Nobody wants to see Dungey go out like this.
Nobody wants to see Dungey go out like this.
Lead Photo By:James Lissimore
I swear I feel partly like I’m either in an alternate universe, dazed and confused or straight up taking crazy pills.
Is it just me or is Ryan Dungey just NOT GETTING IT? It is GO TIME!!
The writing is on the wall, the panic button has inarguably sounded and it’s do or die.
I’ll give you two things, firstly this is the best we have ever seen Eli Tomac in Supercross and on the flip side of that, Ryan Dungey is clearly not the best we have ever seen from him. Sure he has always been a perennial great starter (and finisher over his career) but ever since Eli hit his stride, it’s like he stole the mojo Ryan has been exploiting in recent years. Add to that that Ryan is openly sharing that retirement is on his mind, Eli can pretty much smell the reservation in Ryan’s mind and the trepidatious pheromone emitting from his pores.
In stick and ball sports the saying “defense wins championships” is a common phrase. It’s a peculiar phrase and more of a catch term cliche than accurate terminology. You can put up a stonewall of defensive effort and I hate to tell ya this but without points on the board, you aint winning doodoo. In our sport this is even more true and Ryan Dungey is very close to succumbing to that rude awakening. In prior title battles, Ryan has stuck to his guns and protected his points lead through the final round but he never had someone like Eli Tomac hot on his heels who truly has a fire burning to take his number one plate. Not since James Stewart have we seen someone set themselves apart from the field at such a blistering pace. He doesn’t follow riders, he doesn’t stay behind anyone long enough to even consider their lines or where he’ll make a move. He just reels them in, sets them up, checks off a box and moves on to the next victim or 3 in the next section.
The cautious, points protection method of Ryan’s past titles is just so obviously not going to work this year. Do you really WANT it or not, Ryan? The answer could very well be “yes” but the response to that would be not nearly as much as Eli wants it. After all, Dungey is still smoking the rest of the field. There just isn’t a satisfying excuse for pulling the hotshot, with Eli starting nearly last and him reeling you in at nearly the halfway mark of the race and then ultimately being beaten by 6 seconds.
Honestly, the more prescient question in my head than who will win this title is just what helped Eli step up to this new level? We know Kawasaki has said they figured something out with the bike that helped Eli reach his true comfort level but I’m also wondering if Ei has changed anything about the way he rides the Kawasaki to better gel with the chassis. Maybe Steve from Motocross Action can get to the bottom of that?
So here we sit, two rounds to go and Ryan can just forget about backing his way into this title because he is now second in points with a boring old white number plate background. There is no hiding, no justifying, no focusing on the positives. There is no positive when you are utterly demoralized the way Ryan was in SLC. Ryan’s fans don’t want to see him bank on an Eli mistake to regain the upper hand for the title, they want him to wake up and fight for it. Fight like any prideful defending champion would. This isn’t a gentleman’s sport of respect and friends, it’s time for Ryan to run it in and put some stank on it. Either that or throw a little caution to the wind and twist that damn grip like Eli has been doing.
We all know Eli wants this more than anything, do you Ryan? Do you actually WANT to fight for it, or would you just really like to have it again? There is a drastic difference and the results are self evident.
