2018 Ironman National Motocross Results and Coverage (8 Fast Facts)

2018 Ironman National Motocross Coverage: Tomac Secures Title; Barcia Sweeps In Mud

Marvin Musquin stayed alive in the 2018 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Series chase into the final moto of the season, but Eli Tomac retained his 450MX class championship in the mud at Ironman Raceway in Indiana. As Musquin struggled and Tomac protected his slim lead, Justin Barcia won both motos convincingly to take his first overall win since 2015.

1. Like last year under similar circumstances, Eli Tomac was unable to clinch the championship in the first moto. Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) brought a 20-point lead into the Ironman National. Tomac needed to score five more points than Musquin in the first moto to clinch the title. Both riders got decent starts, with Tomac in fifth and Musquin two spots behind after the first lap. Tomac eventually caught everyone but Barcia, while Musquin was kept off the podium by Ken Roczen. Tomac extended his lead to 24 points, keeping Musquin in the championship hunt. However, if Tomac scored a single point in the second moto, or Musquin didn’t win, Tomac would win his second straight 450MX title.

2. In the second moto, Marvin Musquin did not do what he needed to do to have a shot at the championship. Musquin (Red Bull KTM) needed to win if he were to have any chance to grab the title away from Tomac in the last moto of the year. Musquin started the moto by boxing out Tomac off the line—a smart move—but Musquin was out of the top three after the first lap. Musquin was only able to pass Cooper Webb for third place, and Musquin had to do it twice due to a fall. At the end, Musquin was over 40 seconds behind winner Barcia.

   

3. With Marvin Musquin failing to win, Eli Tomac didn’t even have to finish Moto 2, but he did. After being caught out by Musquin right after the gate dropped, Tomac was outside of the top 20 early, though worked his way up to 15th place by the end of the first lap. A 20th place was all Tomac needed to clinch the title. Riding conservatively, Tomac made it up to ninth place by lap 5 (of 14) and stayed there to the end.

4. Justin Barcia ended a three-year overall-win dry spell in style with a 1-1 day. Barcia (Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing) nailed two excellent starts, and won both motos convincingly. Barcia did have a bit of trouble in Moto 1, as he had to abandon his goggles early. Barcia relinquished the lead to Phil Nicoletti for three laps, before blitzing past Nicoletti on lap 7, permanently taking the lead. Barcia parlayed another strong start in Moto 2 into leading every lap. Roczen hounded Barcia for the first five laps before Barcia broke away. Barcia had a fall and a near-fall on the penultimate lap of Moto 2, but Barcia had enough of a lead over Roczen that he wasn’t threatened for the win.

   

5. Ken Roczen barely held onto third place in the 2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Series standings. Roczen (Team Honda HRC) had a nine-point lead at the beginning of the day, and lost five of those points after the first moto. Roczen gave up another three points in the second moto, but he had four to spare. The final tally had Roczen ahead of Barcia, 445-444.

   

6. Chad Reed rode his first National in years, and looked strong in the mud as a fill-in rider for the Autotrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing/JGR team. Reed was right up front at the start in Moto 1, and held on to fifth place at the checkers. Reed followed that up with a holeshot in Moto 2. However, he faded to eighth place, and was eighth overall despite going 5-8. Reed is looking for a Supercross ride for 2019, and this was likely an audition he passed.

7. Top Canadian racer Tyler Medaglia crossed the border to take an impressive sixth overall on his Kawasaki. Going 7-6, Medaglia (Husqvarna Canada) was hanging it out with the factory riders. Scoring 29 points along with Reed (5-8) and Nicoletti (6-7), Medaglia won the tiebreaker with a sixth in the second moto.

8. There will be a break in championship motocross on American soil until the 2018 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations at Redbud MX on October 6. The United States, which hasn’t won the prestigious MXoN since 2011, is sending Tomac, Barcia, and 2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross 250MX champion Aaron Plessinger into the fray in front of the home crowd. The TV schedule has not been set yet. Puerto Rico will have an unlikely team consisting of Travis Pastrana, Kevin Windham, and Ryan Sipes—all on two-strokes—as part of a charity effort to help rebuild Puerto Rico after last year’s Hurricane Maria. Former MX and SX champion Rick Johnson is the Puerto Rico team manager.Photography by Jeff Kardas

2018 Ironman National Motocross Results, Ironman Raceway, Crawfordsville, Indiana

1. Justin Barcia, Yamaha, 1-1, 50 points
2. Ken Roczen, Honda, 3-2, 42
3. Marvin Musquin, KTM, 4-3, 38
4. Eli Tomac, Kawasaki, 2-9, 34
5. Cooper Webb, Yamaha, 9-4, 30
6. Tyler Medaglia, Kawasaki, 7-6, 29
7. Phil Nicoletti, Husqvarna, 6-7, 29
8. Chad Reed, Suzuki, 5-8, 29
9. Valentin Teillet, Husqvarna, 8-10, 24
10. Blake Baggett, KTM, 16-5, 21
11. Benny Bloss, KTM, 11-11, 20
12. Henry Miller, Yamaha, 14-13, 15
13. Toshiki Tomita, Honda, 17-12, 13
14. Ben Lamay, Honda, 15-15, 12
15. Justin Hill, Suzuki, 10-32, 11
16. Kyle Cunningham, Suzuki, 12-20, 10
17. Isaac Teasdale, Honda, 13-37, 8
18. Nick Gaines, Yamaha, 31-14, 7
19. Joseph Crown, KTM, 20-16, 6
20. John Short, Yamaha, 24-17, 4
21. Jeremy Hand, Honda, 23-18, 3
22. Josh Osby, KTM, 18-23, 3
23. Jason Anderson, Husqvarna, 19-DNS, 2
24. Nathen LaPorte, Honda, 30-19, 2

2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Series Final Standings

1. Eli Tomac, Kawasaki, 527 points (15 moto wins)
2. Marvin Musquin, KTM, 511 (5 moto wins)
3. Ken Roczen, Honda, 445 (2 moto wins)
4. Justin Barcia, Yamaha, 444 (2 moto wins)
5. Blake Baggett, KTM, 391
6. Phil Nicoletti, Husqvarna/Suzuki, 311
7. Benny Bloss, KTM, 298
8. Weston Peick, Suzuki, 291
9. Cooper Webb, Yamaha, 186
10. Kyle Cunningham, Suzuki, 169
11. Cody Cooper, Honda, 146
12. Justin Hill, Suzuki, 143
13. Henry Miller, Yamaha, 111
14. Toshiki Tomita, Honda, 111
15. Ben Lamay, Honda, 100
16. Dylan Merriam, Yamaha, 95
17. Jason Anderson, Husqvarna, 93
18. Brandon Scharer, Yamaha, 86
19. Lorenzo Locurcio, Honda, 71
20. Jake Masterpool, Yamaha, 65
21. Brandan Leith, Kawasaki, 48
22. Alex Ray, Yamaha, 47
23. Cade Autenrieth, KTM, 46
24. Nick Gaines, Yamaha, 41
25. Kyle Chisholm, Yamaha, 39
26. Bradley Taft, Husqvarna, 33
27. Justin Bogle, Suzuki, 31
28. Chad Reed, Suzuki, 29
29. Tyler Medaglia, Kawasaki, 29
30. Dare DeMartile, Honda, 28
31. Christian Craig, Honda, 26
32. Chris Canning, KTM, 25
33. Joseph Crown, KTM, 25
34. Valentin Teillet, Husqvarna, 24
35. John Short, Yamaha, 24
36. Jeremy Hand, Honda, 23
37. Heath Harrison, Honda, 22
38. Jake Nicholls, Honda, 20
39. Tyler Bowers, Kawasaki, 18
40. Kailub Russell, KTM, 15
41. Jacob Hayes, Kawasaki, 14
42. Josh Grant, Kawasaki, 11
43. Noah McConahy, Yamaha, 11
44. Isaac Teasdale, Honda, 8
45. Ryan Surratt, Honda, 8
46. Felix Lopez, KTM, 7
47. Gared Steinke, KTM, 5
48. Bradley Lionnet, Honda, 5
49. Ryan Dowd, KTM, 4
50. Cody Williams, Honda, 4
51. Jacob Runkles, KTM, 4
52. Tyler Stepek, KTM, 4
53. Derek Anderson, Honda, 3
54. Robert Piazza, Honda, 3
55. Chris Alldredge, KTM, 3
56. Josh Osby, KTM, 3
57. Coty Schock, Yamaha, 3
58. Chase Marquier, Husqvarna, 3
59. Zack Williams, KTM, 2
60. Carson Brown, Honda, 2
61. Nathen LaPorte, Honda, 2
62. Jeremy Smith, Honda, 2
63. Nick Fratz-Orr, KTM, 2
64. Brock Papi, Honda, 1
65. Austin Walton, Husqvarna, 1
66. Robert Marshall, KTM, 1
67. Dustin Pipes, Suzuki, 1