2018 Thunder Valley Motocross Results: Tomac Remains Perfect
Dominating the rugged Thunder Valley MX Park track in Lakewood, Colo., Eli Tomac continued his perfect run in the 2018 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Series with his third-straight pair of moto wins.
Ken Roczen and Blake Baggett joined Tomac on the podium in both motos, at the high-altitude track. Let’s take a look at what happened at the True Value Thunder Valley National.
- Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen battled early in both motos, with Tomac eventually scoring convincing wins. Roczen (Team Honda HRC) was able to hold off a persistent Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) until Lap 10 in both motos. Twice, Tomac motored by Roczen in the roller section and quickly built a comfortable lead to the finish. While there was some drama as Tomac stalked Roczen for a number of laps in both motos, the passes were anticlimactic and Roczen offered nothing in retaliation. Regardless, two wins are great for Tomac, as are the pair of second place finishes for Roczen. Tomac leads the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Series by over a moto after just three rounds.
- Moto 1 was a two-part affair, due to a red flag after Kyle Chisholm crashed hard and required medical attention on the track. Justin Barcia (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing) was the big loser (other than Chisholm) when the red flag flew, as he was leading the race, and only managed fifth place on the restart. Benefiting hugely from circumstances was Blake Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM), who was seventh when the race was red flagged and second on the restart.
- Blake Baggett made the most of the Moto 1 restart, and looked strong in Moto 2. Baggett looked especially strong in the Moto 1 restart, with a good start and a nice run at Roczen at the end of the moto. In Moto 2, Baggett started fourth and inherited third place when Barcia fell. It was a lonely Moto 2 for Baggett, as he finished over 11 seconds behind Roczen and 10 seconds clear of Marvin Musquin. Baggett’s podiums put him in fourth place in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Series standings, just four points behind Barcia and three points ahead of Roczen.
- Marvin Musquin’s string of podiums ended, as he finished in fourth place twice. Musquin (Red Bull KTM) never looked awful, though he was clearly not on his game on the tough track. His pair of fourths put Musquin over 30 seconds behind winner Tomac in both motors. Musquin was never in contention. However, Musquin retains second place in the standings, 28 points behind Tomac and 18 points ahead of Barcia.
- The red flag and crashing twice doomed Justin Barcia’s podium hopes. After a great start, Barcia looked like an early lock on a podium spot with a nice lead when the red flag was displayed in Moto 1. On the Moto 1 restart, Barcia had another excellent start, but fell on the restart’s first lap. Barcia quickly remounted, but only managed fifth place. Barcia was leading Moto 2 when he crashed, dropping him back to sixth place where he finished. It was a what-if day for Barcia, but he sits third in the standings.
- Attention fantasy MX players: Weston Peick has four seventh place finishes in six motos. In the other two motos, Peick had fifth place finishes. Two seventh-place finishes at Thunder Valley may not have excited Peick, but it’s where he’s at right now.
- Jason Anderson is out for a while due to a practice mishap. Details are sketchy, but Anderson suffered a compound fracture of the right foot between the number four toe and the pinkie toe. Don’t go to Anderson’s Twitter page unless you can handle a photo of a gaping wound.
- Next round is the Red Bull High Point National at High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Penn. on June 16, so there’s a week off. Qualifying is at 10:10 a.m. EDT, and only on NBC Sports Gold. MavTV shows the opening motos in the 250 and 450 classes live beginning at 1 p.m. EDT. In a change from the usual schedule, Moto 2 in the 450 class will be shown live on NBC broadcast network at 3 p.m. EDT, and the 250 class live at 4 p.m EDT on NBC Sports. NBC Sports Gold subscribers can watch all of the motos and qualifying live.
2018 Thunder Valley Motocross Results, Lakewood, CO
- Eli Tomac, Kawasaki, 1-1
- Ken Roczen, Honda, 2-2
- Blake Baggett, KTM, 3-3
- Marvin Musquin, KTM, 4-4
- Benny Bloss, KTM, 6-5
- Justin Barcia, Yamaha, 5-6
- Weston Peick, Suzuki, 7-7
- Phil Nicoletti, Suzuki, 8-8
- Dylan Merriam, Yamaha, 9-10
- Brandon Scharer, Yamaha, 14-9
- Jake Masterpool, Yamaha, 11-13
- Lorenzo Locurcio, Honda, 10-14
- Cade Autenrieth, KTM, 13-12
- Cody Cooper, Honda, 17-11
- Alex Ray, Yamaha, 12-35
- Brandan Leith, Kawasaki, 16-18
- Henry Miller, Yamaha, 19-16
- Toshiki Tomita, Honda, 21-15
- Ben Lamay, Honda, 15-37
- Felix Lopez, KTM, 22-17
- Derek Anderson, Honda, 18-21
- Chase Marquier, Husqvarna, 38-19
- Bradley Lionnet, Honda, 24-20
- Dare DeMartile, Honda, 20-23
2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Standings (after 3 rounds of 12)
- Eli Tomac, Kawasaki, 150 points (6 moto wins)
- Marvin Musquin, KTM, 122
- Justin Barcia, Yamaha, 104
- Blake Baggett, KTM, 100
- Ken Roczen, Honda, 97
- Weston Peick, Suzuki, 88
- Phil Nicoletti, Suzuki, 75
- Jason Anderson, Husqvarna, 73
- Benny Bloss, KTM, 73
- Dylan Merriam, Yamaha, 49
- Cody Cooper, Honda, 45
- Kyle Chisholm, Yamaha, 39
- Brandon Scharer, Yamaha, 37
- Bradley Taft, Husqvarna, 33
- Jake Masterpool, Yamaha, 32
- Cade Autenrieth, KTM, 27
- Christian Craig, Honda, 26
- Ben Lamay, Honda, 26
- Toshiki Tomita, Honda, 22
- Kyle Cunningham, Suzuki, 21
- Alex Ray, Yamaha, 20
- Lorenzo Locurcio, 18
- Brandan Leith, Kawasaki, 13
- Dare DeMartile, Honda, 9
- Henry Miller, Yamaha, 7
- Felix Lopez, KTM, 6
- Bradley Lionnet, Honda, 5
- Derek Anderson, Honda, 3
- Chris Alldredge, KTM, 3
- Chase Marquier, Husqvarna, 2
- Dustin Pipes, Suzuki, 1
