Honda Red Bull Racing's Andrew Short (Photo: Honda Racing)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Same-day coverage of the AMA Motocross 450 Class race from Lakewood, Colorado will air on SPEED on Saturday, June 26 at 11:00pm EST. Coverage of the 250 Class will air on Sunday, June 26 at 12:00pm EST.
The exceptional rookie season for Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey continued last weekend at the MotoTees.com Budds Creek National as the 2010 AMA Supercross champion captured his third consecutive overall victory in Southern Maryland to extend his early season points lead. This weekend, round five of the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship commences with the Toyota Trucks Thunder Valley National from Thunder Valley Motocross Park in Lakewood, Colo. Dungey, along with rookie 250 Class competitor and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Dean Wilson, who became the fourth different overall winner in the class last weekend, enter the Mile High City with the momentum from a pair of stellar performances. The world's best attack one of the most visually stunning facilities on Saturday, June 26.
450 Class
Rockstar/Makita Suzuki
Since coming slow out of the gates to kick-off the 2010 season, Dungey and the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki squad have been virtually unstoppable. Dungey's third place finish in the opening moto at Budds Creek was his first non-moto win in four motos, but he bounced back in the final moto to re-assert himself at the front of the field and take his fifth win in the last six motos. He currently sits 36 points ahead of Chad Reed and doesn't appear to be slowing down.
"Budds Creek was a good weekend for me and for the team that's for sure," said Dungey. "The bike has been set up perfectly the last three weeks and it is really paying off in our results. Moto 2 the bike kept getting better as the track kept getting rougher. Goose and the rest of the team have really put in their homework back in California. The bikes been good off the starts, in the rough stuff and especially the cornering. I crashed in the first moto and I don't really know what happened. The next thing I know I was on the ground. I had to rip off my goggles and go at it without them after that. I got roosted a couple times pretty good once I got up to second place so I'm pretty lucky I didn't take a rock to the eye or anything worse. We made up for it in Moto 2 and got our third overall in a row. We will go back to work this week and show up in Colorado looking to keep it going."
Matt Moss continues to improve in his first season on American soil and picked up his best effort of 2010 with a 16th-place finish last weekend. However, he is looking for more.
"This weekend was OK for me, but I wasn't very happy with my starts and my position overall," said Moss. "It seemed that I was struggling to get where I was. This weekend in Colorado, I'm going there to get top 10 and nothing else! I know I can do it, I just have to get it done. I'm really looking forward to Thunder Valley."
Monster Energy Kawasaki
Monster Energy Kawasaki heads to Thunder Valley ready to stay on the podium with Chad Reed. After suffering from his worst career finish just two weeks ago, the Australian rider and reigning 450 Class champion finished third overall last weekend and is excited to head to the Denver area for this week's event. His rebound effort last week helped return him to second in the championship.
"Thunder Valley is a good track," said Reed. "We keep making improvements on my bike and it's getting better every week. Since the race is in the daytime this year, the heat is going to play a factor, but that is good for me."
Nick Wey is also ready for Thunder Valley. After working too hard during the week before Budds Creek, Wey has lightened his training program to make sure he is at his best on Saturday.
"I think I overdid it in the Florida heat last week," said Wey. "I hadn't trained in the summer down there and I kind of wore myself out. This week I'm still going to work, but I'm going to make sure I don't over do it."
