Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen come through for the 450cc win at Muddy Creek Raceway in Tennessee; Cooper Webb earns first career 250cc win.
Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen knew he needed a win in the final 450cc moto at Muddy Creek Raceway in Blountville, Tennessee, yesterday, and the German-born rider showed how well he responds to pressure by doing just that to earn the 450cc class overall win of the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship season.
In fact, it was Roczen’s third 450cc win of the season and of his AMA outdoor career, and it gave him a healthy momentum swing—even if it didn’t increase his series point lead—as the series came off of its one week break to head into the summer months. In the 250cc class, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb fulfilled the promise has showed at the first four rounds by earning his first career Lucas Oil 250cc overall win at Muddy Creek.
450cc Moto 1
The Tennessee round marked the return to action for GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac, who has been sidelined with a collarbone injury. Tomac, the reigning 250cc Champion who has moved up to the premier class, served notice that he is healthy and ready to race by turning-in the fastest qualifying lap during practice and then grabbing the Motosport.com Holeshot Award as the 40-rider field rounded the first turn to start Moto 1. 
Tomac took full advantage of Roczen’s gaff and led Muscle Milk Honda’s Trey Canard and Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey for over half the moto. Dungey eventually made his way past Canard and into second place, setting his sights on Tomac. Dungey was his usual methodical self, closing in on Tomac lap after lap before making a pivotal pass on lap nine. From there, Dungey maintained his advantage throughout the remainder of the race to take the moto win–his second of the season and his first since Moto 2 of the Glen Helen series opener. Roczen bounced back from his early-moto fall to pass Tomac for second. Tomac finished third with Canard fourth, while Stewart finished a strong fifth after charging through the field after his first-turn incident.
450cc Moto 2
Dungey was looking for a 1-1 moto sweep as he bagged the Motosport.com Holeshot Award in Moto 2, but Roczen was more desperate, and he passed his Red Bull KTM teammate before the opening lap was complete. Roczen and Dungey proceeded to check out on the field for the rest of the moto, eventually paring down the overall win opportunities to just themselves. Dungey closed in on Roczen as they encountered lapped traffic late in the moto, but Roczen was able to maintain the pace necessary to win the moto and, with it, the overall win via 2-1 moto scores. Roczen has finished third or better in every moto this season.
“I felt good out there. I got a good start [in the second moto] and even had a close call out there with about two laps to go which caused me to lose a bit a time, but I still made it happen,” Roczen said. “I’m happy it’s over. It was another good weekend and we were able to keep the points lead steady.”
Dungey, who was second overall via his 1-2 scores, said that all in all it was a good day.
“I pushed it that whole second moto,” Dungey said. “I tried [to close in on Roczen] and got fortunate with the lappers coming in there, but then they came my way and it kind of averaged out. We gave it all we had and that was all I can do.”
Tomac ran third off the start and held the position throughout Moto 2 despite pressure from Canard. Tomac’s 3-3 finishes guaranteed him third overall in what was his 450cc debut, with Canard fourth overall (4-4) and BTO Sports KTM’s Andrew Short fifth overall (6-8). Stewart has problems in Moto 2 and salvaged an 11th-place finish that was good enough for eighth overall (5-11), one round after his dominant win.
With Roczen and Dungey earning identical moto points tallies, neither man gained on the other in the series standings. Roczen leads Dungey by 16 points, 230-214, with round five of 12 in the books. Stewart is still third, 43 points behind Roczen but just one point ahead of Canard. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe is fifth, with 141 points.
250cc Moto 1
Prior to the Tennesse round, the top of the 250cc class win sheet was split between two riders—Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett. After scoring back-to-back wins at rounds three and four, Baggett was hungry to make up the points deficit to Martin and give himself a shot at reclaiming the Lucas Oil 250cc Motocross number one plate at season’s end. However, despite a strong first moto results, Baggett would have to contend with another factory-backed Yamaha rider aiming for new heights, Cooper Webb.
Valli Motorsports Yamaha’s Christophe Pourcel shot into the first-moto lead aboard his Valli Motorsports YZS250F, with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Justin Hill second. Disaster struck almost immediately for series points leader Martin, who was involved in a multi-rider incident and was forced to rejoin the race at back of the pack.
Pourcel and Hill ran together early in the moto before GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle and Webb closed in on them. Bogle and Webb eventually dropped Hill to fourth place before Webb then took over second place from Bogle just a couple laps later. Baggett, who has been getting much better starts than he did at the beginning of the season, was running inside the top five, and he began to pick up the pace. Before long, Baggett made it a three-rider battle for the lead.
Webb took passed Pourcel for the lead on lap 11, and Baggett came with him to move into second place. The pair pulled away in the closing laps, and Baggett pulled off an aggressive move in the final corner to somehow pass Webb on the outside steal the first-moto win by a scant.080 seconds. Pourcel finished third, with Bogle fourth and Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin fifth. Martin, meanwhile, came through the field to finish 10th.
250cc Moto 2
Once out front, Webb was able to maintain his advantage for most of the moto, but Baggett made his way the frontrunners after another solid top-five start and closed to within a few bike lengths of Webb with just a few laps remaining. Baggett took a few shots at unseating Webb, but a bobble by Baggett allowed Webb some breathing room. Things got worse for Baggett when he tangled with a lapper and crashed, allowing Bogle into second place.
Webb capped off a career day by winning his first 250cc Lucas Oil Pro Motocross moto and his first AMA National overall win via 2-1 scores. Bogle finished second with Baggett coming back to finish third.
“I’m on cloud nine, I’m not going to lie,” Webb said. “I was beating myself up when I got passed in the last turn [in Moto 1], but I was able to come back and get the job done. To do this at my home race [Webb lives nearby in North Carolina], I could hear these guys [the fans] every single lap. Baggett was on me the whole moto, but I told myself I wasn’t going to let him by. I’m so pumped.”
Baggett’s 1-3 results placed him second overall, while Bogle’s runner-up finish in the second moto helped move him to third overall (4-2). Pourcel was fourth (3-4) while Musquin rounded out the top five (5-5).
Martin was never a factor in either moto after difficult starts and ultimately finished a season-worst seventh overall after posting 10-6 moto scores. Even so, he still sits atop the 250cc class standings with eight points in hand over Webb. Baggett, who sits third, closed to within 17 points of the leader.
“The only thing I’m concerned about is getting a good week of practice and coming out strong at RedBud,” said Martin, who also earned his first career win earlier this season. “I rode as hard as I could today and gave it everything I had, so I can walk away knowing I did everything I could. We’ll just come back stronger.”
The 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will reach its halfway point with its traditional 4th of July Weekend stop, the Red Bull RedBud National at RedBud MX in Buchanan, Michigan. The race is scheduled for Saturday, July 5.
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship
Red Bull Tennessee National
Muddy Creek Raceway
Blountville, Tennessee
Results: June 28, 2014 (Round 5 of 12)
450
1. Ken Roczen-KTM/2-1
2. Ryan Dungey-KTM/1-2
3. Eli Tomac-Hon/3-3
4. Trey Canard-Hon/4-4
5. Andrew Short-KTM/6-8
6. Weston Peick-Suz/10-5
7. Brett Metcalfe-Kaw/9-7
8. James Stewart-Suz/5-11
9. Josh Grant-Yam/11-6
10. Justin Brayton-Yam/8-15
Lucas Oil 450cc Pro Motocross Championship Points Standings (After 5 of 12 rounds)
1. Ken Roczen-230/3 wins
2. Ryan Dungey-214/1 win
3. James Stewart-187/1 win
4. Trey Canard-186
5. Brett Metcalfe-141
6. Weston Peick-131
7. Josh Grant-129
8. Malcolm Stewart-108
9. Chad Reed-105
10. Andrew Short-102
250
1. Cooper Webb-Yam/2-1
2. Blake Baggett-Kaw/1-3
3. Justin Bogle-Hon/4-2
4. Christophe Pourcel-Yam/3-4
5. Marvin Musquin-KTM/5-5
6. Cole Seely-Honda/6-8
7. Jeremy Martin-Yam/10-6
8. Jessy Nelson-Hon/7-10
9. Dean Wilson-Kaw/14-7
10. Kyle Cunningham-Hon/8-13
Lucas Oil 250cc Pro Motocross Championship Points Standings (After 5 of 12 rounds)
1. Jeremy Martin-203/2 wins
2. Cooper Webb-195/1 win
3. Blake Baggett-186/2 wins
4. Justin Bogle-166
5. Christophe Pourcel-166
6. Marvin Musquin-143
7. Jason Anderson-129
8. Jessy Nelson-116
9. Cole Seely-115
10. Justin Hill-103
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