2017 Las Vegas Supercross Results and Coverage |
Anderson Takes Win
In a highly tactical race, Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey did what he needed to do to wrap up his fourth Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, and his third in a row. Dungey needed a fourth place or better to clinch the title, and he ended up in fourth in a most improbable way.
After Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM’s Black Baggett grabbed the holeshot in the Main Event, Dungey quickly took the lead, opening a nearly one-second gap after one lap. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac needed a win for a reasonable shot at the championship, and was sitting in third with Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson between them.
One Lap 2, Tomac passed Anderson and took off after Dungey. Catching Dungey in a corner, Tomac parked Dungey, causing Dungey to come to a complete halt with his bike perpendicular to the racing line. Anderson also passed Dungey before Dungey was able to get moving in the right direction. On the next lap, Anderson briefly was a wheel ahead of Tomac, but Tomac was able to retain the lead.
Tomac, Anderson, and Dungey ran 1-2-3 until Lap 5, when Dungey went past Anderson. It was at this point that championship tactics came into play.
Rather than running off to a win, Tomac kept the pace slow, allowing Anderson, Baggett, and Tomac’s teammate Josh Grant, to bunch up behind Dungey. If all three riders were to pass Dungey and Tomac took the win, the championship would be Tomac’s.
Dungey was reluctant to attempt a pass on Tomac, as Tomac showed a willingness to bump Dungey to secure the championship. Dungey did pass Tomac on Lap 14, and Tomac immediately put another pass on Dungey, parking Dungey again. Tomac continued to manage the pace to keep the other riders engaged.
Dungey nemesis Chad Reed (Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha) was creeping up on the field and became part of the leading group on Lap 15 when Baggett went down and Reed jumped to fourth place ahead of Grant.
On Lap 17, Reed blitzed past Anderson for third, putting Reed one position behind Dungey. However, on the last turn before the finish line, Anderson got on the inside of Reed and knocked Reed off the track, putting Dungey out of Reed’s reach.
Just two corners before the finish line on the final lap (Lap 19), Tomac made one last attempt to knock Dungey out of the top four. As Tomac slowed, Dungey was forced to pass Tomac due to other riders closing. From the inside line, Tomac knocked Dungey off the track—his third altercation of the night. However, this time Tomac was significant slowed by the encounter, which had the potential of taking both riders down.
Anderson motored by both Tomac and Dungey to take the win by nearly two seconds, Anderson’s first of the year. Tomac was in third, but was able to pass teammate Grant before the finish line. Grant stayed ahead of Dungey, and took the final podium position. It was Grant’s only podium of 2017.
Dungey’s fourth pace, two seconds ahead of Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Dean Wilson, was enough to secure the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross Championship by five points over Tomac.
“In the last race, I didn’t expect it to be like that,” Dungey said immediately after the race. “I expected it to be a clean race, but those cheap shots were unbelievable. But, we survived it and we got through it.”
Reed took sixth place, a half-second ahead of Baggett, who was just one second up on teammate Davi Millsaps. Less than a dozen seconds separated the top eight riders at the finish. Tomac led all but the first and final laps of the race.
Dungey’s five-point championship-winning margin erased any taint of teammate Marvin Musquin allowing Dungey to make an easy pass on the last lap of the previous race in New Jersey, which gave Dungey three additional points. Also, Grant appeared to gift Tomac with second place, giving Tomac two points in the same manner Dungey benefitted from Musquin’s friendly move.
While Tomac had nine wins, and Dungey just three win, Dungey had superior consistency. Dungey never finished worst than fourth place, while Tomac had a 15th in Arlington and eighth place finishes at Anaheim 2 and New Jersey.
“We didn’t win the most races,” Dungey said, “but the points are what matter at the end. We fought hard, tooth and nail. This was these most challenging and the hardest season of my entire career. It’s just nice to be here and sit on top.”
Dungey joins Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, and Ryan Villopoto as the only riders with four or more AMA Supercross championships. This was also Dungey’s third consecutive championship, a feat also accomplished only by the same three riders. Dungey’s first championship came in 2010, as a 450SX rookie.
2017 Monster Energy Supercross Results, Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas
- Jason Anderson, Husqvarna
- Eli Tomac, Kawasaki
- Josh Grant, Kawasaki
- Ryan Dungey, KTM
- Dean Wilson, Husqvarna
- Chad Reed, Yamaha
- Blake Baggett, KTM
- Davi Millsaps, KTM
- Justin Brayton, Honda
- Cooper Webb, Yamaha
- Christian Craig, Honda
- Malcolm Stewart, Suzuki
- Justin Bogle, Suzuki
- Jake Weimer, Suzuki
- Vince Friese, Honda
- Alex Ray, Yamaha
- Dakota Tedder, Kawasaki
- Adam Enticknap, Honda
- Ronnie Stewart, Suzuki
- Scott Champion, Yamaha
- Justin Barcia, Suzuki
- Marvin Musquin, KTM
2017 Monster Energy Supercross Final Standings
- Ryan Dungey, 359 points (3 wins)
- Eli Tomac, 354 (9 wins)
- Marvin Musquin, 293 (2 wins)
- Jason Anderson, 273 (1 win)
- Davi Millsaps, 221
- Blake Baggett, 220
- Cole Seely, 212
- Dean Wilson, 185
- Chad Reed, 182
- Josh Grant, 175
- Broc Tickle, 167
- Justin Brayton, 147
- Cooper Webb, 129
- Jake Weimer, 113
- Malcolm Stewart, 103
- Vince Friese, 84
- Justin Barcia, 83
- Justin Bogle, 83
- Mike Alessi, 59
- Ken Roczen, 51 (2 wins)
- Trey Canard, 51
- Weston Peick, 39
- Nick Schmidt, 29
- Jeremy Martin, 22
- Christian Craig, 20
- Alex Ray, 17
- Cade Clason, 15
- Jimmy Albertson, 11
- Tommy Hahn, 11
- Kyle Chisholm, 11
- Christophe Pourcel, 10
- Adam Enticknap, 10
- Dakota Tedder, 7
- J. Catanzaro, 6
- Austin Politelli, 4
- Ronnie Stewart, 4
- Theodore Pauli, 3
- Angelo Pellegrini, 3
- Cody Gilmore, 3
- Scott Champion, 3
- Fredrik Noren, 2
- Michael Akaydin, 1
- Bryce Stewart, 1
- Kyle White, 1
