Motocross is often a war of attrition. And once again, we’re seeing that in action.

It started with Christian Craig, a rider capable of holeshots and top-10 finishes, tearing his ACL while leading at Glen Helen. A few days later, Jason Anderson went down on the same track while practicing and broke his foot.

Anderson’s injury obviously removes one title contender from the mix. As for how it affects the bigger picture, there’s two ways to look at it.

First, you could argue that this development makes Eli Tomac’s path to a second straight title easier. After all, it’s one less rider for him to worry about it.

The other way to view it is that it will provide an opportunity for one of the other contenders outside of Tomac and Marvin Musquin to establish some consistency. The two frontrunners have been extremely consistent, but behind them, there hadn’t been a ton of separation thus far between Anderson, Justin Barcia, Blake Baggett and a rapidly improving Ken Roczen. With Anderson removed from that mix—just as he looked to be hitting his stride—perhaps one of the other riders can become a steady podium finisher and keep themselves in contention for a shot at the red plate.

The first test will come this weekend at Thunder Valley for Round 3 of the 2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.

THE INJURY LIST

A look at the notable riders who have picked up new injuries or are returning to action.

Jason Anderson: The biggest news of the week is that the Rockstar Husqvarna rider will miss Thunder Valley after breaking his foot in a practice crash at Glen Helen on Thursday. The team expects him to be out until Unadilla (August 11). After two rounds, Anderson was sitting third in 450MX points.

Christian Craig: Crashed while leading Moto 1 last week at Glen Helen and suffered a torn ACL. Will miss the rest of the season. Prior to the injury, Craig had earned the holeshot in two of the season’s first three motos.

Kyle Cunningham: After crashing at Glen Helen, Cunningham says that he has “minor bumps, bruises and a really sore back,” but no major damage. He’ll sit out Thunder Valley as he attempts to get back to full health. “It has been a while since I have been [100] percent healthy so I’m looking forward to making that happen and being back at the races very soon,” he wrote on Instagram.

Dylan Ferrandis: Missed the first two rounds of the season as he continues to recover from a broken arm suffered during supercross. A few weeks ago, Ferrandis said that he hoped to return for Round 3 or 4, but it will not happen this weekend at Thunder Valley. He plans to try to return in two weeks at High Point.

Dakota Alix: Will miss Thunder Valley after crashing hard last weekend, but plans to return for Round 4 at High Point. The 250 Class rider finished 18th overall at each of the first two rounds.

So far this year, Musquin has been unable to keep Tomac behind him. (Photo: Matt Rice)

STORIES TO WATCH IN THE 450 CLASS

Will Tomac keep the streak alive?
Four motos, four wins for Tomac. It’s too early to start the 24-0 talk, but there’s no denying that Tomac is on a hot streak right now. The last time a rider started the season with four straight wins in the 450 Class was 2015, and it was Tomac that year as well. He then went to Thunder Valley and ran it up to five straight moto wins, but in the sixth moto, he crashed hard and missed the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Can Tomac exorcise the demons of three years ago and leave Thunder Valley healthy with six straight wins?

Can Musquin finally take one from Tomac?
With three second-place finishes and one third-place finish, Musquin has been very consistent in his own right this season. But he has not been able stop Tomac. This despite the fact that Tomac hasn’t been getting the best starts. In three of the four motos this year, Tomac has had to come from behind and pass Musquin at some point during the race. Will this be the week that Musquin is able to take advantage of his starts and keep himself in front of Tomac? If not, the points lead will only continue to grow.

Can anyone make this a “Big Three”?
Tomac and Musquin are locked in as title contenders, but as mentioned earlier, no one else has really been able to separate himself from the next group of riders. Barcia, Baggett and Roczen all have at least one top-four moto finish this season, but they will need to be more consistent if they hope to keep pace with Tomac and Musquin. Anderson’s injury could help that come to fruition.

Who else has top five potential?
Aside from all the aforementioned riders, two others have really stood out in the early rounds of the season: Weston Peick (5-7-7-5) and Benny Bloss (10-5-22-6). Can either of them continue to challenge for top-five finishes and potentially ascend to the next tier of riders?

Benny Bloss already has a pair of top-six moto finishes. (Photo: Matt Rice)

STORIES TO WATCH IN THE 250 CLASS

A wide-open points race
Only six points separate the top three riders in the 250 Class. Zach Osborne and Aaron Plessinger, who each have a 1-1 sweep in the books, are tied at 88 points, while Jeremy Martin is just six points back. You can also throw Alex Martin (eight points back of Jeremy, 14 points back of Osborne) into the mix.

When will Cooper break through?
It was a second straight week with a lot of positives for Rookie of the Year frontrunner Justin Cooper. Although he finished lower in the overall rankings (6th at Glen Helen vs. 5th at Hangtown), his moto results were better (4-7 at Glen Helen vs. 5-9 at Hangtown). And although he didn’t lead any laps like he did the week before, Cooper set the pace with the fastest time in qualifying. He’s made an immediate impact since turning pro late last season and his continued progression is one of the most exciting subplots in the 250 Class right now.

After sweeping Glen Helen, will Aaron Plessinger keep the momentum rolling? (Photo: Matt Rice)

LINKS FOR ROUND 3

How to watch
Historical package
This week in motocross
Track map
NBC Sports Gold

(Story and photos from ProMotocross.com)