2017 Tennessee Motocross Schedule and Viewing Guide
Here’s what you need to know to watch the Tennessee National, Round 5 of the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Series on Saturday, June 24 at Muddy Creek Raceway Raceway in Blountville, Tenn.
1. You can tune in live on MAVTV, NBCSN, and NBC Sports Gold. Saturday qualifying is at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on NBC Sports Gold only (a $50 season subscription is required for on-demand streaming—all racing and qualifying is live and commercial-free). From 1 to 3 p.m. ET, you can watch the first motos live in each class on MAVTV. The second motos run live from 3 to 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN. The hour-long Highlight Show on NBCSN runs early Thursday morning, June 29, at 2 a.m. ET.
2. Blake Baggett is on fire. He has five podium rides in a row, with two of them wins. While Baggett struggled to an 8-7 finish last year, he is a completely different rider now.
3. Eli Tomac needs to show up for two motos. Tomac went 1-1 at Hangtown, but hasn’t finished on the podium in two motos since. He had a 19th at Glen Helen (damaged front brake), 7th at Thunder Valley (fall), and 12th at High Point (fall). Tomac’s inconsistency has dropped him to third in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Standings, 11 points behind Baggett. However, Tomac is always a threat to go 1-1 at any time, and he went 2-2 at Muddy Creek last year behind Ken Roczen.
4. Don’t expect too much from Marvin Musquin. He is still recovering from meniscus problem suffered before last week’s racing. Riding with his feet on the pegs almost the entire day, Musquin bravely put together a 16-6 day. Unfortunately for Musquin, another day like that will likely let Tomac, who is just three points behind him in the standings, take over second behind Baggett.
5. Keep an eye on Tickle. He had a podium finish last year at Muddy Creek, and was 4-4 last week in High Point. Don’t be surprised if he’s on the overall podium on Saturday.
6. Jason Anderson is always a podium threat. If it hadn’t been for that first turn pile-up at Glen Helen, Anderson would be in the thick of the championship race. In the last seven motos, Anderson is the only rider to never finish outside of the top six—that’s consistency. In his last five motos, Anderson has three podiums, and a win, so he’s on the gas.
7. Cooper Webb seems to be coming around. Supercross was a disappointment for Webb, and the Nationals weren’t a whole lot better until last week. He’s tenth in the standings, but a 6-5 last week was his best showing of the year. Add in a fourth in Moto 2 at Thunder Valley and Webb is building momentum.
8. Josh Grant is the great unknown. Like his teammate Tomac, inconsistent finishes have doomed Grant. He was out of the top 10 in at least on moto in every round since his 3-3 day at Hangtown. Grant needs two good rides.
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
