2018 Muddy Creek National Motocross 450 Class Photo Finish

The top 10, in photos, from Muddy Creek

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac has won every overall so far this season.Brown Dog Wilson

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac claimed his fifth consecutive overall victory in the 2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at round 5 at Muddy Creek Raceway in Blountville, Tennessee. Tomac now holds a 32-point lead in the championship standings with 14 more motos left in the series. “It was a successful day and we’re happy to be taking some points home with us,” Tomac said. “The goal is to get a good start so we’re out front, and I was able to do that in moto 1. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the start we wanted in moto 2 so I really had to battle to make some passes. It feels great to leave here with the overall win, and we’re going to keep working hard every week.” Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia earned his best finish of the season. With a pair of 2-2 moto finishes, Barcia emerged with second overall in Tennessee and sits third overall in the series point standings.

Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia went 2-2 for second overall.Brown Dog Wilson

“I was fairly happy with moto 1 and I think moto 2 was a little better—leading laps is always a good thing,” Barcia said. “I felt really comfortable on the bike, we’re making great progress, and second overall is a step in the right direction to taking a win. That’s obviously the goal. I had a lot of fun at Muddy Creek, the track was very difficult. It’s really challenging. It’s slick and choppy, tight and one-lined a little bit, so you have to be kind of crafty. I’ll take the second and move on to one of my favorite tracks of the year at Southwick.”

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Marvin Musquin began his day by qualifying second in practice and finishing fifth in moto 1 and achieved a victory in moto 2 to take third overall on the day.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Marvin Musquin won moto 2 and rounded out the podium.Brown Dog Wilson

“It was a big bummer to go down in the first lap of moto 1,” Musquin said. “I clipped someone’s rear wheel and couldn’t avoid it and crashed—it’s frustrating. I’ve been feeling really good, training really hard and working really hard with the team, and it’s been paying off. I fought hard in the second moto and I knew that all I needed to do is get a good start, fight for it and not go down. So that’s what I did and I was able to control the race until the end. [It’s] one more moto win—still not what I want, but that’s all I had today. I’m really happy; it’s not too bad for the championship even if we lose some points, it’s still a podium and we keep on working hard.”

Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen finished just shy of the podium, scoring another fourth-place overall result with 3-4 moto finishes.Brown Dog Wilson
Rocky Mountain ATV/MC-KTM-WPS’s Blake Baggett’s 4-5 moto scores earned him fifth overall on the day.Brown Dog Wilson
Autotrader/Yoshimura/JGR/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Weston Peick went 6-6 for sixth overall at Muddy Creek.Brown Dog Wilson
Autotrader/Yoshimura/JGR/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Justin Hill finished seventh overall in Tennessee and will contest the remaining rounds of the 2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship in the 450 class.Brown Dog Wilson
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Phil Nicoletti’s 7-9 moto finishes gave him eighth overall on the day.Brown Dog Wilson
Rocky Mountain ATV/MC-KTM-WPS’s Benny Bloss finished ninth overall and is ranked seventh overall in the point standings.Brown Dog Wilson
HEP Motorsports Suzuki’s Kyle Cunningham rounded out the top 10 for the second week in a row.Brown Dog Wilson

2018 450 Class Championship Point Standings

Position Rider Brand Points
1 Eli Tomac Kawasaki 242
2 Marvin Musquin KTM 210
3 Justin Barcia Yamaha 184
4 Ken Roczen Honda 169
5 Blake Baggett KTM 164
6 Weston Peick Suzuki 148
7 Benny Bloss KTM 126
8 Phil Nicoletti Husqvarna 118
9 Cody Cooper Honda 80
9 Jason Anderson Husqvarna 73