Kit Palmer | April 3, 2016
So how did Ryan Dungey respond after getting a win stripped from him at the last race in Detroit? By winning again. But this time he got to keep it.
For the sixth time this season, Dungey crossed the finish line leading the way, this time at round 12 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series in Santa Clara, California, the home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. Dungey showed why he wears the number-one plate after scoring a near wire-to-wire victory. It just might’ve been his most impressive victory of the year when you consider that the only rider who has beaten him straight up this year, Ken Roczen, started right behind him but couldn’t catch him.
Roczen did, however, stay close and made one authentic attempt on the eighth lap to pass the KTM rider but failed. After that, Roczen slipped back a bit and was unable to mount another attack, and that was that. Roczen later said that lappers hindered his progress somewhat, but Dungey had already opened up a small cushion by the time the got into heavy traffic.
Dungey, on the Red Bull 450 SX-F Factory Edition KTM, was simply in complete control of this race and proved to be just too strong for Roczen and everybody else in the race, taking the checkered flag just under two seconds ahead of the RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki rider.
In general, though, the 20-lap main event was fairly uneventful. The first four riders—Dungey, Roczen, Jason Anderson and Chad Reed—after the first lap finished in the same order 17 laps later. Anderson crossed the finish line 17 seconds behind Roczen and two seconds ahead of Reed.
Fifth went to HRC Honda’s Trey Canard who made a move on Reed on the last lap but ran out of time.
GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle, who led through the first few turns, ended up sixth, followed by Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, AutoTrader.com/Toyota/JGRMX Yamaha’s Weston Peick, RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki Jake Weimer and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett, who rounded out the top 10 overall.
It was another frustrating night for James Stewart. It started off well enough for the rider returning from injury. He finished second to Dungey in his heat race but pulled out of the main event early on with a mechanical problem.
Dungey’s victory was the sixth of the year and the 28th of his career, tying him with Rick Johnson for sixth on the all-time win list. It was also his 84th podium (fourth all-time) and 100th top five finish (fifth all-time).
With just five rounds left (Indianapolis, St. Louis, Foxborough, New Jersey and Las Vegas), Dungey enjoys a massive 42-point lead over Roczen, 278-236. Anderson is third, 16 points behind Roczen and 20 points ahead of Tomac.