RedBud Motocross - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Motocross Feature

The RedBud Motocross National marked the midway point of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, and it provided us with an insane crowd and some great racing. So let's jump straight into our picks for the best and the worst of the weekend.

250 Class

The Good: Adam Cianciarulo | 6th Place

RedBud was a step in the right direction for Adam. He didn't crash and put in two solid moto results, which is something every AC fan should be satisfied with. Now I didn't say that he's completely satisfied with sixth overall, because he would like to win a race just like every other rider out there. But this is a building year for Adam, and he shouldn't be too concerned about a moto win. Getting solid results is all he needs to focus on right now, podiums will come as he gets more and more comfortable with running up front.

The Bad: Joey Savatgy | 7th Place

What's up with Joey and crashing multiple times in the second moto? He crashed two times during the second moto at Muddy Creek, and then he did the same at RedBud. One of his crashes at RedBud was nasty, too. (You can watch it here) The worst part of it all is that he lost the points lead to Cooper Webb, and he's got a lot of work to do if he wants to get back into the championship chase. All we can hope is that he came away from his big crash at RedBud without any injuries, and that he comes out swinging at Southwick...because the last thing we need is the 250 championship becoming a snooze-fest.

The Ugly: GEICO Honda

The GEICO Honda team is down to only two riders who are healthy, Jordon Smith and RJ Hampshire, and neither of them landed inside the top ten overall at RedBud. That's definitely not what the team was looking for, but every team has an off day or two during the motocross season. Plus if we're being completely honest, it was only a matter of time before GEICO Honda had a day they'd rather forget. Jordon and RJ may be a couple of very fast riders, but they haven't shown an ounce of consistency in their young careers. They'll do great one week, and then they'll do mediocre the following week. It's just something that they will have to figure out over time. Luckily, the team is bringing in veteran rider Jimmy Decotis for the upcoming Southwick National, and I'm sure they're hoping that having three riders on the roster will keep weekend's like this past one to a minimum for the rest of the season. Look for the team to be back inside the top ten this weekend at Southwick.

450 Class

The Good: Broc Tickle | 3rd Place

Broc may be the biggest surprise of the summer. He's always been fast and consistent, but I sure didn't expect him to grab his second podium of the year at RedBud. He didn't luck into the podium either, as he rode very well and beat Justin Barcia straight up for third overall. One thing to note is that Broc is in a contract year, so every time he's on the overall podium it raises his free agent stock a little bit. And if he keeps this podium streak up, he should have a couple of nice offers in his mailbox by the end of the season.

The Bad: Marvin Musquin | 5th Place

Is fifth place a bad result for most of the riders out there? Not at all, but with several of the top riders out with injuries I was expecting more out of Marvin. Not to say he hasn't been good, he did have an overall podium at High Point after all, but at most of the rounds he's just been hanging around the fifth to tenth spot. I think the biggest problem is his starts. He's generally started well outside the top five and he's even had a few starts outside of the top 20. The field may be shrinking nearly every week due to riders getting injured, but Marvin still can't start outside the top 20 and expect to cruise to a podium finish. So if he can figure out the starts, I think we'll see Marvin on the overall podium a few more times before the season is over.

The Ugly: Kyle Chisholm | 29th Place

This year has not been kind to Kyle. He missed most of the Supercross season due to a shoulder injury and still wasn't 100% when the when the motocross season started, but I figured he'd be healthy enough by the midway point of the season to score points in almost every moto. Unfortunately that hasn't happened, and my only guess is that his shoulder is taking much longer to heal than he anticipated. Granted, he did score a few points in the rounds leading up to RedBud, so he's definitely made some progress, but a couple of 17th-place finishes and a 20th is not where he wants to be. I hope he continues to feel better every week and scores a couple of top 15 finishes by the end of the season.