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MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 6 / JUNE 30, 2018 THE WICK 338 / SOUTHWICK, MASSACHUSETTS P60 iii My Own Race: 25 MARVIN MUSQUIN 1ST 450MX (2-1) Coming into Southwick, Marvin Musquin was already the only other racer, besides defend- ing champion Eli Tomac, to have won a moto in the 450MX class. Leaving Southwick, Mus- quin is now the only other racer besides Tomac to win a race overall. "Eli [Tomac] was faster than me in the second moto," Musquin said. "I was consistent, but the intensity wasn't quite there. I was riding smooth and I knew it was going to be a long moto. To be honest, I didn't have that intensity and I just tried to be smooth and consistent. Then he crashed once and I'm like, 'Okay, let's try to give it a run.' Still he was able to capitalize on me and pull a gap. It was hard, physically. Then he made another mistake, and it was so hot, I think two crashes like that really got him. I just stayed on two wheels. It's not always the fastest guy that wins, so we try to be consistent and be right there." 4 BLAKE BAGGETT 4TH 450MX (4-4) Blake Baggett had a solid day at Southwick, passing his way up to fourth place in both motos to finish fourth overall. "The Wick is always gnarly here and it's one of the most demanding tracks," Baggett said. "You're always fighting it here. You either have the flow or you don't. I got two good starts today and then just got shuffled back immediately. Just didn't have the speed that those guys had. But I gave it my best effort." 51 JUSTIN BARCIA 3RD 450MX (3-3) Justin Barcia was expected to be a contender at Southwick, where he won his very first MX National in the 250MX class back in 2009, but even after leading in the first moto, he didn't have the pace of Marvin Musquin or Eli Tomac. "It was a tough day. It was hot. The track was difficult," Barcia said. "I was fine-tuning all day trying to get up there with those guys, but I just couldn't do it. This track is brutal." 23 AARON PLESSINGER 5TH 250MX (3-7) Points leader Aaron Plessinger came from behind in the first moto to grab a solid third place. "I didn't qualify very good," Plessinger said. "I got, I think it was 11th gate pick, so didn't have the best gate pick. I just did what I could. I got pushed wide a little bit. Just held it on and didn't let these guys push me around too much. I just stayed on everybody. In the middle of the race, I kind of got a little break from people there, so I pushed as hard as I could. Caught Alex [Martin] and Austin [Forkner]. They were riding really good. Couldn't really get around them, but it was what it was." But in the second moto, Plessinger was off the pace, was running sixth until he was passed by teammate (and eventual winner) Dylan Ferrandis, and Joey Savatgy, then finished seventh after Forkner's crash late in the moto. 36 RJ HAMPSHIRE 4TH 250MX (7-3) Florida's RJ Hampshire held off Alex Martin at the line for third despite being a bit under the weather. "I had a big get-off last weekend and honestly this morning, we didn't know if we were racing," Hampshire said. "I didn't ride all week. No excuses. Man, we've been struggling a little bit with starts and I got that holeshot second moto. Didn't quite have the grip strength to hold on up front, but gave it all we had. Third in the second moto, that kind of feels like a win. We wanted that overall." 28 SHANE MCELRATH 3RD 250MX (6-2) Shane McElrath had high hopes coming off his first-ever AMA National overall win a week earlier in Tennessee. He nearly got the holeshot in both motos (but was edged out by Hampshire in the second one), and he held strong for third overall at Southwick. "It defi- nitely helped with the confidence," McElrath said. "I mean, we've made progress each week on the bike and think that really shows with my results. Just consistently getting better, but we've still been missing some pieces. So to end up with a podium today, that feels like a win. I struggled with the bike all day. To do a podium on what felt like a really bad day for me, it's really good."