Ryan Dungey looked more like he was in the middle of a title race rather than the already crowned 2015 Monster Energy Supercross Champion as he brought home a personal season-best seventh win on Saturday for Round 15 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
Dungey made a statement from the start as he won his Heat race and qualified first then once in the Main took the lead from Justin Barcia on Lap 3 and never looked back. The win marked Dungey's 21st career 450SX class win breaking a tie for eighth place with Jeff Ward.
"The Heat Race win gave me a good spot on the gate for the Main Event, which was a big help in getting the start I did," said Dungey, who wrapped up the 2015 Supercross title last week in Houston.
Eli Tomac greatly improved his chances to finish runner-up to Dungey for the year with another second-place finish, his fourth of the season and it was also the fourth straight podium and six in the last seven rounds. Tomac now leads Cole Seely by 19 points with two rounds remaining.
Weston Peick's up and down season hit a peak with his career-best third-place finish. Peick said he was "stoked" after getting on the podium for the first time. Peick looked to hold down second as he rode behind Dungey starting on Lap 4 but Tomac moved in behind Peick on Lap 6 and finally got around him on Lap 10.
The 2015 rookie class finished fourth, fifth and sixth as Jason Anderson edged out Seely for fourth and Blake Baggett came in sixth. Seely, who won his first 450SX class race in Houston last week has a solid 27 point lead over Chad Reed for third in the point standings. Anderson's fourth-place result on Saturday helped close the gap on Baggett for sixth-place in the standings by two. Reed looked promising at the start to get on the podium for the first time since Round 8 when he won Atlanta 1 but a crash on Lap 2 while battling Barcia for the lead dumped him in last. He rebounded for an eighth-place finish, more than enough points to pass Trey Canard, who is out for the season from a broken arm, for fourth-place.
Nick Wey gets into the Top 10
MotoSport rider Nick Wey might want to rethink retirement for another year as the veteran won his first Semi of the season in dominating fashion then finished the Main in 10th, his first Top 10 of the season. Wey has made 10 straight Mains progressing better each week. Wey jumped two spots in the standings from 18th to 16th and is now six points back from Barcia for 15th. Wey started the season missing four of the first five Mains but has recorded his best finishes of the year in the last four rounds.
In the 250SX West class, Cooper Webb delivered on his promise to try and win out after securing the Championship last week but he had a bit more trouble than his counterpart in the 450 class.
Josh Hansen had the early lead but mechanical trouble forced him out of the 250SX West Main
MotoSport rider Jason Hansen grabbed the holeshot escaping an enormous pileup on the first turn that took out half the field including Webb. Hansen held on to the lead through Lap 3 when Aaron Plessinger took it from him but he crashed on Lap 6 giving the front spot back to Hansen. Meanwhile Webb managed to get back on two wheels rather quickly and was in fourth-place by Lap 4 and in second on Lap 6. Hansen and Webb battled it out on Lap 8 with Webb taking the lead and riding for the win.
"It was definitely a wild and hectic main event. I just tried to get up as fast as I could and charge," Webb said. "It was basically a race to get your bike up the fastest and it worked out. I had fun racing with Hansen."
Hansen's best start of the season ended on a sour note as a broken head pipe ended his race shortly after Webb passed him. He was none too happy to say the least afterwards.
Plessinger managed to get back to podium position but crashed again on Lap 9. Justin Hill took second and Alex Martin third. Shane McElrath finished fifth but takes second-place to end the season. Zach Osborne finished in 20th receiving one point, just what he needed to hold on to third-place, one point over Hill.
Tommy Hahn finishes the year with five Top 10s
MotoSport rider Tommy Hahn finished the season strong taking ninth for the third time this season and fifth Top 10 of the year. Hahn took 11th place on the year right behind Hansen in 10th.
No break for the long cross country trip as Supercross heads to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for Round 16 where the 250 East class Champion will be crowned. Buy tickets online or at the box office, One MetLife Stadium Drive, East Rutherford, NJ.
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Santa Clara Results
Santa Clara Supercross 450SX Class Results
- Ryan Dungey
- Eli Tomac
- Weston Peick
- Jason Anderson
- Cole Seely
- Blake Baggett
- Justin Brayton
- Chad Reed
- Andrew Short
- Nick Wey - MotoSport rider
Santa Clara Supercross 250SX West Class Results
- Cooper Webb
- Justin Hill
- Alex Martin
- Malcolm Stewart
- Shane McElrath
- Jackson Richardson
- Aaron Plessinger
- Matt Bisceglia
- Tommy Hahn - MotoSport rider
- Scott Champion
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Season Standings
450SX Class Season Standings
- Ryan Dungey (343)
- Eli Tomac (258)
- Cole Seely (239)
- Chad Reed (212)
- Trey Canard (204)
- Blake Baggett (190)
- Jason Anderson (188)
- Broc Tickle (168)
- Ken Roczen (164)
- Andrew Short (156)
250SX West Class Season Standings
- Cooper Webb (186)
- Shane McElrath (124)
- Zach Osborne (117)
- Justin Hill (116)
- Aaron Plessinger (113)
- Alex Martin (111)
- Malcolm Stewart (107)
- Jessy Nelson (106)
- Tyler Bowers (105)
- Josh Hansen (91) - MotoSport rider
- Tommy Hahn (79) - MotoSport rider
