What to watch for: Pro Motocross at Unadilla (Today on Live Extra, NBC and NBCSN) - MotorSportsTalk

The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship heads to upstate New York today for Round 10 of the 2015 season, the Red Bull Unadilla National. Live coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. ET with the second practice session in both classes, followed by the pre-race show at noon ET and all four motos at 1:00 p.m. ET. Click here to access the NBC Sports Live Extra stream.

Second motos will also be televised on NBC networks, with 450 Moto 2 airing live on NBC at 4:00 p.m. ET and 250 Moto 2 airing on NBCSN at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Here a few of the major storylines heading into today’s races.

BARCIA, ROCZEN BATTLE FOR 2ND PLACE

With a 69-point lead over both Justin Barcia and Ken Roczen, Ryan Dungey is getting closer to a third 450MX championship. A title clinch at Unadilla is not out of the question, but next week at Utah is much more likely. While Dungey looks to have things in hand, an intriguing battle has developed behind him for second place between Barcia and Roczen, who enter the day tied in points.

Barcia has arguably been the strongest rider in the series over the last four rounds. During that time, his average finishing position and total number of accumulated championship points tops all other riders in the 450 Class.

Despite recording a number of podium finishes during that time, Roczen has not been a threat to win races. To fix that, Roczen and the RCH Suzuki team have reportedly been working hard on figuring out the necessary bike changes. With the week off before Unadilla, were they able to find the right combination to get the defending champion back into the mix and halt Barcia’s surge up the standings?

NEW BLOOD IN THE 450 CLASS

With the championship standings beginning to stabilize for the most part, some new drama will be injected into the 450 Class this week via a couple of debuts.

Now recovered from a torn ACL and MCL, Red Bull KTM’s Dean Wilson will make his Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season debut at Unadilla. Wilson was the 250MX champion in 2011, but he has not raced in over six months because of the injury. This will be just his third career race in the 450 Class.

GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle is returning from injury as well, albeit with a twist. He will be making his 450 Class debut aboard the injured Eli Tomac’s bike. Bogle will be moving up to the 450 Class full-time next year, so the final three rounds of this season will be an opportunity for him to showcase himself for a 2016 ride. He has not raced since suffering a shoulder injury at the season opener in May during a 250 Class race.

Also joining the ranks of the premier class, although just for one week, is Scotland’s Shaun Simpson. Simpson races the MXGP series in Europe, which is currently on a two-week break, and this will be his first career Lucas Oil Pro Motocross race. Fresh off a 1-1 sweep last weekend at the MXGP of Belgium, Simpson turned the fifth-fastest lap time in the first practice session of the morning at Unadilla.

NO CLEAR FAVORITE IN THE 250 CLASS

Just when it looked like Jeremy Martin was starting to inch away from Marvin Musquin in his quest for a second straight 250 Class championship, it’s back down to a 4-point margin after Musquin’s victory and Martin’s struggles last time out at Washougal. The two have exchanged the points lead several times already, and both riders control their own destiny today in that a 1-1 sweep by either Martin or Musquin would secure them the championship lead heading into next week’s penultimate round at Miller Motorsports Park.

While the championship battle is a two-rider duel, the fight for race wins is deeper than that, as Cooper Webb has proven he has the speed to match both Martin and Musquin since returning from injury. It’s really a toss-up as to which one of the three will be fastest in any given moto.

All three riders have no shortage of motivation to beat each other, which should make for another exciting round of racing at Unadilla.

DETROIT – There’s no rest for the weary as an Indy 500 winner, but Josef Newgarden discovered there are plenty of extra laps.

The reigning Indy 500 champion added an extra trip Wednesday night back to Concord, N.C., for one last session on the GM Racing simulator before Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After a 30-year run on the Belle Isle course, the race has been moved to a nine-turn, 1.7-mile layout downtown, so two extra hours on the simulator were worth it for Newgarden.

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“I really wanted to do it,” he told NBC Sports at a Thursday media luncheon. “If there’s any time that the sim is most useful, it’s in this situation when no one has ever been on a track, and we’re able to simulate it as best as we can. We want to get some seat time.

“It’s extra important coming off the Indy 500 because you’ve been out of rhythm for a road or street course-type environment, so I really wanted some laps. I was really appreciative to Chevy. There was a few guys that just came in and stayed late for me so I could get those laps before coming up here. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I feel like it’s going to help for me.”

After a whirlwind tour of New York for two days, Newgarden arrived at the simulator (which is at the GM Racing Technical Center adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports) in time for a two hour session that started at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He stayed overnight in Charlotte and then was up for an early commercial flight to Detroit, where he had more media obligations.

Newgarden joked that if he had a jet, he would have made a quick stop in Nashville, Tennessee, but a few more days away from home (where he has yet to return in weeks) is a worthy tradeoff for winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – though the nonstop interviews can take a toll.

“It’s the hardest part of the gig for me is all this fanfare and celebration,” Newgarden said. “I love doing it because I’m so passionate about the Indy 500 and that racetrack and what that race represents. I feel honored to be able to speak about it. It’s been really natural and easy for me to enjoy it because I’ve been there for so many years.

“Speaking about this win has been almost the easiest job I’ve ever had for postrace celebrations. But it’s still for me a lot of work. I get worn out pretty easily. I’m very introverted. So to do this for three days straight, it’s been a lot.”

Though he is terrified of heights, touring the top of the Empire State Building for the first time was a major highlight (and produced the tour’s most viral moment).

New texts alert sound just dropped.@josefnewgarden| @EmpireStateBldg pic.twitter.com/YWLpS9UWrN

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 31, 2023

“I was scared to get to the very top level,” Newgarden said. “That thing was swaying. No one else thought it was swaying. I’m pretty sure it was. I really impressed by the facility. I’d never seen it before. It’s one of those bucket list things. If you go to New York, it’s really special to do that. So to be there with the wreath and the whole setup, it just felt like an honor to be in that moment.”

Now the attention shifts to Detroit and an inaugural circuit that’s expected to be challenging. Along with a Jefferson Avenue straightaway that’s 0.9 miles long, the track has several low-speed corners and a “split” pit lane (teams will stop on both sides of a rectangular area) with a narrow exit that blends just before a 90-degree lefthand turn into Turn 1.

Newgarden thinks the track is most similar to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

“It’s really hard to predict with this stuff until we actually run,” he said. “Maybe we go super smooth and have no issues. Typically when you have a new event, you’re going to have some teething issues. That’s understandable. We’ve always got to massage the event to get it where we want it, but this team has worked pretty hard. They’ve tried to get feedback constantly on what are we doing right, what do we need to look out for. They’ve done a ton of grinding to make sure this surface is in as good of shape as possible.

“There’s been no expense spared, but you can’t foresee everything. I have no idea how it’s going to race. I think typically when you look at a circuit that seems simple on paper, people tend to think it’s not going to be an exciting race, or challenging. I find the opposite always happens when we think that way. Watch it be the most exciting, chaotic, entertaining race.

Newgarden won the last two pole positions at Belle Isle’s 2.35-mile layout and hopes to continue the momentum while avoiding any post-Brickyard letdown.

“I love this is an opportunity for us to get something right quicker than anyone else,” he said. “A new track is always exciting from that standpoint. I feel I’m in a different spot. I’m pretty run down. I’m really trying to refocus and gain some energy back for tomorrow. Which I’ll have time to today, which is great.

“I don’t want that Indy 500 hangover. People always talk about it. They’ve always observed it. That doesn’t mean we have to win this weekend, but I’d like to leave here feeling like we had a really complete event, did a good job and had a solid finish leading into the summer. I want to win everywhere I go, but if we come out of here with a solid result and no mistakes, then probably everyone will be happy with it.”