Ryan Dungey takes points lead as Eli Tomac crashes in East Rutherford
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.
Tomac entered Saturday night's race as the sole points leader for the first time in his Supercross career, and it could very well be said that the pressure of being the points leader did not do the Kawasaki rider any favors.
Tomac hadn't fared well in his heat race, just making it into the Main with a fourth-place finish while Dungey won his heat race after turning the top time in qualifying.
Jason Anderson won Tomac's heat race and went on to take the Holeshot in the Main. However, Anderson's lead was short-lived as he went down, although he was able to salvage a third-place finish.
Anderson's 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.
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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 got back by for the win on the final lap when Musquin appeared to let him back by, although Musquin insisted he made a mistake.
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"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."
Dungey leads the points by nine over Tomac with one round left to go.
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 and lost second place to Dylan Ferrandis. Jordon Smith - who entered the night second in the points - could only manage fourth, and thus drops to third in the points entering the final race. Savatgy has a seven-point lead over Osborne and an eight-point lead over Smith.
UPDATE: Savatgy was penalized five positions after officials deemed that he did not reenter the track at the closest safe point following his crash. He drops from third to eighth in the finishing order, which gives Jordon Smith the points lead by one point over Savatgy and Osborne with one round to go.
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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
