long. He was the fastest qualifier
in both of the timed sessions,
and then ran off from everyone
else for the first two-moto sweep
of his professional career. He
also completely flipped the
points table in this class, turning
a three-point deficit on Justin
Cooper into an 11-point lead
with just four motos to go in the
championship. Lawrence will
wear the red plate going into this
weekend's return to Fox Race-
way in Pala, California, where
Lawrence has won the last two
times the series visited there.
Ironman Raceway, which
has been on the AMA schedule
since 2014, was packed with
fans on a very warm and muggy
day. A rainstorm that had threat-
ened on Friday evening passed
without any precipitation, mak-
ing for a fast track that got very
rough by the day's end.
For Tomac, the Ironman over-
all ended a long losing streak
in the outdoors that stretches
back to the penultimate round of
2020, when the four-time series
champion topped Thunder Valley
in Colorado. With the veteran set
to depart the team at the con-
clusion of this season, the win
was a nice parting gift after an
otherwise winless summer.
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 35 AUGUST 31, 2021 P67
MUSQUIN, ANSTIE
TEST POSITIVE
Like a lot of other things over these
past 18 months, Covid-19 had an
invisible but obvious presence at the
Ironman National. First, Twisted Tea
Suzuki's Max Anstie announced
via social media that he had tested
positive for the virus and had to skip
the race. "Felt good all week but
now I feel like I've been run over by
a bus," he said. Next, on Saturday
morning Red Bull KTM's Marvin
Musquin told his team he didn't feel
good and decided to go get tested.
The Frenchman tested positive and
also pulled out, leaving the facility
to head home to Florida before the
motos even started.
LANGSTON QUITS NBC
BROADCAST TEAM
There was also the strange turn of
events earlier in the week in which
NBC/MavTV color commentator
Grant Langston announced on
Instagram that he was quitting the
broadcast team, effective immedi-
ately, because he had been asked
by the TV production team to get
tested after an outbreak among the
crew after last weekend's Budds
Creek round, and to stay home this
weekend no matter what if he had
not been vaccinated, self-quaran-
tine, then come back for the last two
rounds if he tested negative. Langs-
ton, who had mentioned earlier this
year that this would likely be his
last season after eight years on the
show, decided to quit early. He was
not told he had to get vaccinated
by the TV production company, as
many speculated, but still decided to
end his season early. Former multi-
time champion and longtime color
Briefly...
(Top) Dylan Ferrandis (14) won the first
moto and took second overall. He's
now poised to win his first AMA 450MX
Championship. (Bottom) Cooper Webb
(2) finished the day on the 450MX
podium for the first time this year.
