MORGANTOWN, W.Va. ƒ—“ Last Saturday, the 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, kicked off its 2013 season with the Red Bull Hangtown Motocross Classic. In addition to the excitement of race action in Sacramento, the opener also kicked off the 12-round specialty awards program with the return of the Oakley Bomb Fastest Lap Program, the Ricky Carmichael Hard Charger Award and introducing the Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot Program.ƒ‚ 

The Oakley Bomb Fastest Lap Program recognizes the 450 and 250 Class riders who lay down the quickest lap time of the day in timed practice. In the 450 Class, Team Honda Muscle Milkƒ’s Justin Barcia made an impressive jump to full-time 450 Class competition by posting a time of 1:57.971, edging out his teammate Trey Canard by less than one second. In the 250 Class, GEICO Hondaƒ’s Eli Tomac set the tone for a strong day by topping the charts with a 1:57.513, which garnered a near two-second advantage over the field.

Each rider was awarded the one-of-a-kind Oakley Bomb trophy and now has one point towards the season tally that determines an overall winner in the Fastest Lap Program at series end.

The Ricky Carmichael Hard Charger Award is given each round to a racer who embodies a never-give-up mentality, despite any setbacks that may occur during the race. Malcolm Stewart and Cole Seely, both of the Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda team, shared the first RC Hard Charger Award of the season after demonstrating the determination and persistence needed to each pass an impressive 21 riders in one moto, respectively.

Seely began Moto 1 of the 250 Class nearly last with a 35^thƒ‚ place position, making for a long start to the day. Seely fought his way back to 14^th by the end ofƒ‚ the first lap, where he would maintain a 14^th place finish in the moto.

After a heartbreaking mechanical issue caused him to take a DNF while running inside the top five in Moto 1, Malcolm Stewart came into the second moto highly determined. Malcolm didnƒ’t get the start heƒ’d hoped for, beginning the first lap of the 450 Moto 2 in 36^thƒ‚ position, but the young Stewart pushed his way through the pack to earn a 15^th place finish.

The Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot Championship is brand new to Lucas Oil Pro Motocross this season, courtesy of ƒ”¨ƒ”¨Motorcycle-Superstore.com. Championship points are tallied over the course of 12 rounds in both the 450 and 250 Class, where each Moto 1 holeshot winner gets one point and the Moto 2 holeshot winner gets two points. If the same rider holeshots both motos of the day, that rider would get an additional bonus point for a total of four points, thus creating a mini-championship inside the series championship.

In the 450 Class, Yoshimura Suzukiƒ’s James Stewart opened the 2013 season in a big way, grabbing both Motorcycle-Superstore.com holeshots at Hangtown. Stewartƒ’s clean sweep earned the Florida native an extra bonus pointƒ¢¢¬” totaling four for the dayƒ¢¢¬” and the early lead in the Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot Championship.

In the 250 Class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasakiƒ’s Blake Baggett earned his first Motorcycle-Superstore.com holeshot in Moto 1, securing one point in the overall holeshot championship. GEICO Hondaƒ’s young gun Zach bell came out swinging in Moto 2, grabbing his first holeshot of the season in front of a stacked field of riders. Bell holds the early lead in the 250 Class Holeshot Championship after one round of racing.

At the end of the season, the rider with the most points in each class will be the winner. The final payoff will be a $25,000 check for the 450 Class winner and $15,000 for the 250 Class winner.

Round 2 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship heads to Lakewood, Colo. this Saturday, May 25, for the Rockwell Watches Thunder Valley National.

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