The 2017 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, finale went to Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, and it was a race that nobody will soon forget. We talk about races being arguably the best we have ever witnessed, but in the case of the 2017 Las Vegas SX, you might want to remove arguably from the equation. There were two championships yet to be decided—the 450SX and the 250SX East Championships—and both winners were in doubt until the final turn of the final lap.
In the 250SX East / West Shootout, Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne—who came back from 20 seconds behind last place after a first turn crash—made a very aggressive pass for 7th on Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy—who had also crashed and looked to be having a mental meltdown—in the second to last turn to claim the Championship what he obviously felt was rightfully his. It was an accomplishment that brought the house to their feet and tears to more eyes than I have ever seen at any SX event. Oh, by the way, Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo went wire-to-wire for the win over his teammate Justin Hill and Star Racing / Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger, but most in attendance probably did not even know that. Their rides were awesome, but the attention was understandably elsewhere.
If the 250SX main event did not have you in a frenzy, the final 450SX main event put you over the edge. Coming into the main event, Red Bull / KTM’s Ryan Dungey held a nine point lead over Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac. What that meant was, if Tomac finished first, Dungey would have to finish fifth for Eli to win the title. When you consider that Dungey has not finished worse than second in his entire career in Vegas and he had three semis full of teammates, that seemed like an unachievable accomplishment for the #3 to pull off. Well, nobody told Eli that.
In the main event, Dungey grabbed the holeshot, but Eli went to work on showing us how he planned on trying to execute the impossible. Eli’s master plan was to get the lead and slow the pace enough to allow others to join the fight for the win, all while controlling Dungey and trying to mentally rattle the Champ with aggressive passes. While Eli’s plan was the most exciting and mind boggling thing we have ever seen executed—and it nearly worked—Dungey was still able to cross the line in fourth and claim his fourth 450SX title. The 450SX podium was occupied by Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson, Tomac and Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Josh Grant. Congratulations to Osborne (250SX East), Hill (250SX West) and Dungey (450SX) on three well deserved 2017 SX titles.
After the insanity was in the history books, we grabbed some quotes from the riders about their night in “Sin City.”
Ryan Dungey: (4th in 450SX—wins 450SX title) “I felt really good tonight – the bike felt good and I was able to hit my marks. The only struggle for me on the track, I feel, was maybe the whoops a little bit. Still, it was good and consistent. It was good hard racing [tonight], I think the fans got a show and it’s nice and rewarding to be able to get this championship. It’s probably one of the sweetest ones – it just was a very challenging season right down to the final lap. I had some tough competition, but it’s not over until it’s over and it’s a big team effort. We had no issues with the bike all season, and a lot goes into it from back at the KTM factory to the entire Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team. This has been the most rewarding championship win, and it takes a lot of things to go right to get here. I’m grateful to my wife, my family, my mechanic, the team and everybody who has supported this.”
Zach Osborne: (7th in 250SX—wins East title) “It’s pretty surreal at this point. There’s not a whole lot to say. It’s surreal to be in this situation and I’m super pumped. It was a hard pass [on Joey Savatgy]. I came from a long ways back and made the pass happen. I’m so thankful for everything. This was such a great night. I didn’t know what to expect coming into tonight, but I was positive. To come out with the championship is amazing and I’m so incredible happy.”
Eli Tomac (2nd in 450SX) Yeah, so in my position I was like, “man, I can try to sprint away from this thing and really just ride alone at that point. Or, I can maybe try to bunch up the pack a little bit and wait for a mistake and see what could happen.” You know, when the pack tightens up the nerves come around to all the guys. There’s battling and there’s bumping. That’s all I could do at that point. I definitely wasn’t gonna just lay over for this thing and give it away. I fought as hard as I could. At the end of the day people aren’t going to remember the race wins from myself, they’re going to remember the championship from Ryan. So he was the better guy this year
Adam Cianciarulo: (1st in 250SX) “It feels great to win in Vegas. This season started off a little rocky, but I just wanted to win so bad that I was making little mistakes. I learned from those and my results began to improve all year. This is exactly what I needed before going into the nationals.”
Josh Grant: (3rd in 450SX) “It felt good to be back up there. It was a crazy night, right? (laughs) I think with certain situations, how I was feeling today and what the team’s goals were—to get into the mix—I knew my best chance was tonight. Just by how I was feeling, but I needed to get a good start. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the greatest start, but I came through the pack a little bit. I was able to get up into the mix obviously with how that all played out. I’m just stoked to carry some good momentum going into the outdoor series.”
Joey Savatgy: (14th in 250SX) “It’s unfortunate I keep making these mistakes. We learned a lot this year and I’m looking forward to moving on and rebounding from this season. It was a rollercoaster season to say the least. What happened on the last lap I didn’t see coming and should have. I would have probably done the same thing in that situation, but it hurts being on the losing end of a take out.”
Jason Anderson: (1st in 450SX) “I’m so happy I got the win. I didn’t want to get in the way of the two guys up front because I knew they were fighting for the championship, but things turned out in my favor. It’s really cool and I’m excited to end the season with this win.”
Justin Hill: (2nd in 250SX) “Another fun night in the books. Today was pretty relaxed for me. It was nice to already have the championship wrapped up and just enjoy riding my dirt bike. Looking forward to what the future holds next for me.”
Dean Wilson: (5th in 450SX) “I had a pretty good night. I was feeling good and ended up second in my heat race. I almost had the holeshot in the main but I fell into a good rhythm and ended up fifth. I ended out the season in the top-five so I’m happy about that. It was a good season overall and I’m happy with it.”
Cameron McAdoo: (10th in 250SX) “We had a solid night of racing in Vegas! I definitely felt like I improved every time out on the track. It felt good to mix it up in the front in my heat race, and a 10th overall in the combined East/West main was my best result all year. About halfway through the main I was closing a bit on Savatgy until I clipped the off in the rhythm after the finish and ended up off the track and losing a couple of positions. Glad I was able to get back going and hold on for the top ten–my GEICO Honda was great all night and we are excited to get the outdoors rolling now!”
Austin Forkner: (12th in 250SX) “Not the night we were hoping for. After getting caught up in the first corner crash, all I needed to do was salvage as many points as possible. Overall it was an alright night, but I’m happy to finish my rookie supercross year strong and inside the top-10.”
Jimmy Decotis: (6th in 250SX) “It was a bittersweet ending to the 2017 supercross season,” said Decotis. “I qualified P1 won the West heat race but didn’t execute the start in the shootout. I was happy with my riding in the main event but I wasn’t happy with the result. I really felt I could’ve challenged for a win and podium with a start in the main so starting back in 14th was extremely frustrating. I’m happy with my progress and the big steps forward I made tonight. Now it’s time to just focus on the outdoors and keep the momentum rolling.”
Martin Davalos: (18th in 250SX) “It was looking like it was going to be a good night,” said Davalos. “I had a little bit of bad luck but it’s ok. I’m healthy and I finished out the season, and that’s a good thing. I’m looking forward to the outdoor season.”
Mitchell Oldenburg: (5th in 250SX) “The day started a little rough, but my team was always behind me and telling me I can do well in the main event. The track was so slick and it changed a lot throughout the day. I’m glad to finish out the season healthy and on a pretty solid note. I think if I didn’t get hurt, we could have been a factor throughout the season.”
Hayden Mellross: (8th in 250SX) “What a race. I had no idea what was going on behind me, but I was able to click off lap after lap. I saw my number on the leader’s pole and thought ‘3rd?! Okay I can do this.’ I tried to ride just like I do on my practice track at home. I made a few mistakes late and it cost me but I’m happy with 8th. Thanks to 51FIFTY Energy Drink, Allied Packaging, all our sponsors, and the entire team for making this season one to remember.”
Tyler Bowers: (15th in 250SX) “A few years ago I was winning these things. We killed it in the LCQ but didn’t seem to have it in the main. There was so much on the line for these guys tonight and the pace was so high all night. It’s the last race of the season and I really wanted to get out of here healthy, which we did. The team has been awesome this year and I can’t thank them enough.”
