It took five rounds, all taking place in baseball stadiums, before Ryan Dungey took a win on his number 5 KTM in 2015. That's not to say, though, that the new KTM hasn't been at the front throughout this opening segment of 2015, though.

Ryan Dungey's "nice-guy" attitude on the track comes with an unparalleled level of consistency. His worst finish of 2015 so far on the aforementioned KTM, which barely meets the minimum weight limit after some changes to the machine, has been a fourth - his only time not finishing on the podium in the seven main events so far this year.

His first win of the year, coming in the fifth round of 2015 at the third and final visit to Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California for the year, was not even his best performance of the year, looking at it in an extra critical manner. Dungey also took the win at the latest race this past Saturday, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, but he had a better overall performance in Arlington than he did that third round in Anaheim. This is because, in Arlington, he won his heat race, took the holeshot in the main event, and led all 20 laps - that's as good as it gets, a true perfect performance on the track throughout the night program to go with 20 incredibly strong and consistent laps in the main event. 

As it stands with seven rounds left behind, Dungey, the KTM rider from Belle Plaine, Minnesota, holds an 11-point lead over RCH Suzuki's Ken Roczen, who was not able to complete a sweep of the Anaheim rounds with Dungey winning the third. 

After those seven races, 10 rounds remain. In these upcoming 10 rounds, the riders that trail Dungey in the point’s standings will be looking to snag a few podium finishes and main event wins, before it's too late. 

The threshold where it may be too late would be at the Detroit round inside Ford Field, the home of the Detroit Lions, on March 21. Before the season rolls into Detroit, four races are set to take place - two back-to-back rounds inside the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, the historic and ever important round on the infield of the Daytona International Speedway, and the Indianapolis round inside Lucas Oil Stadium. Setting a bit of a deadline for the other riders to show Dungey a wheel, if you will, at around the Detroit round makes sense because only five rounds remain after Detroit, serving as the final stretch of 2015. If Ken Roczen, Trey Canard, or another riders cannot have a bit of a surge in these four rounds before the series enters Detroit or soon thereafter, the chances of seeing the red plate signifying the points lead not on Dungey's orange KTM are slim. 

Of course, it's Ryan Dungey's sheer and utter consistency that makes him the man to beat this year, makes his KTM oh so fast race after race, and makes the championship all his to lose in 2015. His consistency that goes with his kind-hearted (usually) attitude on the race track has earned him the nickname "The Diesel." That very same consistency is what aided in his first (and at the moment only) championship win in the premier class of Supercross in 2010. 

With six podium finishes out of seven rounds, Dungey has kicked 2015 off on a consistent note. With the time he puts in off the track throughout the week, training physically, mentally, on and off the motorcycle, we will be seeing the red plate on the KTM for much longer this season - perhaps straight to the end, at the finale in Las Vegas. 

Next Saturday, February 21, Monster Energy Supercross will stop for the first of two weekends of racing inside the Georgia Dome. Both will be critical rides for all of the riders within the top few positions in the championship standings, because you do not want to fall behind early. Eli Tomac, who crashed and finished seventh Saturday in Arlington, has seen a few mistakes put him out of the running, virtually, for the championship. In all reality, the very same type of thing could happen to Dungey, could happen to Roczen, to Canard, Blake Baggett, or any other rider looking to grab the 450 Supercross class title for 2015.

Critical rounds are coming from here on out, and the championship is in Ryan Dungey's hands to lose.