Eli Tomac momentarily had the lead, but a crash rolled the red carpet out for Ryan Dungey. Photo by: Ryne Swanberg
The penultimate round of the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, and the penultimate round of the Eastern Regional 250SX Championship headed to Metlife Stadium for the East Rutherford SX.
In the 450SX class, Red Bull / KTM’s Ryan Dungey took the win with a little help from his teammate, Marvin Musquin, while the red plate holder, Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, had a night he would like to pretend did not happen. It did happen, though, and with Dungey winning and Tomac finishing 8th, we now head to the Las Vegas finale with the #1 leading the #3 by nine massive points.
The Eastern Regional 250SX Supercross class main event was just as chaotic. Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy came to round eight with a six point lead, but a crash and ill-advised decision to reenter in the wrong lane cost him a five position penalty and the lead in the championship. In the end, Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne ruled the night with a dominant win, and Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Jordon Smith took over the points lead with a third place finish.
After the chaos had ended, we gathered quotes from some of the top finishing riders at the 2017 East Rutherford SX.
Ryan Dungey: (1st in 450SX) “I just really tried to apply it all [today]. Obviously we had two races to go coming into this round and I knew we needed to be there from the beginning. Practice is a good way to set the tone and I felt comfortable, I was able to hit my marks and it felt effortless in a way. The Main Event wasn’t a great start but I snuck in there and was able to come out 3rd. I saw Jason and Eli make mistakes and I thought to myself ‘no mistakes’, it was kind of a patience track. Marvin’s lines were better so I was thinking maybe it’s not a bad thing to let him by, I know I’m going to pick up on a few lines and I did. I had my head down and came around the corner to see Marvin on the left and I was able to sweep by and it was good to get a win – it’s nice to see all three of us up here on the podium.”
Zach Osborne: (1st in 250SX) “Today was pretty much a perfect day. I had the fastest qualifying time, won the heat race, and then won the main event. It doesn’t get much better than that. I gelled with the track from the get-go and enjoyed the ruts. I was able to make it happen. I got off to an OK start in the main event and was able to come through. All-in-all it was a great day and a good swing in the points so I’m happy.”
Marvin Musquin: (2nd in 450SX) “Overall, it’s awesome to get in the position behind the Champ and being able to pass him — and to know I’m capable of getting around him is an awesome feeling. My start was actually pretty good. I wish my first turn was better, but [Chad] Reed got a great start from the outside, so I kind of had to back it off a little bit to slow down in the first turn. This is really important; if you want to be on the podium, you have to be up there. It took me a little bit to get going. Ryan was in front of me and I wanted to pass him, but at the same time, there were a lot of chances to hit him and make him crash. (laughs) Ryan is my teammate at KTM and we work hard to win championships, so I didn’t want to do a bad mistake for him. Then I kind of got lucky. Those guys [Jason Anderson and Eli Tomac] made mistakes, but who knows if Eli would have been able to bring that intensity for the whole time. It was hard to push on that track.” Read full interview>>>
Dylan Ferrandis: (2nd in 250SX) “It’s a real improvement. I make podium in Daytona so I think everybody say I got that because it was more of an outdoor. I really wanted to make a podium on a real Supercross, so to make second tonight is a real improvement for me. It’s one step closer to the step I want to go—first place. I’m really happy about tonight.”
Jason Anderson: (3rd in 250SX) “I had a pretty good day. Practice was so-so, but I came around in the night show and I was able to get that heat race win. I felt like I was really bringing it in the main and then just had a little bit of a mistake. I fell over but came back to third.”
Jordon Smith: (3rd in 250SX) “This track was tough tonight and hard to really get going on. I felt really good and happy to at least pull it together at the end to make up some points in the championship. I’m excited for Vegas and what we might be able to do there. I know it’s basically a do or die situation with only a one point lead, but it feels great to be in the position for my team.”
Eli Tomac: (8th in 450SX) “At this point we’ve got nothing to lose. So we’ll go into Vegas looking to get another win. Anything can happen and all we can do is stay positive.”
Joey Savatgy: (8th in 250SX after 5 spot penatly) “I felt good going into the main. I thought I could win before the track reached up and took me down. I don’t think I re-entered in the wrong place but after the officials’ decision I know what I have to do in Las Vegas.”
Josh Grant: (7th in 450SX) “Today was tough. Tonight’s track was very technical and didn’t really have flow to it. We did our best as a team to find a setting that worked best for me and ran it. I made a lot of good passes and finished strong. I’m looking forward to Vegas.”
Christian Craig: (5th in 250SX) “Another not great night for me. I ended up finishing in the top five after [Joey] Savatgy got penalized. I felt awesome in my heat race and stayed on Zach [Osborne] the entire race so I was pumped on that. In the main I got a pretty good start, I was in about fourth. My first couple laps I went into safety mode for some reason, I didn’t ride like myself right away which hurt me. Once I got into a flow I passed Adam [Cianciarulo] but then missed the triple so he got me back. Another race with the same story, I feel like. I’m ready to have some fun in Vegas then put this SX season behind me.”
Dean Wilson: (10th in 450SX) “I felt like my day was pretty solid. I qualified third, which was great. I didn’t do so well in the heat race but rode great in the semi. I had a good battle with Seely. I was actually coming through the pack pretty well in the main event but got off the track and was passed by a few guys, then passed them back and was moving forward but then got cleaned out and crashed. I ended up 10th. It was a learning experience and I’m excited to come back swinging next weekend.”
Adam Cianciarulo: (4th in 250SX) “Tonight was a step forward. Managed to get great starts tonight but just couldn’t put it all together to finish on the box. Lots of positives to take away from tonight.”
Cooper Webb: (14th in 450SX) “Salt Lake City was a struggle to say the least. Struggled all day and bad start ended up 9th in the main. Get to work this week and rebound in New Jersey.”
Cameron McAdoo: “East Rutherford had its ups and downs for me but it was a night that we can and will definitely build off of. I got good starts in both my heat and my main which I was happy about. In the main I rode pretty tight but It was great to get back to racing after missing a few weeks due to the hand injury, and to finally get out there on my new GEICO Honda. The bike and team are awesome! It took me some time getting used to the track, it was so soft and rutted all day which made for some challenging racing for all of us. I can’t wait to go dice it up with some west coast boys next weekend in Vegas!”
