Teenage rookie Casey Cochran has claimed a spectacular first-career podium finish at the Spring Creek National, leading the majority of 250MX Moto 2 this afternoon on his way to a P2 finish, which resulted in third position overall in a breakout ride at Round 7 of the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross Championship. After qualifying in ninth position, 18-year-old Cochran matched that result in the opening encounter on his Husqvarna FC 250 Rockstar Edition. It was another encouraging effort well inside the top 10, but his best was yet to come in Moto 2.
Following a serious amount of rainfall before gate-drop, it was the second outing that Cochran really made his mark in, leading for more than half race distance and eventually bringing it home in P2. That placed the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing revelation a well-earned third overall and he's now 11th in the point standings.
"I can't even explain the feelings right now!"   Cochran said.   "I got a great start, amazing first laps, got a good lead, and I was just shocked... I'm looking back, like, 'Where did everyone go?'. To cross the finish second, I was stoked, and then to come in third overall, it's an unreal feeling. All the hard work is paying off, so I'm ready to keep building and to keep progressing."
Both Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing 450MX riders, Christian Craig and Malcolm Stewart, raced to top 10 finishes on their Husqvarna FC 450 Rockstar Edition machinery in Millville, led by Craig in P7 and Stewart in 10th place overall.
Craig was impressive throughout the weekend at the Spring Creek National, setting the sixth-fastest lap-time in qualifying. He started strongly in the races and managed seventh-place results across both motos, which placed him seventh overall. Craig is currently 10th in the premier class standings.
"Today started off good with my best qualifying all season,"   commented Craig.   "All-in-all, I got better starts, was riding better all-round, and stayed off the ground. We put in two solid motos for my best finish of the season so far – I can't be mad, but we're always striving for more."
As for Stewart, he qualified eighth and then scored P8 in Moto 1, before having to settle for a 15th-place finish in the final race, which saw heavy rain arrive in the closing stages. The end result was 10th overall in his full-time return to the outdoors, still ranked eighth in the series with four rounds remaining.
"I actually had fun today,"   Stewart recalled.   "First moto, I went down, but made a lot of passes for eighth and that was great. Second moto, not a terrible start, and then I got together with another rider. I put a hard charge on, went down again, and – I'll be honest – I kind of gassed myself out at that point. It's part of racing when you're on the edge and getting going again. We'll take what we got and learn, so I'm looking forward to getting back to Washougal next." Next Race:  July 20 – Washougal, Washington

Results 450MX Class – Spring Creek National
1. Chase Sexton (USA), KTM
2. Hunter Lawrence (AUS), Honda
3. Justin Cooper (USA), Yamaha
4. Aaron Plessinger (USA), KTM
7. Christian Craig (USA), Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
10. Malcolm Stewart (USA), Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing

Standings 450MX Class 2024 after 7 of 11 rounds
1. Chase Sexton, 310 points
2. Hunter Lawrence, 297
3. Justin Cooper, 249
4. Aaron Plessinger, 239
8. Malcolm Stewart, 185
9. Justin Barcia, 148
10. Christian Craig, 136

Results 250MX Class – Spring Creek National
1. Levi Kitchen (USA), Kawasaki
2. Haiden Deegan (USA), Yamaha
3. Casey Cochran (USA), Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
6. Ryder DiFrancesco (USA), GASGAS
7. Tom Vialle (FRA), KTM
10. Julien Beaumer (USA), KTM
14. Pierce Brown (USA), GASGAS

Standings 250MX Class 2024 after 7 of 11 rounds
1. Haiden Deegan, 314 points
2. Levi Kitchen, 263
3. Tom Vialle, 260
7. Pierce Brown, 162
10. Ryder DiFrancesco, 147
11. Casey Cochran, 137
12. Julien Beaumer, 128

All three Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing riders took season-best finishes at the RedBud National, marking Round 6 of the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Malcolm Stewart charged to sixth and Christian Craig 10th in 450MX, while newcomer Casey Cochran raced to the highest finish of his 250MX career in P7. Stewart qualified a convincing sixth on his Husqvarna Motorcycles FC 450 Rockstar Edition – complete with a USA-themed appearance this weekend – before battling hard to 6-7 scores in the pair of premier-class motos. He was challenging inside the top-five until falling during the middle stages of Moto 2, but left satisfied with sixth overall, and now sits P8 in the title race.
"For another track I haven't been back to in 10 years, I can say one thing – the fans were awesome this weekend!"   Stewart said.   "It's pretty cool and I had a really, really great time out there. Moto 1 was good for me, and then Moto 2 was better again in a lot of ways. I made a mistake, went down, and got back up to charge to seventh. We were sixth overall, but I am really happy because I rode good and we're learning a lot as a team. We're just going to take this same momentum into Millville, and I'm glad we're leaving here on a good note, so we'll keep the ball rolling."
RedBud also started convincingly for 450MX teammate Christian Craig, qualifying inside the top 10 with ninth position, and then he raced forward to a solid eighth-place score in Moto 1. His second moto result was 13th after struggling for track position, however, it was still enough to match his best result of the year in 10th overall – equalling his finishes from Hangtown and Thunder Valley.
"The day started off pretty well, qualified inside the top 10 and felt confident going into the motos,"   Craig reflected.   "Moto 1, I got a mid-pack start and was able to work my way up into eighth, so that was decent. Second moto, I had a bad start and then started to make my way through, before some big mistakes cost me a lot of time. I was pretty frustrated, but I did what I could for 10th overall. My speed is still coming around and I'm just lacking some strength still, so we will keep working on that and come back better for next week."
At one of the few tracks so far that he's been to before, teenage rookie Cochran stopped the clocks in eighth position at the end of 250MX qualifying, and then made even further progress on his Husqvarna Motorcycles FC 250 Rockstar Edition to claim P7 in the first race. He backed that up with ninth in the final outing, which resulted in seventh overall to retain 13th in the point standings.
"RedBud was good for me,"   Cochran commented.   "I've had some success here in the past, so today I felt comfortable and I was able to get my best pair of moto finishes with a 7-9 for seventh overall. We're making progress each week, so we'll keep on building and hopefully get up there into the top five soon."
Next Race:  July 13 – Spring Creek, Minnesota

Results 450MX Class – RedBud National
1. Chase Sexton (USA), KTM
2. Aaron Plessinger (USA), KTM
3. Hunter Lawrence (AUS), Honda
6. Malcolm Stewart (USA), Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
10. Christian Craig (USA), Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing

Standings 450MX Class 2024 after 6 of 11 rounds
1. Chase Sexton, 260 points
2. Hunter Lawrence, 253
3. Justin Cooper, 212
5. Aaron Plessinger, 202
8. Malcolm Stewart, 164
9. Justin Barcia, 148
10. Christian Craig, 106

Results 250MX Class – RedBud National
1. Chance Hymas (USA), Honda
2. Ty Masterpool (USA), Kawasaki
3. Jo Shimoda (JPN), Honda
4. Tom Vialle (FRA), KTM
7. Casey Cochran (USA), Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
8. Ryder DiFrancesco (USA), GASGAS
17. Pierce Brown (USA), GASGAS

Standings 250MX Class 2024 after 6 of 11 rounds
1. Haiden Deegan, 276 points
2. Chance Hymas, 239
3. Tom Vialle, 233
7. Pierce Brown, 145
10. Ryder DiFrancesco, 120
12. Julien Beaumer, 107
13. Casey Cochran, 102