Steve Cox | August 19, 2017
2017 Budds Creek 450 MX Results: Coming into the penultimate round of the 2017 Lucas Oil/AMA 450cc Pro Motocross Championships at Maryland’s Budds Creek Raceway, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac was on a slide. Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin had won the previous six motos in succession, and Tomac had gone 2-5-2-2-10-5 during the same stretch.
It definitely wasn’t the same Eli Tomac that we had seen at round one, and in the middle of the series, and his points lead had dwindled as a result. Not dangerously so, but it had dwindled. As the series headed to its finale, the question was whether Tomac would be riding to “not lose” or riding to win.
In moto one, RCH Suzuki’s Matt Bisceglia grabbed yet another holeshot over Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos, and Bisceglia’s teammate Justin Bogle. Davalos took the lead over the finish-line jump a couple of turns into the race and looked to be setting sail out front while Bogle took over second in front of Honda’s Cole Seely.
Tomac found himself midpack off the start, pinballing between racers at the exit of turn one, and rounded lap one in 12th, while his closest title rival Blake Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM) sat sixth with Musquin right behind him.
2017 Budds Creek 450 MX Results
After pulling away in the early laps, Davalos ran into trouble on lap four and handed the lead to Bogle, who did his best to sprint away from the field just as he had done in moto one at Colorado earlier in the series. Behind them, Musquin was on the move, grabbing fourth on lap six, then chasing down Seely for third, and then Davalos for second with a handful of laps remaining. However, Musquin came up just short of Bogle at the finish, and Bogle landed his second moto victory of the year – and his career – with less than a second in hand over Musquin. Davalos hung on for a distant third in front of Seely, Baggett, Bisceglia (with his best result of the year), and Tomac in seventh, continuing his run of poor finishes.
2017 Budds Creek 450 MX Results
Bisceglia again grabbed the holeshot to start moto two, and again it was Bogle who led the early laps, this time in front of Baggett, AutoTrader/JGR Suzuki’s Weston Peick, Davalos’s teammate Dean Wilson, Tomac, Bisceglia, Seely, Musquin, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Chaparral Yamaha’s Cooper Webb, and Davalos.
Bogle held fast to the lead for the first few laps before Baggett found his way by, and then Baggett attempted to get away, but by then, Tomac – the old Tomac – was up to third. Tomac made quick work of Bogle, then did the same with Baggett before he took off with what seemed like an easy moto victory – his first since Southwick, four rounds earlier.
2017 Budds Creek 450 MX Results
Baggett hung on for second, and Bogle held on for third, securing his first-ever National MX overall victory, and podium, with a 1-3 score. Behind Bogle came Musquin in fourth, then Wilson, Peick, Webb, Seely and the rest of the field.
With one round remaining now, Tomac holds a 28-point lead over Baggett, and 30 over Musquin, which means that no matter what, if Tomac can manage to finish inside the top 10 in both motos in Crawfordsville, Indiana, next Saturday, he will be the new 450cc National Motocross Champion.
2017 Budds Creek 450 MX Results
2017 Budds Creek 450 MX Results
2017 Budds Creek 450 MX Results
2017 Budds Creek 450 MX Results
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