Dungey Wins a Controversial Atlanta Supercross

Ryan Dungey claims his fifth win of the season in Atlanta after teammate Marvin Musquin nearly crashes on the last lap, but was it James Stewart’s fault?

All Photos by Rich Shepherd
What happened on the last lap of the 450 main event at the 2016 Atlanta Supercross may be a source of argument among supercross fans for some time to come.

The end result of the controversy was that Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey wound up with his 27th career AMA 450 supercross win and his fifth win of the season, padding his points lead as the 16-round series eclipsed the halfway point. But that may not have happened had Dungey’s teammate, Marvin Musquin bobbled terribly and gone off the track while leading the race to that point. And the miscue, according to Musquin and his mechanic, Frank Latham, was entirely the fault of Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart.

Both Musquin and Latham believe that Stewart caused Musquin to come up short over a jump in the rhythm section after Stewart, who was running alone in 14th and was about to be lapped at that moment. As he crossed the finish line to start the final lap, Stewart had received the blue flag to warn him that the leaders were behind him. Stewart continued to maintain his pace and set up in the middle of the next left-hand corner just as Musquin caught him. Musquin went around the outside of Stewart and drove past him off the corner, only to come up short as he tried to triple the first three jumps in the next rhythm section. That bobble caused Musquin to swap for the entire length of the rest of the straightaway before he ultimately went off the track, allowing Dungey to take the lead and coast to the win.

“I am really happy to finally get a great start and be really aggressive the first few laps,” Musquin said. “I was pushing so, and maybe a little bit too much, but anyway I was really happy with the way I was riding. I saw Ryan [Dungey] behind, and he is such a clean rider. We train together. We know each other. I knew he was not going to cut me off or hit me to pass me.

“And then Frankie [Latham] is showing me six laps to go,” Musquin continued. “I was like, ‘Already? Let’s go!’ And I tried. I tried really hard, and I think in some areas I was quicker than Ryan, and as you can see, James Stewart was in the way, and man, I got so scared of him. I just went sideways because I heard him coming, and he was a lap down. I am really mad right now because I feel like the win was for me. I am still happy because KTM went first and second, and second was my best result ever, but I don’t want to think about it because I feel like I was going to win the race.”

But did Stewart really do anything wrong? Section 2.12, subsection B, paragraph 3 of the 2016 AMA Pro Motocross Rulebook clearly states the proper procedure for lapped riders who are given the blue flag that signals the arrival of the leaders: “Blue Flag: Indicates a rider is about to be overtaken by a faster rider. The overtaken rider should hold their line and not impede the progress of the faster rider. Riders disregarding this flag may be black-flagged at the discretion of the Race Director.”

It was clear that Stewart did not slow down nor move in any direction so as to impede the progress of either Musquin or Dungey, and a replay of the incident shows that Musquin had jumped well past Stewart—who had only doubled into the rhythm section while Musquin tripled into it—when he came up short, which precipitated his wobble off the track. Musquin was already out of shape when he did nearly make contact with Stewart. However, in the moment it certainly must have appeared as though Stewart was in the wrong, as Latham mockingly applauded Stewart and yelled in his face, “Thanks, bud. You just cost me a win!” as Stewart rolled by the mechanic’s area on his way back to the pits.

For his part, winner Dungey didn’t take a position on the issue.

“A win is a win, but Marvin rode his butt off today, especially where he was at in practice and then the heat race, and then to pick it up like he did,” Dungey said. “For us to be out front, just putting the pace like at home, I’ve got to give credit to Marvin. He rode an amazing race. At the end I’m glad we didn’t connect because it was so close, a little too close. I’m glad Marvin didn’t go down and was able to recover and get second, but he rode an amazing race. That guy is a winner tonight.”

Dungey’s win gives him a massive 33-point lead over RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, who finished sixth, behind BTO Sports KTM riders Davi Millsaps and Brayton.

“I’m just trying to stick to it,” Dungey said. “Obviously with last weekend it was a hard-fought race. Ken pushed us to the limit, and that’s racing. It’s tough, but I wanted to recover this weekend, and if we could get a win that would be awesome, and second place would have been all right, too. It was fun today. We made some good progress. Gosh, I really feel for Marvin right now. He rode his heart out, and good things are coming for that man.”

Lost in the last-lap hoopla was the fact that Monster Energy/360fly/Chaparral Racing’s Chad Reed came through to post a fine third-place finish in the Atlanta main event. The two-time series champion rode a smooth race to land his third podium finish of the season after a disappointing 12th-place finish at the previous round in Arlington, Texas.

“It’s the same old thing, they drop the gate in seven days,” Reed said. “It’s been a long seven days, but we just tried to do the work as normal. I’ve just been off my game a little bit—12th is not me and sixth is not me. I feel like I belong on the podium. I just haven’t been getting the good starts or riding my good laps like I did at the beginning of the year. I’m pumped to be back up on the podium. It was a better ride tonight. I made a little inroads with the bike a little bit and with myself mainly. Just thanks to the team for being patient and for putting up with me on the bad weekends.”

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson finished seventh, followed by GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Christophe Pourcel. Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely completed the top 10.

2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Georgia Dome
Atlanta, Georgia
Results: February 27, 2016 (Round 8 of 16)

450 Main
1. Ryan Dungey-KTM
2. Marvin Musquin-KTM
3. Chad Reed-Yam
4. Davi Millsaps-KTM
5. Justin Brayton-KTM
6. Ken Roczen-Suz
7. Jason Anderson-Hus
8. Justin Bogle-Hon
9. Christophe Pourcel-Hus
10. Cole Seely-Hon
11. Eli Tomac-Kaw
12. Weston Peick-Yam
13. Mike Alessi-Hon
14. James Stewart-Suz
15. Vince Friese-Hon
16. Trey Canard-Hon
17. Jake Weimer-Suz
18. Kyle Cunningham-Suz
19. Tommy Hahn-Yam
20. Nicholas Schmidt-Suz
21. AJ Catanzaro-Kaw
22. Heath Harrison-Kaw

2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Points Standings (after 8 of 16 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey-191/5 wins
2. Ken Roczen-158/2 wins
3. Jason Anderson-145/1 win
4. Cole Seely-134
5. Chad Reed-132
6. Eli Tomac-129
7. Marvin Musquin-114
8. Davi Millsaps-103
9. Justin Brayton-98
10. Jake Weimer-77