Dungey’s winning streak grows to 5

Published 9:24 am Monday, July 16, 2012

MILLVILLE — The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, made its lone visit to the Land of 10,000 Lakes on Saturday with its seventh round of the season from Spring Creek MX Park. After another dominant outing, Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey, of Belle Plaine, took his fifth consecutive victory of the summer in front of the hometown crowd, sweeping the day’s pair of 450 Class motos. In the 250 Class, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac, of Cortez, Colo., took advantage of the misfortune experienced by points leader, and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider, Blake Baggett, of Grand Terrace, Calif., to claim his third win of the season.

After coming out of the gate at the front portion of the field, Dungey settled into fifth place at the conclusion of the opening lap of the first 450 Class moto. As the KTM rider began to work his way forward, MotoConcepts Suzuki’s Mike Alessi, of Victorville, Calif., assumed the lead and opened a small gap over the field.

Dungey picked off one rider per lap and took over second place on Lap 3, and then set his sights on Alessi. Dungey gradually eliminated his deficit to Alessi and passed the Suzuki-mounted rider on Lap 6, quickly establishing an insurmountable advantage and taking the win.

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In Moto 2, Dungey wasted little time in asserting himself, capturing the holeshot and leading all 16 laps of competition. He crossed the finish line nearly 49 seconds over Alessi, in second, and celebrated with the supportive crowd. Dungey has become accustomed to winning at his home track at Spring Creek, standing atop the podium for the last five years. Saturday he secured his third straight victory at the facility in the 450 Class to go along with his back-to-back triumphs as a 250 Class rider during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

“I enjoy coming back, I spent a lot of time riding here as kid,” said Dungey, who has won an impressive 10 consecutive motos during his dominant run. “To get a win was great, not just for me but the team as well, especially since everyone was here to watch. I approach every race the same as the one before, regardless of points. I’ve said it a lot; there’s a lot of racing left and you have to be ready for each race itself.”