Steve Cox | August 18, 2018
2018 Budds Creek 450cc National MX Results: It was a weird day for Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac at Budds Creek. He seemed to be a little bit off the pace in the first moto, and even part of the second moto, but then caught fire as only Tomac can. As the heat wore his competitors down, Tomac began spinning some incredible laps to chase down the leaders and take the overall.
In the first moto, Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin got the holeshot, but Honda’s Ken Roczen immediately snuck by the KTM pilot to take the lead over Musquin, Monster Energy Yamaha’s Justin Barcia and returning 2018 SX champ Jason Anderson while Tomac worked his way up from about 15th off the start.
2018 Budds Creek 450cc National MX Results
Late in the moto, Roczen came under pressure from Musquin, but a mistake for Musquin when the pair got the two-to-go sign gave Roczen some breathing room and caused Musquin to save whatever he had left for moto two. Roczen ended up winning the moto over Musquin while Tomac ended up third after it took him five laps to get around Barcia through the middle of the moto. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Anderson and Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM’s Blake Baggett rounded out the top five, both passing Barcia in the closing laps. Barcia was sixth.
Anderson’s teammate Phil Nicoletti got the holeshot in moto two (Anderson did not start) but was immediately relegated to fourth as Barcia took the lead in front of Musquin and Roczen, and then Musquin snuck by Barcia for the lead soon thereafter. Baggett and Tomac each pushed Nicoletti back a spot after a few laps while Roczen finally found a way around Barcia for second, and things settled that way for a few laps until Tomac caught fire, first going around Baggett for fourth, and then having Barcia gift him third when he washed out in a turn (remounting sixth).
2018 Budds Creek 450cc National MX Results
As if he were riding on a different track altogether, Tomac caught and passed Musquin in barely over a lap, putting in laptimes between 2:07 and 2:09 while Musquin and Roczen were circulating in the 2:11s and 2:12s. With that kind of closing speed, neither Musquin nor Roczen had much time to even know Tomac was there, much less try and prevent a pass. Tomac took the lead with a handful of laps to go, and just as things seemed to be calming down, Baggett caught fire. With five laps to go, Baggett passed first Musquin and then Roczen in consecutive laps to take over second, then put in the race’s only lap in the 2:06s with two laps to go in the race to get close to Tomac.
But it was too little, too late, as Tomac took the win over Baggett, Roczen, Musquin and Barcia, who made a last-lap pass on Nicoletti to steal the top-five finish away.
2018 Budds Creek 450cc National MX Results
Thanks in part to Baggett’s late-race performance in moto two, Tomac took the overall over Roczen and Musquin, while Baggett was fourth on the day.
Tomac now carries a 20-point lead into the Ironman finale, which means he has to score a minimum of 30 points to take home the title if Musquin manages to win both motos. That calculates to about a 6-6 day in Indiana.
2018 Budds Creek 450cc National MX Results
2018 Budds Creek 450cc National MX Results
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