Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship, heads to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., this Saturday evening for the penultimate round.
At last weekend’s race in Santa Clara, Calif., both recently crowned champions earned wins in their respective classes. Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey topped the field in the 450SX class while Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb dominated the 250SX West Region class.
Dungey’s victory marked his seventh win this season. The Minnesota native has finished on the podium 14 times so far this season. The two-time 450SX title holder passed Autotrader.com/Toyota/Yamaha’s Justin Barcia on lap three for the lead and cruised to victory.
“Today was rough; it took a few practices to finally get the bike dialed in,” said Dungey on the podium in Santa Clara. “The heat race win gave me a good spot on the gate for the main event, which was a big help in getting the start I did.”
GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac finished second in a career-best 450SX Class season that includes two wins and four consecutive podium finishes. Tomac now has 11 career 450SX Class podium finishes.
Autotrader.com/Toyota/Yamaha’s Weston Peick made his 68th career 450SX Class start in Santa Clara and scored his first podium of his career by finishing third place. The Santa Clara round also marked Peick’s fifth top-five finish of the season.
The 450SX class rookie Jason Anderson got a top-five start in his heat and had moved into the third-place position by the end of the first lap. He held steady and finished third to transfer directly to the main event.
In the main, Anderson pulled a top-10 start and navigated his Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna FC450 into the sixth place spot by lap eight. He continued to charge forward and made an impressive pass on Barcia for the fourth-place position with seven laps to go. He crossed the finish line in fourth, and is currently seventh overall in the points standings.
“Today was good overall,” said Anderson. “I worked through the day. It was better than last weekend. I felt patient every race. My heat race wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. I cased a rhythm section, but I was able to pull it off. I didn’t get as good a start as I wanted in the main, but I was pumped and able to move up to the front and get a fourth. Top five is good, but I want to get on the box. I was calmer tonight and I didn’t rush anything. I managed my race better and felt like I rode more mature.”
Team Honda’s Cole Seely rounded out the top five for the night continuing his strong rookie season. “I felt like I rode well tonight, but what really bothers me is something that was out of my hands and which affected my main event. The heat-race incident realistically took my gate pick away from me, so I didn’t have a fair shot at setting myself up to win tonight.
“I went from having either the first or second gate pick to ninth pick, which put me in damage-control mode. It’s disappointing for sure, but I was riding well. All in all, I finished fifth and am still third in points. On to the next round.”
As the series heads east for the final time this season, Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin brings a 20 point lead in the Eastern Regional 250SX Class Championship and has his sights set on his first-ever championship and win at MetLife Stadium.
Musquin has been the most dominant rider in the Eastern Regional 250SX Class all year with five wins and two second-place finishes. Musquin’s toughest competition this year has been from defending Eastern Regional 250SX Class Champion Justin Bogle. Bogle has put his GEICO Honda CRF250R on top of the box with one win this season and has been on the podium at every race except St. Louis.
During last year’s 450SX Class Main Event in East Rutherford, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Villopoto won the first-ever race at MetLife Stadium. In doing so, Villopoto clinched his fourth consecutive 450SX Class Championship. Bogle scored his second win of the Eastern Regional 250SX Class Championship.
2015 East Rutherford Supercross on TV
Saturday night’s race will air live on FOX at 3 p.m. EST/ noon PST for the first time in Monster Energy Supercross history.
2015 Supercross 450SX Class Season Standings (after 15 of 17 rounds):
1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, MN, KTM, 343
2. Eli Tomac, Cortez, CO, Honda, 258
3. Cole Seely, Laguna Beach, CA, Honda, 239
4. Chad Reed, Dade City, FL, Kawasaki, 212
5. Trey Canard, Edmond, OK, Honda, 204
6. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, CA, Suzuki, 190
7. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, NM, Husqvarna, 188
8. Broc Tickle, Holly, MI, Suzuki, 168
9. Ken Roczen, Clermont, FL, Suzuki, 164
10. Andrew Short, Smithville, TX, KTM, 156
2015 Supercross 250SX Eastern Regional Class Season Standings:
1. Marvin Musquin, Corona, CA, KTM, 169
2. Justin Bogle, Cushing, OK, Honda, 149
3. Jeremy Martin, Millville, MN, Yamaha, 125
4. Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, GA, Kawasaki, 113
5. RJ Hampshire, Hudson, FL, Honda, 84
6. Anthony Rodriguez, Cairo, GA, Yamaha, 84
7. Jimmy Decotis, Peabody, MA, Honda, 84
8. Kyle Peters, Greensboro, NC, Honda, 76
9. Martin Davalos, Cairo, GA, Husqvarna, 63
10. Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, TX, Kawasaki, 60
