Based on what we saw in practice this morning, we knew this wouldn’t be a normal race. On a slow, muddy track, it was Ken Roczen who navigated the conditions best and dominated the moto from start to finish.
Watch the recap of 450 Moto 1:
Coming out of the gate, Ken Roczen edged out the rest of the field to the white line to claim the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award, and no one would be able to catch him after that. By the end of the second lap, Roczen and Trey Canard had opened up a huge gap on the rest of the field. By the end of the third lap, Roczen was already passing lapped riders.
Canard ran into issues on that third lap and briefly pulled into the FRAM Mechanic’s Row, allowing Roczen to completely pull away from everyone and also allowing Dungey to move into second place. Roczen was able to extend his lead to nearly 30 seconds by that point and was able to cruise the rest of the way. Canard returned to the track in third, and the top three in the running order would hold serve over the remainder of the race.
A good battle for fourth place developed behind the front pack, as Eli Tomac – who had to work his way from the backend of the top ten – caught Brett Metcalfe, who had gotten off to a strong start. The two battled hard late in the race, with Tomac ultimately taking away the position. Metcalfe ended up tossing his last pair of goggles and had to fall back a bit behind Tomac in order to avoid eating roost.
Although the rain held off during the race, the weather had already wreaked havoc on the track this morning, and it was a factor in this race. All over the track, bikes and riders were caked in mud. The uphill triple that many riders were excited for was instead used as a double. Josh Grant had to pull into the pits to get a new pair of goggles. Dylan Narel (#844) literally got stuck in the mud at one point for a few minutes, finally freeing his bike and riding away, earning a roaring ovation from the crowd in that corner of the track.
Jake Weimer was one of the many victims of the mud. (Photo: Amy Schaaf)
Indiana 450 Moto 1 Results
1. Ken Roczen
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Trey Canard
4. Eli Tomac
5. Brett Metcalfe
6. Matt Goerke
7. Chad Reed
8. Andrew Short
9. Fredrik Noren
10. Ryan Sipes
11. Weston Peick
12. Josh Grant
13. Ben LaMay
14. Heath Harrison
15. Killy Rusk
16. Shane Sewell
17. Noah McConahy
18. Ronnie Stewart
19. Cody CanBuskirk
20. Tucker Saye
