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MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 / AUGUST 15, 2020 LORETTA LYNN'S RANCH / HURRICANE MILLS, TENNESSEE P58 derson's 1-6 and Tomac's 7-2 for the overall victory. Another big question was answered on the day: Is Dylan Ferran- dis the real deal outdoors in 250MX? That turned out to be an easy one: yes, and with a capital Y. The Monster Energy/Star Racing Ya- maha rider clearly out-rode the other 39 riders on the gate, and he proved that he can get good starts, which isn't great news for his competitors. The Frenchman showed that he can lead from start to finish as well as come up through the pack, which is how he got things done at Loretta's en-route to a perfect 1-1 moto combo. And Jeremy Martin (Geico Honda) answered all questions about his back that he injured two years go; he is 100-percent healthy and back up to speed outdoors, his 2-3 demonstrating as much. He took third behind winner Ferrandis and second place finisher RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), who also revealed that his knee, which was recently operated on, is obviously good to go, as did Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) in the 450MX class. He is also returning from a knee injury and rode well with a 4-5. HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE Despite this being the first pro race held at the famed Loretta Lynn's track, which is normally used exclusively for amateur racing and designed for smaller bikes, most of the racers were familiar with the track, having raced on it many times while coming up through the ranks. Dylan Ferrandis, who had never raced on it before, dominated the 250MX class, but Adam Cianciaru- lo, who has accrued many amateur titles at Loretta's, said the track felt foreign to him. "The Loretta's track was nothing like I remember," Cian- ciarulo said. "I had zero sense of nostalgia out there. The track was ripped way deeper and you needed to ride so much harder than I ever did as an amateur here." Ciancia- rulo finished sixth in the first moto and crashed of the second, but was uninjured. BOGGED DOWN Unexpected heavy rain drenched the LL facility on Friday. Unfortu- nately, the track was ripped extra deep resulting in extremely muddy conditions and massively deep ruts. Many turns had five-plus lines and once you were in them, there was no going back. During practice, Tomac buried his motorcycle in the mud and spent most of Q2 extract- ing his motorcycle, was unable to lay down a good heater and ended up qualifying a distant seventh; Nick Gaines' motorcycle got stuck so badly it needed a tractor to pull it free. "The ruts were pretty crazy and each time you went out it felt like a Briefly...

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