Almost exactly six months to the day after winning his first AMA Supercross race, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Josh Grant took his first AMA Motocross overall victory at Michigan’s legendary Red Bud motocross park on Saturday, July 4. Grant earned his Independence Day honors by putting in 2-1 moto performances aboard his Yamaha YZ450F to steal the overall from rival Chad Reed, who tallied up 1-3 moto finishes. Grant’s first career 450-class overall victory pulls him nearly up to third place in the standings; he now trails Ivan Tedesco by just two points with six events still remaining in the 12-round series.
Motocross... In the first moto, Grant got a decent – though not spectacular – start, getting away just outside the top five as Reed took the early lead. Grant used his rapidly maturing blend of physical conditioning, race savvy and outright speed to first keep pace with the leaders, and then to pick off rivals Tedesco and Andrew Short as the pressure mounted in the closing laps. Time ran out before Grant could find a way around Reed, however, and the pair finished about five seconds apart after 30 grueling minutes plus two laps on the classic Red Bud track.
Brimming with confidence and determination, Grant made a better start in the second moto, getting away third before passing Short on lap four and early leader Tedesco on lap six. The Yamaha rider was unchallenged from then on, and led the rest of the field to the checkered flag. Fellow JGR Yamaha rider Cody Cooper also did a great job, posting a fifth-place moto finish aboard another YZ450F. "I'm pumped for the Joe Gibbs Racing team because it’s our first outdoor win,” a happy Grant said afterwards. “I knew we had the speed – I just needed to get a start and today everything worked out."
Motocross Results |
| 1 |
Josh Grant - YAM |
(2,1) |
| 2 |
Chad Reed |
(1,3) |
| 3 |
Ivan Tedesco |
(4,2) |
| 4 |
Andrew Short |
(3,4) |
| 5 |
Cody Cooper - YAM |
(6,5) |
| 6 |
Ricky Dietrich |
(5,6) |
| 7 |
Michael Byrne |
(7,7) |
| 8 |
Tyler Bowers |
(8,9) |
| 9 |
Nick Wey - YAM |
(10,8) |
| 10 |
Justin Brayton |
|
|
 |
Standing after round 6 of 12 |
| 1 |
Chad Reed |
240 |
| 2 |
Andrew Short |
219 |
| 3 |
Ivan Tedesco |
200 |
| 4 |
Josh Grant - YAM |
198 |
| 5 |
Michael Byrne |
145 |
| 6 |
Mike Alessi |
142 |
| 7 |
Cody Cooper - YAM |
135 |
| 8 |
Thomas Hahn |
123 |
| 9 |
Ricky Dietrich |
119 |
| 10 |
Nick Wey - YAM |
101 |
|
Motocross Lites Results |
| 1 |
Jake Weimer |
(2,4) |
| 2 |
Christophe Pourcel |
(8,1) |
| 3 |
Tommy Searle |
(5,2) |
| 4 |
Brett Metcalfe |
(4,3) |
| 5 |
Ryan Dungey |
(1,8) |
| 6 |
Justin Barcia |
(3,7) |
| 7 |
Kyle Cunningham |
|
| 8 |
Matt Lemoine - YAM |
|
| 9 |
Wil Hahn - YAM |
|
| 10 |
Martin Davalos |
|
|
|
Standing after round 6 of 12 |
| 1 |
Christophe Pourcel |
255 |
| 2 |
Ryan Dungey |
246 |
| 3 |
Tommy Searle |
191 |
| 4 |
Brett Metcalfe |
179 |
| 5 |
Tyla Rattray |
175 |
| 6 |
Blake Wharton |
156 |
| 7 |
Jake Weimer |
153 |
| 8 |
Justin Barcia |
151 |
| 9 |
Broc Tickle - YAM |
141 |
| 10 |
Trey Canard |
139 |
|
|