Well, no rain in the forecast leading up to or on race day for Round 7 of the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series at REDBUD!
So that means no mud. Or clever nicknames like RedMud.
Which means a Ryan Dungey centered podium?
Well, not so fast. Justin Barcia did prove to be a mudder at Budds Creek, besting the slop and taking his first career win. But his performance this year shows he's more than that. He's posted increasing better positions in the last six Motos and has nine Top 6 finishes in 12 races. If not for the goose egg in Moto 1 at Hangtown he'd be right on Roczen's rear-fender. So, with a confident Barcia in the mix, the Championship race, for now, brings in a third man.
Lucky Dungey, who never crashes, escaped serious injury in Moto 2 after a header that could easily have ended his year. Instead, he just fell off the podium for the first time this season. Defending Champion Ken Roczen raced through an illness and the mud but his repeat attempts slipped a bit further as he tied in points with Dungey at Budds Creek which keeps him in second-place, 37 points behind the 2015 Supercross Champion with six rounds remaining. Now he's got to fight off Barcia who sliced off 11 points with his win and is 26 points back from second.
Additionally, consider Blake Baggett and Christophe Pourcel as regular podium threats as Baggett got on for the second time this season and Pourcel took the #2 spot at Budds with a (2-3) day. Pourcel doesn't have much chance of catching Dungey as he sits 99 points back but Baggett is just eight points back from Barcia so like Thunder Valley proved, anything can happen. But as long as Dungey stays upright and injury free, he'll make it tough for anyone to catch him at this point.
Fresh off a Top 10, Tommy Hahn is looking for more
Under the MotoSport banner, Tommy Hahn showed veteran resolve not letting the mud intimidate him and grabbed his first Top 10 of the season including a sixth-place finish in Moto 2, this after the downpour unleashed its damage to the track. Hahn returned well-rested after a concussion forced him off the bike at Thunder Valley and the following two rounds. He can easily be a Top 10 threat for the rest of the season. The retired Nick Wey is also rumored to be on the bike for his home state race.
The 250 class proved to be quite the story as well. When was the last time the Top 6 finishers were within four points of one another? And the overall winner took seventh in a Moto? And tied in points with the runner-up who also got seventh in a Moto?
Such was the case between Marvin Musquin and Alex Martin who edged Joey Savatgy by one point, who beat Jeremy Martin for third by one point. Zach Osborne took fifth, just three points back from Musquin and the sixth-place Adam Cianciarulo brought home 35 points. It's the first time all year the winner didn't get at least 40 points.
However, Musquin and Jeremy Martin still have commanding leads up front as Cianciarulo is 70 points back. Alex Martin, who battled brother Jeremy in both Motos, didn't move up a spot from seventh, but is now just 11 points from the Top 5. In fact, the third through seventh positions are less than 25 points from each other.
Does the bad luck for Kyle Peters end at RedBud?
Kyle Peters, Hahn's teammate on the MotoSport/GPI/Honda team, had more goggle issues than mud issues at Budds Creek. Regardless, he still ended the day with nine points, enough to hold on to 15th place in the standings and stave off Mitchell Oldenburg who took 10th in Moto 1 but landed out of the point making Top 20 in Moto 2. Peters has an 11 point lead over Mitchell and is just three from Christian Craig who started late but is on a tear.
RedBud is usually the highest attended Motocross event of the year and with gates dropping on the Fourth of July expect epic craziness. Give yourself lots of time to get to the track. Buy tickets online or watch all Motos live on the internet, MAV TV and NBC. And yes, it's the regular NBC broadcasting network. So start with your computer, then turn on cable or satellite (if you have the package that includes MAV TV), back to the internet and finally regular (formerly rabbit eared) TV. It's confusing so just check the schedule.
2015 Motocross Season Standings
450 Class Standings
- Ryan Dungey (256)
- Ken Roczen (219)
- Justin Barcia (193)
- Blake Baggett (185)
- Jason Anderson (178)
- Broc Tickle (158)
- Christophe Pourcel (157)
- Weston Peick (140)
- Phillip Nicoletti (132)
- Eli Tomac (125)
250 Class Standings
- Marvin Musquin (258)
- Jeremy Martin (248)
- Adam Cianciarulo (178)
- Joey Savatgy (173)
- Zach Osborne (165)
- Jessy Nelson (164)
- Alex Martin (154)
- Matthew Bisceglia (124)
- Shane McElrath (121)
- Aaron Plessinger (118)
