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/842139
VOL. 54 ISSUE 25 JUNE 27, 2017 P65 Monster Energy Kawasaki's Josh Grant went down hard in practice at Muddy Creek, injuring his shoulder. He was forced to sit out Muddy Creek, and his return at this point is day-to-day. As a result, he dropped from eighth to 10th in the 450MX standings. AutoTrader/JGR/Toyota Suzuki's Justin Barcia hit his head at High Point a week before the race at Muddy Creek and had to sit High Point out, but he made it back and passed the concussion proto- cols prior to Muddy Creek. Barcia matched his best moto result of the season with fifth in the first moto, but didn't feel like it was as good as it seemed. "I didn't feel like [I was going that fast] out there," Barcia said. "I had a little concussion last week, and my doctors and every- thing, we did a lot of work to get me back out here this weekend. But I'm not feeling so good today. I don't know how I rode that good, because I feel like death right now." Barcia was 10th in moto two. Red Bull KTM's Marvin Musquin has been dealing with an injured knee since the last round at High Point, and while running eighth in the second 450MX moto at Muddy Creek, he motioned to a problem on the right side of his handlebars, and then ended up pulling into the pits and retiring from the moto. Evidently, a rock hit his front-brake caliper and he was without a front brake, so he dropped out of the moto. "I ended up with a DNF in the second moto, which was disappointing," Musquin said. "I had a problem because a rock hit the brake. Overall it was a bit better than last week regarding the feeling in my knee, but it's still difficult. I was able to practice pretty well over the week, so that's what I'm going to try and do again next week. I'm going to keep working and will try to get better and stronger. It's tough because I'm losing points in the championship, but it's mainly about me getting better." Jason Anderson's trademark is that he never riders with his jersey tucked in. At Muddy Creek, he ex- plained why. "To be honest, when I was younger, I used to not even tuck my jersey in," Anderson said. "And then I remember I was riding Suzu- kis whenever I started being pro, and Dungey was at the test track, and he told me I look like a goon, so I tucked in the front and left the back still. I don't know. I want to run my whole jersey out! It's just kind of my style." Blake Baggett talked about the comments he made about title rival Eli Tomac following his win at Colo- rado. He downplayed those com- ments at Muddy Creek. "I mean, I'm just who I am, and I'm just having fun with it," Baggett said. "We're all still kids—25, most of us under 25—and we're out here doing what we love to do. So, everybody at home who rides a dirt bike on the weekend, we're doing their dream job riding dirt bikes for a living, and we've been racing these guys for a long time, so I'm just trying to have fun with it and trying to win races." Honda's Cole Seely was running inside the top 10 in the first 450MX moto, but came together with another rider and went down hard. He thought about lining up for moto two, but he still didn't feel up to it. "My start was pretty good and was hoping to charge forward," Seely said, "but after going down we felt it best to sit out and play it safe. I'll be back for sure next weekend. I always enjoy RedBud." Trey Canard has been back on a bike for a couple weeks and he decided a few days before the race at Muddy Creek that he might as well get back to racing. He qualified fourth, which was good, but match- ing the race pace for 30 plus two was a different story. "I wasn't even planning on coming to this race until Tuesday, so it's been kind of a whirl- wind of a week," Canard said. "I was so happy to be back at the races. There were some good things to write home about. I qualified well and got good starts. I had some good moments in the motos, but there's no way to anticipate that race pace. I did better with it the second moto, but didn't have much left for the end. All-in-all, I'm happy and I feel like I'll have a bit more anticipa- tion going into next week. Hopefully I'll be able to build some momentum in the next few weeks." Briefly...