James Stewart may have stolen the headlines recently for both on-track and off-track reasons, but at the Red Bull Tennessee National, it was Ken Roczen returning to his early-season form and showing why he’s the current points leader. On the heels of a solid second-place finish in the first 450 Class moto, Roczen took the victory in Moto 2 to secure his third overall victory of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship season.
Roczen and his Red Bull KTM teammate Ryan Dungey were the head of the class in both motos at Muddy Creek Raceway. Roczen had a strong opportunity to win the first moto after moving past Eli Tomac on the opening lap to take over the lead, but a series of mistakes hampered Roczen’s chances throughout the race. The young German went down on Lap 2, giving up the lead and getting passed by Dungey in the process. Dungey and Roczen would end the moto 1-2.
The second moto was all about Roczen though. Despite the fact that Dungey raced to the MotoSport.com Holeshot, Roczen was soon right up on his rear wheel applying the pressure. The two teammates went back-and-forth during the first lap, racing side-by-side at times, and Roczen ultimately emerged in front and shut the door on Dungey. From there, Roczen would go on to lead the rest of the moto wire-to-wire, locking up both the moto win and the overall win for the day. Dungey kept it close throughout, but the two riders left the rest of the field in the dust.
“Felt good out there,” Roczen said after his moto win. “Happy it’s over. Another good weekend and [I] kept the points lead steady.”
Had Dungey been able to pass Roczen in Moto 2, he would have been able to take a huge chunk out of Roczen’s points lead, but he just couldn’t match the speed of his teammate. “Man, I pushed it the whole second moto,” Dungey remarked afterwards. “We gave it all we had, and that’s all I can do.”
Because he and Dungey swapped 1-2 finishes today, Roczen’s points lead over Dungey will hold steady at 16 points. The two riders were able to distance themselves a bit from James Stewart though, who had been inching closer but endured crashes in both motos en route to disappointing 5-11 moto finishes.
One rider who did perform well today was Eli Tomac. Coming back from a broken collarbone, the GEICO Honda rider was impressive in his first-ever race in the 450 Class. Hours after posting the fastest lap in qualifying, last year’s champion of the 250 Class raced to third-place finishes in both motos to secure a spot on the overall podium and could be even more of a factor as the season winds on.
Red Bull Tennessee National 450 Class Overall Results
1. Ken Roczen (2-1)
2. Ryan Dungey (1-2)
3. Eli Tomac (3-3)
4. Trey Canard (4-4)
5. Andrew Short (6-8)
6. Weston Peick (10-5)
7. Brett Metcalfe (9-7)
8. James Stewart (5-11)
9. Josh Grant (11-6)
10. Justin Brayton (8-15)
*Moto 1 and Moto 2 results in parenthesis