2016 Glen Helen MX Race Recap: Dungey Back On Top; Alex Martin Grabs First Career Win

A $7 part ended a an opportunity to remain perfect on the season but Ken Roczen holds on to the points lead as Ryan Dungey lurks just behind thanks to his overall for Round 2 of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series on Saturday at Glen Helen.

Roczen, who dominated Round 1 with a sweep, easily passed the defending Champion Dungey with less than 10 minutes left in Moto 1 and burst to a 13 second lead seemingly with win in-hand but a seal in his forks broke, releasing air, which forced Roczen to roll jumps and lose lots of time.

The result? Fourth place.

And Dungey got his first Moto win of the season, calling it a gift, and went on to finish second in Moto 2 for the overall and closed to within two points of Roczen in the standings.

"It was really rough, pretty tough. We made some changes for the second Moto, it went a bit better," Dungey said. "Ken was riding really good today. He was tough, we've got to go back to work and try to get better."

Did a pre-race meal of steak and mac & cheese help keep Ken Roczen in front of Ryan Dungey at Glen Helen?

Roczen who took the holeshot and checked out in Moto 2 for his third race win of the year was clearly agitated after Moto 1 but was all smiles after salvaging second-place for the day. Dungey had no answers for Roczen rolling past the checkers nearly 20 seconds back in Moto 2 and if not for the fork issue, Roczen would be heading into Round 3 undefeated just like Eli Tomac last year.

"The first Moto there's nothing I can do, I was riding good, it should have been another perfect day," he said. "The track was super sketchy out here, I was counting the laps down (for Moto 2). Overall, I felt good today."

Tomac took third overall for the second straight week, this time finishing third-place in both Motos instead of fourth-place like the opener at Hangtown. Tomac, who dominated the opening rounds last year in similar fashion to Roczen this year but endured a season -ending crash in Round 3 displayed some of his most aggressive riding all-year (including Supercross) working his way from seventh in Moto 1 and fifth in Moto 2, for the podium spots.

Eli Tomac takes third overall at Glen Helen

"This place is always one of the toughest on the circuit. We made a step in the right direction," said Tomac, who passed Jason Anderson and Trey Canard in Moto 2 to get into the third-place spot. I was there, just started too far in the back on the start. Hopefully we'll be there sooner than later."

The Top 5 finished in the exact order as Hangtown with Anderson finishing second in Moto 2 and taking fourth overall and Canard, who grabbed the holeshot in Moto 1 but later fell, taking fifth just ahead of Josh Grant who took advantage of racing on his home track and took sixth.

Blake Baggett who broke his collarbone last week and had surgery on Monday was not expected to lineup but managed a 16th place in Moto 1 then sat out Moto 2. James Stewart who endured a dislocated shoulder at Hangtown after hitting a pothole only to have it pop back in after the resulting crash, practiced, but afterwards ruled himself out.

Alex Martin turned two second-place Motos into his first career overall win

In the 250 class, Alex Martin celebrated his first career overall win with two second-place finishes beating his brother, teammate and two-time defending Champion Jeremy Martin by a point. Cooper Webb, also a teammate took third overall tying Jeremy Martin in points as the two swapped fourth and first place finishes, Martin claiming the tie-breaker after winning Moto 2.