View From the Infield: Never Trust The Man

Eli Tomac got away cleanly in the first moto, and after getting by Ken Roczen, he had smooth sailing.

Moto two was a completely different story for Eli, as Justin Barcia got the jump on him, came over, and forced Eli to back off. He had to work his way back from the midpack start to third, which was good for the overall.

Blake Baggett was fifth this week after starting around the top ten in both motos.

Privateer Jeremy Hand got a great start in moto one, and was running around the top five with some of the big dogs before slipping back into the pack later in the moto. It was fun to watch him run up there for a while.

A crash in moto one had Marvin Musquin battling back to fifth from midpack.

Once he got out front in moto one, this was the view everyone had of Eli Tomac.

Once again, Ken Roczen spent some time up front, this time in moto one. If you get a chance to catch him in practice session or a during a race, try and pay attention to the sound of the bike. It's really interesting to listen to how smoothly he's working the throttle on his Honda, in an effort to save energy.

Kyle Cunningham was in the top ten again this week.

Benny Bloss seemed off his recent pace in the results, and went 9-8 for ninth. The Bomber uphill triple jump was as spectacular as usual...just don't come up short.

Dylan Merriam was 12th this week. This is the year to be a 450 privateer.

Justin Hill and Phil Nicoletti were seventh and eighth respectively in the 450 class this week.

Justin Barcia kept the pressure on Eli Tomac in moto one and was second in moto two as well.

Marvin Musquin grabbed a comfortable win in the second moto, and changed up his usual heel-clicker celebration in favor of a double shaka over the finish line jump

Eli Tomac was getting a kick out of the boisterous crowd at the podium.

After taking the overall at High Point, the first moto start was the highlight of his day in Muddy Creek. Crashes hampered his effort, and led to a 9-5 day. Despite his bad day, right now he effectively has a 29-point lead in the series. Jeremy Martin's still second in points, but will be out for the rest of the season due to the crash he suffered in the second moto. Alex Martin is next in line.

As you can see behind Justin Cooper, there were some big clouds around, but the storms that were forecast in the week leading to the race never really showed up.

Muddy Creek was really unkind to the Martin brothers. Alex Martin had this big get-off while running second behind his brother in moto one. Unfortunately, he had another crash in moto two while leading a moto that he probably should have won.

$Jeremy Martin rebounded from a second moto DNF from the week before in the best way possible...by going out and railing to a first moto win. Unfortunately, he came together with Justin Cooper in moto two, and the resulting crash left him with a burst fracture of the L1 vertebrae. He's already scheduled for a surgical repair, and we're hoping the best for a full recovery.$

Somewhere behind all that roost is RJ Hampshire. He was fourth in moto one, and 19th in moto two, for 12th on the day. Topsy-turvy results were pretty much the norm.

No moto wins, but still capture the overall? Yep, that's how it worked out for Shane McElrath.

The 250s head toward the first turn in moto two. Dylan Ferrandis and Sean Cantrell had the early jump, while Alex Martin was railling around from the outside.

A fifth in moto one was the best showing of the day for the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki guys. Check out the pit board traffic jam.

A crash in moto two didn't help Shane McElrath's cause, but he was able to work his way to second, which was good for the overall.

Chase Sexton had quite a turnaround from the problems of the previous weekend, and his 8-4 score was good for third overall. During the motos there was a lot of calculating going on in the mechanic's area.

Ryan Sipes' 125 experiment finished up with a 25-21 day...just short of the points. This was maybe the toughest track so far this season for a 125, as it was a little deeper than the previous rounds. It sounds like Ryan will get three more chances (but on a 450) in the upcoming rounds.

We were torn on seeing Dylan Ferrandis score a moto win. Pumped for him, and a little gutted for Alex Martin, who looked like he had one in the bag until crashing in the corner after the finish line with a couple laps to go.

Oh yeah, Shane McElrath was pumped on winning in front of the home crowd.

This was a very different look to the 250 podium than the previous rounds this season. As competitive as the class is this season, we'd expect some other different combos throughout the season.

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View From the Infield: Never Trust The Man 2

Well, the weatherman, that is. The forecasts leading up to the Muddy Creek National were dire. What we got instead was a great day for racing, and a bad day for the Martin brothers.

View replies to: View From the Infield: Never Trust The Man

View From the Infield: Never Trust The Man 2

Well, the weatherman, that is. The forecasts leading up to the Muddy Creek National were dire. What we got instead was a great day for racing, and a bad day for the Martin brothers.

View replies to: View From the Infield: Never Trust The Man

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