By Jason Weigandt and Steve Matthes
Ryan Dungey, Red Bull KTM, Second in 450SX
Ryan Dungey: That start, it wasn’t bad. We squeaked around the corner in fourth, but the passing was tough. I knew it was crucial to make those passes happen as quickly as I could. Also, Chad [Reed], he took off. I saw him gapping and I’m like, I don’t want to let him get too far because by the time I’m in second I’m going to have to work, and that’s exactly what happened. I was able to close the gap down, but I just wasn’t able to make it happen. But we put in a hard fight and it was good to see Chad win. It was cool. I felt like it was a solid run for myself and the KTM guys.
At one point you got it to down to one second and then you weren’t able to get any closer. The last three laps, do you think he went for it? Did lappers get you? Did you make mistakes? What do you think happened those last couple laps?
It was a couple things. He was riding hard. I think my biggest downfall a little bit was I was right there and we’d go to the whoops, the split lane, and I messed up and he got away. He was hitting it really good. That one straight, I gave up so much. So then I had to close it back on the rest of the lap. So I felt like all in all I rode everywhere really good, but my weakest point of the track was that split lane. Not that it was anything bad; it was just so cupped-out edged and the floor was showing. Everybody was slapping side to side. I was just trying to play it a little bit cool, I guess.
Everyone ran the inside of that split line. Everybody tries a little bit of both in the first practice, but by the end of the last practice everybody knows. Do you know by looking at it? Is it the ghost software? Is it a stopwatch? How come every single rider knows to not even try it in the main?
For one, the whoops got so beat down that it was almost just easy to go through them. You could pin it a little bit more, but you had to be careful of the edges. But still that’s easier than…
Worn down, beat up whoops are still better?
Yes, better than kind of bigger, kind of fresher whoops on the other side. They were still walled and you kind of hang up on them. It depends, but yes. You would just see the guys; clearly it was faster.
So they don’t get broken in, so to speak?
It wasn’t that they were broken in; it was faster to go inside. As much as those guys try to duplicate the rhythms, it was kind of opposite on each side—it’s so hard. They did it as close as they could. I looked. But it’s so hard to do.
So here’s the thing, when you’re in second and you’re like, oh he’s got a gap, you’re trying to win. I hate when people say, “You know Dunge—he’ll just take his points.”
All I had in my head was, “I’ve got to catch Chad and I want to pass him.” I’m not thinking about championship. Long-term, that’s the goal, but tonight is tonight. When you’re out there and racing, we’re going for that best position. We have to. Everybody’s on top of it. Everybody’s solid and riding really strong, so we have to go out there and fight and go for that top spot. That’s what my goal is every time the gate drops. – Jason Weigandt
Trey Canard, Team Honda HRC, Third in 450SX
Trey Canard: Not a bad night, happy to be on the podium, but bummer to get another bad start. Just moved forward and did the best we could; that’s all we can really ask for. I think the bike started working even better in the main event; it’s good to carry that feeling forward. I just tried to make moves. I was riding really aggressive, and I think you just have to do that when you’re that far back. When I got into third I started to catch [Dungey] a little bit, but we just basically cat and moused it all the way to the last couple of laps. That’s all I could do.
You had the fastest time. At one point you weren’t that far off of Dungey; then it seemed to stall out for a few laps. Then you started closing back in late.
The lappers were kind of tough. I just didn’t maintain it; I didn’t finish it through. I charged the best I could the last few laps, but it just wasn’t enough. – Weigandt
Cole Seely, Team Honda HRC, Fourth in 450SX
Racer X: Good race for you. Maybe a lot of people didn’t see you coming from the back, but it was a good night.
Cole Seely: It was really good, for sure. I went down with another rider [Davi Millsaps] in the heat race, and that kind of gave me flashbacks to last weekend, having to go to the LCQ. Kind of put me in panic mode, so I tried to turn it up another notch for the rest of the night. It was kind of a weird start. It had kind of a double apex, so you had to really hug the thing tight. That’s what I had to do in the main event, you see guys go flying past you, but I tucked it inside and I came out sixth or seventh. It’s always easier to start there than further back.
You passed Nicoletti and Peick. Did I see a little but of contact there?
No. I’m always concious passing Peick, because apparently we have some beef, but I don’t even know about it. I just tried to get around those guys clean and quick. I hate catching people and running their pace, I just like to make passes quick. I felt good all night. – Steve Matthes
Weston Peick, Autotrader.com/Toyota/JGR Yamaha, Fifth in 450SX
Racer X: How did everything go?
Weston Peick: It was solid. I just got off to an awesome start. The bike’s been ripping good starts tonight. I was just stoked to get out front. I was running about third, made a pass for second, and just tried to trail [Chad] Reed for most of the race. I think I got about eight or nine laps in me and then my fitness just started getting a little bit tired. I haven’t been on the bike for about six weeks. I’m just pumped to actually finish top-five. I got passed by a few guys, but just building blocks, getting back on the bike. I’m happy with fifth and the team’s happy. They know the next few weeks my speed will be back up on the podium. I’m just looking forward to getting back home and training and riding on the bike.
How did your knee feel that whole night?
It wasn’t bad. About halfway through just started getting a little sore. I caught it a few times on the track and just kind of tweaked it here and there. But for the most part I taped it up pretty good and it’s holding up. Just another thing to deal with, pain-wise, but it’s not too bad. – Weigandt
Phil Nicoletti, Autotrader.com/Toyota/JGR Yamaha, Eleventh in 450SX
Racer X: That was good.
Phil Nicoletti: It was good, not the first six laps, but it was okay. Eleventh, we’re getting better every weekend.
Starts? I know you went back to your old clutch lever.
Clutch lever worked good. We had to do some muscling in the first corner for the main event, but everything turned out good. Weston rode great. The goal was try and get a top-ten, and obviously I came up one shy of that, but I did that to myself. Might get one more shot next weekend at Atlanta 2. Try and break the top ten before [Justin] Barcia comes back maybe for Daytona.
How much does it help you’ve just gotten a couple under your belt now? Is it just that much more comfortable each week?
Yeah. Obviously you can practice all you want, but until you get gate drops you don’t know where you’re at. Same goes for testing, with anything—mentally, physically. So I’ve got to figure out some stuff mentally, just learn that I belong up there. Obviously outdoors I feel like I can run with those guys. Just supercross I’m kind of getting run over at the moment. We’ll try and fix some of that stuff this week and come out swinging next weekend. – Weigandt