Steve Cox | June 23, 2018
2018 Muddy Creek 450cc National MX Results: Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac had lost just a single moto coming into round five at Muddy Creek Raceway in Blountville, Tennessee, but with each track comes a new challenge, and Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin was up to that challenge.
Honda’s Ken Roczen got the holeshot in the first moto, with Tomac hot on his heels, but Musquin went down in the fourth turn after clipping Monster Energy Yamaha’s Justin Barcia’s rear wheel. Tomac seemed content to wait Roczen out for the first 10 minutes or so before he made his move to take the lead, and Barcia followed suit, passing Roczen later on the same lap with an aggressive inside move in the track’s first turn to take second.
2018 Muddy Creek 450cc National MX Results
Eli Tomac won his fifth 450cc National in as many tries, this time with a 1-3 score at Muddy Creek. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB KOY
Tomac took the checkered flag about 8 seconds in front of Barcia, with Roczen, Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM’s Blake Baggett, and Musquin rounding out the top five.
Roczen got the holeshot again to start moto two, but Barcia was quick to relegate him to second, and then Musquin did the same to move Roczen back to third. Tomac started outside the top 20, and by the time Musquin got by Barcia for the lead, four laps into the race, Tomac was still ninth.
2018 Muddy Creek 450cc National MX Results
Justin Barcia went 2-2 for second overall in Tennessee. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB KOY
Musquin put in some hot laps once he got out front, and Tomac caught fire about halfway through the race as he started working his way up through the top five. Once Tomac got himself past Roczen and into third, he started trying to cut into Barcia’s lead in second, but ended up settling for third once he saw he wasn’t catching Barcia quickly enough.
Musquin took the moto win – his second of the year so far – over Barcia and Tomac, but Tomac settled for third knowing he had the overall win in the bag with his 1-3 score. Barcia was second overall with a 2-2 and Musquin ended up third with a 5-1. Then came Roczen (3-4) and Baggett (4-5).
2018 Muddy Creek 450cc National MX Results
Marvin Musquin took his second moto win of the year and ended the day third overall with a 5-1 score. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB KOY
With his fifth overall win out of the five races run so far in 2018, Tomac extended his points lead to 32 over Musquin, while Barcia trails Musquin by 26 with 7 rounds left to run. The series heads to the sand of Southwick next weekend.
2018 Muddy Creek 450cc National MX Results
2018 Muddy Creek 450cc National MX Results
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