GEICO Honda team brings three top Supercross pros to Dallas-Fort Worth race

ARLINGTON, Texas (Feb. 15) -- Anticipation
is high for the GEICO Honda team as three of the top motorcycle riders
in the world -- veteran Kevin Windham, defending Lites East champion
Justin Barcia and rookie extraordinaire Justin Bogle -- arrive at
Cowboys Stadium for this weekend's AMA Supercross race.

Leading the gang is megastar Windham, an
18-year pro who at almost 34 years of age is the oldest competitor on
tour. Windham has been steady over the first six events on his CRF450R
and enters Texas ranked fifth in the world, just behind multi-time
series champion James Stewart.

"It seems like I say this every year but
the competition is top-notch right now," Windham said. "There's so much
going on every race because the talent level is so high and everyone is
fighting for every inch. I'm happy with fifth place for now but I know
that if I ride to my ability, we can get on the podium and move up. It
just hasn't happened for us yet.

"My speed has been increasing and my riding
has been solid. It's just a matter of time. I'd love to get up there
this weekend because we're closer to home (in Mississippi) and I know
we'll have a lot of people pulling for us."

This weekend's race is the first on the
Lites East schedule. Last year, Barcia won three of nine Lites East
events and never finished off the podium in securing his first SX world
title. Now it's time to prove himself all over again.

"There's no reason why we shouldn't win it
again," Barcia said. "They'll be five or six riders that can win each
weekend and we're confident we'll be one of them. 

"I know last year doesn't mean much but
it's pretty awesome to have that red plate on my GEICO Honda. It's crazy
to say I'm the defending champ but that's where we are. I have to go
out there and show everyone I'm still as hungry as ever. We have trained
hard and we even raced a couple of times in Europe so I feel very
prepared. Now it's time to race."

Barcia could get one of his biggest
challenges from teammate Bogle, who makes his Supercross debut this
weekend on his similarly prepared CRF250R. After tearing up the amateur
ranks, Bogle rode the last four Motocross events last season, turning in
a runner-up finish in the final moto of the year in Pala, Calif.

"I'm ready," said Bogle, who hails from
Cushing, Okla. "I've definitely put in the work and this GEICO Honda
team is top-notch. I'm healthy, which is huge, and I've spent the last
six weeks watching everyone race out West so I think I know what to
expect. I'm excited and anxious to see how I match up.

"I think we can run up front. I need to
remember that I'll be on a learning curve but if I can get good starts I
should be able to keep the pace of the top riders."

Practice and qualifying begins at 12:30
p.m. CST with the main event kicking off at 7 p.m. SPEED TV will carry
all the action as it happens.