ATLANTA – Ryan Dungey raced to his second AMA Supercross victory of the season and 33rd overall 450SX Class win Saturday night at the Georgia Dome.
The KTM star from Minnesota increased his lead in the season standings to 25 points over KTM’s Marvin Musquin and 27 in front of Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, of Cortez, Colorado.
“The start (was key), for sure. I was really able to drive off the gate good and held it into the corner,” Dungey said. “As all the guys shot wide I was able to tuck under and get the holeshot. This track was key for that, it was very hard to really make a lot of time on guys. I wanted to get out front, and we did that. I saw Eli coming at the end but wanted to just keep things easy (on myself). A win is a win.”
Dungey won for the fifth time in the dome.
Tomac, the winner of three of the previous four events, was second Saturday after starting in ninth.
Tomac charged through the pack by posting some of the fastest laps, moving into fourth place on Lap 7. He moved into third on Lap 9 and into second at the start of Lap 16. Facing a deficit of 7 seconds to Dungey with about 5½ minutes to go.
He closed the gap to under 3 seconds on the final lap, but reigning champion Dungey held on for his 33rd career win, 1.5 seconds ahead.
KTM’s Blake Baggett finished third.
“I really need to be better off the start, Tomac said after the race. “That’s how important they are. But no excuses, Ryan Dungey straight up beat us tonight and got the start. I did what I could.”
Dungey now has a 25-point lead over Tomac, who moved into second in the 450SX class. Dungey’s teammate Musquin finished fifth and is now 27 points behind Dungey.