Reed rebounds for seventh following early race incident.
Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey became the first three-time Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, race winner of the season tonight at the Georgia Dome.
Meanwhile, teammate Marvin Musquin led wire-to-wire en route to his second Eastern Regional 250SX Class Championship win of the season. This is the second time this season that KTM swept both main events.
Autotrader.com/Toyota/Yamaha’s Weston Peick won his first SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award of the season when the gates dropped on the 450SX Class final.
Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed, who won last week’s race, followed Peick in second place with Dungey in third. Reed made a pass on Peick during the opening lap, but Peick answered back and took over the lead.
Running a 1993-inspired retro livery, Reed crashed on lap two and remounted in 13th place, eventually climbing through the field to seventh directly behind teammate Josh Grant in his best performance of the year.
Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard took over the number three spot on lap five and on the same lap, Dungey passed Peick for the lead.
Canard moved into second place on lap six and on the next lap, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac moved into third place. Tomac passed the fellow Honda rider on lap 16, turning in his best finish since the third race in Anaheim. Canard finished third, his fourth consecutive podium finish.
In six of seven career starts in Atlanta, Dungey has six podium finishes and three wins. He now has 17 career wins and holds a 30-point lead in season standings.
Dungey’s second place at the first race in Atlanta and his win tonight earned him the inaugural ‘Duel in The Dome’ trophy.
“With Marvin’s win it was perfect execution,” said Dungey. “The Honda boys were breathing on me, but I was able to put some distance between us as the race went on. Winning the Duel in the Dome is icing on top of a great race.”
Musquin captured the Supercrosslive.com Holeshot Award in the Eastern Regional 250SX Class final with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy on his rear wheel.
As Savatgy ran into traffic, his teammate Arnaud Tonus took over the number two position. Harley-Davidson/Trail Jesters/SOB MX’s Jimmy Decotis quickly moved into third place on the opening lap.
On lap three last week’s winner Jeremy Martin advanced to second place, passing Tonus. Defending Eastern Regional 250SX Class Champion Justin Bogle then put his GEICO Honda in third place.
In the end, Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Martin finished second, while Bogle finished third for the second consecutive weekend.
Musquin gave KTM their first-ever win in Atlanta and the sixth win of his career, now leading the championship by seven points.
“Once again, the start was key to getting up front,” said Musquin. “I proved in my Heat Race that if you don’t get a good start, you can’t win. I was bummed with my second-place finish last weekend, so I am really happy to get this win tonight.”
Lone Australian in the field Taylor Potter was a non-finisher in the LCQ, putting an early end to his evening on board the privateer Honda.
NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson, who is a six-time champion and winner of 70 Cup races, served the grand marshall at tonight’s race.
2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship
Round nine – Atlanta, GA
450SX Class results:
1. Ryan Dungey
2. Eli Tomac
3. Trey Canard
4. Broc Tickle
5. Blake Baggett
6. Josh Grant, Wildomar
7. Chad Reed
8. Ken Roczen
9. Jason Anderson
10. Weston Peick
450SX Class championship standings:
1. Ryan Dungey 199
2. Trey Canard 169
3. Ken Roczen 156
4. Eli Tomac 137
5. Jason Anderson 126
6. Chad Reed 124
7. Cole Seely 120
8. Blake Baggett 115
9. Andrew Short 100
10. Broc Tickle 96
Eastern Regional 250SX Class results:
1. Marvin Musquin
2. Jeremy Martin
3. Justin Bogle
4. Joey Savatgy
5. James Decotis
6. Martin Davalos
7. Arnaud Tonus
8. Anthony Rodriguez
9. RJ Hampshire
10. Luke Renzland
Eastern Regional 250SX Class championship standings:
1. Marvin Musquin 72
2. Jeremy Martin 65
3. Justin Bogle 62
4. Joey Savatgy 54
5. Martin Davalos 45
6. Matt Lemoine 39
7. Vince Friese 38
8. Arnaud Tonus 38
9. RJ Hampshire 38
10. Anthony Rodriguez 34