Race Report: Washougal - Lucas Oil AMA Pro MX Championship

By: ChrisWorden

Posted: 07/26/09

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With sunny skies above, the world's best motocross competitors invaded the Pacific Northwest and Washougal MX Park for the Motosport.com Motocross National Presented by Yamaha and Scott USA, round eight of the 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki's Chad Reed, of Australia, took his third win of the 2009 in the 450 Class. Suzuki teammate Ryan Dungey, of Belle Plaine, Minn., won his second consecutive race and moved into a tie atop the 250 Class points standings. Honda of Houston's Jessica Patterson, of Tallahassee, Fla., took her first win of the season in the WMX Class.

After returning to the series from a two-year hiatus, Reed entered 2009 without a single 450 Class victory. Now, the two-time supercross champion has three overall wins and appears to be on his way to an inaugural motocross championship with a 65-point lead over the field. On Saturday, he dominated the day's motos, cruising to a moto one victory and working his way from deep inside the top ten to the lead with just over two laps to go in moto two for his second sweep of the season.

Chad Reed     Click here for more photos.

"I just put my head down. I didn't even know who was winning," Reed said of moto two. "The sun was setting and coming through the trees and made it really hard to see in some places so I just kept looking for lines. I've just tried to be smooth (and) fast throughout the motos. The 30 minutes is the easy part. Today I felt strong. I just did what I had to do to win."

JGRMX/Toyota/Yamaha's Josh Grant, of Riverside, Calif., finished second overall (5-2) with Monster Energy/Boost Mobile/ampm/Troy Racing Yamaha's Jason Lawrence, of Carlsbad, Calif., capturing his first-career 450 Class podium in third.

Just one week after sweeping the motos to win in front of his hometown crowd, Dungey maintained the momentum to win for the fourth time this season albeit with unlikely first and fifth place moto results. After a moto-long battle with GEICO Powersports Honda's Blake Wharton, of Pilot Point, Texas, Dungey grabbed the moto one win but found trouble in moto two. While battling inside the top five, Dungey fell twice but recovered to bring home the finish that would secure the overall by just one point.

"I made up some ground today," stated Dungey, who won his first career pro motocross race at Washougal one year ago. "I got a 1-5 for first which doesn't usually happen, but it feels good. I need to keep my focus on the championship and today was a good day for that. I hit the ground pretty good and I think I'm a little lucky because I was a little dizzy getting up. I honestly didn't even know I had the overall at the end so it was a good surprise."

Wharton brought home a pair of third place moto finishes to bring home second overall, his first career podium finish, while 250 Class points co-leader Christophe Pourcel, of France, took home third overall (8-1). Through eight rounds, Dungey and Pourcel sit in a tie atop the standings. Dungey has four overall victories to Pourcel's two.

In the WMX Class, Patterson broke Honda Red Bull Racing's Ashley Fiolek's winning streak to take the overall with 2-1 moto results. Fiolek, of St. Augustine, Fla., had won the previous five rounds of the eight-race championship, but settled for second on Saturday. MotoConcetps/ASW/2B Racing Honda's Mariana Balbi, of Brazil, finished third.

"It's about time," said Patterson. "I've been struggling. I made a lot of mistakes in the first moto but we figured some things out in the second moto. It feels awesome to finally be up here."

After a two-week break, the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship resumes with round nine on Saturday, August 15 from New Berlin, N.Y. for the Unadilla Retro National. Same-day coverage can be seen on SPEED at 7 p.m. ET.

Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
Motosport.com Motocross National
Washougal MX Park - Washougal, Wash.
July 25, 2009
Round 8 of 12

450 Class (Moto Finish)

1. Chad Reed, Australia, Suzuki (1-1)
2. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha (5-2)
3. Jason Lawrence, Carlsbad, Calif., Yamaha (10-3)
4. Justin Brayton, Murrieta, Calif., KTM (9-8)
5. Michael Byrne, Australia, Suzuki (15-4)
6. Jimmy Albertson, Ozark, Mo., Yamaha (8-10)
7. Nick Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Yamaha (13-6)
8. Tommy Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki (2-38)
9. Ivan Tedesco, Tallahassee, Fla., Honda (11-11)
10. Clement Desalle, Belgium, Honda (3-25)

450 Class Championship Standings

1. Chad Reed, Australia, Suzuki, 337
2. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 272
3. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 267
4. Ivan Tedesco, Tallahassee, Fla., Honda, 258
5. Michael Byrne, Australia, Suzuki, 207
6. Thomas Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki, 171
7. Cody Cooper, New Zealand, Yamaha, 157
8. Justin Brayton, Murrieta, Calif., KTM, 152
9. Nick Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Yamaha, 149
10. Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., Suzuki, 142

250 Class (Moto Finish)

1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki (1-5)
2. Blake Wharton, Pilot Point, Texas, Honda (3-3)
3. Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki (8-1)
4. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda (4-4)
5. Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki (10-2)
6. Tommy Searle, Great Britain, KTM (6-6)
7. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha (7-8)
8. Darryn Durham, Wildomar, Calif., Yamaha (5-10)
9. Max Anstie, Great Britain, KTM (9-9)
10. Kyle Cunningham, Ft. Worth, Texas, Kawasaki (2-34)

250 Class Championship Standings

1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki, 337
2. Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki, 337
3. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda, 251
4. Tommy Searle, Great Britain, KTM, 243
5. Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki, 215
6. Justin Barcia, Cairo, Ga., Honda, 210
7. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha, 199
8. Blake Wharton, Pilot Point, Texas, Honda, 198
9. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki, 175
10. Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda, 139

WMX Class (Moto Finish)

1. Jessica Patterson, Tallahassee, Fla., Honda (2-1)
2. Ashley Fiolek, St. Augustine, Fla., Honda (1-2)
3. Mariana Balbi, Brazil, Honda (3-3)
4. Haruna Masu, Japan, Honda (6-5)
5. Sarah Whitmore, Cheboygan, Mich., KTM (4-8)
6. Sherri Cruse, Bakersfield, Calif., Suzuki (5-7)
7. Sara Price, Canyon Lake, Calif., Kawasaki (10-4)
8. Jacqueline Strong, Sedona, Ariz., Honda (8-6)
9. Sayaka Kaneshiro, Japan, Suzuki (13-9)
10. Ashley Boham, Loveland, Colo., Kawasaki (12-10)