Page 14 - Issue43

RYAN DUNGEY
450 SX / 2ND
IMAGE / LANGSTON WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>> As the sun rose last Saturday, with it’s rays glistening over the city of St. Louis and the pits surrounding the stadium, the Ryan Dungey camp prepared to make some inroads towards their recent struggles. Well, struggles may not be the right word for most people but with only two victories so far this season, and four rounds since the last one, Dungey has clearly lost his stride through the last few races. The loss in his step has caused his points lead to dimin- ish and there is, now, no doubt that the defending champion is truly feeling the stress that Eli Tomac continues to apply. Of course, Dungey’s professionalism never allows his demeanor to falter but as the sun continued it’s orbit through the day, tension could be felt in the air. With four main events left and four opportunities to gain, or lose, the championship they both have worked so hard for, racing got underway for round thirteen with the next chapter waiting to be written.
The page started out with Dungey getting the hole-shot in heat one, leading Reed and Musquin to the second turn. Blitzing the whoops by Dungey, though, Reed took the lead away imme- diately and made Dungey work in subsequent laps. After cutting in on Reed before the finish line and Reed not letting the pass stick, Dungey followed Chad for most of the heat before masterfully setting up the bitter veteran to regain the lead. Taking the top spot to the checkers for the final minute plus one lap. Dungey was set to go for the main event and continued his success in the start by getting the initial lead around turn one. Taken high by the green #3 of Tomac following the whoops, Dungey was pushed back to 2nd in a moment that led the whole stadium to thinking they were finally going to get the race we’ve all been waiting for. For the next few laps, the top two riders were on fire; each of them calmly unleashing the fastest laps they could, showing their efforts through a language of bike and body weight. The pass Tomac made on Dungey appeared to frustrate the defending champ into making some early mistakes but Dungey clearly found his rhythm, slowly pulling in Eli through the middle portion of the race. Gaining two seconds on Eli in six laps, Ryan had a shot at the lead until Dungey found the #22 of Chad Reed in lap traffic with seven minutes to go. Usually, riders in the back of the pack would pull over for someone in Ryan’s position but a chip on Chad’s shoulder prevented the two-time champ from moving over. As a result, it took Dungey 3 minutes to get by Reed and lost Ryan over three seconds in the process. With only four minutes left, Dungey ran out
of time and took 2nd place back to the big rig in disappointment. The result didn’t cost him the points lead but the upcoming rounds are being built into the most crucial supercross races in recent memory. Tune-in next week to unfold chapter fourteen from Seattle.
14 GRITMOTO • APRIL 2, 2017