The 450 championship in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross is, barring disaster, over. Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey is laying waste to the field like he did in 2010 and it’s only a matter of time before he’s collecting his third major championship. We saw some great early races with Ryan and James Stewart, and that got us all excited. But with Stewart’s injury (that he says will be better by RedBud, and for that we are grateful) Dungey has taken control.

At Budds Creek Dungey went 1-1 on his Carlos Rivera-tuned KTM 450SX-F, adding approximately a second to his lead for every minute the race went on. Twenty-seconds at the twenty-minute mark, thirty seconds at thirty. Pretty remarkable feat really, and Dungey’s got to be challenged to stay focused out there with such a big lead. I suppose the only fun thing left for him is to try and pass lappers in new and unique ways. If Dungey were to be so inclined to actually open up with the media besides the usual platitudes about working hard, looking forward to next week and giving it up to his team; wouldn’t you love to hear about which lappers are causing him problems, what games he is playing out there and if he made any mistakes out on the track? He’s a robot, racing with great speed and precision. I’m not saying that Dungey blends into a pack of riders but when you’re smooth and precise, sometimes that doesn’t make for an exciting visual effect.

Ryan Dungey's dominant 2012 season continued at Budds Creek.
Andrew Fredrickson photo

That’s on us though. No matter to him, as he’ll take the wins, the bonus checks and keep building that legacy. It’s not Ryan Dungey’s fault that some of the riders that look to be able to challenge him got hurt in 2010 and it’s not his fault in 2012 either. But he’ll be there, he’ll be the Dungenator in every way possible and while we may be thinking about what could have been this summer with a Stewart/Reed/Canard/Villopoto/Dungey fight for the title, he’ll be thinking of ways to get better and in effect, put on a show that leaves you wanting more—but not from him but, from the 39 other guys.

I feel like one of these days he might throw his bike down after the finish, throw off his helmet and yell at us, “Are you not entertained?” like Russell Crowe. Yes Ryan, we are entertained but sometimes, it takes a while to appreciate greatness. We’ll get there soon, I promise.

Good thing we have the 250 class for the drama, because Ryan Dungey’s showing us that in the 450s, no one else is even close to beating him right now.