MOTOCROSS
LUCAS OIL/AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS
ROUND 9 / JULY 29, 2017
WASHOUGAL, WASHINGTON / WASHOUGAL RACEWAY
P58
podium finish, and that gave him
his first overall podium finish in
the 450MX class, and the first
podium finish outdoors in either
class since 2008.
"It means the world to me,"
Davalos said. "I've worked so
hard, and finally Rockstar Ener-
gy Husqvarna put a bike togeth-
er for me on the 450. I believed
I can ride the bike really good,
and it's been improving every
weekend. I want to thank them
for giving me the opportunity. I'm
just so grateful for this day, to be
alive and to experience this. This
is just amazing."
In the first moto at Washou-
gal, he started near the front
(second) and then lost a spot to
Tomac, and then a spot to Hon-
da's Cole Seely, but matched his
career-best 450MX moto finish
in fourth.
In the second moto, true to
form, Davalos improved. He led
for the first few laps, but then
held strong after he was passed
by eventual winner Musquin and
points leader Tomac.
Late in the moto, Seely tried
to take a run at Davalos, but he
just couldn't eat into his lead.
Davalos landed his first moto
the rest of the series, he'll need
Tomac to average 16 points per
race—or fifth place—in order to
win the title.
But probably the biggest story
of the Washougal MX National
was Davalos. The veteran racer
made is pro debut in 2006 and
has spent most of his career
in the 250cc class. He asked
his team to let him race a 450
outdoors, and they decided to let
him do it. Davalos was never re-
ally known as an outdoor special-
ist in the first place, but through-
out the 2017 450MX Nationals,
he has steadily improved.
