Jeremy Martin came away with the 250-class win at Muddy Creek but more importantly for him, he gained a few points on rival Marvin Musquin. Photography by Mike Emery
After finishing second to Marvin Musquin in the first moto, defending champ Jeremy Martin, on the Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha YZ250F, rebounded to win the second moto and take the overall 250-class victory at the fourth round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Muddy Creek in Blountville, Tennessee, June 6.
Musquin was unstoppable in the first moto. He took control of the race on the first lap and never looked back, scoring a start-to-finish win.
While Musquin was out front and cruising, all eyes were on the defending champ Jeremy Martin who got off to a fourth-place start but just couldn’t get around the rider right in front of him, Jessy Nelson. He finally did, but it wasn’t until more than half the race had been completed, and then he had to fight his way around Adam Cianciarulo for a while, which came a few laps later. But by that time, it was way too late to catch the long-gone Musquin, who took the checkered flag 18 seconds ahead of Martin.
Cianciarulo eventually went down, handing third to Nelson, before giving way to his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammate Joey Savatgy late in the race to get fifth.
Sixth in the moto went to GEICO Honda’s Matt Bisceglia.
Martin’s teammate Aaron Plessinger stole the spotlight for a while in the second moto. The pro-class rookie got off to a fast start and led the first seven laps before Martin swallowed him up, as did Nelson a few laps later.
Musquin, meanwhile, had gone down with a few other riders early in the moto and rounded the first moto in 21st position. But he put on a charge that carried him up to fourth place at the finish.
Martin went on to win the moto with five seconds to spare over Nelson.
Cianciarulo had another impressive ride and took fourth, another four seconds behind Nelson. Musquin crossed the finish line right behind Cianciarulo
Fifth in the moto went to RJ Hampshire on the GEICO Honda.
Plessinger ran out of steam and slipped back to seventh at the end, getting zapped by Jordon Smith a few laps from the end.
“I got a better start and was able to be more aggressive in the beginning, and that really helped,” said Martin of his second-moto win. “It was a good day. Last year I think I went 10-6 for sixth overall, but this year I went 2-1 for first overall so I couldn’t be happier. I’m enjoying racing right now and things are going great.”
Musquin said, “I maybe put myself in a bad position in the second moto because I didn’t expect to crash like I did. I know I impressed some people with my comeback, but I’d rather not impress anybody and get second or first [in the moto]. I’m still happy with the finish. I gave it 100 percent in the moto and we still were on the podium even though we had the crash on the first lap. When you look at all that, fourth in the moto wasn’t too bad.”
Despite how things looked at first for Martin, it turned out to be a good day for him, as he managed to actually gain a few precious points on Musquin when all was said and done, and the way things are looking, every point is going to count between these two down the road in the race for the 250 Championship. Martin now leads Musquin by just six points. Nelson is the next-best rider in the standings in third but is 47 points behind Musquin. Cianciarulo is another 10 points back of Nelson in fourth.
Rounding out the top five in the series is Joey Savatgy who is 10 points behind Cianciarulo.
RESULTS
Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
Round 4
Muddy Creek Raceway
Blountville, Tennessee
June 6, 2015
250 NATIONAL
1. Jeremy Martin (Yam) 2-1
2. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 1-4
3. Jessy Nelson (KTM) 3-2
4. Adam Cianciarulo (Kaw) 5-3
5. Joey Savatgy (Kaw) 4-11
6. Aaron Plessinger (Yam) 8-7
7. Chris Alldredge (Kaw) 7-8
8. RJ Hampshire (Hon) 11.5
9. Zach Osborne (Hus) 11-5
10. Matt Bisceglia (Hon) 6-13
