a lap later, Ferris and Grant were swapping the lead, allowing Baggett to close in. Ferris passed Grant, leaving Grant to fight over second with Baggett.
At the 10-minute mark, Baggett passed Grant on the big downhill and quickly set out for leader Ferris. The next time around, Baggett passed Ferris on the same downhill and took the lead for good. Ferris had a lock on second place, finishing 22 seconds behind Baggett, and seven seconds head of Grant.
Meanwhile, Tickle had been sneaking his way up the field. Starting outside of the top 10, Tickle was sixth at the midway point. Tickle made his way into fourth after a three-way battle between Anderson, Tickle and Cooper Webb (Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha) that swallowed up Justin Bogle (RCH/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing), who had been running fourth since lap 5. Bogle went down in a collision with Anderson and finished seventh, 11 seconds behind Webb. Webb was almost four seconds back of Anderson at the finish.
In Moto 2, Anderson took the early lead, passing Tickle on the first lap. Tomac passed Tickle in the mechanics’ area, early in lap 2. First moto winner Baggett was back in eighth place after one lap, while first moto runner-up Ferris had a disastrous 25th place start after a fall. Ferris worked his way up to 14th at the end, giving him a seventh overall in his first AMA National.
Six minutes into the race, Tomac was on Anderson. Anderson blew through a rut, allowing Tomac to take the lead and Tickle to close. Three minutes later, Anderson blasted through another rut, and Tickle grabbed second place.
By this time, Baggett was on the move, having passed Martin Davalos (Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing) and Grant. Baggett went from sixth to fourth on lap 5 when Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing) went down, and Baggett passed Webb.
At the 12-minute mark, Baggett passed Anderson in a corner for third place and 15 seconds later Baggett was by Tickle. Anderson followed Baggett past Tickle, putting the top four riders in their final finishing order—Tomac, Baggett, Anderson, and Tickle. At the halfway point, Baggett made a push on Tomac, but was unable to make an impression, eventually settling into second for the duration of the race.
Musquin’s ride to sixth was a brave one. His toughest battle was with Josh Grant with five minutes on the clock. The two came together, as Musquin moved hard on the inside. Grant tried to repass the injured Musquin, but Grant went down and dropped out of the top 10. After passing Grant, Musquin took sixth place from Cole Seely (Team Honda HRC). Seely was also passed late by Wilson, moving Wilson into seventh place.
Baggett’s 1-2 gave him the overall with 47 points. That was 13 more than Tomac and a punishing 27 points more than the hobbled Musquin. Baggett will go into the Tennessee National next week with a 12 point lead over Musquin, who won’t be at full-strength. Tomac is just three points shy of Musquin, with Anderson 15 behind Tomac.
Baggett is looking strong, having finished on the podium in his last five races, taking two moto wins in the process. Tomac’s inconsistency is dogging him. He has had a 19th, 12th, and seventh among his last five rides, the other two being a win and a second. Anderson has also looked good, with three podiums in his last five motos.
2017 High Point National Pro Motocross Results
- Blake Baggett, 1-2, 47 points
- Jason Anderson, 5-3, 36
- Broc Tickle, 4-4, 36
- Eli Tomac, 12-1, 34
- Cooper Webb, 6-5, 31
- Josh Grant, 3-11, 30
- Dean Ferris, 2-14, 29
- Dean Wilson, 9-7, 26
- Justin Bogle, 7-9, 26
- Cole Seely, 10-8, 24
- Marvin Musquin, 16-6, 20
- Martin Davalos, 13-10, 19
- Fredrik Noren, 11-12, 19
- Dakota Alix, 15-13, 14
- Ryan Sipes, 14-15, 13
- Weston Peick, 8-38, 13
- John Short, 17-16, 9
- Ronnie Stewart, 18-18, 6
- Dakota Tedder, 39-17, 4
- Brandon Scharer, 33-19, 2
2017 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Standings (4 of 12 rounds)
1. Blake Baggett, 155 points (2 moto wins)
2. Marvin Musquin, 147 (1 moto win)
3. Eli Tomac, 144 (3 moto wins)
4. Jason Anderson, 129 (1 moto win)
5. Broc Tickle, 115
6. Justin Bogle, 112 (1 moto win)
7. Dean Wilson, 110
8. Josh Grant, 106
9. Cole Seely, 105
10. Cooper Webb, 88
11. Weston Peick, 76
12. Martin Davalos, 71
13. Justin Barcia, 69
14. Fredrik Noren, 65
15. Dakota Alix, 46
16. Christian Craig, 48
17. Dean Ferris, 29
18. Heath Harrison, 23
19. Justin Hoeft, 17
20. Brandon Scharer, 15