Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey has moved nine points ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac in the 450SX AMA Supercross Standings after an eventful night of racing at East Rutherford.
Watch Main Event replays HERE
At the gate drop for the Main Event, it was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s, Jason Anderson with the holeshot but this lead was short-lived as he went down on Lap 2.
The crash gave Tomac the lead but like Anderson, his lead was taken away when he tucked the front wheel and went down. By the time Tomac had remounted he was in 15th position.
Unlike the Tomac we are used to watching, there was no charge through the pack, instead, Tomac had another mishap later in the race and only managed to salvage an eighth-place finish.
Dungey and Red Bull KTM teammate, Marvin Musqin, were locked in a battle for the lead but on the last lap Dungey would pass Musqin for the lead in what looked like a controversial moment.
“I just really tried to apply it all [today],” said Dungey. “Obviously we had two races to go coming into this round and I knew we needed to be there from the beginning. Practice is a good way to set the tone and I felt comfortable, I was able to hit my marks and it felt effortless in a way. The Main Event wasn’t a great start but I snuck in there and was able to come out 3rd. I saw Jason and Eli make mistakes and I thought to myself ‘no mistakes,’ it was kind of a patience track. Marvin’s lines were better so I was thinking maybe it’s not a bad thing to let him by, I know I’m going to pick up on a few lines and I did. I had my head down and came around the corner to see Marvin on the left and I was able to sweep by and it was good to get a win – it’s nice to see all three of us up here on the podium.”
“It took me a while to get going,” said Musquin. “I was a little bit slow at the beginning and was searching for good lines. I finally got a good rhythm – Eli and Jason went down so you could tell the track was really difficult to not make mistakes. Ryan and I were 1st and 2nd so that was really cool and then I was able to get around him, I think I had one or two better lines but I feel like he saw some of the lines and he picked it up – I felt like I was getting away a little bit and then he was coming back on my rear wheel. I tightened up a little bit on the last lap and I got a good run through the whoops but maybe too fast – that sweeper and that rut were really difficult to feel the front end and I made a mistake. In the end, it’s a KTM that wins so it’s good for us but it’s hard, I feel like it was going to be a good race but it’s still 2nd place so it’s good.”
Anderson rebounded from his crash to finish third, with a pair of KTM riders in Davi Millsaps and Blake Baggett rounding out the top five.
Dungey now holds a nine-point lead over Tomac with only Las Vegas left on the schedule.
450SX Results:
1. Ryan Dungey
2. Marvin Musquin
3. Jason Anderson
4. Davi Millsaps
5. Blake Baggett
6. Justin Brayton
7. Josh Grant
8. Eli Tomac
9. Justin Barcia
10.Dean Wilson
Photos: Simon Cudby