As we’ve seen throughout the season, Ken Roczen doesn’t need a great start to win races.
Roczen would have to start from outside the top-five in this one, but worked his way through the field into the lead by the midpoint of the race and was able to stretch out his lead, ultimately winning by a comfortable 4.5 second margin of victory.
When the gate dropped, it was Ryan Dungey and Trey Canard battling for the lead up front. Canard, who had led just two laps all year entering this weekend, managed to make the pass early in the first lap and would stay out front ahead of the Red Bull KTM rider for the next four laps. Andrew Short, Josh Grant and James Stewart would round out the top-five after the opening lap.
Grant and Stewart tangled on the next lap though and went down. Stewart was forced to bring his bike into the FRAM Mechanic’s Row and would not be able to return to the track, resulting in his first DNF of the season.
Roczen, who was sitting eigth after the opening lap, had moved into the top-five by the end of Lap 2. He got around Eli Tomac for third two laps later to make it a three-way battle for the lead with Canard and Dungey. Roczen passed both riders on Lap 5, taking over the lead from Canard right after the racers went through LaRocco’s Leap. With an empty track in front of him, Roczen was able to pull away for his fifth moto win of the year.
The battle for second place was a tough one between Canard and Dungey for the rest of the moto once lappers entered the mix and held Canard up, with Tomac even closing in on them at one point. Dungey was able to pass Canard on Lap 9 but gave the position right back on the following lap after a mistake in the corner nearly caused him to fall off the bike.
Canard and Dungey would hold serve in the second and third spots for the remainder of the moto, with Eli Tomac taking fourth and Andrew Short turning a great start into a top-five finish.
RedBud 450 Moto 1 Results
1. Ken Roczen
2. Trey Canard
3. Ryan Dungey
4. Eli Tomac
5. Andrew Short
6. Josh Grant
7. Brett Metcalfe
8. Chad Reed
9. Malcolm Stewart
10. Justin Brayton
11. Matt Goerke
12. Ben LaMay
13. Kyle Chisholm
14. Christian Craig
15. Ronnie Stewart
16. Nick Wey
17. Fredrik Noren
18. Evgeny Mikhaylov
19. Kevin Rookstool
20. Noah McConahy
