Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey continued his streak of superiority over the weekend in St. Louis, but Ken Roczen didn’t make it easy on him, giving the champ all he could handle for a good portion of the race. As soon as Dungey was done spraying champagne on his team manager, signing autographs, and kissing babies, we caught up to him to get his thoughts on the race, getting closer to the title, and the possibility of a chase format.
Racer X: That may be the first time you’ve ever sprayed Roger DeCoster with champagne.
Ryan Dungey: Yeah, I’m not a guy who likes to just hose someone down and ruin them, so I decided I wasn’t going to spray him, I was just going to scare him. But it was good to get a win here in St. Louis. Track conditions were tough, and the day wasn’t exactly flowing nicely. We were trying some things in practice and I think we qualified seventh, which I think is our worst all season. That was tough, but at the same time everyone was within two tenths, so I knew it was just a matter of picking up the pieces. In the heat race we had a little tip over, but we were able to manage and rebound, and obviously in the main event we got a good start and we were able to get out front and go. Again, Ken [Roczen] was right there putting the pressure on and I was just trying to maintain and not make any mistakes. It’s hard to be the guy out front. I was trying to hit my lines as best as I could, but you never know if he’s doing something different where he’s making time. I opened the gap a little here and there, but we went back and forth over the triple and he made a mistake, fell down, and that allowed me to open up a little bit of a gap. It gave me some breathing room and I was able to hit my lines and in the last five laps I just eased in for the win. I was managing the lead, I knew where the guys were at, and I was able to get the win. It was a good day, a good rebound.
Your visor was higher than normal. Did you bounce it off something?
When we came around to lap [Nick] Wey, a rock or something must have just hit the right area and I was like ‘Oh, my visor got knocked down.’ Then I hit it up and the thing went flying up! I was like, ‘Oh man, this doesn’t look so pretty.’ The style check wasn’t the greatest but we got the job done.
You’re on pace to wrap this thing up next weekend.
Yeah, you know, we’re aware, we know where we’re at, but at the same time we focus on one race at a time. We know where we’re at, and we focus on each race and not let it get too far ahead of us. That takes away from our performance on race night. Just trying to stay focused on ourselves.
When you have a night where you qualify seventh and you don’t transfer out of your heat, do things like that enter your mind?
You know, I just try to keep a positive approach. Obviously, yeah, it’s not ideal. You want to qualify first and go straight to the main out of the heat, and that’s great, but there’s a lot of racing in between. We made a little bike change, which we wouldn’t have done, and I really feel that helped us out for the main. I got more time on the track and was able to get a couple more rhythms down and I was able to get a good flow. So by that time, when the main event came around the track time was great. The only negative was my gate pick, which was nine. But the thing tonight, all the gates were pretty good so it wasn’t really a big deal and we were in a position to still get a good start. Sometimes you find yourself on the very inside or way outside and you’re already at a little bit of a disadvantage. There are a lot of positives to take, and there were some good lessons learned tonight.
Three weeks in a row now you and Roczen have gone at it. Is it stressful or is it getting enjoyable at this point?
All racing is both. You have to manage the stress and keep perspective—remembering why we’re out here, we’re racing for a living. The competitive side in us comes out, for sure, but I believe in leaving nothing on the table and giving it my all. That’s all I can ask for. Other guys are going good. Going into every season you don’t underestimate your competition. You have to realize a guy is going to be better, sometimes a little better than you, but like we said last week, it’s about being better through all seventeen rounds consistently. You’re going to get challenged and you’re going to get more of a fight out of certain guys sometimes.
There’s been discussion of a chase format. Some people have said everyone except Dungey is going to like it.
I definitely want to see our sport grow, and I’m not the smartest guy in that area to figure those things out. I’ve said it before, and I think we should keep the championship format the same. It discredits a lot of the riders and teams who have to be there every single weekend and have a bike that’s there and not have a mechanical failure, all these things. They add up. If they reset it toward the tail end it’s going to come back to even after someone made up all that ground. Then they have to lose that [the points lead]. But at the same time it’s understandable that it comes from the NASCAR world. There are thirty-four races, or more, and that’s a long time and those guys are within hundredths, thousandths, and tenths. I can understand, to liven it up [for them], but with seventeen races, I don’t think it’s too long that it needs to be changed from the championship format. But I definitely want to see our sport grow, and it’s definitely an area we need to look into more. Feld does an amazing job and their decisions have been great. I think the thing that’s helped our sport is the competition is more stacked. There are a lot of guys out there battling for a front position and giving the crowd a show. It’s not an issue of depth of talent, and the racing is great. I guess I don’t really know how a chase format is going to help, except benefit riders down the road if it comes to a chase format. And like I said, Feld does an amazing job and I don’t want to discredit anything they’ve done and what they do. The show we put on has been incredible, and for them to provide a platform for us to race on, for that I’m very thankful.
