Ryan Dungey Comes Out of Retirement to Race Two Rounds of 2022 Pro Motocross
One week after news broke that nine-time World Motocross Champion Antonio Cairoli would contest the opening two rounds of Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, another bombshell has just dropped within that same team! Four-time AMA National Motocross Champion Ryan Dungey has announced that he is coming out of retirement to contest the the first two rounds of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. No, this is not a late April Fool’s joke!
Related: Antonio Cairoli Talks Decision to Race 2022 Pro Motocross Rounds
The 32-year-old Dungey has kicked around a return to racing many times in recent years and now it appears that the right fit and opportunity has finally come together. The last time we saw Dungey as a professional was when he clinched his fourth and final Monster Energy AMA Supercross title in 2017, but it’s been since his neck injury in 2016 at Thunder Valley that Dungey last contested on a motocross track. That is all about to change in a month’s time.
NOTE: KTM has stated Dungey is only racing the first two rounds of the series.
The following press release is from MX Sports Pro Racing:
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia—With one of the most significant and unexpected announcements in the history of American motocross, four-time AMA National Motocross Champion Ryan Dungey will come out of retirement to contest the opening rounds of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing. The Minnesota native amassed one of the most decorated careers in series history before he announced his retirement from racing just prior to the start of the 2017 summer campaign, but now, five seasons later, he’ll return to the starting gate as a member of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, with whom he captured the 2012 and 2015 titles in the 450 Class. Fittingly, Dungey’s comeback will also welcome the return of his famed No. 5 on the KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition.
“We knew that the 50th anniversary season of the world’s most prestigious motocross championship was destined to be one for the ages, but nothing could have prepared us for the competitive return of two of motocross’ most prolific champions in Ryan Dungey and Antonio Cairoli,” said Davey Coombs, President, MX Sports Pro Racing. “When Ryan retired in 2017 it certainly felt like he still had a lot left in the tank, so it was bittersweet to watch him step away in his prime. While a return to action was always something we’d hoped would happen, today’s announcement is unprecedented and we cannot wait to watch two ageless legends of the sport go bar-to-bar with their younger counterparts this summer. Seeing the #5 and #222 together on the track will truly be one of the series’ landmark moments.”
Dungey was just 27 years old when he hung up his helmet and boots in 2017, putting pause on a career that saw him capture 46 career wins, third all time, earn 91 career podiums, second all time, and prevail with three 450 Class titles (2010, 2012, 2015) and a 250 Class crown (2009). Now, at the age of 32 and just over two months after the birth of his second child, Dungey is set to continue his unprecedented journey.
Not to be outdone, Dungey can simply look next to him under the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing tent for inspiration and motivation for what’s possible past 30 years of age. Just one week ago, the Austrian manufacturer announced Italian MXGP icon Antonio Cairoli would make his Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship debut at the opening rounds, bringing his nine FIM World Motocross Championship credentials to the states at the age of 36, just five months removed from his retirement from Europe’s premier series. The two have gone head-to-head here in the U.S. just once, at the 2010 FIM Motocross of Nations from Colorado’s Thunder Valley Motocross Park, and engaged in a memorable battle for the win for their respective countries, from which Dungey emerged triumphant in leading Team USA to victory on home soil.
Combined, Dungey and Cairoli provide the single-most-successful combination of teammates the sport has ever seen as they join Cooper Webb and Aaron Plessinger, two AMA National Champions in their own right, for a historic lineup at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. They, and the rest of the star-studded international field of the world’s fastest riders, will line up for the first time together on May 28 in Southern California at the Fox Raceway National before traveling to Northern California for the legendary Hangtown Motocross Classic on June 4 in Sacramento.
The 50th Anniversary of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will be bookended by the holiday weekends that serve as the proverbial starting point and finishing point of the summer, with the season-opening round over Memorial Day Weekend on May 28 and the season finale over Labor Day Weekend on September 3. The 12-round season will visit 10 different states, visiting iconic venues with decades of history like the Hangtown Classic (June 4), High Point Raceway (June 18), RedBud MX (July 2), The Wick 338 (July 9), Spring Creek MX Park (July 16), Washougal MX Park (July 23), Unadilla MX (August 13), and Budds Creek Motocross Park (August 20), as well as additional world-class venues in FoxRaceway (May 28 & September 3), Thunder Valley Motocross Park (June 11), and Ironman Raceway (August 27).
Tickets to each round of the 2022 season are now available and can be purchased by visiting the official website of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, ProMotocross.com.
For information about the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, please visit ProMotocross.com and be sure to follow all of the Pro Motocross social media channels for exclusive content and additional information on the latest news:
- Facebook: @americanmotocross
- Instagram: @promotocross
- Twitter: @ProMotocross
- YouTube: AmericanMotocross
And here is the official announcement from KTM:
Ryan Dungey Set to Race Opening Rounds of AMA Pro Motocross Series This Summer
Dungey will race alongside the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team in the 450MX class at the Fox Raceway National at Pala season-opener on May 28, as well as the Hangtown Motocross Classic in Sacramento on June 4. After stepping away from professional racing in 2017 as one of the most decorated riders in the sport, the 32-year-old will return to the starting gate Ready to Race with the iconic #5 proudly displayed aboard his all-new KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition.
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Ryan Dungey KTM ![Ryan Dungey]()
Ryan Dungey KTM ![Ryan Dungey]()
Ryan Dungey KTM
Ryan Dungey:
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to race the first couple rounds of the outdoors for Red Bull KTM. I’ve had a lot of success with KTM in my most recent years of racing and it’s exciting to go back and race for the same team with a lot of great personnel. I have a lot of trust with the team, which breeds confidence sitting on the line knowing I have good people behind me and we’ve got a great dirtbike underneath us. This is a stacked class and it’s been a long time since I’ve been on the line with them but I’m excited to be back on the gate. I’ve got a lot of respect for the sport and the riders, so I don’t go into this underestimating anybody. I’m excited to just be out there racing with everybody and see what we can do.”
Ian Harrison, Red Bull KTM Team Manager:
“We couldn’t be more excited to have Ryan joining us for the first two rounds of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. He’s a world-class rider who has obviously achieved many great successes throughout his career and it’s great to see him having so much fun riding the bike. Ryan is a true competitor at heart so we are happy to support his desire to line up on the gate this summer and we look forward to seeing what he can do.”
