Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/720681
MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 12 / AUGUST 27, 2016 IRONMAN RACEWAY / CRAWFORDSVILLE, INDIANA P68 450MX In the 450MX class at the 2016 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship finale, there were a few storylines to watch. First, the Ironman MX National marked the end of Andrew Short's career—a career that spanned 15 seasons of professional racing. Next, there were plenty of racers who were hoping to end the season on a high note. Justin Barcia was coming off of a season-best 3-3 finish a week prior at Budds Creek; Eli Tomac was hoping to put a stop to Ken Roczen at the end of the series; the Red Bull KTM duo of Marvin Musquin and Dean Wilson were both trying to end their seasons on high notes, which, for Mus- quin, would've required a win, and for Wilson would've required finishing fourth or better, as he had finished fifth in three con- secutive motos coming into the finale; for Jason Anderson, the Ironman MX National was simply a chance to see how competi- tive he could be, since he had missed seven races in a row with an injury, and is scheduled to represent Team USA in only a few weeks; for rookie Benny Bloss and JGR's Phil Nicoletti, they both wanted to finish inside the top five in points; and for newly crowned 450MX National Champion Ken Roczen, he ap- proached the season finale just like he approached every single moto this season—simply want- ing to win. In moto one, Roczen did as he usually does, snatching the early lead and simply checking out. He fought it out for the first few turns with AutoTrader.com/ Monster Energy/JGR Yamaha teammates Justin Barcia and Phil Nicoletti, then off he went. Bar- cia settled into second in front of Nicoletti, BTOSports.com KTM's Benny Bloss, Red Bull KTM's Marvin Musquin, Monster En- ergy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac, Bar- cia's teammate Weston Peick, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Jason Anderson, Red Bull KTM's Dean Wilson, Yoshimura Suzuki fill-in rider Matt Bisceglia, and Bloss's teammate Short. Tomac's forward progress was hurt by a crash, but he still man- aged to find his way by Musquin for third around the halfway point. By then, Roczen and Barcia were way too far-gone. Roczen won, his 19th moto of the year over Barcia, Tomac, Musquin, Anderson, Nicoletti, Bloss, Peick, Freddy Noren, and Wilson. Andrew Short's day began to go bad on the line for the final moto, as his team scrambled to fix/change his KTM-prototype rear air-shock. It caused Short to miss the sighting lap, but his bike was up and running long enough for Short to snatch the holeshot in the second moto before dropping out a lap later as his shock continued to sag. "It's kind of awkward, espe- cially how it all went down, but I've been really fortunate to be involved with KTM for a while, and part of my deal is as a de- velopment rider, so we run some parts that are, umm, they're not 'off the shelf,'" Short explained. "So we obviously had a shock is- sue. But I've been really pumped to be involved and meet a lot of Ken Roczen didn't have to win but he did anyway.