In one moto, Ryan Dungey nearly tripled his total number of laps led for the whole season, taking the MotoSport.com Holeshot and leading wire-to-wire to win the second 450 Class moto at Budds Creek.
With 2-1 moto scores on the day, Dungey takes the overall win ahead of Red Bull KTM teammate Ken Roczen by virtue of a tiebreaker but is unable to gain any ground on Roczen in the championship race.
The JGR Yamaha duo of Josh Grant and Justin Brayton once again got off to strong starts but Dungey was able to beat them to the line to secure the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award. Ken Roczen and Trey Canard were on the move behind him, battling their way around the Yamahas to move into second and third, respectively, within the first few minutes of the moto.
With a headstart over his teammate, Dungey was able to stretch out his lead and ride without being challenge for the remainder of the 30 minutes plus two laps. After leading all 17 laps of the moto, Dungey has now led just 26 laps total for the season – Roczen, meanwhile, has led 116 laps – but he is still well within the thick of the championship hunt.
Dungey credited the start as his key to victory, saying it allowed him to run his own race out front. With the overall victory, the former 450 Class champion moved into sole possession of third place on the all-time motocross wins list, behind only Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart.
Roczen would settle into second place but would face a challenge from Eli Tomac over the final two laps of the race. Tomac had a poor start and had to battle back from eighth place. Once he moved into the top-five, Tomac engaged in a three-way battle with James Stewart and Trey Canard, eventually passing both riders to move into podium position and mounting a charge against Roczen. Roczen would hold the position, but with 4-3 moto scores, Tomac extends his streak of finishing on the overall podium at each of his first three career races in the 450 Class.
“We all have our [off] days,” Roczen said after the race. “I’m so happy to finish off the day and keep the points lead the same. That’s all I can ask for.”
“We got a true test of heat and humidity,” Tomac said, noting that Budds Creek was the most difficult of the three rounds he has raced. “I just didn’t get the starts today, and the way this class is, you need those.”
Stewart looked to be on his way to a top-five finish, but a crash late in the race forced him into the pits, and he would not finish the moto. It’s the third straight disappointing round for Stewart after his sweep at High Point just a few weeks ago.
After failing to finish either moto a week ago at RedBud, Weston Peick bounced back to secure fifth in Moto 2 and fifth overall on the day.
All three JGR Yamaha riders – Josh Grant, Phil Nicoletti and Justin Brayton – recorded top-ten finishes in the second moto.
Jimmy Albertson, who recently made a mid-season bike switch to KTM, matched his best moto result of the season with a 13th-place finish. He was briefly running in the top-15 in Moto 1 and potentially could have had a much better day overall were it not for a slide late in that opening moto.
Budds Creek 450 Moto 2 Results
1. Ryan Dungey
2. Ken Roczen (-5.0 seconds)
3. Eli Tomac
4. Trey Canard
5. Weston Peick
6. Josh Grant
7. Andrew Short
8. Phil Nicoletti
9. Justin Brayton
10. Matt Goerke
11. Brett Metcalfe
12. Ben LaMay
13. Jimmy Albertson
14. Christian Craig
15. Evgeny Mikhaylov
16. Fredrik Noren
17. Paul Coates
18. Tony Archer
19. Matthew Babbitt
20. Chris Proscelle
Budds Creek Overall Results
1. Ryan Dungey (2-1)
2. Ken Roczen (1-2)
3. Eli Tomac (4-3)
4. Trey Canard (3-4)
5. Weston Peick (6-5)
6. Josh Grant (9-6)
7. Andrew Short (8-7)
8. Brett Metcalfe (7-11)
9. Phil Nicoletti (12-8)
10. Matt Goerke (11-10)
