Words and Photos by Brendan Lutes
After a week off, the traveling circus that is the Lucas Oils AMA Motocross Championships picked back up with round seven at Spring Creek MX in Millville, Minnesota. And also picking up where he left off was Minnesota native Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, as he yet again swept both motos on his way to taking the victory in the 450 Class. The win marked his sixth of the season and also extended his growing points lead.
In the Lites class, Geico Powersports/Honda’s Trey Canard garnered his second win of the season in as many races. Currently fourth in the points standings, Canard is hoping to slowly close the gap in the points chase before the season is out.
450 RACING
The start saw Red Bull Honda Racing’s Kevin Windham take the holeshot followed by Minnesota local Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, JGR/Yamaha’s Josh Grant, Red Bull Honda Racing’s Andrew Short, and Troy Lee Designs/Honda’s Ben Townley. For the opening part of the moto, Windham led, but couldn’t shake off a very hard-charging Dungey. After roughly the first quarter of the moto, Dungey made his move through the infamous whoop section and shortly after that K-Dub began to fade and fell back to sixth. From there, Dungey quickly pulled out to a very comfortable lead and never looked back. Behind him, Grant settled into second with Short third, and Townley fourth. When the checkered flag waved, Dungey took the win with Grant second and Short completing the podium.
When the pack rounded the first turn for the second moto, it was JGR/Yamaha’s Josh Grant with the holeshot followed by Troy Lee Designs/Honda’s Ben Townley, Red Bull Honda Racing’s Andrew Short, and Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey. It didn’t take long before Townley took over the lead though with Short close behind in second. Before the first two laps were over, Short took over the lead—but only for a couple laps, as first moto winner Dungey had made his way towards the front and took over the lead. Meanwhile, holeshot artist Grant found himself in ninth after making a big mistake.
As the laps ran down, Dungey began to open up a huge lead while Short rode around comfortably in second. Behind him, Windham began to feel pressure from Tommy Hahn for third, but never relinquished the position. After that, Windham began getting pressure from Kyle Regal. With K-Dub finally giving up the position in the turn following the first whoop section. With that the privateer Honda rider then set his sights on Short in second eventually passing him a few laps later.
After that, things didn’t change, as Dungey continued to pull out to a huge lead with Regal holding onto second, Short held down third while K-Dub finished fourth.
It’s also worth mentioning that defending champion Chad Reed didn’t start the second moto. Coming into the race, Reed was dealing with a sore neck and the rough Millville course proved to be too much for his injury. Following the race, he said that he will be going home to get checked out by his doctor with hopes of returning to action at Washougal.
RESULTS:
Moto One:
1. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
2. Josh Grant (Yam)
3. Andrew Short (Hon)
4. Ben Townley (Hon)
5. Kevin Windham (Hon)
6. Tommy Hahn (Suz)
7. Kyle Chisholm (Yam)
8. Kyle Regal (Hon)
9. Ryan Sipes (Yam)
10. Kyle Cunningham (Yam)
Moto Two:
1. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
2. Kyle Regal (Hon)
3. Andrew Short (Hon)
4. Kevin Windham (Hon)
5. Ben Townley (Hon)
6. Brett Metcalfe (Hon)
7. Ryan Sipes (Yam)
8. Mike Alessi (KTM)
9. Kyle Chisholm (Yam)
10. Josh Grant (Yam)
Overall:
1. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Kyle Regal (Hon)
4. Kevin Windham (Hon)
5. Ben Townley (Hon)
6. Josh Grant (Yam)
7. Ryan Sipes (Yam)
8. Kyle Chisholm (Yam)
9. Brett Metcalfe (Hon)
10. Nick Wey (Kaw)
Championship Points Standings (After 7 of 12 rounds):
1. Ryan Dungey (318)
2. Andrew Short (229)
3. Ben Townley (223)
4. Brett Metcalfe (221)
5. Josh Grant (215)
6. Chad Reed (204)
7. Mike Alessi (196)
8. Kyle Regal (157)
9. Ryan Sipes (140)
10. Kyle Chisholm (134)
250 RACING
When the gate dropped for the start of the first 250 moto of the day, the holeshot went to Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson followed by all three of his teammates—Christophe Pourcel, Jake Weimer, and Tyla Rattray. After the first lap, however, Wilson dropped back to third with Geico Powersports/Honda’s hard-charging Trey Canard leading and Pourcel in second. Meanwhile, Weimer quickly passed Wilson on the second lap to take over third while Pourcel did his best to not let Canard get out of reach. After a few laps, though, the Frenchman managed to get past Canard and from there began to slightly pull away.
As for holeshot artist, Wilson, he worked his way back around his teammate Weimer and into third. One lap later things changed even more for Wilson, as a big mistake caused him to fall back to seventh, giving Weimer third.
As the laps wore on, Canard began to catch Pourcel for the lead. And a few laps later, Canard was in first, but Pourcel wouldn’t let him go. The two riders intensely battled until with only a few laps left in the race, Pourcel retook the lead and opened up a gap that Canard couldn’t touch. When the checkered flag flew, Pourcel took the win followed by Canard and Weimer in third.
The start of the second moto was far different than the rest as DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Nico Izzi jumped out to take the holeshot followed by Geico Powersports/Honda’s Trey Canard and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson. It only took a few turns, though, before Canard and Wilson took over first and second, pushing Izzi back to third. Before the first lap was over, however, Izzi got pushed even further back as Geico Powersports/Honda’s Eli Tomac moved into third.
As the laps continued, Canard held onto the lead with Wilson staying close followed not far behind by Tomac. Meanwhile, first moto winner Pourcel was back in seventh still trying to make up time after a bad start.
When the rain hit, Canard was still leading followed by Wilson. In third, however, was Tyla Rattray who had worked his was up from a bad start. Fourth was held down by Weimer. A few laps later, Geico Powersports/Honda’s Justin Barcia had worked his way around Rattray and began catching up to Wilson. It was too little too late, though, and when the checkered flag flew, Canard took the win followed by Wilson, Barcia, and Rattray. Early frontrunner, Tomac finished 11th.
RESULTS:
Moto One:
1. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw)
2. Trey Canard (Hon)
3. Jake Weimer (Kaw)
4. Tyla Rattray (Kaw)
5. Blake Wharton (Hon)
6. Dean Wilson (Kaw)
7. Broc Tickle (Yam)
8. Alex Martin (Hon)
9. Travis Baker (Yam)
10. Nico Izzi (Yam)
Moto Two:
1. Trey Canard (Hon)
2. Dean Wilson (Kaw)
3. Justin Barcia (Hon)
4. Tyla Rattray (Kaw)
5. Jake Weimer (Kaw)
6. Broc Tickle (Yam)
7. Blake Wharton (Hon)
8. Darryn Durham (Hon)
9. Tommy Searle (KTM)
10. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw)
Overall:
1. Trey Canard (Hon)
2. Dean Wilson (Kaw)
3. Tyla Rattray (Kaw)
4. Jake Weimer (Kaw)
5. Eli Tomac (Hon)
6. Blake Wharton (Hon)
7. Broc Tickle (Yam)
8. Justin Barcia (Hon)
9. Tommy Searle (KTM)
10. Alex Martin (Hon)
Championship Points Standings (After 7 of 12 rounds):
1. Christophe Pourcel (260)
2. Dean Wilson (227)
3. Tyla Rattray (212)
4. Trey Canard (205)
5. Broc Tickle (180)
6. Justin Barcia (176)
7. Eli Tomac (156)
8. Blake Wharton (145)
9. Martin Davalos (132)
10. Jake Weimer (129)
WMX RACING
The start of this moto saw Red Bull Honda Racing’s Ashley Fiolek jumped out to take the holeshot ahead of DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Jessica Patterson and Troy Lee Designs/Honda’s Tarah Geiger. On the second lap, Patterson passed Fiolek in the long Millville whoop section. Two laps later, however, and Fiolek was back around Patterson. From there, the two continued to battle and on the very next lap, Patterson made a pass in the whoops again to take over first. With only two laps remaining, Patterson made a mistake and went off the track, allowing Fiolek to retake the lead. But a big misake by Fiolek dropped her back to third and gave Patterson all the room she needed to comfortably cruise in for the win. Geiger finished second followed by Fiolek in third.
When the gate hit the dirt for the final race of the day, the holeshot went to Red Bull Honda Racing’s Ashley Fiolek followed closely by DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Jessica Patterson. It only took a few turns, though, before Patterson had worked her way into the lead. Behind the two leaders were MotoConcepts/Yamaha teammates Mariana Balbi and Vicky Golden, holding down third and fourth respectively. On the second lap, everything changed when Patterson went down in the mud and dropped back to third, giving Fiolek a huge lead. In second was Golden, but on the next lap, Patterson caught and passed the Yamaha rider. After that, things didn’t change as Fiolek took the win followed by Patterson and Troy Lee Designs/Honda’s Tarah Geiger.
RESULTS:
Moto One:
1. Jessica Patterson (Yam)
2. Tarah Geiger (Hon)
3. Ashley Fiolek (Hon)
4. Vicki Golden (Yam)
5. Alexah Pearson (Kaw)
6. Jacqueline Strong (Yam)
7. Sara Price (Kaw)
8. Mariana Balbi (Yam)
9. Sarah Whitmore (KTM)
10. Penni Cyrus (Kaw)
Moto Two:
1. Ashley Fiolek (Hon)
2. Jessica Patterson (Yam)
3. Vicki Golden (Yam)
4. Tarah Geiger (Hon)
5. Sarah Whitmore (KTM)
6. Mariana Balbi (Yam)
7. Sara Price (Kaw)
8. Jacqueline Strong (Yam)
9. Kirsten Raemisch (Yam)
10. Penni Cyrus (Kaw)
Overall:
1. Jessica Patterson (Yam)
2. Ashley Fiolek (Hon)
3. Tarah Geiger (Hon)
4. Vicki Golden (Yam)
5. Sarah Whitmore (KTM)
6. Mariana Balbi (Yam)
7. Sara Price (Kaw)
8. Jacqueline Strong (Yam)
9. Penni Cyrus (Kaw)
10. Erica Cook (Yam)
Championship Points Standings (After of rounds):
1. Jessica Patterson (194)
2. Ashley Fiolek (174)
3. Tarah Geiger (149)
4. Vicki Golden (121)
5. Sara Price (120)
6. Mariana Balbi (110)
7. Sarah Whitmore (102)
8. Alexah Pearson (96)
9. Tatum Sik (94)
10. Erica Cook (84)
TAGS: dirt bike, dirt bikes, millville, motocross, mx, ryan dungey, Spring Creek, trey canard
