As always, Monster Energy Supercross left its mark on Daytona International Speedway last weekend with an exceptional night of racing on a brutal track. As a result of his exceptionally consistent 2015 season, all eyes were on points leader Ryan Dungey to see if he could break through and earn his first-ever victory at Daytona. While it wasn't easy, Dungey showed tremendous control to once again earn a convincing win, his fourth of the season and his third over the past four races.
While Dungey was indulging in the success of winning at Daytona, his main championship rivals were both battling through adversity. Trey Canard was the fastest rider in practice and qualifying heading the night show at Daytona, but a crash on the opening lap of the main event dropped him to the tail end of the field and forced him to claw his way to a sixth-place effort. Ken Roczen came into the speedway on a bit of a slump after a crash at the first race in Atlanta left him struggling with an ankle injury. Roczen re-aggravated it in Daytona practice and was forced to sit out the night show. On Thursday, his RCH Racing team announced that Roczen will stay sidelined for the next month, missing three races.
As has been the case for much of the 2015 season, the demise of his rivals worked heavily into Dungey's favor and the Red Bull KTM rider now enjoys a 40-point lead in the championship. Monster Energy Supercross will now make its journey to another motorsports Mecca this weekend in Indianapolis, with its annual visit to Lucas Oil Stadium.
Here are some of my biggest takeaways heading into Indy:
450SX Class
* With four wins to his credit, this is the most success Dungey has enjoyed since the 2012 season when he also won four races. With seven races remaining on the schedule, there's a very good chance he breaks his single season record of six, which came during his championship-winning rookie season in 2010.
* This is only the third time in his career that Dungey has won back-to-back races, and he's also the first rider of the 2015 season to win two in a row. Moreover, Dungey's 1-2-1-1 results over the last month are the most dominant of his career. This is the highest win rate we've ever seen from Dungey in Supercross.
* Dungey's mind-blowing podium streak now sits at nine races. His average finish is an incredible 2.0.
* Trey Canard passed 15 riders in order to earn his sixth-place finish. That is not an achievement that should be taken lightly. Daytona was arguably rougher than it's ever been and passing was at a premium, particularly as the track deteriorated more and more. Canard refused to gown down without a fight and he should have plenty to be proud of after that effort. If not for a freak incident in which his wheel got caught in Broc Tickle's footpeg, I think Canard would have easily been on the podium and could have challenged Dungey for the win. He's losing points right now, but Canard is every bit ready to take on the challenge that lies ahead of him.
* I'm impressed with Cole Seely's aggression in the main event and it's good to see him back at the level that led me to think he's the dark horse in this 450SX Class field. Seely saw the chance to win his first Supercross on a big bike and he showed no intimidation in trying to force the issue with Dungey as they battled behind Andrew Short. Seely got the worse end of the deal, but he rebounded to finish fourth and held his head high. He knows he's going to need to be aggressive if he's going to win one of these, and I think we witnessed the rookie reach a new level by simply going for it.
* The Hondas were strong all night in Daytona and to no ones surprise Eli Tomac was the one leading the way. If not for a bad start, I wonder what Tomac might have been able to do if Dungey was close. He was in such an incredible groove at the end of the race that he was by far the fastest rider on the track.
* The good news for both Seely and Tomac heading into Indy is that this is the site where both riders experienced breakout rides in the 450SX Class a year ago. It was the first career podium result for both riders, with Tomac second and Seely third. The winner of that race? Dungey. His lone win of the 2014 season.
* I've known since before the season began that Blake Baggett's best night of the 2015 season was going to come at Daytona. There may not be a rider that loves the speedway more than Baggett and he's always able to step up his game there. While I'm a little surprised that he wasn't able to keep pace with Tomac in the late stages, I felt like he was a lock for a podium finish. It was an awesome and much-needed shot in the arm for Team Yoshimura Suzuki, who had the rug pulled out from under them with James Stewart's suspension but continue to give it their all. Given how well he's ridden in recent weeks, another podium is not out of the question for Baggett in 2015.
* Chad Reed has made uncharacteristic mistakes each of the last two weeks. It's very rare to see the TwoTwo bike on the ground or out of control, but I attribute it to his determination to win some more races. The confidence is there for Reed and you can tell he believes he's got some more victories in him. These mistakes would be much more costly if Reed was in the thick of the title fight, but I'm pretty sure he's moved on from that and is just looking to put the Kawasaki on top of the box as many times as possible before the season ends. No racing for points here.
* Definitely sad to see Roczen effectively bring his championship hopes to an end. It's surprising to see that he and the team never fully got back on track after Oakland. I fully expected him to bounce back and return to the level that made him the rider to beat at the start of the season, but I wonder if they started chasing setup and were fighting to get Roczen back to being 100% comfortable on the bike. It's one of the unique things about Supercross. Your fortune can change in an instant. Being dominant or perfectly consistent for 17 rounds is a truly difficult task, which is why Dungey's season thus far is so far beyond what we've come to expect.
* Weston Peick is just fun to watch. You know he's one of the toughest riders in the sport to pass, but I enjoy his utter fearlessness on the track. He has the speed to run up front and he knows it, and while he's still getting his fitness back to where it needs to be, he doesn't let up his fight even though his pace may have dropped off. I'm truly surprised he fell as far back as eighth after seeing him stand up to virtually every challenge in the early part of the race. I'm sure Peick's fellow competitors may not love his style, but it's fun to watch since he makes everyone truly earns the position.
250SX Class
* I felt like Daytona was a night for Jeremy Martin to make a statement in the East Region Championship, but he really was never a factor. He was closing in on Bogle for second but then just fell back, taking third. Now he's 12 points out of the points lead and I just don't see Marvin Musquin making any major mistakes. I think Martin is capable of going on a run and stringing together some wins, but he'll need to step up his starts because it's the one place where Musquin is really beating him.
* Musquin was dialed in at Daytona. No one could come close to riding at his level and now he's got three wins in four races and a double-digit points lead he's not likely to give up. Coincidentally, both Musquin and his Red Bull KTM teammate Dungey have identical finishes over the last month - 1-2-1-1. Seeing KTM win both the 450SX Class and the 250SX Class used to be a rare occurrence, but its quickly becoming the norm and its no surprise they're on the cusp of winning two Monster Energy Supercross titles for the first time in history.
* A second-place finish is progress for Justin Bogle, but he's still not where he needs to be to contend for a win. He was on pace with Musquin in their heat race, but when it comes to 15 laps you start to see the difference. I know Bogle is putting in a ton of work during the week to improve and I think if he is able to get a great start and put the No. 1 bike up front early, he does have the potential to turn that into a win.
