Budds Creek, MD — In round 6 of the Lucas Oil Motocross Championship at Budds Creek, the rain certainly played a role in both classes’ moto runs. A moto consists of a 30-minute period of racing followed by a two- lap finale. The rain that was light during the first 250 class moto, began to intensify during the first 450 run, and by the time of the second 250 moto, had escalated into a full on downpour.
The first 250 moto was won by Alex Martin, who celebrated his first ever moto win. He led most of the race, and after 15 minutes of racing, had lost his goggles. He hoped that no one would catch up to him as he would have been blinded by the dirt coming off of their back tire. However, his brother Jeremy Martin passed him with two minutes left, and looked to win the moto. He built a decent lead, and his brother Alex couldn’t get close to him.
It looked like a sure Jeremy Martin win, when on the second to last turn of the race, Jeremy Martin’s bike stalled. This gave Alex the chance he was looking for and he won the checkered flag of the first moto. Jeremy Martin took second, and Zach Osborn finished in third. Point leader Marvin Musquin finished in 7th place.
The first moto of the 450 was won by point leader Ryan Dungey. He led the race from start to finish and recorded the fastest lap time of the day in two minutes and 5.786 seconds. By the time the race had finished, he had opened up a 10.24 second lead over second place finisher Christoph Pourcel. Justin Barcia overtook threee riders in the last lap to finish in 3rd. This was Dungey’s 3rd consecutive moto win at Budds Creek.
After a slight pause, the 2nd moto of the 250 class went underway. The rain had elevated into a downpour, and was very much a factor in this race. The leader out of the gates, Adam Cianciarulo fell off of his bike coming off of a jump in his fourth lap and Marvin Musquin took the lead and held it the rest of the race.
As time passed, and it became clear that Musquin would take the race, the focus switched back to the battle for 5th place. Again, it was the Martin brothers, and again Alex Martin lost his goggles. The focus was here because if Alex Martin passed his brother and finished in 5th place, he would get the overall win. If not, the win would be Musquin’s. Alex Martin never made a move and finished in 6th place in the moto, and second overall. Marvin Musquin finished first overall, and Joey Savatgy rounded out the top 3.
Following the race, the tornado warning was put into effect and Budds Creek was drawn to a halt. For an hour, everyone sat wondering if the 450 race would happen.
After the storm passed, the word was given that gates drop at 6. In the second moto of the 450, Justin Barcia took the checkered flag, as moto 1 winner Ryan Dungey fell all the way to 12th. Blake Baggett took second, and Christoph Pourcel took third. In the overall standings, Justin Barcia took the overall win, Pourcel finished in 2nd, and Baggett finished in third. Points leader Dungey finished in 5th. Dungey still has a sizable lead in points, but a win at Budds Creek could have really boosted his chances.