Image: Simon Cudby.

James Stewart may have stolen the headlines recently for both on-track and off-track reasons, but at the Red Bull Tennessee National, it was Ken Roczen returning to his early-season form and showing why he’s the current points leader.

On the heels of a solid second-place finish in the first 450 Class moto, Roczen took the victory in moto two to secure his third overall victory of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship season.

Roczen and his Red Bull KTM teammate Ryan Dungey were the head of the class in both motos at Muddy Creek Raceway. Roczen had a strong opportunity to win the first moto after moving past Eli Tomac on the opening lap to take over the lead, but a series of mistakes hampered Roczen’s chances throughout the race.

The young German went down on lap two, giving up the lead and getting passed by Dungey in the process. Dungey and Roczen would end the moto 1-2.

The second moto was all about Roczen though. Despite the fact that Dungey raced to the MotoSport.com Holeshot, Roczen was soon right up on his rear wheel applying the pressure.

The two teammates went back-and-forth during the first lap, racing side-by-side at times, and Roczen ultimately emerged in front and shut the door on Dungey. F

rom there, Roczen would go on to lead the rest of the moto wire-to-wire, locking up both the moto win and the overall win for the day. Dungey kept it close throughout, but the two riders left the rest of the field in the dust.

“Felt good out there,” Roczen said after his moto win. “Happy it’s over. Another good weekend and kept the points lead steady.”

Had Dungey been able to pass Roczen in moto two, he would have been able to take a huge chunk out of Roczen’s points lead, but he just couldn’t match the speed of his teammate.

“Man, I pushed it the whole second moto,” Dungey remarked afterwards. “We gave it all we had, and that’s all I can do.”

Because he and Dungey swapped 1-2 finishes today, Roczen’s points lead over Dungey will hold steady at 16 points.

The two riders were able to distance themselves a bit from James Stewart though, who had been inching closer but endured crashes in both motos en route to disappointing 5-11 moto finishes.

One rider who did perform well today was Eli Tomac. Coming back from a broken collarbone, the GEICO Honda rider was impressive in his first-ever race in the 450 Class.

Hours after posting the fastest lap in qualifying, last year’s champion of the 250 Class raced to third-place finishes in both motos to secure a spot on the overall podium and could be even more of a factor as the season winds on.

Top Australian was Brett Metcalfe in seventh for Monster Energy Kawasaki, posting 9-7 scores, while Chad Reed was 13th with a 16-9 run to his credit.

With the first-moto heartbreak still in the back of his mind, Cooper Webb got his chance for redemption in moto two.

In what he considers his home race, Webb successfully fended off Justin Bogle and Blake Baggett to earn his first career moto win and, in the process, his first career overall win as well.

The MotoSport.com Holeshot went to Bogle but Webb passed him on the first lap and led the race wire-to-wire for the win.

Baggett – who had made a last-second pass of Webb for the win in moto one – ran in second place for much of the race, a fact which did not elude Webb. He said that he was determined not to let Baggett get him a second time.

Baggett made a hard charge but went down in the closing laps, allowing Webb to open up a gap and score the win.

“I’m on cloud nine,” an elated Webb said following the victory. “I’m not gonna lie, I was beating myself up when I got passed in the last turn [by Baggett in moto one].”

Webb felt a love of love from the crowd in Tennessee throughout the race. “I could hear these guys every lap,” he said.

Behind Webb and Baggett overall on the podium it was Bogle courtesy of his 4-2 scorecard.

While Webb was soaring to new heights, his Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha teammate Jeremy Martin turned in another disappointing finish, taking sixth to go with his 10th-place finish from moto one.

Martin, who at one point looked like he might run away with the title, now has little margin for error going forward, as Webb has closed the gap to just eight points behind his teammate.

Baggett, who finished second overall with 1-3 moto scores, is also within striking distance, now 17 points behind Martin and nine back of Webb.

2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship
Round five – Blountville, TN

450MX overall results:
1. Ken Roczen
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Eli Tomac
4. Trey Canard
5. Andrew Short
6. Weston Peick
7. Brett Metcalfe (AUS)
8. James Stewart
9. Josh Grant
10. Justin Brayton
13. Chad Reed (AUS)

450MX championship standings:
1. Ken Roczen 230
2. Ryan Dungey 214
3. James Stewart 187
4. Trey Canard 186
5. Brett Metcalfe (AUS) 141
6. Weston Peick 131
7. Josh Grant 129
8. Malcolm Stewart 108
9. Chad Reed (AUS) 105
10. Andrew Short 102

250MX overall results:
1. Cooper Webb
2. Blake Baggett
3. Justin Bogle
4. Christophe Pourcel
5. Marvin Musquin
6. Cole Seely
7. Jeremy Martin
8. Jessy Nelson
9. Dean Wilson
10. Kyle Cunningham

250MX championship standings:
1. Jeremy Martin 203
2. Cooper Webb 195
3. Blake Baggett 186
4. Justin Bogle 166
5. Christophe Pourcel 166
6. Marvin Musquin 143
7. Jason Anderson 129
8. Jessy Nelson 116
9. Cole Seely 115
10. Justin Hill 103

Click here for detailed results