2015 Muddy Creek Motocross Results
The 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship headed to Muddy Creek Raceway in Blountville, Tenn., for its only visit to the southern region of the USA.
The big news heading into round four at Tennessee was the absence of GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac. The Honda CRF450R pilot dominated the opening five motos, but he crashed in the second moto last week before a home crowd at Thunder Valley. During the wreck, Tomac tore his shoulder, and will be sidelined for the remainder of the season.
Winning at Thunder Valley was this year’s AMA Supercross Champion, Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey. The KTM SX-F450 pilot also took over the points lead due to his constant podium finishes.
Dungey carried this momentum into Tennessee, earning his second-consecutive round win with a 1-2 effort. Joining Dungey on the overall podium in Tennessee was his former teammate Ken Roczen (RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns/Suzuki Factory Racing, 3-1) and Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, 2-4).
When the first moto got off, Dungey nearly crashed after the gate dropped, and started outside the top five. Takign the holeshot was Autotrader.com/Toyota/Yamaha’s Justin Barcia, who was followed by teammate Phil Nicoletti.
But Barcia crashed at the first turn, giving the lead over to Nicoletti. Behind, Anderson piloted his way up to second. Dungey was on a charge, though, and charged to second on the opening lap. On lap two, he then passed Nicoletti for the lead.
From there, Dungey remained unchallenged. He took the win by 27.595 secods ahead of Anderson, who claimed his best moto finish in the 450 class. Roczen charged his way from just inside the top 10 to finish third.
In the second Moto, Roczen took the holeshot – his first of 2015 Motocross. He was followed by Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely, Barcia, and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Bagget. As for Dungey, he had a bad start outside the top 10.
As Roczen took control of a comfortable lead, a battle began between Seely, Barcia and Baggett. But coming through the field quickly, and joined this battle by the end of the first lap. Barcia ran off the track, giving second to Seely. Dungey would make quick work of Baggett, and set his sights on Seely.
Dungey would pass Seely on the fourth lap, and began to chase down Roczen, who had over a 10-second lead. Dungey close in, but he suffered a light crash after a light rain fell. He would remount, and finish second, 8.895 seconds behind Roczen. Taking third was Baggett.
With his 1-2 finish, Dungey earned the win, becoming the first repeat winner at Muddy Creek Raceway. This was also Dungey’s 40th overall win in both the 250 and 450 MX classes.
“I spun the tire off the start [in the second moto] and that was all it took to put us in that position,” explained Dungey, who maintained KTM’s undefeated record at the Tennessee National.
“I played catch up and was gaining [on Ken Roczen] but then a lapper got in the way and I went down. But that’s racing and like I said, we put in a hard charge all things considered and got second [in the moto], which was good enough for the overall win. We put in two hard motos today and that’s what counts. We’ve got to keep pushing, there’s a lot of racing left and we need to give each moto our all.”
Dungey now has a 37-point lead over Roczen. Baggett, who finished fourth overall with a 5-3 moto finish, is in third, 40 points behind.
The series now heads to Mount Morris, Pa., June 13 for the UPMC Sports Medicine High Point National at High Point Raceway.
2015 Muddy Creek Motocross 450 Results (Moto Finish):
- Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM (1-2)
- Ken Roczen, Germany, Suzuki (3-1)
- Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna (2-4)
- Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki (5-3)
- Phil Nicoletti, Cohocton, N.Y., Yamaha (4-9)
- Cole Seely, Laguna Beach, Calif., Honda (8-5)
- Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki (7-7)
- Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha (9-6)
- Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Yamaha (6-11)
- Justin Brayton, Fort Dodge, Iowa, KTM (11-8)
2015 Motocross 450 Class Championship Standings:
- Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 175
- Ken Roczen, Germany, Suzuki, 138
- Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki, 135
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda, 125
- Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha, 114
- Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna, 112
- Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Yamaha, 104
- Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki, 103
- Phil Nicoletti, Cohocton, N.Y., Yamaha, 92
- Cole Seely, Laguna Beach, Calif., Honda, 79
