Eli Tomac ended his winless streak at nine while stopping Ryan Dungey's win streak at three and made a big leap towards second in the point standings for the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross season.
Tomac last won in Phoenix for Round 2 and thereafter dialed in some races while others he'd rather soon forget. The closest he came to winning was back-to-back second-place performances at Atlanta 2 and Daytona but his performance for Round 12 on Saturday in Detroit at Ford Field showed he was ready to challenge Dungey despite a nearly insurmountable lead.
Tomac needed four laps to catch Dungey, who fought off Davi Millsaps early and grabbed the lead from Andrew Short who took the holeshot. Tomac zeroed in on Dungey on Lap 1 and passed him on Lap 4. He had a nearly seven second lead by Lap 12 and once the checkers dropped Dungey was 12 seconds back.
"I have had so many up-and-down races this year, but I was able to put it together tonight," Tomac said.
Dungey entered the day without ever winning in the Motor City and left the same way but his second-place result was his 11th straight podium and fourth runner-up spot for the season. Tomac's win puts him just 10 points behind Trey Canard whose season ended after he broke his arm crashing in a qualifying event.
It's another frustrating end to a Supercross season for Canard who missed the entire 2014 campaign after breaking his wrist in a practice run prior to the start of the season. Canard wasn't the only one who had it bad in Detroit. It was Jake Weimer, who drifted into Canard's path during the Semi race causing Canard to land on him and the resulting crash. Weimer managed to walk away under his own power but suffered season ending injuries as well.
Jason Anderson also hit the dirt hard and Weston Peick was a bloody mess after a crash ended his night early.
For the other survivors, it was Cole Seely stepping on the podium for the second straight week, this time in third. It was his third podium for the season and he's 14 points behind Tomac. Seely is quickly taking over Rookie of the Year honors from Anderson, who after 10 straight Top 10 finishes, has hit some mud holes, finishing 17th last week and the race-ending crash this week. Chad Reed took fourth-place, his best result since winning Atlanta 1. He's now in fifth-place and passed Ken Roczen, who missed his third race in a row because of that ankle injury.
Nick Wey posts season best finish in his home state
As for MotoSport riders, Nick Wey saved his best for the home state crowd riding to a season high 12th place finish. Wey, who is widely expected to call at a career at season's end, qualified in the Semi and moved into 19th place, tied in points with Mike Alessi.
In the 250 East class, Justin Bogle got his first win of the season dominating from the start and leading wire-to-wire. It was a much-needed victory for Bogle if he's to defend his 250 East Championship title and it also ended Marvin Musquin's three-race win streak. Musquin, who finished for a hard-fought second, still leads Bogle by 13 with three rounds remaining. Both riders have been on the podium every round this season.
"The bike is a rocket ship, and it got me off to a great start," Bogle said. "We have to take every weekend with the same approach. It's going to be tough with (three) races left, but I am going to keep my head down."
Colt Nichols gets a season best sixth-place in Detroit
Joey Savatgy grabbed his second podium of the season and Jeremy Martin rebounded from the hiccups last week that kept him from the Main with a fourth-place showing. Martin hangs on to third-place in the standings, just 10 in front of Savatgy.
Mitchell Oldenburg finishes in the Top 10 for second time this season
On the home front, Detroit was a great round for MotoSport 250 East riders. Colt Nichols grabbed a season high sixth place and Mitchell Oldenburg finished eighth, a season high for him. Kyle Peters, Nichols teammate on the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda Racing team, grabbed his sixth straight Top 15 performance, and though it was technically a season low, Peters managed to move up on the points ladder to eighth overall. Nichols is now in 11th moving up four spots and Oldenburg is 13th, he moved up four spots as well.
Kyle Peters moves up to eighth place in the point standings
Supercross Round 13 is Saturday in St. Louis and is also the final East Coast stop until April 25 in New Jersey. Practice for Round 13 starts at 12 p.m. (EST) and the Main event is at 7 p.m. (EST) Saturday at the Edward Jones Dome. Buy tickets online or at the box office, 701 Convention Plaza in St. Louis. MO.
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Detroit Results
Detroit Supercross 450SX Class Results
- Eli Tomac
- Ryan Dungey
- Cole Seely
- Chad Reed
- Davi Millsaps
- Josh Grant
- Broc Tickle
- Blake Baggett
- Andrew Short
- Justin Brayton
Detroit Supercross 250SX East Class Results
- Justin Bogle
- Marvin Musquin
- Joey Savatgy
- Jeremy Martin
- Anthony Rodriquez
- Colt Nichols - MotoSport rider
- Kyle Cunningham
- Mitchell Oldenburg - MotoSport rider
- James Decotis
- Jace Owen
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Season Standings
450SX Class Season Standings
- Ryan Dungey (271)
- Trey Canard (204)
- Eli Tomac (194)
- Cole Seely (180)
- Chad Reed (170)
- Ken Roczen (156)
- Blake Baggett (154)
- Jason Anderson (145)
- Andrew Short (136)
- Broc Tickle (134)
250SX East Class Season Standings
- Marvin Musquin (144)
- Justin Bogle (131)
- Jeremy Martin (103)
- Joey Savatgy (93)
- RJ Hampshire (84)
- James Decotis (69)
- Anthony Rodriguez (68)
- Kyle Peters (65) - MotoSport rider
- Martin Davalos (63)
- Vince Friese (58)
