GEICO Honda Pre-Race Report: Indy
March 15, 2012, 10:10am
INDIANAPOLIS – GEICO Honda's Justin Barcia is hoping his recent streak of good fortune continues on St. Patrick's Day.
Barcia has won the first four Monster Energy AMA Supercross Lites East races of the season, including last week's grueling contest in the Daytona mud, and is looking to rope in win No. 5 this Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
"It'd be awesome to win all the races this year, but I don't really think about that too much," Barcia said. "I'm just going out there to race and have fun. My main goal is to get on the podium every week, but being in position to win is awesome also."
Barcia has not merely been winning, he's been dominant. He's qualified first or second at every race so far, won three of four heat races and won his four main events by an average of 4.4 seconds.
"Before the season my training was really tough," Barcia said. "I've worked on a lot of things and when I get to the stadium on the weekends I feel strong and confident.
"When I was first starting out as a pro, race day was hard work. I've learned to do all that hard work during the week, and on the weekend just race my dirt bike and enjoy it."
Barcia goes into Indy with a commanding 24-point championship lead over second-place rider Darryn Durham.
Another GEICO Honda rider going into this weekend's race riding a wave of confidence is 450cc rider Kevin Windham, who won his heat and got on the podium for the first time this season in Daytona.
"I've known all year we had a ride like that in us," said Windham, who finished third last week. "We came close a couple of times before, so it was real satisfying getting back up on the box.
"The competition is still tough as it gets out there, but I think we have it in us to get on the podium every week and start contending for a win here and there."
Windham sits fourth in the Supercross standings, nine points ahead of Jake Weimer.
The team's rookie Lites East rider, Justin Bogle, is happy to be back indoors after seeing his bike nearly getting swallowed whole by the quagmire on the Daytona track.
"I can’t wait to get back to dry Supercross racing," Bogle said. "It's a lot more fun being on the podium then being in 18th place. But in this sport you've got to forget about the bad and roll with the good. The rookie mistake thing is getting kind of old, but I'm learning every week and ready to get back on the box."
Bogle is in seventh place in the Lites East standings, 10 points behind sixth-place Jake Canada.
Practice for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross event at Indianapolis gets under way at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Opening ceremonies begin at 7 p.m. Both the Supercross and the Lites will be televised live on SPEED TV starting at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
Barcia has won the first four Monster Energy AMA Supercross Lites East races of the season, including last week's grueling contest in the Daytona mud, and is looking to rope in win No. 5 this Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
"It'd be awesome to win all the races this year, but I don't really think about that too much," Barcia said. "I'm just going out there to race and have fun. My main goal is to get on the podium every week, but being in position to win is awesome also."
Barcia has not merely been winning, he's been dominant. He's qualified first or second at every race so far, won three of four heat races and won his four main events by an average of 4.4 seconds.
"Before the season my training was really tough," Barcia said. "I've worked on a lot of things and when I get to the stadium on the weekends I feel strong and confident.
"When I was first starting out as a pro, race day was hard work. I've learned to do all that hard work during the week, and on the weekend just race my dirt bike and enjoy it."
Barcia goes into Indy with a commanding 24-point championship lead over second-place rider Darryn Durham.
Another GEICO Honda rider going into this weekend's race riding a wave of confidence is 450cc rider Kevin Windham, who won his heat and got on the podium for the first time this season in Daytona.
"I've known all year we had a ride like that in us," said Windham, who finished third last week. "We came close a couple of times before, so it was real satisfying getting back up on the box.
"The competition is still tough as it gets out there, but I think we have it in us to get on the podium every week and start contending for a win here and there."
Windham sits fourth in the Supercross standings, nine points ahead of Jake Weimer.
The team's rookie Lites East rider, Justin Bogle, is happy to be back indoors after seeing his bike nearly getting swallowed whole by the quagmire on the Daytona track.
"I can’t wait to get back to dry Supercross racing," Bogle said. "It's a lot more fun being on the podium then being in 18th place. But in this sport you've got to forget about the bad and roll with the good. The rookie mistake thing is getting kind of old, but I'm learning every week and ready to get back on the box."
Bogle is in seventh place in the Lites East standings, 10 points behind sixth-place Jake Canada.
Practice for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross event at Indianapolis gets under way at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Opening ceremonies begin at 7 p.m. Both the Supercross and the Lites will be televised live on SPEED TV starting at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
