Ryan Dungey sweeps Spring Creek
Words By Shawn Smith – Images by Hoppenworld
In a return to his home state of Minnesota, Belle Plaine native Ryan Dungey returned to the top of the 450 Class podium with a 1-1 sweep of the La Crescent Wine & Spirit Spring Creek National, the eighth round of 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
Dungey won at Spring Creek in five straight seasons from 2008-2012 but had not been atop the podium at his home race since then. Today’s win not only snapped that drought, it also ended a three-race winless streak this season. The Red Bull KTM rider now leads the 450 Class with three overall wins and seven moto wins.
Fresh off a two-race win streak, Justin Barcia continued his trend of strong starts. He grabbed the Holeshot Award in both motos, extending his holeshot streak to five consecutive motos and giving him eight total for the season. During his five-moto holeshot streak, Barcia has not finished worse than second in any of those races, but he has repeatedly had to contend with Dungey.
In Moto 1, Dungey went from third to first on the opening lap. First, he got around Barcia’s JGR Yamaha teammate Phil Nicoletti after wheelieing into a jump and racing him side-by-side in the air. Then a tipover from Barcia allowed Dungey to take the lead away, and although Barcia kept the Red Bull KTM rider within sight for awhile, he couldn’t mount a challenge.
Dungey went on to win the moto, with Barcia finishing second. Ken Roczen rounded out the top three for the moto, with two more Suzuki riders – Blake Baggett and Broc Tickle – also inside the top five.
In the second moto, Barcia was able to maintain his holeshot-induced lead for a bit longer, although he very nearly lost out on the holeshot to Rockstar Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson. After some back and forth racing between the two, Barcia eventually secured the top spot but once again faced pressure from Dungey, who got around Fredrik Noren and Anderson to move into second.
Barcia led the first three laps of the race, but about eight-and-a-half minutes into the moto, he ceded the position to his recent nemesis. Once again, Dungey and Barcia would go 1-2 in the moto, putting them first and second overall, respectively, for the day.
“[This win] means a lot,” Dungey said after the race. “It’s been a couple years since I won here, and I always hate leaving. I had a couple tough breaks the previous years, but that one came down to me and Justin, and when I made the pass, I just tried to drop the hammer, and I was able to open up a little bit of a lead.”
Roczen appeared to be riding comfortably in third in Moto 2, but Baggett made a charge and caught him, making a pass with the countdown clock winding down to its final minutes. The pass proved to be the deciding factor in the battle for the final spot on the overall podium, as Baggett (4-3) edged out Roczen (3-4) for third overall by virtue of a tiebreaker, the better finish in the second moto.
Team Honda HRC’s Fredrik Noren set a new career high with a fifth-place finish in Moto 2. It also helped give him the best overall finish of his career (7th).
Josh Grant rode well in his debut with Monster Energy Kawasaki, riding a pair of top-ten moto finishes (10-9) to 10th place overall. Andrew Short also returned this week but only managed 16-15 moto finishes, although the result wasn’t unexpected after he revealed this week that he’s coming back despite not being 100% ready yet
It was a solid day for several privateers, including Minnesota native Jesse Wentland. Wentland, along with fellow privateers Kyle Chisholm and Jason Brooks, posted a pair of top-15 moto finishes.
With four rounds left in the season, Dungey now holds a 56-point lead over Ken Roczen in the 450 Class championship standings. Barcia sits third, 69 points behind Dungey and just 13 back of Roczen.
450 Overall Results
1. Ryan Dungey (1-1)
2. Justin Barcia (2-2)
3. Blake Baggett (4-3)
4. Ken Roczen (3-4)
5. Jason Anderson (6-6)
6. Broc Tickle (5-7)
7. Fredrik Noren (8-5)
8. Christophe Pourcel (9-8)
9. Phil Nicoletti (7-10)
10. Josh Grant (10-9)
11. Kyle Chisholm (11-11)
12. Jesse Wentland (12-12)
13. Jason Brooks (14-14)
14. Andrew Short (16-15)
15. Kyle Cunningham (13-18)
16. Gannon Audette (20-13)
17. Noah McConahy (19-17)
18. Ben LaMay (15-38)
19. John Short (25-16)
20. Heath Harrison (17-20)
450 Class Points
- Ryan Dungey 353
- Ken Roczen 297
- Justin Barcia 284
- Blake Baggett 250
- Jason Anderson 227
- Broc Tickle 220
- Christophe Pourcel  211
- Phil Nicoletti 176
- Weston Peick 171
- Fredrik Noren 161
- Justin Brayton 132
- Eli Tomac 125
- Cole Seely 104
- Kyle Chisholm 103
- Wil Hahn 99
- Tommy Hahn 72
- Kyle Cunningham 70
- Chad Reed 61
- Jesse Wentland 58
- Josh Grant 40
Cooper Webb bounces back with first win of the season at Spring Creek
The story heading into Round 8 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship was all about Jeremy Martin and his return to his home track in Millville, Minnesota. As the current 250 Class points leader and the winner of last year’s race at the track, the La Crescent Wine & Spirit Spring Creek National was set up to be the perfect homecoming party.
His Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha teammate Cooper Webb would have none of that though, as he played the spoiler and earned his first win of the season.
In the first moto, RJ Hampshire earned the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award and grabbed the early lead. Close behind him were Marvin Musquin and Alex Martin, but the two came together when Alex tried to make a pass, sending Alex to the ground. Musquin overtook Hampshire for the lead on Lap 2, making a move on the outside and getting himself in front on a downhill section.
On the next lap though, Musquin went down and struggled to get his bike unstuck from the mud, allowing Hampshire to retake the lead. Musquin was in 10th once he got going again and would pick up a few spots before another fall sent him back to 10th place again. The Red Bull KTM rider was left trying to salvage points, and he finished the moto in eighth.
While Musquin’s misfortune allowed Hampshire to move back into the lead, it wouldn’t last long, as he had Joey Savatgy and Cooper Webb close behind. After crossing the line in sixth after the opening lap, Webb moved all the way up to second in the span of just two laps after passing Savatgy. He then passed Hampshire for the lead on the next lap and led the rest of the moto en route to the checkered flag.
Savatgy held off a late challenge from Jeremy Martin for second place, his best result of the season. Martin finished third – not the result he wanted, but impressive considering that he was riding with a broken clutch lever since the third lap of the race. Alex Martin and RJ Hampshire rounded out the top five.
“I tried to put a last-lap pass on Joey in Moto 1 to hopefully put myself in the position for an overall because I knew Cooper was on today,” Jeremy Martin said after the race. “For him not to get second [in Moto 2] it was gonna be pretty tough because he rides good here in my backyard.”
With the bike fixed for Moto 2, Jeremy Martin came out and dominated like many expected him to on his home track. He grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award, with Webb behind him in second. Martin then proceeded to open up a gap over his teammate and went on to win the moto by 25 seconds.
Because he had not been able to pass Savatgy for second in Moto 1, it meant that Martin would need help in order to get an overall win, as Webb could still lock up the overall with a second-place finish in Moto 2. Help nearly arrived in the form of Musquin, who got within four seconds of Webb during the moto but was never able to challenge him for second place. Webb finished second to claim the overall victory with 1-2 moto results, while Musquin rounded out the top three in the moto.
“J-Mart was on a mission that second moto,” Webb said. “He wanted to let me know I wasn’t gonna be faster both motos, and I kinda knew that. It’s his track. He’s been riding here. I knew he was gonna be extremely hard to beat, but 1-2 gets it done, and I’m stoked.”
Jeremy Martin (3-1) ended up second overall, and Joey Savatgy found himself on the podium as well in third overall with 2-4 moto finishes.
As for the other Martin brother, Alex was unable to back up his fourth-place finish in Moto 1 with another solid result. He finished 14th in Moto 2, putting him 10th overall.
Although Musquin failing to pass Webb in Moto 2 kept Martin from earning an overall win, the silver lining is that keeping Webb in between him and Musquin allowed Martin to add two extra points to his championship lead. He will retain the red plate for a second consecutive week and now holds a 19-point edge over Musquin, matching the largest margin that either rider has had at any point this season.
Webb’s victory comes just two weeks after he narrowly missed out on winning both motos at RedBud. The North Carolina native was in prime position for a sweep, but in Moto 1 he lost the lead to Jeremy Martin on the final lap, and in Moto 2 he crashed while leading the race. He certainly had plenty of time to think about that frustration during the off-week last week, but today’s bounceback ride – which comes in just his third race since returning from an ankle injury – brought him redemption and solidifies him as a weekly threat for wins over the final rounds.
250Â Overall Results
1. Cooper Webb (1-2)
2. Jeremy Martin (3-1)
3. Joey Savatgy (2-4)
4. Marvin Musquin (8-3)
5. Zach Osborne (7-7)
6. Aaron Plessinger (6-9)
7. Jordon Smith (12-5)
8. Shane McElrath (11-6)
9. RJ Hampshire (5-12)
10. Alex Martin (4-14)
11. Matt Bisceglia (10-11)
12. Jessy Nelson (15-10)
13. Kyle Peters (9-17)
14. Mitchell Oldenburg (14-13)
15. Luke Renzland (13-15)
16. Chris Alldredge (22-8)
17. Justin Hill (17-16)
18. Jace Owen (16-18)
19. Zack Williams (18-19)
20. Daniel Baker (19-21)
250 Class Points
- Jeremy Martin 343
- Marvin Musquin 324
- Zach Osborne 235
- Joey Savatgy 231
- Alex Martin 213
- Jessy Nelson 205
- Adam Cianciarulo 178
- Aaron Plessinger 169
- Matt Bisceglia 163
- Jordon Smith 157
- Shane McElrath 156
- RJ Hampshire 152
- Chris Alldredge 150
- Cooper Webb 127
- Christian Craig 122
- Kyle Peters 108
- Mitchell Oldenburg 99
- Luke Renzland 81
- Justin Hill 77
- Anthony Rodriguez 42
