Lucas Oil Motocross Championship Brings 2010
to a Close with Long Awaited Return to San Diego County with Pala Finale
Championship Title Fight Headlines New Event
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (September 7, 2010) – After three months of high
drama, memorable action and the world’s premier motocross athletes laying
it all on the line, the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship will come
to an exciting conclusion this Saturday, September 11 with the inaugural Pala
Motocross National, from Pala Raceway in Pala, Calif. The facility, located in
San Diego’s North County, is the newest venue of American motocross and
marks the return of the motocross nationals to San Diego County for the first
time in 28 years.
For nearly three decades, the avid
motocross community in San Diego County has been void of an
AMA Motocross national. Not since the legendary Carlsbad Raceway in the
'70s and '80s have the world’s best riders descended upon the
fifth-most-populous county in the United States for a major outdoor motocross
event. Pala Raceway is one of the newest motocross playgrounds in Southern
California. Based just outside the sport’s talent hotbeds in Murrieta and
Temecula, Pala is focused on providing the best riding facility possible to the
thousands of motocross riders in the region. Whether young or old, a novice or
a veteran, Pala Raceway offers a variety of tracks for all riders with the
mission of eventually becoming the premier motocross destination of California.
With
only one round and two motos remaining, the intense 250 Class title fight will
take center stage at Pala as Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s
Christophe Pourcel and GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard take their
battle down to the wire. At Steel City last weekend, the penultimate round of
the series, Canard’s second-half dominance continued, winning his fifth overall
in the last six races and fending off his championship rival in both motos in
the process. Currently, only seven points separates the pair, but Pourcel holds
the advantage despite Canard’s momentum, needing just a pair of runner-up
efforts in each moto no matter what Canard does in order to secure the
championship—by one point! Based on consistency and last week’s
performance, that task looks to be well within the Frenchman’s reach, but
Canard will no doubt do everything he can to get the upper hand when the final
points are tallied.
Last
weekend at Steel City, a surprise winner provided a lot of excitement and a
heart-warming storyline as 17-year veteran Kevin Windham returned to the top of
the 450 Class overall podium for the first time since
2007. The Honda Red Bull Racing rider and fan favorite has enjoyed his return
to the outdoor nationals, subbing for the injured Davi Millsaps since Round 7
at Millville. As Rockstar/Makita Suzuki rookie and newly-crowned champion Ryan
Dungey stumbled in his attempt to win his tenth race in a row, Windham
capitalized, withstanding an aggressive challenge from GEICO Powersports
Honda’s Brett Metcalfe, who was in search of his first career win during
his rookie campaign in the premier class.
Nonetheless,
Metcalfe’s strong runner-up effort helped him pass Honda Red Bull
Racing’s Andrew Short for second place in the championship. The
Australian rider sits five points ahead of his Honda counterpart and now sits
in position to give an impressive 1-2 rookie sweep of the premier class behind
Dungey, who already clinched the title.
With
only one round remaining in the eight-race MotorcycleUSA.com Women’s
Motocross Championship, DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jessica Patterson
looks to be in control of her own destiny in search of her sixth women’s
motocross title. Despite strong efforts by reigning two-time champion and Honda
Red Bull Racing rider Ashley Fiolek, who’s managed to grab the opening
moto win the last two rounds, Patterson has found a way to respond to the
pressure and take away any advantage her longtime rival has obtained.
Currently, 22 points separates the duo and with six wins to who credit in seven
rounds, Patterson has placed the pressure firmly on Fiolek. As one of the most
determined and resilient riders on WMX history, it will be interesting to see
how the defending champion responds.
Thanks to back-to-back live coverage of the Pala Motocross
National exclusively on SPEED, the event will mark just the second time in
history that American motocross fans can catch all four motos of the 250 and
450 classes as they happen. Beginning at 4 p.m. ET, a live stream of the first
motos of each class can be seen at www.allisports.com/motocross. Live
broadcast coverage kicks-off with the final 450 Class moto at 7 p.m. ET,
immediately followed by the final 250 Class moto of 2010 at 8 p.m. ET.
2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Results
Round 11 of 12 – FMF Steel City National
450 Class (Moto Finish)
- Kevin
Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda (1-2) - Brett
Metcalfe, Australia, Honda (2-3) - Justin
Brayton, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Yamaha (5-4) - Andrew
Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda (4-5) - Mike
Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM (7-7) - Ryan
Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki (40-1) - Nick Paluzzi, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha (10-8)
- Kyle
Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha (14-6) - Robert Kiniry, Syracuse, N.Y., Suzuki (9-11)
- Ben
Townley, New Zealand, Honda (3-37)
450 Class Championship Standings
- Ryan
Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki, 493 - Brett
Metcalfe, Australia, Honda, 356 - Andrew
Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 351 - Mike
Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM, 301 - Ben
Townley, New Zealand, Honda, 291 - Josh
Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 260 - Kyle
Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha, 238 - Ryan
Sipes, Vine Grove, Ky., Yamaha, 211 - Chad
Reed, Australia, Kawasaki, 204 - Nick
Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Kawasaki, 201 - Kyle
Regal, Kemp, Texas, Honda, 201
250 Class (Moto Finish)
- Trey
Canard, Shawnee ,
Okla. , Honda (1-1) - Christophe
Pourcel, France, Kawasaki (2-2) - Tyla
Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki (3-4) - Eli
Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda (4-5) - Broc
Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha (7-8) - Justin
Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda (10-6) - Blake
Wharton, Pilot Point, Texas, Honda (9-7) - Wil
Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Honda (5-11) - Dean
Wilson, Scotland, Kawasaki (17-3)
Darryn Durham, Butler, Pa., Honda
(8-10)
250 Class Championship Standings
- Christophe
Pourcel, France, Kawasaki, 443 - Trey
Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda, 436 - Tyla
Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki, 402 - Dean
Wilson, Scotland, Kawasaki, 387 - Justin
Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda, 317 - Eli
Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda, 296 - Blake
Wharton, Pilot Point, Texas, Honda, 285 - Broc
Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha, 259 - Martin
Davalos, Ecuador, Yamaha, 229 - Jake
Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki, 195
WMX Class (Moto Finish)
- Jessica
Patterson, Tallahassee ,
Fla. , Yamaha (2-1) - Ashley
Fiolek, St. Augustine ,
Fla. , Honda (1-2) - Mariana
Balbi, Brazil, Yamaha (3-4) - Alexah
Pearson, Rocklin, Calif., Yamaha (7-3) - Sara
Price, Canyon Lake, Calif., Kawasaki (5-5) - Tarah
Gieger, Winter Gardens, Fla., Honda (4-7) - Vicki
Golden, El Cajon ,
Calif. , Yamaha (9-6) - Sherri
Cruse, Bakersfield, Calif., Suzuki (6-9)
Jacqueline
Strong, Sedona, Ariz., Yamaha (8-10)- Sarah
Whitmore, Cheboygan, Mich., KTM (11-11)
WMX Class Championship Standings (After 7 of
8 Rounds)
- Jessica
Patterson, Tallahassee, Fla., Yamaha, 335 - Ashley
Fiolek, St. Augustine, Fla., Honda, 313 - Tarah
Gieger, Winter Gardens, Fla., Honda, 261 - Vicki
Golden, El Cajon, Calif., Yamaha, 217 - Sara
Price, Canyon Lake, Calif., Kawasaki, 212 - Mariana
Balbi, Brazil, Yamaha, 207 - Sarah
Whitmore, Cheboygan, Mich., KTM, 196 - Alexah
Pearson, Rocklin, Calif., Yamaha, 172 - Tatum
Sik, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha, 152 - Jacqueline
Strong, Sedona, Ariz., Yamaha, 136
For tickets and fan
and racing information on the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship,
log on to www.allisports.com/motocross.
For more
information about the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, please
contact media coordinator Brandon Short via email at brandon@mxsports.com or by telephone at
(949) 365-5750.
About the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
The Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship is the world's
most prestigious motocross series. The Series is managed and produced by MX
Sports Pro Racing, whose mission is to raise awareness of motocross racing
through the promotion of professional championship racing events nationwide.
The series is also produced in conjunction with Alli, the
Alliance of Action Sports, a global business that encompasses national and
international action sports events, multimedia production and a consumer-based
lifestyle brand.
Alli is owned by NBC Sports and MTV Networks and represents
a vast network of athletes, fans, brands and properties.
The Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross series is sanctioned by AMA
Pro Racing, the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North
America. AMA Pro Racing operates a full schedule of events and championships
across every spectrum of motorcycle competition.