Blake Baggett passes Jeremy Martin late to secure 250 Class Motocross overall win at Budds Creek - MotorSportsTalk

With the second half of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship kicking off at Budds Creek, it once again came down to Blake Baggett and Jeremy Martin battling for the win in the 250 Class.

Jason Anderson took the victory in the opening 250 Class moto of the day, earning the first moto win of his career and joining Baggett, Martin and Cooper Webb as the only riders to win a moto this season. Martin and Baggett were hot on Anderson’s heels though as the riders crossed the checkered flag after the duo spent much of the race working their way up to second and third, respectively. Although neither rider could surpass Anderson by the end of the race, they both set themselves up in a strong position to take the overall win if they could grab the victory in Moto 2.

Watch the recap of 250 Moto 1:

In that second moto, Jeremy Martin cruised to the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award and seemed like he might just check out and pick up the win easily. Baggett was stuck in fourth place behind Christophe Pourcel and Anderson after the first lap and would have to overtake those two riders before challenging Martin. Pourcel in particular was difficult to pass, holding up Baggett for a good ten minutes before finally ceding second place to the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider. Martin was unable to take advantage of their battle and pull away out front, and as a result, Baggett steadily cut into his lead until he was right on Martin’s rear fender with about six minutes left on the countdown clock.

On the 12th lap of the moto, Baggett passed Martin on the inside and would take over the lead. Martin seemed to admit defeat after being passed and toned down his riding, ultimately finishing 15 seconds behind Baggett. On a day when many riders may have been worn down by the heat and humidity at Budds Creek, Baggett was in peak form.

Watch the recap of 250 Moto 2:

The pass for the lead not only gave Baggett the moto win, it also represented a six-point swing in the championship race that both secured Baggett the overall victory and allowed him to chip away at Martin’s points lead, albeit by a single point.

Baggett is now 27 points back of Martin, who still holds onto the red number plate signifying his championship lead. “Even if I [have to take] the red plate the last moto at Utah [the final round of the series], then that’s what we’re gonna do,” Baggett said after the victory. “We’re not going to stop fighting until then.”

Watch Baggett’s post-race interview:

The stage is being set for a showdown between Martin and Baggett over the final five rounds. Things should be particularly interesting next week when the series heads to Spring Creek, a track that is quite literally Jeremy Martin’s home track – his parents own the facility, and he grew up riding it.

Budds Creek 250 Class Overall Results
1. Blake Baggett (3-1)
2. Jeremy Martin (2-2)
3. Jason Anderson (1-7)
4. Christophe Pourcel (6-3)
5. Cooper Webb (5-4)
6. Justin Bogle (4-5)
7. Justin Hill (13-6)
8. Cole Seely (10-9)
9. Anthony Rodriguez (9-10)
10. Marvin Musquin (8-14)
*Moto 1 and Moto 2 results in parenthesis

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

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