Once again, Cooper set the pace early and earned fastest qualifier honors for the sixth time in eight tries this season and then backed that up with another holeshot in the first moto. His championship rival quickly moved into second and stalked him for the first half of the race, but the points leader kept cool under pressure. The New Yorker increased the intensity and set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 7 to start to build a gap. He continued to pull away to stand on the podium’s top step in front of the home crowd.
Cooper got another great start in Moto 2, taking an impressive eighth holeshot of the season. It quickly turned into a three-rider battle with his teammate and rival in tow. Martin passed him first, and then he was immediately under pressure from the other rider. The New Yorker struggled to find his flow in the challenging conditions and was ultimately shuffled to fourth, where he managed his race to secure second overall and keep the red plate with a four-point lead.
Martin also had two good starts in the runner-up spot but was shuffled to third early in the first moto. He worked to close the gap on the front runners and set his fastest lap of the race on Lap 4, but he lost some time as the pair up front increased the pace. Managing some arm pump issues, he went on to finish comfortably in third in the tricky conditions. In the second moto, Martin claimed the lead on Lap 2 and started to pull away, but he was reeled back in by the competition and passed on the same outside line that the rider used to pass Cooper earlier. The Minnesotan kept pushing but ultimately had to settle for second, securing the final spot on the overall podium and making a 16-point gain in the standings to move to just one point behind the rider in third.
Fresh off of his stellar performance at last week’s 40th annual AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s, the young Kitchen had a good outing in the professional ranks. He continued to make progress throughout the day and came back from a bad start in the first moto, working his way from outside the top 20 to 12th. The 2021 Nicky Hayden AMA Motocross Horizon Award Winner had a much better start in Moto 2 inside the top 10 and advanced to fifth in the race’s second half. He ultimately crossed the line seventh for his best moto result in the class and his best overall finish in eighth.
It was a similar story for his fellow young teammate, Frye, who also made improvements throughout the day on a very technical, challenging track. He fought his way back from outside of the top 20 in the first moto to finish 13th . In Moto 2, the Maryland rider was ahead of Kitchen in eighth, where he ultimately finished, scoring his best result of the season -- eighth in the moto and ninth overall.
Next up for the Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing team is Frye’s home race -- the Budds Creek National in Mechanicsville, Maryland, Round 9 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship on August 21.
