Supercross points leader Barcia looking to add to his Lites East tally in Atlanta

ATLANTA
(Feb. 21) – With the first race – and win – under his belt, GEICO
Honda's Justin Barcia is headed into this weekend's Monster Energy AMA
Supercross Lites East race at the Georgia Dome relaxed and confident.

"It
was good to get the first race out of the way, especially with a win,"
Barcia said. "You always have those jitters coming into the season but
once you get out there and ride it all goes away. Now it just feels like
business as usual.

"Georgia
is home and I love the vibe of Atlanta. The fans will be there, you
know that for sure, and the building will be loud. I'm ready."

With
the win last week, Barcia, the defending Lites East champion, assumes
the early points lead, but knows going wire-to-wire to repeat as champ
is going to be his toughest challenge yet.

"It's
going to be a crazy season," he said. "There are definitely five, six,
seven guys that can be on the podium any race. I feel like I can win
every race but you know that's probably not going to happen. 

"If
we can at least get on the podium every weekend, like we did last year,
then we should be in good shape to defend the title."

Barcia's
Lites teammate, rookie Justin Bogle, is looking for redemption after
seeing what would have been a solid debut ride wiped away after getting
cleaned out hard by Malcolm Stewart.

"I've
never been more anxious to race," Bogle said. "Getting taken out of the
race last weekend was hard on me but before that happened I was riding
in the top three and I really wasn't even riding at my best. I was
pretty tight and not in a good rhythm, but I was still right there."

Bogle finished 14th in Dallas and is prepared to ride hard and climb his way back up the rankings.

"It's
good to have a race in the books," Bogle said. "I know where I stand
and how I stack up against the other guys. I'm confident we'll have a
better weekend in Atlanta. I need to earn some points back. I'm ready to
get after it."

GEICO
Honda's Supercross rider, Kevin Windham, is tied for fifth in the
series standings with Jake Weimer, but he's still seeking his first
podium of the season.

"I'm
trying to stay calm this year because I think we've shown we have the
ability to get on the podium and contend for some wins," Windham said.
"There is a level of frustration because we haven't finished up there
yet but when you're so close week after week you don't want to change
too much. It's just a matter of getting the little breaks it sometimes
takes.

"Being
fifth is about right. The guys ahead of me at the moment have had
better seasons so far. But we're right there. We just need to finish."

Practice
for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross race at Georgia Dome gets under
way at 12:30 p.m. EST on Saturday with opening ceremonies scheduled for 7
p.m. SPEED TV will air both the Supercross and Supercross Lites East
races live starting at 7:30 p.m. EST.