MILLVILLE, MINNESOTA, JULY 17 – Ryan Dungey didn’t seem to be affected by the extreme heat and humidity at round seven of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross 450 Championships at Spring Creek Raceway and he certainly had no problems handling the competition, as the Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider turned in an impressive 1-1 performance to claim his sixth win in a row in the series.Urged on by a highly partisan crowd, Dungey, a Minnesota native, passed Red Bull Honda’s Kevin Windham to take the lead in the opening moto before pulling away to a 21-second advantage at the finish. In the second moto, Dungey was fifth after the start but passed Red Bull Honda’s Andrew Short on lap three to take control of the race, finishing the 16-lap affair with a commanding 39-second margin of victory. The performance extended Dungey’s lead in the championship standings to an amazing 89 points over Short, who turned a consistent 3-3 showing into second overall at Millville.”I put myself in good position with my starts and just put the laps down,” said Dungey. “It definitely felt good to win in front of a home crowd.”Short was a solid second for most of the final moto, but finally gave way to Honda privateer Kyle Regal, who ended the day with third overall, via 8-2 finishes. Regal blamed his first moto performance on a poor set-up, however, the Texan came back with a vengeance in moto two, finishing second despite a pair of crashes.
Kevin Windham made his return to the outdoor series at Millville, filling in on the Red Bull Honda team for the injured Davi Millsaps. K-Dub grabbed the opening moto holeshot and led for seven laps, before giving way to a persistent Dungey. Windham admitted after the race that he “hit a wall” due to the heat midway through the first moto, but still to hold on for a fifth. A strong fourth place showing in moto two gave Windham fourth overall for the day.Troy Lee Designs/Honda rider Ben Townley got good starts and even led a lap of the second moto, but suffered crashes in both races and ended the day in fifth overall after posting 4-5 moto finishes. Meanwhile, JGR/Muscle Milk/Toyota Yamaha’s Josh Grant was an impressive second in the first moto, but suffered in the Minnesota heat on the second race, and was sent directly to the Asterisk Mobile Medical Unit after the race. His 2-10 score was good enough for sixth overall.Chad Reed ran sixth during the early stages of the first moto but aggravated a neck injury and dropped off the pace to finish 28th. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider sat out moto two.In the 250 class, GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard backed up his win at RedBud with another at Spring Creek, getting the job done with a 2-1 moto finishes. Canard battled with first moto winner, Christophe Pourcel, and even passed the Frenchman on lap 12, but when Pourcel retook the lead, Canard decided to save his energy for the second moto.Pourcel’s Monster Energy Kawasaki teammates, Jake Weimer and Tyla Rattray were third and fourth in the moto, with Yamaha’s Broc Tickle in fifth.A hard rain moved in over the area just after moto two got underway, and Canard used his mud riding skills to take a decisive win over Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson and GEICO Powersports Honda’s Justin Barcia. Meanwhile, Pourcel struggled in the mud and finished a lowly 10th.Wilson ended the day with the runner-up slot, his 6-2 moto finishes beating out Rattray’s 4-4 for the honor. Rattray rounded out the podium, while Weimer (3-5) and Pourcel finished fourth and fifth, respectively.450
Overall Results
1. Ryan Dungey (Suz) 1-1
2. Andrew Short (Hon) 3-3
3. Kyle Regal (Hon) 8-2
4. Kevin Windham (Hon) 5-4
5. Ben Townley (Hon) 4-5
6. Josh Grant (Yam) 2-10
7. Ryan Sipes (Yam) 9-7
8. Kyle Chisholm (Yam) 7-9
9. Brett Metcalfe (Hon) 16-6
10. Nick Wey (Kaw) 11-11250 Overall Results
1. Trey Canard (Hon) 2-1
2. Dean Wilson (Kaw) 6-2
3. Tyla Rattray (Kaw) 4-4
4. Jake Weimer (Kaw) 3-5
5. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw) 1-10
6. Blake Wharton (Hon) 5-7
7. Broc Tickle (Yam) 7-6
8. Justin Barcia (Hon) 16-3
9. Tommy Searle (KTM) 11-9
10. Alex Martin (Hon) 8-15
