The matchup between Jeremy Martin and Marvin Musquin could not be much more even this season. The two championship contenders split moto wins for the second time this season, but once again, an error from one of them was enough to give away the overall win.
For the second week in a row, the error belonged to Musquin.
The first 250 Class moto of the day was dominated by Musquin. Once he grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award, he ran away with the moto win. Martin was forced to fight his way from outside the top five en route to a second-place finish. His biggest struggle came while battling Jessy Nelson for third, as Nelson was turning fast laps and Martin could not get in position to make a move for much of the race. He finally got around Nelson about 22 minutes into the moto, then passed Adam Cianciarulo for another spot shortly thereafter when Cianciarulo crashed. Nelson also got around the downed Cianciarulo to secure third in the moto.
The second moto was full of surprises. Aaron Plessinger – a teammate of Martin’s on the Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha team – took the lead from Nelson on the opening lap and stayed out front for nearly half the race. But he soon had Martin – who was third after the opening lap, then passed Nelson three laps later – on his rear fender. Martin would pass him teammate on Lap 8 and went on to win the moto, while Plessinger ultimately faded back to seventh place despite his strong start.
Credit to Plessinger for a strong start to Moto 2. (Photo: Matt Rice)
Meanwhile, Musquin was nowhere to be seen. The Red Bull KTM rider went down early and found himself outside the top 20 at the end of the first lap. He spent the rest of the moto picking off riders and salvaging as many points as he could – something reminiscent of Martin’s day at Glen Helen two weeks ago. Impressively, he worked his way up to fourth at the end of the race but ran out of time in his quest to run down Nelson and Cianciarulo, who finished second and third, respectively, in the moto.
With his 2-1 moto finishes, Martin secured the overall victory and added four points to his championship lead, ensuring that he will keep the red plate for at least another week. Next week’s race at High Point will mark the first time that a 250 Class rider has had sole possession of the red plate in back-to-back weeks, but with Musquin only six points back, Martin will need to be on point if he wants to keep it for a third straight week.
Martin wins the 250 Class overall for the second week in a row. (Photo: Matt Rice)
A third of the way into the season, Martin and Musquin are tied with four moto wins a piece. However, Martin has the edge on overall victories, with three to his credit versus just one for Musquin.
Musquin’s charge in Moto 2 ensured him a spot on the podium, as he finished second overall. Jessy Nelson (3-2) earned third overall, just one point back of Musquin, giving him his second podium finish in three weeks. (Last week he was just off the podium in fourth.)
The battle continues… (Photo: Matt Rice)
MUDDY CREEK 250 CLASS OVERALL RESULTS
1. Jeremy Martin (2-1)
2. Marvin Musquin (1-4)
3. Jessy Nelson (3-2)
4. Adam Cianciarulo (5-3)
5. Joey Savatgy (4-11)
6. Aaron Plessinger (8-7)
7. Chris Alldredge (7-8)
8. RJ Hampshire (11-5)
9. Zach Osborne (9-9)
10. Matt Bisceglia (6-13)
11. Jordon Smith (14-6)
12. Shane McElrath (10-10)
13. Hayden Mellross (15-15)
14. Kyle Peters (12-18)
15. Alex Martin (19-12)
16. Luke Renzland (17-14)
17. Mitchell Oldenburg (13-40)
18. Dakota Alix (18-17)
19. Jace Owen (20-16)
20. Jackson Richardson (16-20)
