The heat and humidity at the Rockstar Energy Drink Freestone National in Texas means every rider was going to have to dig through pain late in the races, but Ryan Dungey’s heartbreak surely felt a whole lot worse that any kind of physical fatigue after the second 450 moto. Dungey appeared to have the overall win in hand late in the day. After finishing second in the first moto, he pulled away from the field in moto two and looked to have the win locked up. But then, with two laps to go, his bike let go, and Dungey coasted to a stop on the side of the track, powerless. TwoTwo Motorsports Bel-Ray Racing Honda's Chad Reed, the winner of the first moto, cruised past, and took his second straight overall win in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship.
The DNF knocked Dungey back in the order, and Muscle Milk Toyota JGRMX Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps logged his best ride of the season to finish second overall via 4-2 scores. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto was third, having another sub-par day based on his own high standards to take third.
Reed won the first moto, chasing down surprise early leader Christian Craig and fighting off a challenge from Dungey for the win. But in moto two, Dungey passed his Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Bret Metcalfe to snag the early lead. Reed was quickly up to second and kept some pressure on, but Dungey inched away slowly, early. Then Reed tried a new line and crashed, handing Dungey a big lead and what seemed to be a sure overall. Until his bike quit.
The 250 class was equally crazy, with last week’s Hangtown winner, Blake Baggett, jumping out to an early lead in moto one, only to crash out of the top ten. Dean Wilson picked up the lead from there and checked out, winning the moto over his teammate Tyla Rattray and DNA Shred Stix Star Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham.
Things got crazy in moto two, as Justin Barcia got into the lead over Wilson, and then Wilson started round 137 of the Barcia/Wilson battles. Dean tried to make an aggressive pass, tangled with Barcia, and went down. This left Rattray and Cunningham battling for the overall, and when Rattray passed the Yamaha man to get into second, he had the race won. Until Wilson started making up time and passed his way into third, putting him into the overall based on points.
Barcia held a big lead at one point, but he couldn’t hang onto it down the stretch, as Rattray logged some impressive laps late to reel Barcia in and steal the lead with two laps to go. That gave Rattray a 2-1 for the overall win, over Wilson and Cunningham.
In WMX, American Honda Racing’s Ashley Fiolek struck back to win the overall with 2-1 scores. Fiolek had crashed hard in practice and wasn’t even sure if she would be able to ride with a back injury. In the first moto, she sprinted out to an early lead, but then stalled, and last week’s winner, Jessica Patterson, ran into the back of her. They both went down, but Fiolek got up and going quickly, while Patterson had trouble restarting and finished 13th.
Patterson came back to win moto two, but there was no stopping Fiolek for the overall with a 2-1. Lucas Oil Troy Lee Designs Honda’s Tarah Gieger took second overall and Mariana Balbi was third for the day on her Motoconcepts Yamaha.
The DNF knocked Dungey back in the order, and Muscle Milk Toyota JGRMX Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps logged his best ride of the season to finish second overall via 4-2 scores. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto was third, having another sub-par day based on his own high standards to take third.
Reed won the first moto, chasing down surprise early leader Christian Craig and fighting off a challenge from Dungey for the win. But in moto two, Dungey passed his Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Bret Metcalfe to snag the early lead. Reed was quickly up to second and kept some pressure on, but Dungey inched away slowly, early. Then Reed tried a new line and crashed, handing Dungey a big lead and what seemed to be a sure overall. Until his bike quit.
The 250 class was equally crazy, with last week’s Hangtown winner, Blake Baggett, jumping out to an early lead in moto one, only to crash out of the top ten. Dean Wilson picked up the lead from there and checked out, winning the moto over his teammate Tyla Rattray and DNA Shred Stix Star Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham.
Things got crazy in moto two, as Justin Barcia got into the lead over Wilson, and then Wilson started round 137 of the Barcia/Wilson battles. Dean tried to make an aggressive pass, tangled with Barcia, and went down. This left Rattray and Cunningham battling for the overall, and when Rattray passed the Yamaha man to get into second, he had the race won. Until Wilson started making up time and passed his way into third, putting him into the overall based on points.
Barcia held a big lead at one point, but he couldn’t hang onto it down the stretch, as Rattray logged some impressive laps late to reel Barcia in and steal the lead with two laps to go. That gave Rattray a 2-1 for the overall win, over Wilson and Cunningham.
In WMX, American Honda Racing’s Ashley Fiolek struck back to win the overall with 2-1 scores. Fiolek had crashed hard in practice and wasn’t even sure if she would be able to ride with a back injury. In the first moto, she sprinted out to an early lead, but then stalled, and last week’s winner, Jessica Patterson, ran into the back of her. They both went down, but Fiolek got up and going quickly, while Patterson had trouble restarting and finished 13th.
Patterson came back to win moto two, but there was no stopping Fiolek for the overall with a 2-1. Lucas Oil Troy Lee Designs Honda’s Tarah Gieger took second overall and Mariana Balbi was third for the day on her Motoconcepts Yamaha.
