SUPERCROSS
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WORLD
ROUND 8 / FEBRUARY 25, 2017
GEORGIA DOME / ATLANTA, GEORGIA
P48
BY STEVE COX / PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB KOY
ONCE AGAIN, RYAN DUNGEY
PROVES THAT GREATNESS
ISN'T AN ACCIDENT.
REATNESS
R
ed Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey has rarely
started championships by dominating.
Usually, someone else is doing the
winning, and Dungey is playing catch-up. But the
thing is, more often than not, he's successful.
Dungey started the 2017 Monster Energy
AMA Supercross Series chasing Honda's Ken
Roczen. He closed the gap from round one to
round two, then was out front at round three
when Roczen's season ended early with a crash
we likely don't have to tell you about. Dungey
won that race, but for the next four races,
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac, and
Dungey's teammate Marvin Musquin, made life
hell for the defending champ.
Dungey didn't panic. Pundits wondered what
was wrong with him as he not only lost all these
races, but even lost second place in Minneapolis
late in the race to Musquin. Was he over it? Was
he burned out? Sitting on his points lead? What
was going on?
Well, between Minneapolis and Atlanta,
Dungey and his team stayed hard at work, out
of view of the eyes of the fans, where no glory
could be had, and they found something. Only
one week after a rough-looking third-place finish,
Ryan Dungey took his second win of the season.
And speaking of persistence, in the 250SX
class, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Zach
Osborne took his first ever 250cc main event
victory. He's come close many times before but
it all finally came together for the veteran racer in
what was his 49th-career start.
Alex Martin was second and Colt Nichols third.