Jeremy Martin came away with the overall 250-class win at Utah, but was unable to gain ground on Marvin Musquin. He still leads Musquin by just two points going into the final next week in Indiana. PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE COX
Coming into the Utah MX National at Miller Motorsports Park, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin led Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin by two points. After more than an hour of racing in the Utah heat, Martin and Musquin leave with the exact same points gap they came in with.
In the first moto, Martin got pinched off on the inside of the start straightaway, then ended up stuck behind a pileup in the first turn, while Lucas Oil/TLD KTM’s Jessy Nelson led the early laps. Martin got to work, and before long Musquin worked his way into the lead. Martin’s teammate Cooper Webb was the only person keeping Musquin in sight, and that changed with a few minutes to go when Webb went down. Webb recovered for second.
Meanwhile, Martin was working his way through the field, and with two laps to go, he finally found his way into fourth place—where it seemed he was going to finish, as third-placed RJ Hampshire, from the GEICO Honda team, had about seven seconds on Martin.
However, going into the last turn of the moto, Hampshire went down, handing third place to Martin.
Martin fixed his moto-one start by stealing away the lead (again from Nelson) early on lap one, but just as Martin began to check out, the red flag flew. The race would be restarted due to Tevin Tapia being injured on the track.
On the restart, Musquin got out front, and Martin had to chase him down from outside the top five. Martin did that, taking the lead and then pulling away, while his teammate Webb also found his way by Musquin for second.
Martin ended up with the overall win with a 3-1 score, besting Musquin’s 1-3 and Webb’s 2-2, but Martin and Musquin head into the finale next week in Indiana separated by only two points.
“My bike was on point today, but things didn’t go how I planned in the first moto off the gate,” said Martin of his day. “But I knew I had to make it up [to the front] and I was able to. [RJ] Hampshire crashing on the last lap definitely helped [me finish third]. In the second moto I got to the front initially, but then we had the red flag. My restart didn’t go as planned but I just knew I had to catch that KTM [of Marvin Musquin], and we were able to get all the way up there and grab the win. It’s definitely coming down to the wire [for the championship].”
“This isn’t a track I do very well on, but it’s special to me to come out here and run well,” said Musquin. “I was battling hard with Cooper [Webb] in the first moto but he fell and that made it easy on me. I got a much better start on the restart for the second moto, but Cooper and Jeremy [Martin] were just a little better than me. I’m happy to leave here still with a good shot at the championship and I’m excited for next weekend. No matter what, it will be a special day.”
250 Class (Moto Finish)
1. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha (3-1)
2. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (1-3)
3. Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha (2-2)
4. Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha (4-4)
5. Matt Bisceglia, Tualatin, Ore., Honda (6-6)
6. Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna (9-5)
7. RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Honda (7-7)
8. Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha (8-8)
9. Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Kawasaki (5-11)
10. Jessy Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., KTM (11-9)
250 Class Championship Standings
1. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha, 461
2. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM, 459
3. Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Kawasaki, 310
4. Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna, 305
5. Jessy Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., KTM, 288
6. Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha, 287
7. Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha, 264
8. Shane McElrath, Canton, N.C., KTM, 228
9. Matt Bisceglia, Tualatin, Ore., Honda, 225
10. Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha, 221
