WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 53 ISSUE 18 MAY 10, 2016 P75
so it was okay."
Dungey and Roczen actually
both got up before third-placed
Jason Anderson of the Rockstar
Energy Husqvarna race team
came by, and when Roczen
pulled off the race track, Ander-
son took over second place just
a few seconds behind Dungey.
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli
Tomac inherited third place fol-
lowing a fairly terrible midpack
start in the mud.
From there, the podium was
set, with Dungey taking his ninth
win of the season in front of An-
derson, Tomac, Monster Energy
Yamaha's Chad Reed, Yoshimu-
ra Suzuki's Blake Baggett, and
with RCH Suzuki's Broc Tickle
rounding out the racers who
managed to finish on the lead
lap.
So, who is the dominant racer
in terms of outright speed right
now? The answer is inconclusive
because of the big crash out
front, but the scoreboard says
it's still Ryan Dungey.
away the victor, or whether
Roczen had truly found some-
thing extra in the latter half of the
championship and was now the
series' most dominant racer.
In the Las Vegas main event,
Dungey got out front right away
in the treacherous and sticky
conditions, but Roczen slotted
into second place immediately
and began pressuring Dungey
yet again. Roczen studied Dung-
ey's lines and found a way by on
lap six of the shortened 16-lap
main event through the dragon's
backs, then only two straight-
aways later, Roczen threw it
away at the end of the track's
longest rhythm lane. He hit the
ground hard, but even worse, he
took Dungey down with him, as
Dungey was in the air when Roc-
zen hit the dirt and had nowhere
to go but into Roczen's Suzuki.
Dungey got up quickly to re-
sume the lead while Roczen got
up and rode off the track. His
night was over.
"I had nowhere to go, but
luckily when I got up, the bike
was still running," Dungey said.
"So, I picked it up, and nothing
was even really bent or anything,
Ken Roczen (94) chased and
passed Dungey for the lead but
crashed out shortly thereafter.
