Trey wasn’t happy in Detroit, but he has more experience with injuries than any man on the Supercross circuit, so he was philosophical on the flight home.

(1) DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: The sad news for the 2015 Supercorss series is that Trey Canard crashed out of his Semi and was carried away on the mule with his left arm encased in a cardboard cast and sling. This puts the kibosh on Canard’s chances of catching Ryan Dungey in the remaining five races. Trey was already a distant 45 points back, but by the time the fireworks went off in Detroit, he was 67 points adrift. What was most distressing about Trey Canard’s Semi crash was that it was almost a carbon copy of the crash that put him on the sidelines three years ago when he failed to clear a double in Dodger Stadium in 2012 and Ryan Morais landed on his back. Only this time, it was Trey Canard who landed on Jake Weimer’s back. Weimer was also muled off with a cardboard cast on his left arm. It’s unlikely that either one of them will be back any time soon.

Adam Enticknap and Deven Raper had to go to the 450 last Chance. They didn’t qualify out of it, but they deserve praise for their quick thinking and even quicker reflexes.

(2) KUDOS: Although forgotten in the Weimer/Canard crash, Adam Enticknap and Deven Raper deserve credit for avoiding the crash even though they were already committed to go through the carnage. Enticknap broke to the left, missing the fallen riders, but was forced to brake to avoid a Tuff Block in the track. This sudden stop by Enticknap forced Raper to thread a needle between Canard’s and Weimer’s bodies. Deven’s front tire did glance off Weimer’s butt, but it could have been so much worse without the quick thinking of these two privateers. The race was red flagged and restarted, but neither rider made the main event.

Eli Tomac has been blazing fast all year long and, in Detroit, he didn’t fall down. The result? A “W.”

(3) THE MATH EQUATION: Heading to Detroit, Ryan Dungey had a 45-point lead over Trey Canard. Looking into the future, even if Trey Canard had been able to win the next six races (counting Detroit), Dungey could win the 2015 Supercross Championship over Canard by finishing fourth or better at the last 6 rounds. Now, with Trey injured, Eli Tomac becomes Ryan’s main competition. Tomac is currently 77 points behind Dungey. With 25 points paid in each round and 5 races left, the best that Eli Tomac can hope for is to win all 5, which would give him a grand points total at season’s end of 319 points (194 + 125 = 319). Since Dungey is already has 271 points, quick subtraction would show that if Ryan Dungey can earn 50 points over the next five races he will be the Champion. That breaks down to 11th or better in every remaining race. Of course, Supercross is a fickle sport. Anyone can get knocked down in the first turn, break a bone during mid-week practice or get the flu. Whether these ills befall Eli or Ryan, as they have Trey, the points will remain in flux for the next 5 weekends (actually 6 weekends because the series takes one weekend off on April 4 — after Houston). As for the next closest rider after Eli Tomac, that is Cole Seely. Cole is 91 point behind Dungey. Ryan can beat Cole to the title by making the top 15 every weekend (and could not show up at the next three races and still have a 16-point lead with two races to go).

 

 

 

Andrew Short (29) got the holeshot, but Ryan Dungey showed great intensity in getting it away from him immediately. Dungey wanted the lead so he could control the points chase.

(4) FUTURECAST: With the loss of Canard the 450 points chase is a snoozer. Ryan Dungey knows that he doesn’t have to win anymore races. And that is exactly what he figured out when Eli Tomac passed him for the lead in Detroit. In Dungey’s mind, Roger DeCoster’s mind and KTM’s collective minds, all that matters is winning the 2015 Supercross Championship. So, Ryan Dungey let Eli go. By the final lap Tomac had a 20-second lead on Dungey, who cruised to a safe and sane second place. Yes, Tomac did win, but that is what he has to do. Dungey didn’t win, but he has already won 5 times this season and what he needs to do now is collect podium finishes. Dungey isn’t exactly a tortoise, but Tomac is a hare. The 2015 season will probably end the same way as the fable did. How many points did Tomac gain back on Dungey in Detroit? Three. Only 77 more to go. If Tomac keeps winning and Dungey keeps finishing second, Eli will catch Ryan in exactly 25 races — which will be sometime in 2017.

Any excitement left in the title chases comes down to Justin Bogle (above) versus Marvin Musquin.

(5) ALL THAT’S LEFT: The only excitement left, as far as points chases go, is the 250 East Championship where Marvin Musquin leads Justin Bogle by 13 points with 3 rounds left (St. Louis, New York and Las Vegas). Marvin and Justin are the only riders in the 250 East to be on the podium in all 6 rounds. Jeremy Martin is third in points, but he is 41 points back after his disastrous Indy showing (where he failed to qualify for the main event). Out west, Cooper Webb has a 30-point lead in the 250 class. There is a super tussle going on for second place between Jessy Nelson (106 points), Tyler Bowers (104) and Zach Osborne (102). The 250 West still has Houston, Santa Clara and Vegas to go.

Detroit’s sand section didn’t really come around until the end of the night, but it did throw up some healthy spray. It’s refreshing to see something that looks like dirt on a Supercross track.

(6) THE KTM HALL OF FAME: Although KTM has had success in the 250 East/West series over the years (and they even have a 125 National Championship with Grant Langston from 2003), a 450 Supercross title has eluded them (Dungey won the 450 outdoor crown in 2012 and Ken Roczen in 2014). But, the big prize is always the one you don’t have. Team manager Roger DeCoster feels it would be the fulfillment of his five-year plan at KTM to win the Supercross title. KTM CEO Stefan Peirer believes that Supercross success has played a big role in their current growth spurt. “I am really positively surprised by the payback. Supercross is the showcase in the States and that was another piece of the learning curve for me. I was worried about spending too much money in that segment, especially if it didn’t work out, but with our professional set-up and team manager that success is coming.” If Ryan Dungey can win the Supercross title in 2015, then KTM will have won every major offroad racing category in existence. It should be noted that leading into Detroit, KTM has won a total of 15 Supercross events between Dungey (13 wins) and Roczen (2 wins). One third of KTM’s wins have come in 2015.

Arnaud Tonus went home to Europe to have doctors check out his blood condition. Although Pro Circuit is down to just Joey Savatgy on the East coast, they should have everybody, including Tonus and Adam Cianciarulo, ready for the 250 Nationals —which is what Mitch Payton hired Tonus to specialize in.

(7) THE WOUNDED WARRIORS & RETURNEES: Justin Brayton has been missing from action since Anaheim II back in January, but he came back for Detroit and finished a pretty solid 10th. Matt Lemoine had to skip last week’s Indy Supercross with a broken finger. He came back in Detroit, and qualified 13th, but couldn’t race. Matt gave his spot up to 41st qualifier Chaz Braden. Also among the missing are Arnaud Tonus (hypoglycemia), Mike Alessi, (back injury from Daytona), Justin Barcia (cracked pelvis), Will Hahn (hopes to be ready by Hangtown), Josh Hill (broken collarbone), Ken Roczen (wants to after Houston) and Dean Wilson (time undetermined with ACL/MCL tears).

 

 

 

“R.J. Hampshire, have you met Martin Davalos? He’s been in your class for 10 years. You’ve been in it for six weeks. Just wait a second and he will welcome you to the class.”

(8) THE MARTIN DAVALOS CASE…OR IS THAT CASING: Martin Davalos was a head case in Detroit. The Husqvarna racers could not cleanly clear any jumps all night long. In his heat race he cased almost every jump on the track and managed to case two or more jumps in succession several times. He made Detroit’s many rhythm sections look unsyncopated. But, and this is the amazing part, he managed to qualify out of his heat in fourth place even though he rode like a squirrel. Then, in the 250 East main event, Davalos cased the final jump leading into a corner and careened into R.J. Hampshire in the next banked corner. Hampshire was cleaned out and Davalos went over the back of the berm and landed on the stadium floor behind it. Hampshire remounted for an 11th, while Davalos called it a night. Boy, what a night.

Jason Anderson led the Husky team to a shambles of a race in Detroit.

(9) BAD NIGHT IN THE MOTOR CITY: Apart from Jake and Trey, Weston Peick threw in a doozy of a skyshot on lap 4 of the 450 Main. It ended his night as he flat landed very hard at a place where nobody should have still been in the air. Weston ended up in 22nd place. Weston was joined at the rear of the leaderboard by Jason Anderson, who bulldogged, Hoppalong Cassidy’ed and generally fought a losing battle with his Husky on lap 8 of the main. Anderson has had a very good season for a 450 rookie. He had a season-high second place at A1 and finished in the top ten in the first 10 races. However over the last two rounds he has been snake bit—finishing 17th in Indy and 21st in Detroit. Anderson, who was in the top five in points for most of the season is now in 8th. In the 250 class, Jordan Smith was 4th last week, but ended 21st this week.

Nick Wey headed for 180 next week.

(10) NICK’S NIGHT: Who would have thought that dad, husband and ancient warrior Nick Wey would be an “ears in” guy. Isn’t that fashion statement really more apropos of riders a generation younger than Nick. Since Detroit was Nick’s last Supercross race in his home state of Michigan, the promoters gave him a big send off with a parade lap and his own TV segment. Nick has raced in 179 Supercross main events (8 of them this season). He started his Supercross career in 1998 and spent the first 5 years in the 125 East/West series. His best finish was second in the 125 East in 1999 behind Ernesto Fonseca. Nick moved to the premier class full-time in 2002, although he raced a couple races in 2000 and 2001 while still contesting the 125 class. Over the years Nick has been 30th, 17th, 8th, 4th, 5th, 17th, 5th, 14th, 9th, 14th, 7th, 10th, 14th and 15th. He only failed to score points in the premier class once in 15 season (2013 when he was injured).

DETROIT SUPERCROSS RESULTS: MARCH 21, 2015

Cole Seely was third in Detroit and is now fourth in 450 points.

DETROIT RESULTS: 450 CLASS
1. Eli Tomac…Hon
2. Ryan Dungey…KTM
3. Cole Seely…Hon
4. Chad Reed…Kaw
5. Davi Millsaps…Kaw
6. Josh Grant…Kaw
7. Broc Tickle…Suz
8. Blake Baggett…Suz
9. Andrew Short…KTM
10. Justin Brayton…Yam
Other notables: 11. Kyle Chisholm; 12. Nick Wey; 13. Kyle Partridge; 21. Jason Anderson; 22. Weston Peick…Yam; DNQ. Trey Canard; DNQ. Jake Weimer

DETROIT RESULTS: 250 EAST CLASS
1. Justin Bogle…Hon
2. Marvin Musquin…KTM
3. Joey Savatgy…Kaw
4. Jeremy Martin…Yam
5. Anthony Rodriquez…Yam
6. Colt Nicholls…Hon
7. Kyle Cunningham…Hon
8. Mitchell Oldenburg…Yam
9. James Decotis…Hon
10. Jace Owen…Hon
Other notables: 11. R.J. Hampshire; 13. Kyle Peters; 17. Taylor Potter; 18. Bryce Stewart; 20. Gannon Audette; 21. Jordan Smith; 22. Martin Davalos.

2015 AMA 450 SUPERCROSS POINTS STANDINGS
(After 12 of 17 races)
1. Ryan Dungey…271
2. Trey Canard…204
3. Eli Tomac…194
4. Cole Seely…180
5. Chad Reed…170
6. Ken Roczen…156
7. Blake Baggett…154
8. Jason Anderson…145
9. Andrew Short…136
10. Broc Tickle…134

2015 AMA 250 EAST SUPERCROSS POINTS STANDINGS
(After 6 of 8 races)
1. Marvin Musquin…144
2. Justin Bogle…131
3. Jeremy Martin…103
4. Joey Savatgy…93
5. R.J. Hampshire…84
6. Jimmy Decotis…69
7. Anthony Rodriquez…68
8. Kyle Peters…65
9. Martin Davalos…63
7. Vince Friese…58

2015 AMA 250 WEST SUPERCROSS POINTS STANDINGS
(After 6 of 8 races)
1. Copper Webb…136
2. Jessy  Nelson…106
3. Tyler Bowers…104
4. Zach Osborne…102
5. Shane McElrath…86
6. Aaron Plessinger…81
7. Justin Hill…79
8. Josh Hansen…79
9. Alex Martin…75
10. Malcolm Stewart…69

Photos by John Basher, KTM, Husqvarna, Geico Honda, Honda