CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
T
he 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Moto-
cross season came to a close
last week in Crawfordsville, Indi-
ana, and it was Monster Energy
Kawasaki's Eli Tomac breaking
through to earn his first AMA Pro
450 Motocross Championship.
Tomac was the 24th different 450
class champion in history. He also
becomes the just the 11th rider
in history to win a national title in
both the 250 class and 450 class.
"That was not easy at all. I
went back after the first moto and
thought 'is it really going like this?'
I think I let my ego get the best of
me in the first moto and needed
to take it all in before the sec-
ond moto," said Tomac after the
Ironman. "We went out there and
did what we needed to do. This
[championship] has been a long
time coming and it feels amazing
to finally accomplish it. I'm kind of
at a loss for words right now."
Tomac finished the season
with a 17-point lead over Marvin
Musquin, who moved from third to
second, in the final championship
standings. Blake Baggett was just
an additional two points back in
third.
It marked the first time since
2014 that the 450-class title came
down to the final round.
Outside of Tomac's title, per-
haps the biggest headline of the
2017 season was the Jeff Herlings
appearance in the season finale in
Crawfordsville, Indiana. Herlings
became the 68th different overall
winner in 450 class history and
is just the second Dutch rider to
earn a Lucas Oil Pro Motocross
Championship victory, joining
Pierre Karsmakers. He was the
fourth different rider to break
through with a first career 450
win this season, along with Marvin
Musquin, Blake Baggett and
Justin Bogle.
"I was fastest all day, from
practice to the first moto and the
second moto," said Herlings. "I
P120
The 2017 Pro Motocross Season
