Words by: Dan Lamb – Interview by: Chase Yocom – Photo by: Hoppenworld
Since moving up to the 450SX class in the 2010 and winning the 2010 450SX Monster Energy Supercross Championship as a rookie, Ryan Dungey has never had less than five podiums heading into round nine, and in every season but one, he has had at least one win by then. Heading into round nine last weekend in Indianapolis, though, the Red Bull/KTM rider was thirty points out of the Championship, had a career low four podiums and had yet to score his first win of the year. While his stats for the first half of the series aren’t horrible, for the man who has been KTM’s top gun for two years and is known as one of the most consistent riders ever, it was strange seeing him struggle, trailing his rookie teammate by twenty-one points. On Saturday night in Indianapolis, though, Dungey may have turned 2014 around.
After avoiding two big, first-lap pile-ups and quickly passing Eli Tomac and Mike Alessi, Dungey rode a flawless twenty-laps on the most difficult track thus far in ’14. With the top-three in the 450SX Championship back in the pack after crashes, it was the perfect opportunity for the former 450SX champion to capitalize, and he did. Not only did the Minnesotan get his first win of the year, but with that win, he jumped from fourth to second in the points and now only trails Ryan Villopoto by twenty-three points. With some momentum now and eight rounds still to go, we can guarantee you his mindset about the 2014 Supercross Championship did a complete 360 inside of Lucas Oil Stadium.
After Ryan’s win, MotoXaddicts’ Chase Yocom caught up with Dungey to ask about his night in Indy. You can read his interview below.
Ryan Dungey, winner of the 2014 Indianapolis SX, how are you feeling?
Ah, it feels good, man. It feels good to get the first win of the season, obviously. We came close a couple of times, but it was cool we were able to put the stamp on it tonight. The track was one of the toughest. As far as technical and the ruts, it was the most challenging of the year. Being able to put ourselves in a good position was nice—getting out in the lead early and just kind of setting the tone for the race. Like I told the guys, I tried to push it but not force anything, because you can get in deep in those ruts and they can kick you. I tried to stay light, work the bike a little bit, because we all knew when we got to lap fifteen it was going to be very limited line choices.
It was crazy out there. How much were the lines changing throughout the race?
Yeah, the ruts kept getting deeper. About half way through I’d have to take a different line, or the ruts were so deep coming down that you were at the bottom of the bowl turn where nobody was and then that rut would get deep. Yeah, it’s just the softest dirt we’ve been on all year. It’s kind of a first for all of us ’cause everything has been so rock hard lately except last weekend in Atlanta. I’d have to say the start was very key tonight, and no mistakes. It was fun. It feels good to get this first win. There’s a lot of racing left, and we’ll carry this forward.
It looked really one-lined, too, by the end of the night. What do you think the key was to going fast on a track like this tonight?
Ah, momentum. I think setting yourself up in the turns was big and not getting in a deep rut. There was a few where I was able to cut down really quick, and through the whoops—I felt like in the beginning—I was getting through them really good. I was just jumping in and getting some momentum going, because they were too rutted to blitz. Towards the end of the race, it got tougher too. We slowed down a little bit, and I don’t think anyone was blazing through them. I think everyone was pretty close on pace. It was just the mistakes.
How much does a track like tonight affect your bike setup? Are you guys scrambling to find a good setup and making a lot of changes?
Yeah, right out of the first practice. Obviously, we’d seen the track; it went fast. We were all like, wow. I was coming off the track and guys were coming up to me, “Dude, how sketchy is that?” I was like, yeah it’s pretty sketchy. (laughs) That’s something you really don’t want to admit, but it was tough. Like James [Stewart] said, it makes the best guys in the world look like squids out there ’cause it’s so nasty. Yeah, we did a couple clickers to the shock, added a little compression to it, but that was it. We just stuck with it the rest of the night.
We have Daytona SX coming up now next week, and we know it gets gnarly as well. Do you think this was a great practice track for what’s to come in Daytona next week?
Yeah, I think Daytona’s going to be a tough one, obviously, this year. We have some testing to do this week, and I think a lot of guys will be. A little outdoorsy, something different, something exciting and we’ve come close to winning that, but it’s going to take a solid twenty-laps there, too. It gets super nasty and super rough, and last year was dang-near a thirty-minute race.
A little warmer weather too, so I’m sure you’re looking forward to that. (laughs)
Yeah, we’ll head down to Florida this week and we’ll head to Daytona.
Alright, well, congrats on the win tonight, and thanks for hanging out in the cold to talk to us.
No problem, thank you.
