Justin Barcia crosses the finish line after grabbing his first career 450 overall win in the mud at Budds Creek. Photography by Rob Koy.
Mechanicsville, MD (June 27, 2015) – Torrential rains, lightning and tornado warnings couldn’t stop Justin Barcia from grabbing his first career 450-class overall win at today’s round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Series at Budds Creek Raceway in Mechanicsville, Maryland, as the AutoTrader.com/Toyota/JGR Yamaha rider went 3-1 to claim the overall win ahead of Christophe Pourcel’s 2-3 and Blake Baggett’s 4-2 in a muddy race that saw the final moto delayed for two hours due to the weather.
Series point leader Ryan Dungey controlled the first moto, the Red Bull KTM rider winning easily ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Pourcel and RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns Suzuki’s Ken Roczen. Dungey’s win was the flag-to-flag variety, while Pourcel and Roczen dueled over second, with Pourcel making a pass on the defending champ lap in the race to secure second.
The skies opened up big time before the second moto, forcing the long delay, and when the gate finally dropped it was Barcia sliding around the first turn and into the lead, followed by Dungey, who bailed off his bike after nose-diving into a soft spot in the first big jump of the race.
Dungey remounted outside the top 20, but steadily worked his way into 10th before getting stuck in the mud and dropping to 12th for the moto.
Out front, Barcia played with the competition, literally, as he styled his way in the mud to a 17-second win over Baggett and Pourcel.
In the end, Barcia took the center step of the podium, with a happy Pourcel in second and Yoshimura Suzuki-mounted Baggett in third.
Roczen, who came into the race under the weather, settled for four at 5-4. The former MX2 World Champ ran second for much of the first moto, but slowed considerably near the end of the race and lost three positions in a single lap.
Dungey landed in fifth with a 1-12, and managed to extend his points lead over Roczen to 37 points.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson was a consistent 7-7 got sixth overall, just ahead of RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns Suzuki’s Broc Tickle’s 6-9.
Phil Nicoletti finished eighth on his AutoTrader.com/Toyota/JGR Yamaha after posting 11-5 moto finishes, while MotoSport.com’s Tommy Hahn (8-14) and his brother Wil on the Monster Energy Kawasaki (8-14) rounded out the top 10.
The bad weather moved in during the morning and forced organizers to cut qualifying and practice to one session and totally eliminate the consolation race, which in part led to HRC Honda’s Cole Seely not qualifying for the program.
Results
1. Justin Barcia (Yam)
2. Christophe Pourcel (Hus)
3. Blake Baggett (Suz)
4. Ken Roczen (Suz)
5. Ryan Dungey (KTM)
6. Jason Anderson (Hus)
7. Broc Tickle (Sus)
8. Phil Nicoletti (Yam)
9. Tommy Hahn (Hon)
10. Wil Hahn (Kaw)
