In Quotebook, a selection of riders from 450MX and 250MX detail round one of the 2020 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s.

450MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – Fifth:
Third overall on the day and the best way to put it is, it was hot and cold. I was up front with the leading group in moto one, but I just went backward because I was struggling a bit and with the track. I just wasn’t comfortable, so the team and I made some changes to the bike between motos and I was able to improve and push to the front to be in the fight for the win in moto two. We’ll take this result on the day, but we’re looking forward to getting better when we get back out here again next weekend.

Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 12th:
The Loretta’s track was nothing like I remember – I had zero sense of nostalgia out there. The track was ripped way deeper and you need to ride so much harder than I ever did as an amateur here. Obviously I’m tired of crashing, but I felt really good in moto two and even grabbed the holeshot. We’ll keep working hard over the week and suit up for better results for round two at the Ranch.

Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – Seventh:
It was a very up and down day for me. Practice went well and I was feeling good heading into the motos, but I was riding pretty tight so I just kind of lost my flow about halfway through the first moto. The second moto, I had a bad start and on about the fourth lap I landed really weird and jammed my back, so I’m not sure what’s going on, but I was in a lot of pain for the rest of that race. I’ve been dealing with a pre-existing back issue from Dallas, so I’m going to get it looked at this week so I can be ready to go next Saturday.

Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – Fourth:
It’s great to be back after almost a year since my last race at the Indiana National. I put in some good work and it gave me time to get ready, so I’m okay where I’m at. To be out there and to be competitive, that’s exactly what I wanted. When you’re not racing for a year like that actually, to be honest, I didn’t know where I was going to be, but overall I’m happy. I wish I would have hung on to get on the podium, but it’s my first race back and fourth overall, I’ll take it.

Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – Second:
I feel like my pace was good in the second moto but my arms pumped up and I was headed back with four to go. All in all, I’m out here and I’m on the podium, so I can’t be too bummed. I’m excited to get out here next weekend and try to redeem myself.

Zach Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – First:
I’ve worked really hard to come back from my injury and to be here on this podium, I’m blessed and so grateful to the people that have put this together to let us go racing in a very uncertain time. I knew we had a racehorse when we came here today because it’s the bike I finished with at Indiana last year and when a team brings you a bike like that, it’s hard to not do it justice.

Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – 10th:
I’m obviously not very happy with the overall result but that was a good little wake-up call to keep pushing. The conditions were very tough and rutty today and the class is stacked right now, so I’m just going to have to keep pushing and it will all happen.

Justin Barcia (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing) – Fifth:
Loretta Lynn’s was a good weekend overall. I had some good practice times and ended up qualifying fifth. I didn’t get the greatest start in the first moto, but I had one of the greatest charges I’ve had in a long time. I charged all the way up to third but just ran out of time. In the second moto, I ended up going down two times. I just used a lot of energy in that first moto and unfortunately I wasn’t able to get back up to the front, seventh was all I could muster up. There are definitely some positives on the weekend. I’m going to go back and work on a few things and be even better at Loretta’s next weekend.

Broc Tickle (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing) – 13th:
Today was a positive day for myself. I haven’t raced an outdoor national in three years now. Yeah, the goal was to be in the top 10. I didn’t manage to finish there but it was good to get our first race under our belt. We’ll be back next week. We’re in a good place and we have a direction now after racing. I’m looking forward to heading back to California this week and working with the team to make some improvements and come back next weekend to build off of today.

Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) – Eighth:
This weekend was pretty good. I qualified first, which was a good confidence-booster. In the first moto I came from 11th to third on the first lap and then I ran up there for probably half the race. I ended up going down and then from there on it kind of just went downhill. I fell about four or five times, so definitely not a great moto, but I showed I had a good speed. In the second moto I had a good start and was running third. Then Adam fell and I got into second, but kind of got freight-trained by Eli, Anderson and Musquin. I just got on the back of those guys and made a run, getting Anderson and Musquin back, which was good, and ended up third. I went 13-3 for eighth, but overall I showed really good speed and I’m happy with how it went.

Christian Craig (Team Honda HRC) – 14th:
The weekend started off pretty good when I qualified 10th. The track was super-muddy in the beginning. I went into the first moto pretty confident in myself, but unfortunately I got off to a bad start and had to make my way through the pack. It was already pretty hot out there, so it took a lot of my energy to get up to where I was. Unfortunately, that was only 14th, but I went into the second moto refueled and ready to go. I had a better start and was making passes early on, but me and another rider got together and we both went down. Then when I was getting up I got hit by another rider. It was nobody’s fault, just an unfortunate mishap on both of our parts. After that I just wanted to salvage what I could and I came back to 14th again. My goals are to be inside the top 10, so we’ll try again here next weekend.

Joey Savatgy (JGRMX Yoshimura Suzuki) – Ninth:
Yesterday was sub-par for me. It was my first race back in almost a year and it got the best of me. There are some things I need to work on, but my starts were good and that’s a big piece of the puzzle. So it’s now back to work this week and try it again next weekend.

Fredrik Noren (JGRMX Yoshimura Suzuki) – 25th:
I’m super-pumped to be back racing! I had great starts and I holeshot my first ever Pro Motocross start, so that was great. Unfortunately, I had pretty hard crashes in both motos, which made the overall result for the weekend not very good. Now we’ll regroup and recharge for next weekend.

Blake Baggett (Team Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS) – Sixth:
I felt good out there today. The track was rough and my starts helped me run with the front pack. My speed is there and we will make a few adjustments for next week, come back for round two ready to fight for a podium.

250MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – First:
It’s awesome. It was a perfect day. We got two good starts and were strong in both of the motos. There’s always a little bit of an unknown when you don’t race for a long time and with the outdoors you never know where you are. We have a good set-up on the bike and, with the team behind me, I feel like it’s going to be a great year. For sure, I will have to stay healthy, but after today, I feel like we can go for the win every weekend.

Shane McElrath (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Fourth:
I’m happy to get out of this first round with some decent finishes. I got some good starts and led some laps, but we still have a lot of room to grow. I’m excited for next weekend!

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Eighth:
The track was really tough today. It was an up and down day for me. I had a bunch of crashes in the first moto that made me use up a lot of energy and I was pretty fatigued for the second moto. All in all, I’m just happy to be back racing and to leave in one piece. There are only a few days on the bike before we race here again – we will be better for the next one.

RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – Second:
I wish we could have gotten a win, but that felt good. I tried to hang on but Dylan was riding really good and I just had to settle in, otherwise I would have been on my head. I’m happy to be up here, thankful to be here and ready to go for next weekend!

Cameron McAdoo (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – Seventh:
All things considered, I am happy with today’s result. I tipped over early in the first moto, which ended up costing me, but I was proud we were able to fight back up to ninth. In moto two, I got a much better jump out of the gate and was able to put in a solid ride from start to finish. I know what I need to work on and clean up for next week and we’ll come back out swinging again. I can’t thank my entire Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team enough for giving me such an amazing bike, my KX250 was an absolute beast!

Mitchell Harrison (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – 15th:
Well, I can’t be too mad about today. We showed some great speed and consistency throughout the entire day. In moto one, I was running top five and then I made a boneheaded mistake in the back sand sweeper as I was trying to protect my line and went down. It took me a bit to get going again which ended up hurting my overall. We bounced back in moto two with a ninth-place to finish the day out 15th overall. I can’t thank Mitch [Payton] and the entire Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team enough for this incredible opportunity to race this amazing bike each week. We are going to continue to improve and push each week and put this bike where it belongs, on the podium.

Darian Sanayei (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – 18th:
Loretta’s was a tough one for me and I was just off all day. In the first moto, I fell around 10 minutes into it and had to work my way up from 20th to 14th. The second moto I started off good, but I made a few mistakes and I just wasn’t riding at a good pace. Later in the moto, I crashed and popped my shoulder out, so I wasn’t able to finish out the race. I’ll go get it checked out and hope to be back on the bike and ready for round two.

Jeremy Martin (Geico Honda) – Third:
The day was not bad. It felt really good just to be back at the races and to have that goal and to line-up with the boys and just try to have that competitive drive to try to beat everybody. I qualified second fastest. I struggled with my starts today. I knew that start was slippery, but I didn’t expect it to be like Washougal slippery. So, I didn’t get out of the gate the best in both motos, but I just tried to be tough and suffer through that heat and get up to the front. I was getting on RJ in moto one and then he unfortunately hit a lapper, had nowhere to go and I got a blessing from him. Then in moto two, I just tried to be smart and end it with a third and get a podium the first round.

Jett Lawrence (Geico Honda) – Sixth:
First practice was not too bad, but I didn’t know where the finish line was so I probably didn’t time my laps the best in that, but the second practice was better, third in that and fourth overall. First race started off terrible because I chose to run a paddle tire, which didn’t work good on dry hard pack dirt, but I was able to tuck around the inside in the first turn. I just ended up over-riding the track and made mistakes and then crashed, so that put me back to 10th I think, I slowly made my way back to sixth. I felt like I was going to throw up! Second race I had the right tire on, but just had too much revs and spun in the gate and this time I wasn’t able to tuck around the inside in the first turn, so I was like 25th. I was pretty happy how I rode in this one cos I rode really smart and didn’t try to rush anything. I just made my way up in the top 10, tried to make a pass for sixth on the last lap, but couldn’t make it happen. Sixth overall for not getting good starts and riding bad in the first one was still pretty good.

Hunter Lawrence (Geico Honda) – 17th:
First moto really just wrecked our day with the DNF. Being gate pick 40 for the second moto, I was going okay until Harrison took me out. I then just pushed too hard for what the track conditions were and crashed again. Then it was survival mode, the track was really weird and just so funny, like you couldn’t push too hard on it and slower was almost faster! Looking to redeem myself big time this weekend.

Jo Shimoda (Geico Honda) – 16th:
I felt pretty good in the first timed qualifying, but I missed the finish line – I thought it was same as amateur day. The second timed qualifying, I was riding not so good and struggling on the track, qualified 15th. Race one, I started around 15th and made some passes, but couldn’t finish my race due to a bike malfunction. That put me all the way on an outside gate in moto two, which didn’t let me have good start. I was able to catch up to 11th place by the end.

Carson Mumford (Geico Honda) – 13th:
My weekend was crazy! I learned so much, I felt like I had so many different circumstances thrown my way for one weekend with it being muddy first practice and the track being insanely rough, but I’m happy with how everything worked out. The first moto I was just outside the top five, then by about 20 minutes I was getting pretty tired and really was kinda shocked that I was still in sixth. I should have just focused more on going forward because when the mistakes started coming I was almost crashing every corner, but somehow stayed on two wheels. That just took so much energy and I was thinking about it way too much, I went all the way back to 12th. Rode a little different in second moto, but I was further back the whole time. Ready for next weekend after everything I learned here.

Alex Martin (JGRMX Yoshimura Suzuki) – Fifth:
It was exciting to be back at the races. I was happy with the speed we had, we just need to minimize the mistakes. Three crashes throughout the two motos kept me from a podium, but I’m happy I could still manage a top five result for myself and the team.