Marvin Musquin dominated the 250 East/West Shootout. Photography by Steve Cox
The Red Bull KTM squad of 250cc East champ Marvin Musquin and 450cc champ Ryan Dungey have doubled down in Las Vegas by winning both main events four the fifth time this season. For Dungey, it was win number eight on the season–extending his personal best (he won six races in 2010, the last time he won the 450cc SX title). And for Musquin, the 250cc East/West Shootout in Las Vegas marked his seventh win of the season, and his first with the number-one plate since he raced in Europe.
Musquin’s job was made a little easier with a few guys dropping out of the event before the races even got going, including number 1W, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb. Webb duplicated Musquin’s six-win championship domination, but he sprained his ankle in practice and sat the night show out. His team says he should be fine for the start of the AMA National Motocross Series in a few weeks’ time. Also, Webb’s teammate, defending 250cc National MX champ Jeremy Martin sat out Vegas with a hand injury suffered while mountain-biking on the Thursday before the race, and 2014 250cc East SX champ Justin Bogle sat out Vegas as well, deciding to focus on the upcoming outdoor Nationals.
Still, it was a dominant performance for Musquin, who led every lap of the 250cc East/West Shootout in front of GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart and his Supercross teammate Matt Bisceglia.
“It’s like a dream come true tonight,” said Musquin. “I have never won in Las Vegas before and I used to watch this race back in the day when I was a kid, but tonight it’s my turn. To win my very last Supercross race on a 250cc [motorcycle] is awesome.”
(Left to right) Weston Peick, Ryan Dungey and Eli Tomac finished the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series on the Las Vegas podium. Photography by Steve Cox
In the 450cc class, Dungey snatched the early lead and was busy fighting off the advances of GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac when Tomac went down a few laps into the race, giving Dungey just enough of a gap that he could race to the finish unencumbered for win number eight.
“This is exactly how you want to end the season,” stated Dungey. “I’m very excited to get this win and use this confidence to head into the outdoor season in two weeks.”
“That was a blast, for sure,” Tomac said of the 450 main. “It was set up perfectly for a great battle between Ryan and I, but I lost my front end there, unfortunately. At that point I had to settle into second because Ryan was setting such a quick pace.”
Tomac hung on for second, while AutoTrader.com/JGR/Toyota Yamaha’s Weston Peick fought off the advances of Chad Reed for much of the main event, until Reed fell, landing Peick his second podium finish of the season.
Results
2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross
Las Vegas, Nevada
May 2, 2015
250 East/West Shootout
1. Marvin Musquin (KTM)
2. Malcolm Stewart (Honda)
3. Matt Bisceglia (Honda)
4. Aaron Plessinger (Yamaha)
5. Alex Martin (Yamaha)
6. Zach Osborne (Husqvarna)
7. RJ Hampshire (Honda)
8. Cole Martinez (Yamaha)
9. Shane McElrath (KTM)
10. Kyle Peters (Honda)
11. Mitchell Oldenburg (Yamaha)
12. Zach Bell (Husqvarna)
13. Gannon Audette (Kawasaki)
14. Luke Renzland (Yamaha)
15. AJ Catanzaro (Suzuki)
16. Scott Champion (Yamaha)
17. Justin Starling (Honda)
18. Josh Hansen (Kawasaki)
19. Anthony Rodriguez (Yamaha)
20. Preston Mull (Yamaha)
21. Nick Desiderio (Yamaha)
22. Justin Hill (KTM)
450 Main Event
1. Ryan Dungey (KTM)
2. Eli Tomac (Honda)
3. Weston Peick (Yamaha)
4. Cole Seely (Honda)
5. Josh Grant (Kawasaki)
6. Blake Baggett (Suzuki)
7. Chad Reed (Kawasaki)
8. Justin Barcia (Yamaha)
9. Justin Brayton (KTM)
10. Broc Tickle (Suzuki)
11. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki)
12. Nicholas Wey (Kawasaki)
13. Ben Lamay (Husqvarna)
14. Nicholas Schmidt (Suzuki)
15. Thomas Ramette (Kawasaki)
16. Killian Rusk (Yamaha)
17. Tony Archer (Kawasaki)
18. Kyle Partridge (Honda)
19. Michael Akaydin (Honda)
20. Deven Raper (Kawasaki)
21. Dustin Pipes (Suzuki)
22. Travis Bannister (Honda)
450 Final Points Standings
1. Ryan Dungey 390
2. Eli Tomac 305
3. Cole Seely 277
4. Chad Reed 226
5. Blake Baggett 223
6. Trey Canard 204
7. Jason Anderson 200
8. Broc Tickle 194
9. Andrew Short 180
10. Weston Peick 160
11. Josh Grant 159
12. Ken Roczen 156
13. Davi Millsaps 147
14. Kyle Chisholm 115
15. Justin Barcia 102
16. Nicholas Wey 94
17. Jacob Weimer 74
18. Justin Brayton 66
19. Phil Nicoletti 66
20. Ben Lamay 53
