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MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 12 / AUGUST 26, 2017 CRAWFORDSVILLE, INDIANA / IRONMAN MX P66 With Trey Canard's retirement from racing, Red Bull KTM GP star Jef- frey Herlings got to test his machine prior to deciding whether or not to race in Indiana. AMA-spec motor- cycles are different, especially in regard to the engines. "It's pretty dif- ferent," Herlings said. "At home, we run different fuel, different pipe, the engine's a bit different, and only one day to adjust, so when we flew here, we knew we were like, 'We're going to test and check it out,' and that's what we did. We managed to get a pretty decent bike for the weekend. Maybe it's not top-top for me, but we'll make the best of the situation." Herlings figured he may as well give the AMA race a shot, as he's 101 points behind teammate Antonio Cairoli for the MXGP championship with only three rounds left to run. "I was here anyhow," Herlings said. "I was here in the U.S. in Florida to train with Aldon Baker, so I was actually going to prepare for the last [MXGP] rounds—in the U.S. for the race next weekend, and then we have two more after that—but as my champion- ship hopes were kind of gone with a DNF at the last round in Sweden, we decided to go race here. I've always been excited about racing in Ameri- ca, so to be able to finally get to do it is pretty amazing." The Rocky Mountain ATV-MC KTM team tried something different to help Blake Baggett hang on to his mo- torcycle at the finale with his injured thumb, spraying some tacky spray on the throttle grip and the palm of his right glove to assist him in hang- ing on. With one moto to go on the day, asked if he had it in him to really let 'er rip, he said no. "I mean, one moto, but at the same time, I only have so much strength in my hand, so my riding's limited," Baggett said. "When I want to send it and make something heroic happen, I really just don't have the strength to do it, so I'm trying to ride smart, keep it on two wheels, and do the best I can." Baggett is having surgery on his in- jured thumb on Tuesday following the finale and will be back for the AMA Supercross season. Zach Osborne credited not just his team but his trainer and training part- ners for his two 2017 championships. "I'd have to say my program change and moving my whole entire family to Florida to train with Aldon Baker and ride with the three guys I ride with; I used to ride with Ryan [Dungey, and still ride with] Jason [Anderson] and Marvin [Musquin]," Osborne said. "I have a lot to thank them for, but I also put the work in myself. It's a hard program, and not many people can swing it, but I'm grateful to say that I've done well and I owe a lot of this to Aldon, and also to my team Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing. We've had a great season, zero failures, and the bike's been amazing. I can't thank them enough. We finally got our starts figured out this weekend and put it at the front, and it was so much easier [laughs]. It sucks that I've had to battle from behind all season until now." Adam Cianciarulo collided with Jeremy Martin to take the lead in the opening moto, and Martin hit the deck pretty hard. AC was incred- ibly apologetic afterward. "I passed Zach—I capitalized on a little mistake from him early—and I knew if I wanted to get out front and I wanted to win that moto, I was going to have to make something happen," Cianciaru- lo said. "So I went around the outside in that S section, and we were kind of side-by-side, and we went through the rollers, and I went outside and actually hit the edge of the berm, and the berm kind of cuts back on the double a little bit, and I hit that and bounced back to the right, and he didn't check up, so we unfortunately collided. I would never, ever in my life intentionally cross-jump somebody. That is the absolute worst thing. Anybody that's had it done to them before knows that's a big no-no, and racing etiquette tells you never to do that. I hope he's all right. I saw he got up and got eighth, and I know he'll be back up there the next moto. Other than that, sorry man, and bet- ter luck next time." 450 MX 1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 1-1 2. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 2-2 3. Blake Baggett (LTM) 3-3 4. Cole Seely (Hon) 4-4 5. Cooper Webb (Yam) 6-5 6. Eli Tomac (Kaw) 5-6 7. Weston Peick (Suz) 7-8 8. Christian Craig (Hon) 9-7 9. Justin Bogle (Suz) 11-9 10. Dean Wilson (Hus) 12-10 250MX 1. Zach Osborne (Hus) 1-1 2. Adam Cianciarulo (Kaw) 2-2 3. Colt Nichols (Yam) 3-4 4. Jeremy Martin (Hon) 8-3 5. Mitchell Harrison (Yam) 5-8 6. Chase Sexton (Hon) 10-6 7. RJ Hampshire (Hon) 12-5 8. Sean Cantrell (KTM) 6-12 9. Justin Hill (Kaw) 11-9 10. Bradley Taft (Yam) 7-13 Briefly...