Dungey Clinches Supercross Title

Kit Palmer | April 25, 2010

You can now officially call Ryan Dungey the 2010 AMA Supercross Champion. Even though he would have taken the title even if he didn’t ride the last three races, Dungey clinched the championship after finishing fourth at the Seattle Supercross. Since Ryan Villopoto was the only rider mathematically within sight of Dungey but was at home with a broken leg suffered the weekend before at St. Louis, all Dungey had to do tonight was finish sixth or better and his first 450cc SX title would be his, and it is. Dungey becomes the second rider ever to win the premier Supercross Championship in his rookie year. Jeremy McGrath was the first.Dungey was hoping to clinch title with a win, but the Suzuki rider never could seem to find his rhythm on the incredibly rutted out track. He fell a couple of times in practice, finished a distant second in his heat race, and looked a little out of sync in the main event, where he fell once while running second and got passed by two riders. He took one of those positions back before settling down and holding on to fourth the rest of the way.Stealing some of Dungey’s thunder on the night was GEICO Powersport Honda’s Kevin Windham. The 32-year-old and sentimental favorite of the large Seattle crowd looked right at home on the ultra-technical track. He beat Dungey by 15.7 seconds in their heat race and led every lap of the 20-lap final, never making a mistake through out the 21-minute race. By the second lap, he had already opened up a five-second lead over Dungey, and it steadily grew from there on out. It was obvious early in the race that no one was going to catch the veteran, whose last win came at this same venue in 2008.Windham, however, is not the oldest rider to win a Supercross main event. He misses that honor by four months to John Dowd.”That was the gnarliest race ever,” Windham said. “The older you get, the harder they [wins] come, I will cherish this one.”Joining Windham on the podium were first-time podium visitors Tommy Hahn and Justin Brayton. It is believed that this is the first time that brothers have finished on the 250 and 450 podium on the same night.Tommy Hahn, on the Rockstar Energy Suzuki, started off about fifth and eventually picked off Kyle Chisholm, Dungey and Brayton before settling into second by the 14th lap. Hahn finished 21 seconds behind Windham and well ahead of Brayton.Honda Red Bull’s Davi Millsaps finished fifth despite having to stop to make quick repairs to his bike.Sixth went to Nick Wey who is back under the factory Kawasaki rig, while seventh went to JGR/Toyota Yamaha’s Michael Byrne.Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Chad Reed finished eighth after going down in the first turn and completing the first lap in last place.Honda Red Bull’s Andrew Short and Chisholm, on the Motoconcepts Yamaha, rounded out the top 10.

Qwest FieldSeattle, WashingtonResults: April 24, 2010HEAT 1 (8 laps, 1-9 transfer): 1. Kevin Windham (Hon); 2. Ryan Dungey (Suz); 3. Kyle Chisholm (Yam); 4. Michael Byrne (Yam); 5. Nick Wey (Kaw); 6. Chris Blose (Hon); 7. Troy Adams (Suz); 8. Chad Reed (Kaw); 9. Ryan Clark (Hon); 10. Jason Thomas (Suz); 11. Manual Rivas (Kaw); 12. Jerry Lymburner (KTM); 13. Jason Langford (Kaw); 14. Adam Enticknap (Hon); 15. Mitchell Rask (Hon); 16. Jeff Gibson (Yam); 17. Gared Steinke (Hon); 18. Derek Costella (Hon); 19. Ross Johnson (Hon); 20. Adam Conway (Hon).Race Time: 7 min., 56.986 sec.Margin of Victory: 15.788 sec.HEAT 2 (8 laps, 1-9 transfer): 1. Davi Millsaps (Hon); 2. Justin Brayton (Yam); 3. Andrew Short (Hon); 4. Tommy Hahn (Suz); 5. Kyle Cunningham (Yam); 6. Matt Boni (Hon); 7. Jared Jet Brown (Kaw); 8. Jason Lawrence (Yam); 9. Kyle Partridge (Kaw); 10. Billy Payne (Hon); 11. Josh Hill (Yam): 12. Justin Keeney (Kaw); 13. Gray Davenport (Kaw); 14. Bradley Ripple (Hon); 15. Teddy Parks (Kaw); 16. Jeff Loop (Kaw); 17. Jake Oswald (Hon); 18. Aden Dejager (Kaw); 19. Weston Peick (Yam); 20. Jake Anstett (Yam).Race Time: 8 min., 14.156 sec.Margin of Victory: 7.501 sec.LCQ (6 laps, 1-2 transfer): 1. Josh Hill (Yam); 2. Justin Keeny (Kaw); 3. Jeff Gibson (Yam); 4. Billy Payne (Hon); 5. Jake Anstett (Yam); 6. Gray Davenport (Kaw); 7. Gared Steinke (Hon); 8. Bradley Ripple (Hon); 9. Ross Johnson (Hon); 10. Teddy Parks (Kaw); 11. Jeff Loop (Kaw); 12. Jake Oswald (Hon); 13. Adam Enticknap (Hon); 14. Jerry Lymburner (KTM); 15. Adam Conway (Hon); 16. Manual Rivas (Kaw); 17. Jason Langford (Kaw); 18. Mitchell Rask (Hon); 19. Derek Costella (Hon); 20. Weston Peick (Yam); 21. Aden Dajager (Kaw); 22. Jason Thomas (Suz).Race Time: 6 min., 33.027 sec.Margin of Victory: N/AMAIN (20 laps): 1. Kevin Windham (Hon); 2. Tommy Hahn (Suz); 3. Justin Brayton (Yam); 4. Ryan Dungey (Suz); 5. Davi Millsaps (Hon); 6. Nick Wey (Kaw); 7. Michael Byrne (Yam); 8. Chad Reed (Kaw); 9. Andrew Short (Hon); 10. Kyle Chisholm (Yam); 11. Matt Boni (Hon); 12. Jason Lawrence (Yam); 13. Kyle Cunningham (Yam); 14. Justin Keeney (Kaw); 15. Chris Blose (Hon); 16. Troy Adams (Suz); 17. Jarred Jet Browne (Kaw); 18. Ryan Clark (Hon); 19. Josh Hill (Yam); 20. Kyle Partridge (Kaw).Race Time: 21 min., 37.338 sec.Margin of Victory: 22.670 sec.