The MAVTV+ 50-Day Countdown to the 2022 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship goes to 2018, as we cover all 50 years of the series, which started back in 1972.
The more things change, the more they stay the same—at least that’s the way it seemed to go for Eli Tomac in 2018. Like he had so many times before, the Kawasaki factory rider came into a brand-new year of Monster Energy AMA Supercross full of promise and as the preseason title favorite. He appeared to be getting even stronger and faster on the KX450F, and his primary rival, Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey—the man who’d edged out Tomac for the 450SX title the year before, despite winning fewer races than Tomac—had retired. With Dungey out of the way, who could possibly prevent Tomac from finally grabbing his first 450SX Championship? The challenges would come from many directions, but just like in years past, many of Tomac’s main hurdles were set firmly in place by Tomac himself.
The trouble started almost immediately. What was starting to look like a Tomac runaway at the first round in Anaheim changed dramatically when Tomac went down hard all by himself while leading. He remounted but wasn’t able to finish due to a severe shoulder contusion. The frustration was obvious: Tomac pounded angrily on his handlebars several times as he realized what was happening. The injury would keep Tomac on the sidelines for round two as well, although Marvin Musquin, who won the first round, ended up hurting his shoulder in his heat race at round two (Houston) and didn’t make the main event either. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson took advantage by streaking to the win and securing the points lead.
Tomac and Musquin would eventually recover and win races of their own, but Anderson did a masterful job maintaining his points lead. He had a scare at the next-to-last round when he broke spokes in his front wheel, but he held on to notch the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, a massive accomplishment.
In the 250 ranks, defending East Region Champion Zach Osborne picked up where he left off in 2017 by winning the season opener in Arlington. He took on challenges from Jordon Smith and Austin Forkner but held on to defend his title. In the West Region, Aaron Plessinger was on point all year, starting the series on the podium in second place and winning four races, including a critical mud race in Seattle that effectively ended Joey Savatgy’s run at the title in his final year in 250SX.
When the gate dropped on the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship in May, defending champ Tomac came out of the gate hard, determined not be haunted by the ghosts of supercross. Through the first six motos, Tomac was absolutely perfect. His first loss didn’t come until he got second in the first moto at High Point. Even then it wasn’t an overall loss, as he was able to come back and win the second moto over Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin to keep his streak alive. It’d survive until Southwick, where, although he was clearly the fastest rider on the track, Tomac crashed twice, allowing Musquin to snap his win streak. At the next round—RedBud in Michigan—Tomac appeared to be back to his winning ways until a mechanical problem in the first moto resulted in a DNF. A lackluster performance in the second moto handed the points lead to Musquin, who’d quietly been stacking up runner-up finishes and the occasional moto win.
A fired-up Tomac came back the next race at Spring Creek, and despite being significantly behind Musquin with the second moto winding down, somehow found a way to drop an astounding four seconds off his lap times, catch Musquin, and sprint away. It wasn’t the only time that year that Tomac put on displays of speed that had even veteran race goers wondering what on earth he was doing, and his “beast mode” late race charges began to become the stuff of legend.
And yet, as fast as he was, and after winning 15 of 24 motos, thanks to his problems at RedBud and an extremely consistent Musquin, Tomac still somehow found himself in a down-to-the-wire situation in the final moto at Ironman Raceway. To make things even more interesting, a deluge of rain had soaked the track, making for an anything-can-happen kind of day. It ended up not mattering, though, as Tomac held on and did what he needed to do to wrap up his second 450 Pro Motocross Championship in the final moto of the season, just like he did in 2017.
![Eli Tomac]()
Eli Tomac Rich Shepherd ![Eli Tomac]()
Eli Tomac Rich Shepherd ![Marvin Musquin]()
Marvin Musquin Rich Shepherd ![Musquin at the Spring Creek National.]()
Musquin at the Spring Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Musquin at the Spring Creek National.]()
Musquin at the Spring Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Musquin at the Unadilla National.]()
Musquin at the Unadilla National. Rich Shepherd ![Musquin at the Washougal National.]()
Musquin at the Washougal National. Rich Shepherd ![Roczen at the Budds Creek National.]()
Roczen at the Budds Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Roczen at the Budds Creek National.]()
Roczen at the Budds Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Roczen at the Glen Helen National.]()
Roczen at the Glen Helen National. Rich Shepherd ![Roczen at the Glen Helen National.]()
Roczen at the Glen Helen National. Jeff Kardas ![Roczen at the Hangtown Motocross Classic.]()
Roczen at the Hangtown Motocross Classic. Rich Shepherd ![Roczen at the Spring Creek National.]()
Roczen at the Spring Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Roczen at the Unadilla National.]()
Roczen at the Unadilla National. Rich Shepherd ![Roczen at the Washougal National.]()
Roczen at the Washougal National. Rich Shepherd ![Tomac at the Glen Helen National.]()
Tomac at the Glen Helen National. Rich Shepherd ![Tomac at the High Point National.]()
Tomac at the High Point National. Rich Shepherd ![Tomac at the High Point National.]()
Tomac at the High Point National. Jeff Kardas ![Tomac at the Ironman National.]()
Tomac at the Ironman National. Rich Shepherd ![Tomac at the Spring Creek National.]()
Tomac at the Spring Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Tomac at the Tennessee National.]()
Tomac at the Tennessee National. Jeff Kardas ![Tomac at the Thunder Valley National.]()
Tomac at the Thunder Valley National. Jeff Kardas ![Tomac at the Washougal National.]()
Tomac at the Washougal National. Rich Shepherd
Watch the highlights from moto one at the finale:
Watch the highlights from moto two at the finale:
Additional highlights included Justin Barcia roaring back to the front of the pack after turning a fill-in ride with Yamaha for the injured Davi Millsaps (Millsaps would ultimately retire in 2018) into a full-time gig and capping the season with a 1-1 day at Ironman Raceway. Ken Roczen also had a feel-good story. After not even knowing if he’d even be able to race the opener at Hangtown (which he did) due to a hand injury he’d suffered earlier in the year in San Diego, the Honda Rider was able to get on the podium several times, even winning motos at RedBud and Budds Creek.
In the 250 Class, the first half of the season boiled down to a war of attrition, as one by one the contenders started dropping off. Plessinger made an early claim to the title with a 1-1 at Glen Helen’s second round, and then other contenders started to fall away. GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin sustained a scary burst fracture in his back, Forkner couldn’t stop crashing, Savatgy had insanely bad luck (including a blown motor at Thunder Valley while leading) and defending 250 Class Champion Osborne suffered a torn labrum at Thunder Valley. Star Racing Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis was fast—he won the overall at both Southwick and Unadilla—but thanks to an injury during supercross that caused him to enter the season late, the Frenchman was never in the points battle. Justin Cooper was a revelation, even winning a moto at Thunder Valley, but wasn’t consistent enough to hunt for a title. Before you could say “Lucas Oil,” it was down to Plessinger and KTM-mounted Alex Martin. Martin, who’d been quite strong during the first half of the season, saw his results start to slide in the second half, and it wasn’t long before he effectively fell out of the title chase. Ohio’s Plessinger capped his season, and 250 National Championship, in style by winning the final two motos of the year in a muddy finale, putting an exclamation point on his final race in the 250 Class.
![Alex Martin]()
Alex Martin Rich Shepherd ![Alex Martin at the Glen Helen National.]()
Alex Martin at the Glen Helen National. Jeff Kardas ![Alex Martin at the Southwick National.]()
Alex Martin at the Southwick National. Rich Shepherd ![Alex Martin at the Spring Creek National.]()
Alex Martin at the Spring Creek National. Jeff Kardas ![Alex Martin at the Tennessee National.]()
Alex Martin at the Tennessee National. Jeff Kardas ![Alex Martin at the Tennessee National.]()
Alex Martin at the Tennessee National. Rich Shepherd ![Alex Martin at the Thunder National.]()
Alex Martin at the Thunder National. Rich Shepherd ![Cooper at the Hangtown Motocross Classic.]()
Cooper at the Hangtown Motocross Classic. Jeff Kardas ![Cooper at the High Point National.]()
Cooper at the High Point National. Rich Shepherd ![Cooper at the Southwick National.]()
Cooper at the Southwick National. Rich Shepherd ![Cooper at the Spring Creek National.]()
Cooper at the Spring Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Cooper at the Spring Creek National.]()
Cooper at the Spring Creek National. Jeff Kardas ![Cooper at the Washougal National.]()
Cooper at the Washougal National. Jeff Kardas ![Cooper at the Washougal National.]()
Cooper at the Washougal National. Jeff Kardas ![Joey Savatgy at the Spring Creek National.]()
Joey Savatgy at the Spring Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Plessinger at the Budds Creek National.]()
Plessinger at the Budds Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Plessinger at the Budds Creek National.]()
Plessinger at the Budds Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Plessinger at the Budds Creek National.]()
Plessinger at the Budds Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Plessinger at the Budds Creek National.]()
Plessinger at the Budds Creek National. Jeff Kardas ![Plessinger at the High Point National.]()
Plessinger at the High Point National. Rich Shepherd ![Plessinger at the High Point National.]()
Plessinger at the High Point National. Rich Shepherd ![Plessinger at the Spring Creek National.]()
Plessinger at the Spring Creek National. Rich Shepherd ![Plessinger at the Washougal National.]()
Plessinger at the Washougal National. Rich Shepherd ![Plessinger at the Ironman National.]()
Plessinger at the Ironman National. Rich Shepherd
2018 250 Class Overall Points
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Aaron Plessinger | Hamilton, OH  | 500 |
| 2 |  Alex Martin | Millville, MN | 391 |
| 3 |  Justin Cooper | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | 353 |
| 4 |  R.J. Hampshire | Hudson, FL | 338 |
| 5 |  Shane McElrath | Canton, NC | 332 |
2018 450 Class Overall Points
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 527 |
| 2 |  Marvin Musquin | La Reole, France  | 511 |
| 3 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 445 |
| 4 |  Justin Barcia | Monroe, NY | 444 |
| 5 |  Blake Baggett | Grand Terrace, CA | 391 |
The end of season FIM Motocross of Nations was a home race this time for Team USA at RedBud in Buchanan, Michigan, and they had the luxury of trotting out an all-star team of 2018 champions Eli Tomac and Aaron Plessinger along with second highest placing American in Pro Motocross, Justin Barcia. The team really felt like the one that would push USA back into winning ways and the home field advantage just seemed to be an extra motivator for it all to fall the way of the USA.
Saturday qualifying however saw Eli Tomac DNF with an engine failure and Aaron Plessinger crashed while leading the MX2 qualifying race which seemed to knock him back a bit. With the conditions remaining wet and muddy all weekend as well, suddenly USA seemed to have their backs against the wall. When the gates dropped on Sunday, that proved to be accurate as neither Tomac, Barcia, nor Plessinger got good starts and the uphill climb was truly on the entire day.
Despite the struggles, they still had a shot to win in the final moto, but again another set of bad starts from Tomac and Barcia left Team France in prime position to battle it out for their fifth straight with really only Team Italy in the way. After Gautier Paulin caught fire late in the second moto to make a few key passes, France once again prevailed by a single point over Italy, though Italy would later be disqualified for a fuel infraction. Team USA came home sixth (eventually fifth), but maybe the biggest story of the day was the Dutch domination of Glenn Coldenhoff and Jeffrey Herlings who combined to sweep all three motos. If it wasn’t for Calvin Vlaanderen’s DNF-DNS in MX2, The Netherlands likely would have easily won. But alas, they settled for third on the day which became second after Italy’s DQ.
Watch the 2018 MXoN moto highlights below:
2018 Motocross of Nations Results
Motocross of Nations - Combined
October 7, 2018| Rider | Points | Race | Class | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 32 | |||
| Gautier Paulin | 2 | Race 1 (MXGP + MX2) | MXGP | Husqvarna | |
| Gautier Paulin | 3 | Race 3 (MXGP + Open) | MXGP | Husqvarna | |
| Dylan Ferrandis | 6 | Race 1 (MXGP + MX2) | MX2 | Yamaha | |
| Dylan Ferrandis | 8 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | MX2 | Yamaha | |
| Jordi Tixier | 13 | Race 3 (MXGP + Open) | Open | KTM | |
| Jordi Tixier | 30 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | Open | KTM | |
| 2 |  | 39 | |||
| Jeffrey Herlings | 1 | Race 1 (MXGP + MX2) | MXGP | KTM | |
| Glenn Coldenhoff | 1 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | Open | KTM | |
| Glenn Coldenhoff | 1 | Race 3 (MXGP + Open) | Open | KTM | |
| Jeffrey Herlings | 2 | Race 3 (MXGP + Open) | MXGP | KTM | |
| Calvin Vlaanderen | 34 | Race 1 (MXGP + MX2) | MX2 | Honda | |
| Calvin Vlaanderen | DNS | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | MX2 | Honda | |
2018
