Yamaha Motor Canada Presents Style Check- What Happens In Vegas

Well, here we are on the eve of the much-anticipated final round of the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross Series. A race that will determine two championships in this epic season of supercross. First up will be the 250SX East class, where Jordon Smith leads Zach Osborne and Joey Savatgy by just one point prior to the gate dropping in Las Vegas. With the final 250SX main event being a combined race between the West and East classes, anything can happen. In the 450SX class, the entire SX world will be tuning in to see if Ryan Dungey’s nine point lead will be enough to win the championship over Eli Tomac. There are definitely a lot of storylines heading into Round 17 in Las Vegas. This could be the most memorable final round we have ever seen.

So, I will ask everyone straight up, who do you think will win the 2017 450SX title? If Eli Tomac puts the hammer down and wins the main event, can Ryan Dungey stay out of trouble and finish high enough to clinch his fourth SX title? I think that one thing that most people will agree on is that Tomac will more than likely take off and win the main event this weekend. Without the pressure of the heavy red plate, Tomac has but one task to complete. He needs to holeshot and then runaway and hide. This will put maximum pressure on Dungey to finish in the top four and hold on to the points lead. If Tomac wins, anything worse than a fourth for Dungey will give the 2017 title to the Kawasaki rider (remember Tomac wins the title if there’s a tie in points). However, with Dungey’s track record and the numerous other top KTM riders who will also be in the Vegas main event, I personally like Dungey’s chances of taking home this title.

It has certainly been an exciting series to watch from the time it began in Anaheim, right until last weekend in New Jersey. Whether it’s been the Dungey/ Tomac battle, Ken Roczen’s unfortunate injury, or 35-year-old Chad Reed still being a part of the series, there has been so much to talk in 2017. A title chase this late into the series is exactly what Monster Energy and Feld Motorsports dreamt about before the season began. And while early on it looked to be a Ken Roczen runaway, since he went down, Tomac and Dungey have been at the top of the series points standings.

The fans this weekend in Las Vegas are in for a real treat as they will not only get to watch two championships being decided, but they also could be witnessing Ryan Dungey’s final SX race of his long and storied career. All of the pit chatter in recent weeks has suggested that Ryan Dungey will be hanging up his Fox boots the moment this season is over. Not a huge fan of being in the spotlight, Dungey appears to have certainly had enough of being a pro athlete. Quite simply, Dungey is a cerebral person and a cerebral rider, and in his mind the time has come in his life when the risks now outweigh the rewards. Also, win or lose this weekend, Dungey really has nothing left to prove. He’s won everything from supercross titles, outdoor titles and MXoN titles. He has a beautiful wife who appears ready to start a family, he has earned enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life, and his legacy goes well beyond being one of this sport’s best riders. I’ve said this a few times recently, but I really believe that Dungey’s persona has transcended this sport. He has worked extremely hard right from the start, and he defied the odds in his early years when no one thought Suzuki should’ve hired him. In a nut shell, he has been a tremendous example to the youth of our sport and a benchmark for generations to come. Whether this is Dungey’s final season, or even if the Vegas Supercross is the final race of his career, I’d like to thank Ryan Dungey for just being Ryan Dungey! I hope he wins this title and then rides off into the sunset to live the rest of his life with a big smile on his face. It all goes down this weekend in the City of Entertainment, Las Vegas, NV.