Torrance, CA: Thousands of avid motocross fans were in attendance on Fourth of July weekend at the legendary RedBud National in Buchanan, MI, for round six of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series. At only his second race back, Muscle Milk-backed GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac earned impressive results on his CRF450R, improving on his finish last week with a second overall. Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard also had an impressive weekend, finishing fourth overall.

450 Race
After qualifying sixth quickest in practice, Canard jumped off the line to a second-place start in the first moto, and quickly moved into the lead on the opening lap. He set a comfortable pace up front before relinquishing one position a few laps later. Canard fought hard, maintaining second until the checkered flag. In the second moto, he kept his momentum going, rocketing his CRF450R off the line to another great start and leading for the first five laps. Amid the heated fight in second, a mistake caused Canard to fall to fourth and that was where he finished. His 2-4 marks landed him just shy of the podium in fourth.

Swedish native Fredrik Noren made his factory debut at RedBud with Team Honda Muscle Milk as the fill-in rider for injured Justin Barcia. Noren grabbed a mid-pack start in the first moto and was running 12th before going down on the first lap after coming together with another rider. He spent the remainder of the race making a charge from 38th to 17th. In moto two, Noren blasted off the line to a great start, running in fifth for the opening laps of the race. He fell back a few positions and took the checkered in 10th to claim 11th overall for the day.

Muscle Milk-sponsored GEICO Honda rider Eli Tomac shook up the competition and made his presence known. In only his second appearance of the series, he scored a second overall on his CRF450R with impressive 4-2 marks.

“Today went even better than last weekend in Tennessee,” said Tomac. “First moto came around and I got a top-five start and was battling with Dungey, Canard and Roczen the whole race. I passed Dungey at one point but he ended up getting around me, so I settled into fourth. In the second moto I ended up battling with the exact same guys the whole race. This time I got around Dungey and it stuck, then got pretty close to Canard when he tipped over. I was in second but wasn’t able to catch Roczen. I’m hoping to turn this progress into a first place next weekend.”

250 Race
Although the result wasn’t what Muscle Milk-supported GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle was hoping for, he showed impressive speed, running up front in both motos until succumbing to the increasingly difficult track conditions. In moto one, Bogle launched his CRF250R off the line to a solid start and was running with the lead pack until going down, losing multiple positions. He rebounded, working his way back into third before another mistake landed him in fifth. During the final race of the day, Bogle grabbed another good start, taking over the lead on the second lap. He led the pack for 4 laps until going down multiple times, falling outside the top 10. His 5-12 marks landed him ninth overall for the day.

“Today was looking to be a great day,” stated Bogle. “I was running towards the front in the first moto when I went down. I got up quick and raced up to third, but I went down again and ended up fifth. Still, not bad and definitely something I wanted to build on in moto two. In the second moto I got a great start and was leading for the first few laps but then I went down again. Everyone was really close so a bunch of guys got past me.

Teammates Matt Bisceglia and Zach Bell overcame some adversity throughout the day’s motos to log 12th and 14th overall. Bisceglia returned to the line after missing Tennessee due to an injury and impressed everyone when he claimed the holeshot in moto one, taking the early lead. By the end of the 30-minute plus two-lap race he had slipped back to 13th. He then logged a 14th in the second race. Bell struggled with his starts, forcing him to work from the back of the pack forward. He recorded 11-17 scores for the day.