Ryan Dungey wins Budds Creek Motocross race for third straight year - MotorSportsTalk

Although Ryan Dungey was unable to cut into Ken Roczen’s championship lead today, Dungey will leave Budds Creek with some momentum after racing his best moto of the season and securing his second overall win of the year in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.

The Red Bull KTM duo of Dungey and Roczen was dominant all day, but it was Roczen who asserted control in the opening moto for the 450 Class. Trey Canard held the early lead in the race, but Roczen eventually worked his way around Dungey for second place and then set his sights on Canard. On the fifth lap of the race, Roczen turned up the speed as the two riders went downhill, then passed Canard on the outside of the next turn. Dungey also got around Canard a few laps later, and while he was able to close the gap on his teammate for the lead, Dungey couldn’t get within striking distance and would finish the moto in the runner-up spot behind Roczen.

Moto 2 featured an absolutely dominant effort though from Dungey, who grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot and led wire-to-wire for the moto victory. The great start left Dungey with a clear track ahead of him, and without anyone there to apply the pressure, he was able to comfortably ride his own race. Leading all 17 laps in the race, Dungey – who entered the day having led just nine laps total during the 2014 season – nearly tripled that number by the end of one moto. Roczen fended off a fierce challenge from Eli Tomac late in the moto to finish second behind Dungey.

Watch the recap of the second 450 Class moto:

“I just got that start, which was key, and I was just able to race my laps,” Dungey said, speaking to why he was able to dominate the moto. “The track’s really coming around – it was very tough [in the first moto].”

With Dungey and Roczen both earning a first-place and a second-place moto finish today, the two teammates ended up tied in the overall results, meaning that Roczen’s championship lead will remain fixed at 26 points. Dungey earned the overall win though by virtue of the tiebreaker – having the better result in Moto 2 – and has now won at Budds Creek three years in a row.

Dungey talks about his Budds Creek victory:

“We all have our [off] days,” Roczen said after the race. “I’m so happy to finish off the day and keep the points lead the same. That’s all I can ask for.”

With the championship race still tight, the series shifts to Spring Creek next week for the eighth round of the series, where Dungey will get to compete in Minnesota in front of his hometown fans.

Budds Creek Overall Results
1. Ryan Dungey (2-1)
2. Ken Roczen (1-2)
3. Eli Tomac (4-3)
4. Trey Canard (3-4)
5. Weston Peick (6-5)
6. Josh Grant (9-6)
7. Andrew Short (8-7)
8. Brett Metcalfe (7-11)
9. Phil Nicoletti (12-8)
10. Matt Goerke (11-10)
*Moto 1 and Moto 2 results in parenthesis

The final results from the Monster Energy Supercross race in Seattle suggests the season is turning into a two-rider battle as Eli Tomac scored his sixth win of the season to tie Cooper Webb for the points’ lead and Chase Sexton crashed in yet another race.

Tomac downplayed the neck strain that caused him to lose the red plate for two weeks, but without that holding him back, it would appear it might have been a bigger problem than he admitted. Despite finishing on the podium in Detroit, Tomac has not shown the late-race strength everyone has come to expect. He was in a slump after scoring a season-worst in Indianapolis and described his sixth win as a “bounce back”.

With this win, Tomac tied James Stewart for second on the all-time list with 50 career Supercross victories. Six rounds remain and there is no sign that Tomac is slowing down. Jeremy McGrath’s 72 wins remains untouchable, for the moment at least.

RESULTS: Click here for full 450 Overall Results; Click here for 250 Overall Results

Cooper Webb was disappointed with second-place, but he recognized the Supercross results at Seattle could have been much worse. He rode in fifth for the first nine laps of the race, behind Tomac and Sexton. When Sexton crashed from the lead and Tomac took the top spot, Webb knew he could not afford to give up that many points and so he dug deep and found enough points to share the red plate when the series returns in two weeks in Glendale, Arizona for a Triple Crown event.

Justin Barcia scored his third podium of the season, breaking out of a threeway tie of riders who have not been the presumed favorites to win the championship. Barcia scored the podium without drama or controversy. It was his fourth consecutive top-five and his 10th straight finish of eighth or better.

Click here for 450 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier | Lap Chart

Jason Anderson kept his perfect record of top-10s alive with a fourth-place finish. Tied for fourth in the standings and 49 out of the lead, his season has been like a death of a thousand cuts. He’s ridden exceptionally well, but the Big Three have simply been better.

Sexton rebounded from his fall to finish fifth. He entered the race 17 points out of the lead and lost another five in Seattle. Mistakes have cost Sexton 22 points in the last three races and that is precisely how far he is behind Tomac and Webb. Unless those two riders bobble, this deficit cannot overcome.

The rider who ties Anderson for fourth in the points, Ken Roczen finished just outside the top five in sixth after he battled for a podium position early in the race.

Click here for 450 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points

The 250 West riders got back in action after four rounds of sitting on the sideline and Jett Lawrence picked up where he left of: in Victory Lane. Lawrence now has four wins and a second-place finish in five rounds. One simply doesn’t get close to perfection than that.

Between them, the Lawrence brothers have won all but two races though 11 rounds. Jett failed to win the Anaheim Triple Crown and Hunter Lawrence failed to win the Arlington Triple Crown format in the 250 East division. In two weeks, the series has their final Triple Crown race in Glendale. When he was reminded of this from the top of the Seattle podium, Jett replied, “oof”.

Click here for 250 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier | Lap Chart

RJ Hampshire finished second in the race and is second in the points. This is fourth time in five rounds that Hampshire finished second to Lawrence. If not for a crash-induced 11th-place finish in the Arlington Triple Crown, he would be much closer in the points standings. With that poor showing, he is 23 points behind Lawrence.

Cameron McAdoo made a lot of noise in his heat. Riding aggressively beside Larwence, the two crashed in the preliminary. McAdoo could never seem to get away from Hampshire in the Main and as the two battled, the leader got away. It would have been interesting to see how they would have raced head-to-head when points were on the line.

Click here for 250 Overall results | 250 West Rider Points | 250 Combined Rider Points

The Supercross results in Seattle were kind to a couple of riders on the cusp of the top five. Enzo Lopes scored his second top-five and fourth top-10 of the season after crossing the finish line fourth in Seattle.

Tying his best finish of the season for the third time, Max Vohland kept his perfect record of top-10s alive. Vohland is seventh in the points.

2023 Results

Round 11: Eli Tomac bounces back with sixth win
Round 10: Chace Sexton wins, penalized
Round 9: Ken Roczen wins
Round 8: Eli Tomac wins 7th Daytona
Round 7: Cooper Webb wins second race
Race 6: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Race 5: Webb, Hunter Lawrence win
Race 4: Tomac, H Lawrence win
Race 3: Chase Sexton, Levi Kitchen win
Race 2: Tomac, J Lawrence win
Round 1: Tomac, J Lawrence win