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

Spring Creek, like many of the tracks on the American motocross circuit, never disappoints with great racing and a big crowd. So let's cut the small talk and dive straight into our picks for the best and the worst of the weekend.

250 Class

The Good: Mitchell Harrison | 8th Place

I'm not sure if you paid attention to Mitchell during the Supercross season, but it didn't go so well. He crashed nearly every time he was on the track and didn't have any eye-opening rides. Luckily, he's turned it around during the outdoor season and has put in some pretty impressive results. He's consistently placed between 10th-13th with the occasional top ten appearance, and he hasn't crashed nearly as much as he did during Supercross. That's some pretty good progress, and progress is all that Mitchell should be focused on considering he's a rookie. Look for him to be in the hunt for another top ten before the season is over.

The Bad: Joey Savatgy | 4th Place

The wheels have come off for Joey Savatgy. He had, for the most part, dominated the rest of the field leading into round six of the championship. Heck, it got to the point where I started to think about which single digit he would choose at the end of the season, but then it all came crashing down on top of him... Literally. His crash as RedBud was nasty, and I think he's still feeling some long term affects of it as he didn't seem himself at Spring Creek. He did look alright in practice and he was actually the fastest qualifier, but he seemed to get tired during the motos. Even if he didn't get tired, the Joey Savatgy that we saw at Spring Creek was not the same Joey Savatgy that we saw at Hangtown. It's a real shame too, because now the 250 championship is just as much of a snooze fest as the 450 title chase.

The Ugly: Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / KTM Team

Mitchell Oldenburg is the last man standing for the the Troy Lee Designs KTM team, and it's kind of ironic considering he wasn't even signed on to race the entire season until a couple of rounds in. And since he signed the contract extension he's been a solid top ten guy, but his 15th-place finish at Spring Creek was not what he or his team was hoping for. Everyone has an off weekend every once in a while, but I bet Mitchell is even more pissed than usual since he's the only rider left on the team. Luckily, Jessy Nelson should be back racing before the season is over, so Mitchell won't have all of the weight on his shoulders for much longer.

450 Class

The Good: Dean Wilson, Trey Canard, and James Stewart Return from Injury

We got a trio of returning riders this past weekend and all three of them found at least some success. Dean showed some speed before he got tired, Trey showed that no matter how many injuries he endures he'll still be one fast dude, and James finished his first moto of the season. Those are all wins in my book, and I'm pumped to have three more factory riders on the gate for the remainder of the season. Look for all three of them to keep improving over the coming weeks.

The Bad: Tyler Bowers | 18th Place

If you didn't know, the riders on Pro Circuit Kawasaki's roster are actually contracted to Kawasaki, not Mitch Payton, so it wasn't a big surprise when Monster Energy Kawasaki brought on Tyler Bowers as a fill-in rider. Unfortunately, it hasn't gone very well. Since coming onto the team at RedBud he's typically hovered around the 15th-19th place spot, which isn't that great considering he's on a factory Kawasaki and the field is pretty thin. Granted, he hasn't raced outdoors in a long time, but he should be much closer to the top ten than he has been. Perhaps we're starting to see why Mitch Payton didn't bring Tyler along for the outdoor season?

The Ugly: Weston Peick and Broc Tickle Crash Together

This will probably go down as one of the nastiest crashes of the season. Weston Peick got out of shape and shot out in front of Broc Tickle, who had no where else to go. Broc's bike hit Weston in the head and both went down pretty violently. The latest word is that both of them are alright and plan on lining up at Washougal, and that's great to hear because the last thing we need is a thinner 450 field. You can check out the crash here.