Steve Cox | April 1, 2017
2017 St. Louis 450 Supercross Results: Tensions are high, and every race now the championship is getting tighter. Defending 450cc Supercross Champion Ryan Dungey has had a tough go of it for the past few races, with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac taking four wins in a row as the series headed to St. Louis. On top of that, two races in a row, Dungey also couldn’t stop his Red Bull KTM teammate Marvin Musquin. Dungey won his heat race on his way to the main event, although he had to deal with a game Chad Reed who cut over on Dungey through the whoops immediately after he passed the champ for the lead early in the race. Dungey took exception to it during his podium interview after the heat race. Tomac qualified first in timed qualifying, but a terrible start in his heat left him with the final transfer spot in fourth.
2017 St. Louis 450 Supercross Results
When the main-event gate dropped in St. Louis, Tomac trailed Dungey by only 7 points with five races left to run. Dungey did exactly what he needed to do, grabbing the holeshot to start the main event, but for the first time in the recent run of races, Tomac was on him right from the start. The stage was set for a showdown between the champion and the challenger, and Tomac took the first swing, forcing Dungey wide after the whoops on lap one to take the lead.
Initially, Dungey fell a couple of seconds behind, but then he began gaining on Tomac. On lap 15 of an eventual 25, Dungey sat less than two seconds behind Tomac, but then he found Monster Energy/Yamalube/Chaparral Yamaha’s Chad Reed again. Although he was running 16th at the time, Reed held Dungey behind him for three full laps, and when Reed finally let Dungey by, he appeared to rev his bike at Dungey in anger.
Dungey resumed chasing Tomac, but he trailed his championship challenger by 4.8 seconds, and that was it.
Tomac took his fifth win in a row 6 seconds in front of Dungey with Musquin finishing third. Then came Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson, Tomac’s teammate Josh Grant with his best finish of the year in fifth, then Honda’s Cole Seely, Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM’s Blake Baggett, RCH Suzuki’s Broc Tickle, Ride365.com Suzuki’s Malcolm Stewart (who was running fifth with only two minutes left in the timed main event) and Motoconcepts Honda’s Justin Brayton.
Tomac now trails Dungey by only four points with four races left to run.
You can check out the post race press conference, including Dungey’s comments about Chad Reed holding him up here.
2017 St. Louis 450 Supercross Results
2017 St. Louis 450 Supercross Results
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