2018 Southwick National Motocross Results: Musquin Breaks Tomac’s Streak

Marvin Musquin took his first overall win of the 2018 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Series with a 2-1 performance at The Wick 338 in Southwick, Mass.

For Musquin to win the second moto on the sandy track, it took two falls from series leader Eli Tomac. Justin Barcia finished a distant third in both Southwick National motos to round out the podium. With the Southwick National complete, the 12-round Pro Motocross Series is at the halfway point.

1. Eli Tomac was undoubtedly the fastest rider at The Wick 338. In the first moto, Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) had the fastest lap by more than a half-second over second place Musquin. Tomac obliterated the competition in Moto 2, with Tomac’s 2:12.736 best lap over three seconds faster that winner Musquin’s fastest lap. Even after falling once in Moto 2, Tomac retained his lead. However, the second fall did enough damage to his Kawasaki KX450F, and his resolve, to convince Tomac to settle for second place in Moto 2 and second overall.

2. Marvin Musquin nearly held off Tomac in Moto 1. Tomac hounded Musquin (Red Bull KTM) for a dozen laps before Tomac made the pass for the lead in Moto 1. Although Tomac would get close, Musquin would pull something out and get a little breathing room. However, at the end of the penultimate lap, Tomac blitz past Musquin on the outside of a fast left-hand corner to take the lead. Musquin gave chase, but crashed when landing in the powder on the side of the track after a jump. Musquin was able to remount and still beat third-place Barcia by over 13 seconds.

3. Tomac handed Moto 2 to Musquin, twice. No one was even close to Tomac’s Moto 2 pace from the start. Tomac took the lead from Musquin on lap 2 and was never seen again by Musquin, until Tomac lost the front end in a slow right-hander on lap 5. Musquin attempted to hang with Tomac, but was quickly gapped. On lap 9, Tomac fell again. This time, Musquin took the lead while Tomac slowed his pace. Tomac eventually finished over 15 seconds shy of Musquin, yet still nearly 17 seconds ahead of Barcia.

4. Justin Barcia’s 3-3 was a strong ride, but he had nothing for the leaders. After leading lap 5 of Moto 1, Barcia (Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing) was passed by Musquin and Tomac on the following lap. That was the last he saw of them, finishing nearly 45 seconds behind Moto 1 winner Tomac. Moto 2 was only slightly better for Barcia, and that was due to Tomac’s two falls. Still, Barcia trailed Musquin by over a half-minute at the end. Regardless, a 3-3 podium day is a good one for Barcia. It helps Barcia cement his third place in the standings, 23 points ahead of Ken Roczen.

5. Ken Roczen was the man to pass at the Southwick National. Roczen (Team Honda HRC) led the four opening laps of Moto 1 before getting roosted by Barcia, Musquin, and Tomac on lap 5. By lap 13 (of 16), Blake Baggett also got by Roczen. In Moto 2, Roczen was in third place on lap 2, but was pushed back by Barcia on lap 7 and Baggett two laps later. Roczen has to feel demoralized, between the 5-5 results and being passed so many times.

6. In his return from serious Supercross injuries, Justin Bogle grabbed a pair of holeshots. Unfortunately, that was all Bogle (Autotrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing) had for the day. He didn’t have much speed, as he was 18-20 for the day—23rd overall—dropping back through the pack like a rock in both motos.

7. Cooper Webb’s first race of the year resulted in two top 10 finishes. Webb was never in it for the podium, but he did make some passes on the day. He started 13th in Moto 1 and finished eighth, and improved one position to ninth place by the end of Moto 2. His 8-9 day and eighth overall isn’t a bad return, and he did it on a hot day and a tough track.

9. Hats off to top local Chris Canning. The deep sandy track at The Wick 338 usually means a few good performances from local riders. This year, Chris Canning (Manchester Honda KTM) qualified seventh, and then went 11-15 to put him in the top 12 overall on his KTM 450 SX-F. He held seventh place in Moto 1 from lap 4 through 12, which isn’t bad. Even more impressively, he was 34th at the start of Moto 2, yet moved up to 15th at the finish. Nice job, Canning.
10. It’s time for the Redbud National next week! The Independence Day weekend tussle goes down at the famous North Buchanan, Mich. track on Saturday, July 7. Qualifying starts at 10:10 a.m. (all times EDT), only on NBC Sports Gold’s paid streaming and on-demand subscription service. The first motos in both classes are live on MavTV and NBC Sports Gold at 1 p.m. Then it gets a little tricky. The second 450 moto is live on NBC broadcast network and NBC Sports Gold at 3:30 p.m. You can only watch the second 250 moto live on NBC Sports Gold at 4:30 p.m. It won’t be shown on NBCSN until Sunday—yes, the following day—at 5 p.m (again, all times EDT).

2018 Southwick National Motocross Results, The Wick 338, Southwick, MA

1. Marvin Musquin, KTM, 2-1, 47 points
2. Eli Tomac, Kawasaki, 1-2, 47 points
3. Justin Barcia, Yamaha, 3-3, 40
4. Blake Baggett, KTM, 4-4, 36
5. Ken Roczen, Honda, 5-5, 32
6. Benny Bloss, KTM, 6-6, 30
7. Lorenzo Locurcio, Honda, 7-7, 28
8. Cooper Webb, Yamaha, 8-9, 25
9. Phil Nicoletti, Husqvarna, 10-8, 24
10. Weston Peick, Suzuki, 9-11, 22
11. Brandan Leith, Kawasaki, 16-10, 16
12. Chris Canning, KTM, 11-15, 16
13. Joseph Crown, KTM, 19-12, 9
14. Henry Miller, Yamaha, 12-34, 9
15. Kyle Cunningham, Suzuki, 39-13, 8
16. Jake Masterpool, Yamaha, 13-39, 8
17. Nick Gaines, Yamaha, 23-14, 7
18. Dylan Merriam, Yamaha, 14-23, 7
19. Heath Harrison, Honda, 15-DNS, 6
20. Cody Cooper, Honda, 38-16, 5
21. Dare DeMartile, Honda, 19-18, 5
22. Cade Autenrieth, KTM, 40-17, 4
23. Justin Bogle, Suzuki, 18-20, 4
24. Ryan Dowd, KTM, 17-21, 4
25. Jeremy Smith, Honda, 25-19, 2
26. Robert Marshall, KTM, 20-26, 1

2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Series Standings (after 6 rounds of 12)

1. 1. 1. 1. Eli Tomac, Kawasaki, 289 points (9 moto wins)
         2. Marvin Musquin, KTM, 257 (3 moto wins)
         3. Justin Barcia, Yamaha, 224
         4. Ken Roczen, Honda, 201
         5. Blake Baggett, KTM, 200
         6. Weston Peick, Suzuki, 170
         7. Benny Bloss, KTM, 156
         8. Phil Nicoletti, Husqvarna/Suzuki, 142
         9. Cody Cooper, Honda, 85
         10. Jason Anderson, Husqvarna, 73
         11. Kyle Cunningham, Suzuki, 70
         12. Dylan Merriam, Yamaha, 69
         13. Justin Hill, Suzuki, 60
         14. Brandon Scharer, Yamaha, 58
         15. Lorenzo Locurcio, 55
         16. Alex Ray, Yamaha, 47
         17. Jake Masterpool, Yamaha, 47
         18. Cade Autenrieth, KTM, 46
         19. Ben Lamay, Honda, 43
         20. Brandan Leith, Kawasaki, 40
         21. Kyle Chisholm, Yamaha, 39
         22. Henry Miller, Yamaha, 34
         23. Bradley Taft, Husqvarna, 33
         24. Toshiki Tomita, Honda, 32
         25. Christian Craig, Honda, 26
         26. Cooper Webb, Yamaha, 25
         27. Dare DeMartile, Honda, 23
         28. Nick Gaines, Yamaha, 22
         29. Chris Canning, KTM, 16
         30. Jacob Hayes, Kawasaki, 14
         31. Heath Harrison, Honda, 13
         32. Joseph Crown, KTM, 9
         33. Felix Lopez, KTM, 6
         34. Bradley Lionnet, Honda, 5
         35. Ryan Dowd, KTM, 4
         36. Justin Bogle, Suzuki, 4
         37. Derek Anderson, Honda, 3
         38. Robert Piazza, Honda, 3
         39. Chris Alldredge, KTM, 3
         40. Jeremy Smith, Honda, 2
         41. Chase Marquier, Husqvarna, 2
         42. Robert Marshall, KTM, 1
         43. Dustin Pipes, Suzuki, 1