AMA Supercross Motocross
  • Peg It on GarageMonkey
AMA MX: The Holeshot - RedBud
Ryan Dungey’s dominance continued at RedBud, but James Stewart’s return promises an increase in excitement in the weeks ahead.
Brandon Short  |  Posted July 11, 2012   Buchanan, MI
Ryan Dungey picked up his fourth straight overall win at RedBud (Photo: Hoppenworld.com)
Based on the effort put forth last weekend at RedBud, it doesn’t look like the two-week break from competition did anything to slow Ryan Dungey’s momentum. The KTM ace extended his moto winning streak to eight and has now captured four consecutive overall victories.

No one came close to challenge the pace Dungey set at RedBud. He put himself out front early in both motos and proceeded to pull away with relative ease. In the first moto, Dungey crossed the line over 45 seconds ahead of second, and backed that up with an advantage of nearly 35 seconds in the second moto. It was the most one-sided performance of the season for Dungey and as a result of his continued success, boasts a nearly three-moto points lead.

As the 2012 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship heads into the second half of the season, the question becomes if and when does Dungey’s dominance come to an end and who will be the rider to break this streak?

Coming into RedBud, James Stewart made official the confirmation that he would return to competition full time. As mentioned last week, it’s been a rough go for Stewart recently, but due to his extraordinary talent and speed, many assumed he would be right back into the mix in his return.

Stewart positioned himself right behind Dungey out of the gate in the opening moto, but after a few laps the space between the two began to increase little by little. As he worked to close the gap, Stewart made a mistake and lost the front end of his motorcycle, forcing him to the ground. After dropping a couple spots, he set his sights on moving forward, but then stalled a short time later. Ultimately, the Yosh man settled for sixth, but backed that up with a solid third-place rebound performance in the second moto to grab the final spot on the podium.

Stewart did not appear to be at the level we had come accustomed to prior to his crash at Thunder Valley, and he confirmed it at the conclusion of the first moto by stating that he needed to grow a pair. While his performance in the second moto was closer to what was expected, Stewart never really challenged Mike Alessi for second. At the post-race press conference, he explained that he simply wasn’t feeling it.

Stewart rode only a handful of days between Budds Creek and RedBud, primarily because Mother Nature wreaked havoc on Stewart's compound in the Southeast. While he appears to be fully healed from whatever was troubling him with his throttle hand, it looks like he might need to race his way back into a groove.

Oddly enough, this was the first time Stewart raced in two motos and didn’t capture the overall since Washougal in 2007. After his perfect season in 2008, Stewart picked up where he left off at the start of the summer, but has been in and out of action since Thunder Valley.

Now that he’s back at full health (even if he has made it clear he’s still not at the level he was at when he came into the season), Stewart is only going to get better and you have to think that not winning is something that won’t sit well for very long.
Page 1 of 2
Prev
12
Next
brandon_short's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brandon Short

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2013

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.