Budds Creek Motocross - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Motocross Feature

With one round left, both championships are already done and dusted. Cooper Webb is your 250 champ, and Ken Roczen is your 450 champ. It's a shame that we didn't get to see at least one of the championships go down to the wire, but the fact that they both wrapped it up a round early shows just how dominate they really were. Anyway, while the big news of the weekend was the championships that were wrapped up, we have plenty of other things to talk about as well. So let's dive straight into our picks for the best and the worst of Budds Creek.

250 Class

The Good: Zach Osborne | 1st Place

Zach Osborne was the last guy I was expecting to go out and win Budds Creek. He'd only notched one moto win the entire season, his track record isn't great at Budds Creek, and he had three DNF's in-a-row leading into this past weekend. So yes, I was pretty surprised when he caught fire in the second moto and made his way to the lead. Anyway, this is a big step in the right direction for both Zach and his team. Zach finally got an overall win in America, and the team scored its first outdoor victory since switching to Husqvarna. Hopefully they decide to re-sign Zach to their 250 squad for 2017, because I'd like to see him get one more shot at indoor and outdoor titles.

The Bad: Joey Savatgy | 9th Place

Well shucks, what's the deal with Joey? Budds Creek was the second round in-a-row that he pulled out of the second moto due to what I can only imagine is heat exhaustion. The only other explanation would be that he has either an injury that he hasn't told anyone about, or some kind of sickness that is limiting how much his body can take. We'll probably never know, but it's just weird when he says "Bring on the heat." and then pulls out of the moto when it gets pretty hot and humid. Nonetheless, it's been a pretty crappy season for Joey ever since his crash at RedBud, but luckily he'll be returning to the 250 class next year with Monster Energy / Pro Circuit Kawasaki to give it another shot.

The Ugly: Jordon Smith | 32nd Place

Budds Creek was a rough one for Jordon. Check that, the entire year has been pretty rough for Jordon. He's shown flashes of speed, and he looked great at Hangtown, but for most of the season he's been pretty darn inconsistent. So at this point, he's probably ready to get to the off-season so he can test out the new bike (he's leaving GEICO Honda) and start fresh. But we still have one round before he can start over, so let's hope that he keeps it on two wheels for both motos at Indiana and ends the season on a high note.

450 Class

The Good: Ken Roczen | 1st Place

Ken was a level above everyone else this year, and he proved once again that he's the fastest 450 outdoor rider in the United States. It'd be awesome to see him race one of the USGP's and then the Motocross of Nations in a month or so, but unfortunately we probably won't see him again until October due to a team switch. Oh yeah, if you haven't watched the video of Ken's Budds Creek post-race press conference video, you can check it out here.

The Good Bonus: Freddie Noren | 7th Place

Fast Freddie Noren has been pretty dang quick since getting the fill-in ride at Team HRC Honda, and his rapid increase in performance shows how much of a difference there really is between a satellite team's bike and a factory team's bike. Before he got the bump up to the factory team, he was finishing around 10th-to-15th at each round. But in the two rounds since getting bumped to the factory team, he's gotten a sixth and a seventh. That's pretty impressive, and I expect for him to continue that top-10 streak this coming weekend in Indiana.

The Bad: Weston Peick | 13th Place

At this point in the season, I've finally shied away from putting Weston on my fantasy team. I stuck with him for so long, but his crashes and mechanical issues seem to be endless. One week he'll put in a great top-five result, and then the next week he'll crash out of a moto or have a mechanical issue. Inconsistency has been the name of the game for Weston this year, and I'd bet that he's another guy who's pretty happy that the season is over in one week so he can get a fresh start.

The Ugly: Kyle Chisholm | 15th Place

I figured Kyle would be inside or around the top-10 by the end of the season, but I was clearly wrong. Yes, he came into the season underprepared, and he has improved immensely since the first couple of rounds, but he's one of those guys that should generally be around 10th place. I'm not sure if he's still not 100% or if it's the bike, but hopefully he gets a couple of good starts and finishes out the season strong at Iron Man.