Eli Tomac went down from the lead in the East Rutherford Supercross Saturday night at MetLife Stadium, giving championship rival Ryan Dungey the win and the points lead with just one round left to go.
The Main Event kicked off with Jason Anderson grabbing the holeshot, but his lead was short lived as he went down on Lap 2. The mishap gave Tomac the lead, but that was likewise short lived as Tomac went down and dropped to 15th. Tomac had another mishap later in the race and could only salvage an eighth-place finish.
However, things weren’t smooth sailing for Dungey either as his Red Bull KTM teammate Marvin Musquin passed him for the lead at the halfway point. Dungey would ultimately fight back, passing Musquin on the final lap in what appeared to be a controversal 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.
Meanwhile, in the 250 East class, Zach Osborne moved himself up into second in the points with just one round left to go after taking his fourth win of the season.
Osborne had won his heat race but got a horrible start in the Main, ending the first lap in seventh position. However, the Husqvarna rider quickly worked his way up through the field and took the race lead from points leader Joey Savatgy at the halfway point.
Savatgy then went down moments later and lost second to Dylan Ferrandis. He would cross the line in third, but it was later determined he failed to re-enter the racetrack at the closest safe point following his crash. The AMA levied a five-position penalty to Savatgy, dropping him back to eigth.
Jordon Smith, who took the checkers in fourth, was rewarded with a third-place finish following Savatgy’s penalty and now holds the championship lead for the first time in career. Savatgy and Osborne will enter Las Vegas one point back of the KTM rider.
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
250SX East Results:
1. Zach Osborne
2. Dylan Ferrandis
3. Jordon Smith
4. Adam Cianciarulo
5. Christian Craig
6. Kyle Cunningham
7. Luke Renzland
8. Joey Savatgy
9. Cameron McAdoo
10. Anthony Rodriguez
Story by Samuel Reiman of FOXSports.com