Racer X: Take us through the day, Ryan.
Ryan Dungey: It was good, Mike [Alessi] was riding really good today, he got off to some good starts and put up fights in both motos. It was a strange one, I saw James [Stewart] back there, I thought he was going to be back to feeling good looking at his lap times in practice, but that was not the case I guess in the races. But at the same time, it’s always good to get a win.
You had an off-track excursion, but everyone seemed to have their troubles at times. What was the track like?
Yeah, for all the times I’ve been here, this was definitely the hardest I’ve seen it. I don’t know, maybe it was the prepping. I did have an off-track excursion there, I did the jump and was in an outside line I hadn’t been in all day. It cost me there and I went off the track. I was able to get it under control and get back on.
With perfect 1-1 scores at High Point, Dungey was able to extend his points lead.
Simon Cudby photo
The braking bumps at the bottom of that stair case, they were like curbs.
Yeah absolutely, there was a lot of square stuff, like walls. I switched tires for the second moto, it was pretty hard pack. Definitely one of the roughest tracks we will see, other than Unadilla, just with how choppy it was today. But the bike was good, we only made one small change, we stiffened the rear up a little and it seemed to work. It’s good to know we’re so close that we don’t need to make huge changes during the day.
Are you aware the winner of this race has won the last four national titles? What’s that mean to you?
Well, that’s great, you try to win races here and there, but every race and every championship is different. To celebrate the win is good, you want to enjoy it, for sure, but I like to think you’re only as good as your last race.
In light of what happened to Ryan Villopoto at the end of supercross, he had a big points lead and ended up going down, is it difficult to figure out how to ride now that you’re building a big advantage? Is it difficult to know how hard to push?
No, you have to live in the moment and focus on the task at hand. This is round four and we have eight races and 16 motos left. No lead is ever safe enough or big enough. You can’t let things get ahead of yourself, because that’s when you lose focus or get into trouble. I have the same mentality if James is here or not here, and that’s to race hard, do my best and win.
Dungey now holds a 42-point lead over Mike Alessi in the championship.
Simon Cudby photo
Can you comment on the tracks this year, they seem like they haven’t been ripped as deep and maybe aren’t as wet.
It’s hard to say—every track is different every year, and sometimes it’s hard when the weather is dry. It’s been dry in a lot of areas, especially down in Florida where I ride. It’s good when the tracks get rough, when you have monorails and everyone can go fast, it’s hard to separate yourself, although that does make for good racing. A little bit, maybe it’s different, but, I try to do my own track maintenance at home, and I screw up more than I get it right, so I’m not the best guy to comment. It’s just rain. That helps tremendously.
What are you thoughts going into Budds Creek?
Looking forward to it, hopefully the weather is good. It’s a fun track, and that’s Father’s Day weekend so I’m looking forward to celebrating a little bit.
