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/863949
VOL. 54 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 22, 2017 P57 the lead to Tomac. "I mean, right now, it's two motos to go, and then the pain and the misery's over," Baggett said. "It's motocross, and it's a fair playing field, so my bad for getting hurt, because I've just got to deal with what I've got. But I've got surgery scheduled, and I'm going to give these guys a run for their money, and fight them all as if everybody's an enemy, and just give it my best shot. I'm going to give it every- thing I have every time. I'm giving it my best shot, and we'll try to be there at the end!" The final round takes place next weekend in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Mountain ATV-MC KTM's Blake Baggett. Baggett already has the surgery scheduled to fix the torn tendon in his left thumb, and he's actually racing with Velcro helping to hold his left glove onto the grip, but he's putting up a fight whenever he can. In the first moto at Budds Creek, he frustrated Musquin something fierce, but could only manage fifth place with a late-race pass on Bisceglia. In moto two, Baggett found himself chasing and passing Bogle for the lead, but a couple of big mistakes caused Baggett to noticeably slow down, likely from the pain from his thumb, once he was forced to relinquish hot and dry, so it was tough on the bike and the body. It's good when you're winning, but when tough days happen, it's tough, but it's positive. It's a bummer on the start, but those guys rode really strong, and it was a tough track, so they rode really good. So congratulations to the guys, and there's just one more round to go. I don't even know where we are in the points, but we'll see where we are after Indiana." Regardless, Musquin still picked up two points on Baggett—who now sits two points ahead of him in the championship—and one point on Tomac. And then there's Rocky 30 MARTIN DAVALOS 12TH 450MX (3-38) For a little while in the first 450MX moto, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Martin Davalos was looking like he was about to take off and win his first-ever 450MX moto. He threw a massive scrub over the finish-line jump on the first lap to take the lead from Matt Bisceglia, and by the end of lap one, he already had over two seconds on Justin Bogle in second place. But he got really tight, arms pumped up, and had to relinquish the lead. He ended up third in the moto. "I'm having a blast," Davalos said. "I mean, to get a start and lead a couple laps in the 450 class is pretty amazing. I definitely rode a little tight at the beginning. It's quite different leading the 450 class, and I didn't want to push too hard and push my front end or slide out. I felt like I rode pretty good. Lappers got a little bit in the way at the end, but those guys were going awesome. It's pretty hot here today, and I love it, and hopefully the second moto I can get a good start and charge and challenge the guys." Unfortunately, in moto two, Davalos was struggling near the tail end of the top 10 when he dropped out of the moto about six laps in. 38 SHANE MCELRATH 3RD 250MX (4-3) TLD Red Bull KTM's Shane McElrath finally put two motos together. He's had a re- ally rough summer, but through hard work and persistence, he's finally put himself near the front of the pack. He finished a solid fourth in the first moto, then did one better in moto two to land his first outdoor overall podium of the year. "It feels like we've had way more lows than highs, but that's part of it," McElrath said. "This is my fourth year, and we're still learning, so it felt good to get good starts—that's what I've been lacking—and it's been just running my confidence into the ground. So, it felt good to get two good starts... I'm just thankful to be up here. We've had a long outdoor season to say the least, but it feels good to finally put two good motos together."