As Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, returns to St. Louis’ Edward Jones Dome this Saturday night, Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey, of Belle Plaine, Minn., hopes to build off of the momentum he gained last Saturday night with his win in Atlanta.
Dungey, who won in St. Louis in 2010, captured his second victory of the 2012 season and cut into Ryan Villopoto’s Supercross Class point lead. Prior to Saturday night’s race in Atlanta, Dungey earned podium finishes in five races and currently sits second overall.
“To get that first win right off the bat (for KTM) in Phoenix was nice, but it took a while after that,” said Dungey. “But, to back it up here in Atlanta, it was a great night. We’ve been looking for that one for a while. The whole team has been working hard and things haven’t gone our way with testing and stuff, but we’re coming around to it and I think things are progressively getting better.”
Villopoto used a sixth-place start to charge to the front of the pack but was unable to make his way past Dungey. Western Regional Supercross Lites Class rider Cole Seely made his American Honda Muscle Milk debut aboard the 450cc motorcycle and grabbed the early lead after capturing the Nuclear Cowboyz® Holeshot. Seely’s lead lasted seven laps before Dungey made the pass for the lead and rode off to victory.
“I just made a little mistake, and early on in the race I fell over and that cost me, huge,” said Villopoto. “The track was tough tonight, you could really see (that) and I just slipped up and washed the front end out. Overall, we had a good night. It just wasn’t the best of weeks coming into this (race), so to come out with second is good.”
JGRMX/Toyota/Yamaha’s James Stewart, who is one of four riders to win a Supercross Class Main Event this season, put together a great ride after a less-than-favorable start. The two-time defending Supercross Class champion finished third, marking his fourth podium of the season.
Once again, GEICO Honda’s Justin Barcia, the defending class champion, found his way to the front of the pack en route to his second consecutive Eastern Regional Supercross Lites Class Main Event win. Barcia led all 15 laps of the Main Event, besting second place finisher Blake Baggett, of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team, and third place finisher Justin Bogel, of the GEICO Honda team.
“Two for two (is) not a bad way to start,” said Barcia. “I wanted a good start, I got the holeshot, and just rode hard from there. The track was super tough tonight. It was very slick and there were a lot of places where the bike was sliding around. I was trying not to make any mistakes. Fortunately, everything went really smooth and we got the win.”
Barcia extended his points lead in the Eastern Regional Supercross Lites Class to 12 over Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Durham.
During the 2011 Monster Energy Supercross stop in St. Louis, Stewart took home his fourth Supercross Class win of the season. In the Eastern Regional Supercross Lites Class, Justin Barcia captured his third victory.
The first Supercross Class race at the Edward Jones Dome was on April 27, 1996, and Kawasaki’s Jeff Emig, a Missouri native, won the Main Event, snapping Jeremy McGrath’s 13-race win streak. In front of his hometown crowd, Emig notched his first Supercross Class win for Team Kawasaki. Chad Reed and Ricky Carmichael are tired on the all-time win list in St. Louis with four. Kevin Windham, Stewart, Carmichael and Reed have all won in both classes in St. Louis.
SPEED will broadcast the Supercross class race LIVE at 9:30pm EST on March 3, 2012.
