Press Release

GEICO Honda rider Barcia could clinch second straight title in New Orleans


NEW
ORLEANS (April 10) – All Justin Barcia has to do this Saturday at the
Mercedes-Benz Superdome is have an average night on his GEICO Honda
CRF250R and he'll easily wrap up his second consecutive Monster Energy
AMA Supercross Lites East title.

With
just two races left on the Lites East schedule, Barcia holds a strong
32-point lead over second-place Blake Wharton. To wrap up the title
Barcia just needs to leave New Orleans with a 25-point cushion, which
equates to a finish of fourth place or better in the Big Easy. His
average finish this season has been 1.4, and he hasn't finished off the
podium since 2010.

"It's
going to be an interesting race for me in a lot of ways," Barcia said.
"There's a lot of different stuff getting thrown at me. It's a new race,
new dirt, a different stadium and, of course, I've got a chance to
clinch the championship."

However Barcia said he doesn't plan on letting the gravity of the moment or the grand stage of the Superdome alter his approach.

"I'm
not going to let the chance to win the championship change what I'm
doing," Barcia said. "I just want to go out there and race smart and
smooth like I have every weekend."

The
series took Easter off and Barcia said that although the rest was nice,
breaking his weekly routine and filling the time during a rare off
weekend was torture.

"I
was lost," Barcia said. "It was so weird not being at the races. It's
cool to have a little break, but I was going nuts not being at the
track."

Barcia's
Lites teammate Justin Bogle, who suffered some nasty spills in the
weeks leading up to the Easter break, said he welcomed the opportunity
to recharge and regroup.

"The
mission is the same as it is every week," Bogle said. "I want to go out
there and improve. The year hasn’t gone the way I wanted but I've still
got a couple of races to finish strong.

"I went out to California to do some testing and riding. I think the extra weekend helped me get everything back together."

Bogle has one podium finish this season (a third in Daytona) and is seventh overall in the Lites East standings.

For
Wil Hahn, who normally rides in the Lites West series for GEICO Honda,
New Orleans will signal his last time filling in on a Supercross bike
for the Muscle Milk Honda team.

"I
want to keep building on what I've already done riding the 450," Hahn
said. "But I obviously want to be ready when I get back on the 250 next
week. There's nothing quite like the experience you get running out of
the starting gate, which will go a long way toward helping me pick up
where I left off on the 250."

One
fixture of the GEICO Honda team who will be in attendance but won't be
racing is injured rider and Louisiana native Kevin Windham, who wrecked
at the last tour stop in Houston.

"It's
a bummer not to be able to compete at my home race," Windham said. "But
I don't want to let my friends, family, fans and team down so I'll be
definitely be there, I just won't be riding. For sure there's no place
I'd rather be than New Orleans."

Practice
for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series gets under way at 12:30
p.m. CDT Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with opening ceremonies
slated for 7 p.m. CBS affiliates nationwide will air the Supercross
race on Sunday (check local listings for times). The Lites race will air
on SPEED at 11 a.m. EDT on Sunday.
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