VOL. 55 ISSUE 34 AUGUST 28, 2018 P49
caught Chad Reed in eighth, Tomac seemed con-
tent to hang there in ninth and collect his title.
And in the 250MX class, Aaron Plessinger
(Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Ya-
maha) seemed like the only guy on the track, in
either class, actually having fun in the mud. With
the pressure of winning his first National Cham-
pionship being released after the first moto a
week earlier at Budds Creek, Plessinger got to
ride at the finale with absolutely no pressure. The
result? His fifth 1-1 of the season.
450MX
Coming into the championship finale at Ironman
Raceway in Indiana, the odds of Musquin making
up 21 points on Tomac were very slim. But once
the rain started falling, those odds became a bit
less slim, considering Musquin won the muddy
Unadilla MX National overall a few weeks ago.
Yamaha privateer Dylan Merriam got the hole-
shot in the first moto—the second time he's done
that in a mud race this year, as he grabbed the
moto-one holeshot at Unadilla as well. Merriam
just held off Chad Reed, who nearly snatched
the holeshot in his one-off race for the AutoTrad-
er/Yoshimura Suzuki Team. Merriam soon gave
way to Justin Barcia (Monster Energy Yamaha),
Phil Nicoletti (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna),
Reed, and Tomac. Merriam ended up with a
couple of falls in the first few laps and his moto
ended on lap four.
Nicoletti took the lead from Barcia and led for
a few laps before Barcia found his way back by,
eventually winning the moto over Tomac, Ken
Roczen (Honda HRC), Musquin, Reed and Ni-
coletti. Musquin's late-race push to fourth place
cost him four points to Tomac, which meant
Tomac led the points by 24 going into the final
moto of the year.
To win the title, Musquin had to win the final
moto of the year, and Tomac had to fail to score
any points whatsoever. Reed got the holeshot
in the second moto, but Barcia immediately
moved up into the lead with Roczen and Reed
