Dungey Maintains Lead In Houston

• Ryan
  Dungey maintains a 12-point lead in the Supercross class heading into
  St. Louis.



• Austin Stroupe maintains his
  second-place spot in the Eastern Regional Lites class.



• Stroupe was injured during practice and is not expected to race in
  St. Louis, the final stop on the Eastern Regional Lites circuit.

Houston, TX – April 11, 2010 – The suspensions on the
Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 and the RM-Z250 were put to the test in
Houston. With a busy track that involved some of the deepest whoops of
the series and a kicker jump off the starting gate, the 13th round of
the AMA Supercross series had a unique layout that was tough on
suspension. Luckily, both of the Suzuki RM-Z models were up to the task
of soaking up all the rough obstacles in Houston.

The day
didn’t go as the team planned in either of the main events, with Austin
Stroupe separating his shoulder in practice before the Eastern Regional
Lites class race and Ryan Dungey having a rough go of things in the
Supercross race.

Austin Stroupe has been consistently smooth
and in control of his RM-Z250 in 2010. The bike was dialed in after the
first practice on Saturday
and was soaking up the busy track, but an unfortunate incident in the
second practice on Saturday
afternoon had Stroupe visiting the Asterisk Mobile Medical unit.
“Austin is going to go back to North Carolina to get his shoulder looked
at by his doctor,” Team Manager Roger DeCoster said. “The injury is an
AC separation of the second degree. He’ll be out next week, and probably
out for the rest of the Supercross season. He has an appointment on Monday, and we’ll find
out more then. It was a tough day with Austin getting hurt first and
then with Ryan we had an off day.”

Ryan Dungey went into the
main event with a convincing Heat 2 win and the fastest lap in practice.
With a few tweaks on his suspension to fine-tune his RM-Z450, Dungey
lined up on the starting gate looking to extend his lead in the
Supercross class. Dungey has won four rounds so far in 2010, and he
looked confident in his ability to race well on the dirt in Reliant
Stadium. After the first corner, Dungey found himself in third place. He
and his bike worked hard to overcome the deep whoops, and Dungey traded
spots with a few racers throughout the first half of the race. At the
midway point, just as he was about to catch and pass the third place
rider, Dungey stalled his bike in a complicated turn. Stuck in the
whooped-out corner as a few racers passed him, Dungey managed to restart
his bike and move himself into fifth place where he finished the race.
“Some tracks favor you more than others, and some tracks you have to
adapt to when things aren’t working,” Dungey said after the race. “I
stalled it in the middle of the race, but overall I’m all right with
tonight. We’ll get out of here still holding onto the lead, and I’ll
learn from tonight and move on.”

“I think Ryan rode a little
too cautious today, and once you become too cautious you get out of
sync,” DeCoster said. “It’s almost worse than being too aggressive,
because you make more mistakes when you don’t ride your ideal race.
Also, we didn’t hit the setting on the bike the way we should have. We
would’ve been third most likely, but Ryan stalled the engine once and we
ended up way back in fifth and gave up some points. We need to go back
to work and come back in St. Louis. We’ll work it out this week and I
think we can turn it around.”

Dungey is currently 12 points
ahead of second place in season points. The next round of AMA Supercross
action takes place at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 17.

Team
sponsors: Rockstar, Makita, Yoshimura, Dunlop,
Maxima, Tag Sprockets, Pro Taper, Alpinestars, ONE Industries, Mechanix
Wear, Showa, Road Champs, CP Pistons, Hinson Clutch Components,
Snap-On, Twin Air, D.I.D., Excel, NGK, Works Connection

About
Suzuki: The Motorcycle/ATV Division of American Suzuki Motor
Corporation (ASMC), Brea, Calif., was founded in 1963 by Suzuki Motor
Corporation. ASMC markets motorcycles and ATVs via an extensive dealer
network throughout 49 states. ASMC's parent company, Suzuki Motor
Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide
manufacturer of motorcycles, ATVs, scooters, automobiles and marine
engines. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, it has 120
distributors in 191 countries. www.suzukicycles.com

About Rockstar:
ROCKSTAR is the world's most powerful Energy Drink. Enhanced with the
potent herbal blend of Guarana, Ginkgo, Ginseng and Milk Thistle,
ROCKSTAR is formulated to provide an incredible energy boost for those
who lead active and exhausting lifestyles - from athletes to rock
stars. ROCKSTAR Energy Drink is available in fourteen amazing flavors:
Original, Sugar Free, Zero Carb, Juiced Mango, Juiced Guava, Juiced
Pomegranate, Tropical Punched, Punched Citrus, Energy Cola, Recovery
Lemonade, Roasted Mocha, Roasted Latte, Roasted Light Vanilla, and
Roasted Espresso. ROCKSTAR ENERGY SHOTS are available in Wild Berry and
Tropical Punch flavors, and coming in 2010 - ROCKSTAR ENERGY GUM.

About Makita: Makita is a worldwide manufacturer of
industrial quality power tools and offers a wide range of industrial
accessories. Makita applies leading-edge technology and innovation to
engineer tools that are more compact with less weight yet deliver
industrial strength power and results. Makita innovation includes
Makita LXT, the industry’s first 18V lithium-ion cordless lineup. For
more information, visit makitatools.com. Follow Makita at facebook.com/makitatools and twitter.com/makitatools. Makita is Best in Class
Engineering.