Round 4 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship is underway from High Point. Check back here for recaps and highlights from the 450 Class throughout the day.

QUALIFYING

After posting the fastest lap time in both practice sessions, Blake Baggett was the top qualifier for the 450 Class at High Point. A year ago, Baggett took the overall win at this track in convincing fashion. He’s also coming off his best round of the 2018 season (3-3 finishes at Thunder Valley).

Baggett was a full second faster than Eli Tomac, who enters with a six-moto win streak to start the season, and the rest of the field. Ken Roczen, who changed suspensions since going 2-2 at Thunder Valley, was fifth quickest behind Baggett, Tomac, Marvin Musquin and Justin Barcia.

A new addition to the 450 Class field this week is Justin Hill. Autotrader/Yoshimura Suzuki is moving him up to the big bike for at least a few rounds, starting with High Point, and he’s already shown some speed by qualifying in sixth.

An interesting subplot after the first three rounds has been privateer Dylan Merriam sitting inside the top 10 of the 450MX point standings. But coming off a ninth-place finish at Thunder Valley, he won’t get the chance to build on that momentum. Merriam rode the first practice session but skipped the second session, and according to a tweet, he will not race High Point due to food poisoning.

450 Qualifying Times
1. Blake Baggett, 1:55.307
2. Eli Tomac, 1:56.393
3. Marvin Musquin, 1:56.570
4. Justin Barcia, 1:58.508
5. Ken Roczen, 1:59.248
6. Justin Hill, 1:59.266
7. Benny Bloss, 2:00.416
8. Weston Peick, 2:02.457
9. Cody Cooper, 2:02.649
10. Phil Nicoletti, 2:03.062
11. Kyle Cunningham, 2:03.113
12. Lorenzo Locurcio, 2:03.356
13. Alex Ray, 2:03.914
14. Jeremy Smith, 2:04.379
15. Cade Autenrieth, 2:04.861
16. Ben LaMay, 2:04.940
17. Jeremy Hand, 2:05.418
18. Heath Harrison, 2:05.667
19. Cody Williams, 2:05.933
20. Brandon Scharer, 2:06.016
Full Results

MOTO 1

It was a bad start for a number of riders, as Ken Roczen, Blake Baggett, Phil Nicoletti and Weston Peick were all involved in a first-turn crash. Ahead of all that chaos, Eli Tomac—a rider not typically known for his starts—emerged with the lead ahead of Justin Bacia and Marvin Musquin after taking a rare holeshot.

As things settled down, there were a lot of interesting names behind that lead trio, including Justin Hill, who was making his outdoor debut on a 450. Hill worked his way up to fourth place after passing Cody Cooper on Lap 2. Cooper had been one of several privateers able to take advantage of good starts to run in the top 10 early.

Tomac had clear sailing out front early, but Barcia and Musquin locked horns in a good battle for second place, with the position eventually going to Musquin. Over time, Musquin was able to chip away at the lead as Tomac encountered lapped traffic. With about 11 minutes to go on the countdown clock, Tomac had seen his lead cut from 5 seconds to under 2 seconds. A few minutes later, there was only a half second separating the two, and Musquin was all over Tomac’s rear fender. As the clock approached 6:30, Musquin found an outside line around Tomac to take away the lead.

After losing the lead, Tomac didn’t back down right away. He closed back in on Musquin to get the gap down to about two seconds, but he couldn’t mount a charge and settled into second place. Musquin finished the race more than five seconds clear of Tomac and finally brought the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider’s win streak to an end.

Behind Musquin and Tomac, Barcia rounded out the podium in third, and Hill held on for a fourth-place finish in his 450 debut.

Baggett was able recover from his early crash to battle his way up to fifth. Benny Bloss and Roczen ended up sixth and seventh, respectively, and were the only other riders to finish on the lead lap. In eighth place, Cooper was the top privateer in the moto.

450 Moto 1 Results
1. Marvin Musquin
2. Eli Tomac
3. Justin Barcia
4. Justin Hill
5. Blake Baggett
6. Benny Bloss
7. Ken Roczen
8. Cody Cooper
9. Weston Peick
10. Kyle Cunningham
11. Alex Ray
12. Nick Gaines
13. Cade Autenrieth
14. Brandan Leith
15. Dare DeMartile
16. Phil Nicoletti
17. Lorenzo Locurcio
18. Robert Piazza
19. Brandon Scharer
20. Henry Miller
Full Results

MOTO 1 EXTENDED RECAP

MOTO 1 HIGHLIGHT: BAGGETT, ROCZEN INVOLVED IN FIRST-TURN CRASH

MOTO 1 HIGHLIGHT: MUSQUIN PASSES TOMAC FOR THE LEAD

MOTO 2

Eli Tomac got another strong start but was behind both Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin as the riders rounded the first turn. Tomac briefly put his bike out front during the opening lap, then Roczen quickly got back around him. Less than three minutes into the race, Roczen made a mistake that sent him off the track, which handed the lead back to Tomac.

Tomac, Roczen and Musquin paced the field for about 10 minutes before Musquin made his away around Roczen for second place. While Musquin closed in on Tomac (just as he did in Moto 1), Roczen lost ground to both riders, making it a two-way battle for both the moto victory and the overall victory.

With seven minutes remaining on the countdown clock, the gap between Tomac and Musquin was little more than a second. After Musquin stalked Tomac for several laps, the two delivered an insanely dramatic finish. Considering how hot the temperature was at High Point, both riders had to be nearly exhausted by the time the countdown clock expired, but they continued to push on. Musquin and Tomac got side-by-side several times—including on the final lap of the race— but Tomac continually found ways to hold off the Frenchman’s pass attempts and take the checkered flag.

Tomac (2-1) and Musquin (1-2) ended up in tied atop the overall standings, but Tomac’s Moto 2 finish gave him the tiebreaker. That means that although his moto win streak came to an end, his overall win streak will continue on. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider has now earned the overall victory at each of the first four rounds to start the season.

Justin Barcia (3-5) finished third overall, and Roczen (7-3) and Justin Hill (4-6) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

With 8-10 moto finishes, Cody Cooper was the top privateer (ninth place overall) and moved himself into the top 10 of the 450MX point standings.

450 Moto 2 Results
1. Eli Tomac
2. Marvin Musquin
3. Ken Roczen
4. Weston Peick
5. Justin Barcia
6. Justin Hill
7. Blake Baggett
8. Benny Bloss
9. Phil Nicoletti
10. Cody Cooper
11. Toshiki Tomita
12. Kyle Cunningham
13. Ben LaMay
14. Brandon Scharer
15. Alex Ray
16. Lorenzo Locurcio
17. Henry Miller
18. Dare DeMartile
19. Nick Gaines
20. Brandan Leith
Full Results

MOTO 2 EXTENDED RECAP

MOTO 2 HIGHLIGHT: ROCZEN’S MISTAKE GIVES TOMAC THE LEAD

MOTO 2 HIGHLIGHT: TOMAC VS. MUSQUIN, LAST 3 LAPS

450 OVERALL RESULTS

1. Eli Tomac (2-1)
2. Marvin Musquin (1-2)
3. Justin Barcia (3-5)
4. Ken Roczen (7-3)
5. Justin Hill (4-6)
6. Weston Peick (9-4)
7. Blake Baggett (5-7)
8. Benny Bloss (6-8)
9. Cody Cooper (8-10)
10. Kyle Cunningham (10-12)
11. Phil Nicoletti (16-9)
12. Alex Ray (11-15)
13. Nick Gaines (12-19)
14. Toshiki Tomita (29-11)
15. Brandon Scharer (19-14)
16. Lorenzo Locurcio (17-16)
17. Dare DeMartile (15-18)
18. Ben LaMay (21-13)
19. Brandan Leith (14-20)
20. Cade Autenrieth (13-24)
Full Results

450 POINT STANDINGS

1. Eli Tomac, 197
2. Marvin Musquin, 169
3. Justin Barcia, 140
4. Ken Roczen, 131
5. Blake Baggett, 130
6. Weston Peick, 118
7. Benny Bloss, 101
8. Phil Nicoletti, 92
9. Jason Anderson, 73
10. Cody Cooper, 69

(Story and photo from ProMotocross.com)