Good, Bad, 'n Ugly: Fox Raceway 2

Welcome to the Good, Bad 'n Ugly from Fox Raceway 2! It's the twelfth and final round of 2022 AMA Pro Motocross season and we're here to give you our thoughts on who did good, who did...well, Bad and who had a day to forget forever (the Ugly). Staff member Grant Dawson is sharing his thoughts this weekend.

Do you agree with our picks and opinions, or do you have thoughts that differ? Let us know in the comment section below.

250 Motocross Class

The Good | Marvin Musquin - 7th Place Overall

I'm not sure if Marvin was satisfied with his finish on Saturday, but he darn sure should be. He hadn't raced all summer, and the one race he signed up for at the end of the summer ended up having some brutal weather and track conditions. I think if he had a full season on a 250 he'd legit be a title contender against the young guns, but that'll never happen at this point in his career. The main reason why he suited up for Fox Raceway was to get some seat time on the 250 in race conditions since he'll race the bike at this year's Motocross of Nations. The field at this year's MXoN looks pretty strong, but Marvin should be in the mix for the MX2 class victory. 

The Bad | Hunter Lawrence - 4th Place Overall

Besides the title battle between Eli Tomac and Chase Sexton in the 450 class, Hunter Lawrence and Jo Shimoda was the most exciting battle heading into the weekend as Lawrence had a shot at unseating Shimoda for second in the 250 standings. What transpired was the most controversial incident of the weekend. Lawrence found himself behind Shimoda in moto one and he was close enough to start applying some pressure. However, he ended up pinning it down one of the hills and he absolutely destroyed Shimoda. Lawrence was able to stay upright and continued on, but Shimoda hit the ground pretty hard and looked to have hurt his shoulder. He did remount and tough it out to finish the race, though. Shimoda was pretty angry about the move at the end of the day, and I don't think any of us blame him. I will say that I don't think Lawrence meant to hit Shimoda as hard as he did, but the way he sent it down that hill was reckless to say the least. I think the move also surprised a lot of us because of Shimoda's friendship with the Lawrence brothers, but at the end of the day friendships don't matter when the gate drops. I was also surprised when Lawrence declined to apologize to Shimoda about the incident, but I guess he truly believed it to be a racing incident. I'm glad that Shimoda didn't appear to be seriously injured, as he is set to race for Japan in this month's Motocross of Nations, and it would have been an even worse look for Lawrence if he caused Shimoda to miss the event. The funny part about this whole ordeal is that Lawrence didn't even pass Shimoda for second in the standings! Lawrence got a bad start in moto two while an angry Shimoda went out and won the race. The good news is that the off season will give these two some time away from each other, because I imagine things are going to be awkward between the two of them for a while. 

The Ugly | The Season is Over

It's always a little bittersweet when the off season finally arrives. On the bright side, it gives the riders a chance to get fully healthy, and we do have quite an impressive slate of off season races this year. However, this was an extremely exciting summer of racing and I wish it wasn't coming to an end. Our attention now turns to the Motocross of Nations at RedBud, in which Team USA will field what I would argue is their strongest team in several years. 

450 Motocross Class

The Good | Eli Tomac - 1st Place Overall

We got exactly what we were hoping for at Fox Raceway. This has been the greatest championship battle I've witnessed since I started working for Vital back in 2015, and the finale left no doubts as to who deserved this title. Tomac and Sexton both started up front in the first moto, and we all watched with sweaty palms as Tomac stalked Sexton for the majority of the moto before making a move on him and riding perfect the rest of the way to extend his points lead. The second moto saw Sexton implode while Tomac picked his way through the field and took a comfortable win to secure his fourth 450 outdoor title. In the end, Tomac was able to do a better job at holding it together mentally through the heat and treacherous track conditions, but Sexton shouldn't hang his head in disappointment. He did crash three times in the second moto, but the last two crashes occurred purely because he was going all out with nothing to lose. The first crash did appear to be a result of him trying to keep tabs on where Tomac was, but I can't really fault him for trying to get a glimpse of where Tomac was in the pack. Sexton took a huge step forward this summer and he nearly beat one of the greatest riders of this era for the title. There's no reason why we shouldn't expect for him to battle for many outdoor titles in the future. As for Tomac, he already had a hall of fame resume, but this year he cemented his legacy as he claimed both Supercross and motocross titles in his first year with Yamaha. He will race Supercross next year, but then I think we're gonna see Tomac ride off into the Colorado sunset. 

The Bad | Ken Roczen - 9th Place Overall

I can't say I was surprised to see Kenny struggle at Fox Raceway given the high temperatures that were forecasted, but it put a cap on a season that had its ups and downs for him. He did make it all the way through the season, which was great to see, but his results did decline as the season progressed and I think it's safe to say his days as a title contender are behind him. We'll always wonder how his career would have progressed had he never sustained that brutal arm injury, but at least he seems content with where he is in his career and his personal life. It will be interesting to see if he continues on with Honda, or if we see him head to a different team for a change of scenery. I mean, it did work out rather well for Eli Tomac. 

The Ugly | Dylan Ferrandis - DNS

I've decided to give Dylan Ferrandis a mention this week purely because it sounds like his incident with Justin Barcia at Budds Creek has lead to him having issues with his back, and as a result they're not 100% sure if he'll be able to race the Motocross of Nations. This would be a huge loss for Team France and the event as a whole. I get why Ferrandis decided to race some rounds even though he had no chance at defending his title, but now he finds himself recovering from an injury once again. Hopefully, some more positive news will be posted by the Yamaha camp soon and we'll see him line up at the MXoN.