RedBud Preview: Eli Tomac commands as MX heads into second half - MotorSportsTalk

The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season heads into its second half and a clear leader has only recently emerged. Eli Tomac looks to extend his advantage, while Marvin Musquin has more momentum than anyone in the field.

For the first four weeks of the season, Tomac and Ken Roczen swapped the lead and split the victories evenly between them. The past two weeks have gone to Musquin as now three riders have two wins apiece.

Tomac is finally showing the type of dominance that was expected of him at the start of the year, but he’s done so on the backs of other riders’ mistakes. Currently second in the points, Musquin gave up a lot of ground at Hangtown in the opener, then Thunder Valley and High Point in the first half of June.

After sweeping the podium in the first four weeks, Roczen has fallen precipitously in the last two rounds with a sixth overall at WW Ranch and last week’s ninth at The Wick.

Meanwhile, Tomac has held steady with a sweep of the overall podium in the first six weeks – but he has experienced trouble in individual Motos to a degree that says this championship is far from settled.

Track conditions will be one of the keys this week. Over the past several years, the surface has been reworked and many think it has become a course with sand-like tendencies. That could favor Musquin for a third consecutive week and if Tomac gets off to another slow start in Moto 1, it could allow second-place to close the gap.

Last week Zach Osborne won his first career Moto and came frustratingly close to the overall win. He will try to keep his momentum intact and could play the role of spoiler.

Dean Wilson will debut in the 2019 season this week after missing the final rounds of the Supercross season with a shoulder injury. His last start resulted in a 20th-place finish at Denver. Wilson’s last start at RedBud ended ninth in 2017.

In 250s, Joey Crown will make his debut at RedBud. He missed the first six rounds with a back injury (two compressed vertebrae).

MORE: Spreading the Motocross Wealth

Schedule:

Qualifiers: 10:15 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Gold
Race: Live, 1 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Gold (Moto 1), Moto 2 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC (250 Moto 2, re-air at 7 on NBC).

June 29 – 2019; The Wick 338

450: Marvin Musquin (1-2) won over Zach Osborne (3-1) and Eli Tomac (2-3)
250: Adam Cianciarulo (1-2) won over Dylan Ferrandis (3-1) and Justin Cooper (2-3)

July 7 – 2018; RedBud

450: Marvin Musquin (2-1) won over Ken Roczen (1-3) and Justin Barcia (4-2)
250: Aaron Plessinger (1-1) won over Alex Martin (4-3) and Dylan Ferrandis (3-4)

Overall Wins

450:
[2] Ken Roczen (Hangtown, Thunder Valley)
[2] Eli Tomac (Pala, High Point)
[2] Marvin Musquin (WW Ranch, Southwick)

250:
[5] Adam Cianciarulo (Hangtown, Pala, Thunder Valley, High Point, Southwick)
[1] Justin Cooper (WW Ranch)

Moto Wins

450:
[5] Eli Tomac (Hangtown II, Pala I & II, Thunder Valley II, WW Ranch I)
[3] Ken Roczen (Hangtown I, Thunder Valley I, High Point II)
[2] Marvin Musquin (WW Ranch I, Southwick I)
[1] Blake Baggett (High Point I)
[1] Zach Osborne (Southwick II)

250:
[5] Adam Cianciarulo (Hangtown II, Pala II, Thunder Valley II, High Point II, Southwick I)
[3] Justin Cooper (Hangtown I, Pala I, Thunder Valley I)
[2] Dylan Ferrandis (WW Ranch II, Southwick II)
[1] Hunter Lawrence (High Point I)
[1] Chase Sexton (WW Ranch I)

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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.”