2018 Budds Creek National Motocross Results: Tomac Wins In Crunch Time
On a day where it looked like Eli Tomac might lose his 2018 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Series lead to Marvin Musquin early in the second moto, Tomac turned things around and won the Geico Motorcycle Budds Creek National Motocross overall.
Tomac struggled in Moto 1 before winning the second moto convincingly, as both Marvin Musquin and Ken Roczen faded away late in the hot and humid day at Budds Creek Motocross in Maryland. Tomac takes a 20-point lead over Musquin into the final round next week in Indiana.
1. Eli Tomac had two different days at Budds Creek Motocross, with Moto 1 not looking good. Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) struggled in Moto 1. He didn’t get off to a great start, and by the time he made his way to third on lap 12 (of 16), the leading duo of Roczen and Musquin were long gone. Luckily for Tomac, Musquin dropped out of contention for the first moto win with a couple of laps remaining.
2. Tomac performed his late moto magic to win Moto 2 and the overall. Tomac again had problems early in Moto 2, mired in fifth place after seven laps. However, Tomac seemingly flipped a switch and went on an epic charge. On lap 8 he passed Blake Baggett and hounded Justin Barcia until he fell. Tomac easily motored by a slowing Musquin on lap 11, and then took the lead from an also-fading Roczen on the next lap. Tomac cruised to a five-second margin at the win. Tomac only needs to score 30 points in Indiana—two sixths will do the job—to retain the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross title.
3. Marvin Musquin squandered an opportunity to pick up five points in Moto 1, cutting away one-third of Eli Tomac’s series lead. Musquin took the holeshot in Moto 1, but lost the lead to Roczen before the end of the opening lap. Musquin shadowed Roczen for 10 laps, keeping the lead between one and three seconds. Musquin then started closing on Roczen, with Musquin briefly taking the lead on lap 14. However, when Roczen repassed Musquin, Musquin lost all drive and fell 13 seconds off Roczen’s pace over the final three laps. It was a moto Musquin needed to win, and he failed to make it happen.
4. Musquin’s late-moto woes intensified in Moto 2, keeping him off the podium. It again looked good for Musquin when he led Moto 2 while Tomac was in sixth place and battling to stay there. In another moto Musquin needed to win, Roczen claimed the lead on lap 6. Four laps later, Musquin meekly surrendered second place to Tomac. It got worse, as Baggett blew by Musquin on lap 13, pushing Musquin off the second moto podium. In the first eight laps of Moto 2, all of Musquin’s laps were 2:10s or better. After that, Musquin never did better than a 2:12, with his final lap clocking in at 2:22+. On the overall podium, Musquin revealed that a Tuesday practice crash was severe enough that he considered himself lucky to be at Budds Creek. Musquin now has only an outside chance at taking the title in the final round.
5. It was a heartbreaking second overall for Ken Roczen. Roczen (Team Honda HRC) was sick going into the day, yet he led every single lap of the first moto on his way to a solid win. It still looked like Roczen was a lock for the overall after Tomac passed him on lap 12 in Moto 2. However, Roczen was fading while Baggett was putting on a charge. A lap after the Tomac pass, Baggett easily motored by Roczen for second place with Baggett finishing 22 seconds ahead of Roczen at the checkered flag. Although Roczen and Tomac tied with 45 points, Tomac’s 3-1 beat’s Roczen’s 1-3. Roczen continues to seek his first post-injury overall win, and takes a nine-point lead over Barcia for third place in the series standings into the finale.
6. Blake Baggett had a strong day, and especially impressed in the second moto. Baggett’s fifth place behind a returning Jason Anderson in Moto 1 was good, but it didn’t hint at what Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM) would do in the second moto. Baggett started in fifth and ran eight strong opening laps as he battled Tomac, Barcia, and Phil Nicoletti. On lap 9, Baggett turned on the gas and turned an amazing sub-2:07 lap—faster than Tomac’s best lap by nearly a full second—on lap 14. That carried Baggett past Musquin on lap 13 and Roczen on the next lap. Matched with the fifth in Moto 1, Baggett’s second place in Moto 2 wasn’t quite enough to get him on the overall podium. Baggett sits fifth in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Standings and isn’t likely to move up or down next week.
7. Jason Anderson looked good in Moto 1, finishing fourth, but didn’t line-up for the second moto. Back from injury, the 2018 Monster Energy Supercross champion ran in fourth place most of Moto 1 and looked good. Anderson edged out Baggett, and was less than three seconds behind Tomac. However, Anderson (Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing) was a no-show on the second-moto gate. “I didn’t want to get super winded or take too many chances for the second moto, and just wanted to ease myself into it,” Anderson said afterwards. “I’ll get back out there next weekend and will see if I can do two solid motos.”
8. In the 250 MX class, Aaron Plessinger clinched the title. With main competitors former 250 MX champions Zach Osborne and Jeremy Martin sidelined with injuries, reigning 250SX East champion Plessinger (Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Yamaha Racing) only had to deal with a struggling Alex Marin. Plessinger put the title to bed with a win in Moto 1 and leaves Budds Creek with an 84-point lead with just 50 points up for grabs.
9. The finale is The Ironman National next Saturday at Ironman Raceway west of Indianapolis. Everything is live for the final race. Qualifiers start at 10:10 am (all times ET), and are only available on NBC Sports Gold (paid subscription). MavTV covers the first motos starting at 1 p.m., with the second motos beginning at 3 pm on NBCSN. All the motos are streamed and on-demand from NBC Sports Gold.
2018 Budds Creek National Motocross Results, Budds Creek Motocross, Mechanicsville, MD
- Eli Tomac, Kawasaki, 3-1, 45 points
- Ken Roczen, Honda, 1-3, 45
- Marvin Musquin, KTM, 2-4, 40
- Blake Baggett, KTM, 5-2, 38
- Justin Barcia, Yamaha, 6-5, 31
- Phil Nicoletti, Husqvarna, 7-6, 29
- Cooper Webb, Yamaha, 8-7, 27
- Benny Bloss, KTM, 9-8, 25
- Dylan Merriam, Yamaha, 12-10, 20
- Weston Peick, Suzuki, 14-9, 19
- Kyle Cunningham, Suzuki, 10-13, 19
- Jason Anderson, Husqvarna, 4-DNS, 18
- Toshiki Tomita, Honda, 15-11, 16
- Ben Lamay, Honda, 17-12, 13
- Henry Miller, Yamaha, 11-18, 13
- Jake Masterpool, Yamaha, 13-17, 12
- Brandon Scharer, Yamaha, 16-16, 10
- Cody Cooper, Honda, 18-15, 9
- John Short, Yamaha, 21-14, 7
- Dare DeMartile, Honda, 20-19, 3
- Coty Schock, Yamaha, 19-20, 3
2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Series Standings (after 11 rounds of 12)
- Eli Tomac, Kawasaki, 493 points (15 moto wins)
- Marvin Musquin, KTM, 473 (5 moto wins)
- Ken Roczen, Honda, 403 (2 moto wins)
- Justin Barcia, Yamaha, 394
- Blake Baggett, KTM, 370
- Weston Peick, Suzuki, 291
- Phil Nicoletti, Husqvarna/Suzuki, 282
- Benny Bloss, KTM, 278
- Kyle Cunningham, Suzuki, 159
- Cooper Webb, Yamaha, 156
- Cody Cooper, Honda, 146
- Justin Hill, Suzuki, 132
- Toshiki Tomita, Honda, 98
- Henry Miller, Yamaha, 96
- Dylan Merriam, Yamaha, 95
- Jason Anderson, Husqvarna, 91
- Ben Lamay, Honda, 88
- Brandon Scharer, Yamaha, 86
- Lorenzo Locurcio, 71
- Jake Masterpool, Yamaha, 65
- Brandan Leith, Kawasaki, 48
- Alex Ray, Yamaha, 47
- Cade Autenrieth, KTM, 46
- Kyle Chisholm, Yamaha, 39
- Nick Gaines, Yamaha, 34
- Bradley Taft, Husqvarna, 33
- Justin Bogle, Suzuki, 31
- Dare DeMartile, Honda, 28
- Christian Craig, Honda, 26
- Chris Canning, KTM, 25
- Heath Harrison, Honda, 22
- Jake Nicholls, Honda, 20
- Jeremy Hand, Honda, 20
- John Short, Yamaha, 20
- Joseph Crown, KTM, 19
- Tyler Bowers, Kawasaki, 18
- Kailub Russell, KTM, 15
- Jacob Hayes, Kawasaki, 14
- Josh Grant, Kawasaki, 11
- Noah McConahy, Yamaha, 11
- Ryan Surratt, Honda, 8
- Felix Lopez, KTM, 7
- Gared Steinke, KTM, 5
- Bradley Lionnet, Honda, 5
- Ryan Dowd, KTM, 4
- Cody Williams, Honda, 4
- Jacob Runkles, KTM, 4
- Tyler Stepek, KTM, 4
- Derek Anderson, Honda, 3
- Robert Piazza, Honda, 3
- Chris Alldredge, KTM, 3
- Coty Schock, Yamaha, 3
- Chase Marquier, Husqvarna, 3
- Zack Williams, KTM, 2
- Carson Brown, Honda, 2
- Jeremy Smith, Honda, 2
- Nick Fratz-Orr, KTM, 2
- Brock Papi, Honda, 1
- Austin Walton, Husqvarna, 1
- Robert Marshall, KTM, 1
- Dustin Pipes, Suzuki, 1