Justin Barcia wins in the mud at Budds Creek
By Shawn Smith
It was a wild, unforgettable day at Budds Creek Motocross Park. Among the day’s events: severe weather that caused a two-hour delay and nearly resulted in the cancellation of the final 450 Class moto. Fortunately for Justin Barcia, the race did take place, and it resulted in the first moto win and first overall win of his 450 Class career in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
The first moto was dominated by Ryan Dungey. After securing the Holeshot Award, the Red Bull KTM rider went on to lead every lap of the race without truly being challenged.
He also benefitted from a late fade by Ken Roczen, his main rival in the point standings. Roczen ran in second place for nearly 30 minutes after passing Christophe Pourcel on the opening lap, but over the final four laps of the race, he dropped spots to Pourcel, Justin Barcia and Blake Baggett, landing him fifth, while Pourcel and Barcia secured podium spots in second and third, respectively.
Then came the heavy rains. Severe thunderstorms caused the start of the second moto to be delayed from its original 4 p.m. ET start time, and there was even talk that the track might be too damaged for another race. It left the riders with a lot of downtime to hang out and await a decision, and ultimately, once the track was deemed capable of running the moto, the gate drop was set for 6 p.m.
With the two-hour delay passed, Dungey got another good start in Moto 2, although he lost out on a second holeshot to Barcia. However the conditions got the better of the Red Bull KTM rider, and Dungey went down on the opening lap and ended up losing his front fender. The mistake knocked him out of contention, as he crossed the line in 21st at the end of the opening lap and would spend the rest of the moto salvaging positions.
Out front, Barcia just checked out. He built up a large lead and went on to win the moto by about 18 seconds to earn the first 450 Class moto win of his career, His 3-1 results gave him the overall victory as well – also a career first. He’s been showing solid improvement throughout the season, and this win gives him a major confidence boost heading into the second half of the season.
“The momentum’s huge,” Barcia said after the race. “I don’t care if it’s muddy or not – that’s probably the best I’ve ever ridden on my Yamaha.”
Barcia looked to be enjoying himself throughout the moto and clearly felt right at home racing in the mud. “I was just having so much fun,” he said. “Today reminded me of being back in New York.”
Another impressive note about Barcia’s win: his team swapped three engines on the bike over the course of the day.
Behind Barcia in the second moto, a great battle took place for second between Pourcel and Baggett. The position changed hands a few times, as each rider found opportunities to capitalize on the other’s mistakes, and both Pourcel and Baggett admitted after the race that they legitimately had fun racing each other. Baggett ended up with second place in the moto, but Pourcel’s 2-3 moto finishes were still enough to put him second overall. Baggett (4-2) finished just behind him in the overall standings.
As for Dungey, he finished the moto in 12th but thanks to his victory in the first moto, he didn’t lose any points to Roczen in the championship battle. The two riders finished in a tie for fourth overall with 34 points apiece on the day. Dungey will maintain his 37-point championship lead heading into next Saturday’s round at RedBud.
AMA Motocross 2015 – Budds Creek – 450 Results
1. Justin Barcia (3-1)
2. Christophe Pourcel (2-3)
3. Blake Baggett (4-2)
4. Ken Roczen (5-4)
5. Ryan Dungey (1-12)
6. Jason Anderson (7-7)
7. Broc Tickle (6-9)
8. Phil Nicoletti (11-5)
9. Tommy Hahn (12-6)
10. Wil Hahn (8-14)
11. Justin Brayton (9-17)
12. Kyle Cunningham (17-10)
13. Tony Archer (40-8)
14. Weston Peick (10-34)
15. Fredrik Noren (38-11)
16. Cody Gragg (22-13)
17. Gannon Audette (14-20)
18. Kevin Rookstool (13-37)
19. Nick Ferrell (33-15)
20. John Short (15-32)
450 Class Points
- Ryan Dungey 256
- Ken Roczen 219
- Justin Barcia 193
- Blake Baggett 185
- Jason Anderson 178
- Broc Tickle 158
- Christophe Pourcel 157
- Weston Peick 140
- Phil Nicoletti 132
- Eli Tomac 25
- Justin Brayton 109
- Fredrik Noren 105
- Cole Seely 104
- Wil Hahn 83
- Kyle Chisholm 68
- Chad Reed 61
- Kyle Cunningham 53
- Tommy Hahn 50
- Brett Metcalfe 36
- Ryan Sipes 36
Marvin Musquin takes 250 overall win at Budds Creek
Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin overcame a disappointing showing in the first 250 Class moto at Budds Creek to claim the overall victory thanks to a win in the second moto.
The first moto featured a battle of the Martins, with Alex prevailing over his brother Jeremy. Alex took over the lead after RJ Hampshire went down on Lap 2 and was sitting in the driver’s seat for his first career moto win, but Jeremy put on a hard charge in the final laps after overtaking Zach Osborne for second. Jeremy reduced the gap down to nothing and raced his brother side-by-side for the lead, taking away the top spot with three laps to go.
Alex appeared destined for a second-place finish, but then Jeremy’s bike stalled while rounding a corner on the final lap, and just like that, Alex was back in the lead and took the checkered flag for his first career win. Jeremy recovered to finish in second, and Osborne rounded out the podium.
Musquin did not get a great start in the first moto, crossing the line in eigth after the opening lap. He later got tangled up with his training partner, Adam Cianciarulo, and dropped outside the top ten. Musquin rebounded a bit to finish the moto in seventh, but the result put him into a tie with Jeremy Martin for the points lead heading into the second moto.
As a heavier rain began to fall in the second moto, Musquin got off to a much better start, putting himself second behind Cianciarulo, who captured the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award. Cianciarulo held the Frenchman off for the first four laps of the race, but once Musquin got around him on Lap 5, he was gone. While Musquin did his part in grabbing the moto win, the battle for the overall victory would play out behind him.
After giving up the lead, Cianciarulo ended up in a battle with Jeremy Martin for second place. Had Martin stayed in the top three, he would have won the overall, but he lost several spots late in the race, falling back to sixth and putting him into yet another battle with brother Alex.
Alex, who was running in seventh, closed the gap to within two seconds by the end of the race but was unable to mount a challenge. Had Alex been able to pass Jeremy, he would have earned the first overall victory of his career. Instead, Alex ended up in a tie with Musquin for the overall, with the Red Bull KTM rider getting the nod due to a higher finish in the second moto. Musquin (7-1) officially ended up first overall, while Alex (1-7) was second.
Joey Savatgy (4-3) secured a spot on the overall podium as well, narrowly edging out Jeremy Martin (2-6) and Zach Osborne (3-5) for third place.
The win ensures that Musquin will hold onto the red plate for another week, as he stretched his points lead out to ten points over Jeremy Martin.
AMA Motocross 2015 – Budds Creek – 250 Results
1. Marvin Musquin (7-1)
2. Alex Martin (1-7)
3. Joey Savatgy (4-3)
4. Jeremy Martin (2-6)
5. Zach Osborne (3-5)
6. Adam Cianciarulo (8-2)
7. Christian Craig (5-10)
8. Cooper Webb (6-14)
9. Matt Bisceglia (21-4)
10. Jessy Nelson (12-12)
11. Jordon Smith (17-8)
12. Nick Gaines (13-16)
13. Shane McElrath (22-9)
14. Chris Alldredge (9-21)
15. Daniel Baker (14-17)
16. Justin Starling (11-20)
17. Mitchell Oldenburg (10-22)
18. Aaron Plessinger (40-11)
19. Kyle Peters (20-13)
20. RJ Hampshire (15-19)
250 Class Points
- Marvin Musquin 258
- Jeremy Martin 248
- Adam Cianciarulo 178
- Joey Savatgy 173
- Zach Osborne 165
- Jessy Nelson 164
- Alex Martin 154
- Matt Bisceglia 124
- Shane McElrath 121
- Aaron Plessinger 118
- Jordon Smith 114
- Chris Alldredge 113
- RJ Hampshire 107
- Christian Craig 87
- Kyle Peters 84
- Mitchell Oldenburg 73
- Luke Renzland 62
- Justin Hill 52
- Cooper Webb 42
- Anthony Rodriguez 34
