Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey finished off a rollercoaster season with his first outdoor national motocross title after turning in a 2-2 performance for a runner-up finish in the 250 division at the final round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Series at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Canidae Motosports.com Kawasaki’s Tommy Hahn became the seventh first-time winner of the season in the 450 division after parlaying a 1-4 score into an overall win.
In the 250cc class, Dungey came into the Steel City race with a 17-point lead in the series standings over Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel after a dramatic turnaround the week before at Southwick. To win the title, Dungey needed only to finish fifth in each race at Steel City if Pourcel won each moto, and while Pourcel took both moto wins, Dungey’s 2-2 performance was more than enough to take the title.
“I knew all year from the very beginning it was going to take every weekend to be there and be in the hunt,” said Dungey. “After Southwick, I was able to come out with a bit of a lead to carry into this weekend. All year it’s been him and me in a back and forth battle with wins and everything so I’m just pumped to be up here with the championship.”
Finishing third overall was GEICO Powersports Honda’s Blake Wharton with 8-3 moto finishes, while KTM’s Ryan Sipes and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer rounded out the top five.
In the 450 division, Hahn and MDK KTM’s Justin Brayton claimed first-time moto wins, with Hahn backing up his first-moto victory with a fourth-place finish in moto two for the overall win. Meanwhile, Brayton added an 11th in the opening moto to his second moto win to claim his first-ever podium finish in third overall.
“After I won the first moto today I came into moto two with an open mind and let it end up where it ended up,” said Hahn. “I concentrated on getting a good start and just went from there. I wasn’t going to let a bad second moto happen again. It’s happened too much in the past. So I just wanted to go ride as hard as I could for 30 minutes.”
Honda Red Bull Racing’s Ivan Tedesco was finished second overall with 4-3 moto finishes.
After suffering a bad start in the opening moto, Newly crowned national motocross champion, Chad Reed, rode his Rockstar Makita Suzuki to a second place finish, but after falling in moto-two while running mid-pack, Reed pulled into the pits complaining of stomach problems and did not finish the race. He was credited with 10th overall with a 2-34 finish.
450 Class results: 1. Tommy Hahn (Kaw); 2. Ivan Tedesco (Hon); 3. Justin Brayton (KTM); 4. Jake Moss (Kaw); 5. Andrew Short (Hon); 6. Michael Byrne (Suz); 7. Davi Millsaps (Hon); 8. Timmy Ferry (Kaw); 9. Matt Goerke (Yam); 10. Chad Reed (Suz).
250 Class Results: 1. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw); 2. Ryan Dungey (Suz); 3. Blake Wharton (Hon); 4. Ryan Sipes (KTM); 5. Jake Weimer (Kaw); 6. Justin Barcia (Hon); 7. Austin Stroupe (Kaw); 8. Brett Metcalfe (Hon); 9. Tommy Searle (KTM); 10. Blake Baggett (Kaw).
