AMA Motocross Championship Series Round 11
Southwick, Massachusetts
Moto-X 338
August 29, 2009
Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Michael Byrne captured his best finish of the season at Moto-X 338 inSouthwick, Massachusetts, on Saturday afternoon. The Australian finished third in both 30-minute motoson the rain-soaked track, and this result was good enough to give him second-place overall for the day.Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate and newly crowned 2009 AMA Motocross Champion Chad Reedstarted the day on a positive note by winning his first moto. In the second moto, however, he had gappedthe field and was leading when a nasty crash resulted in his having to pull out of the race. Despite theunfortunate circumstances in the second moto, Reed still finished the day in eighth place overall.
In the 250 class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey regained the championship points lead atSouthwick. The Minnesota rider rode two impressive motos in the mud and driving rain to capturesecond- and fourth-place moto finishes for fourth place overall at the end of the day. Going into the finalround next weekend at Steel City, Dungey leads the title chase by 17 points.
Chad Reed:
"We got the title wrapped up last week at Budds Creek but I still want to win races. The first moto wasawesome, and it was pretty special to be up on the podium with my teammate. I'm having a blast outhere and all this is just an added bonus. I'm a little sore from that get-off in the second moto, other thanthat, I'm fine."
Michael Byrne:
"Getting such a good result at Southwick means a lot. I've had more downs than ups at this track and toget two good starts and run up front meant a lot today. But I couldn't have done it without the RockstarMakita Suzuki team. They've been really great, everybody's been working their butts off and they havegiven me a great bike to race."
Ryan Dungey:
"There was a lot going on today, the track was really tough and it made for some good racing. In the firstmoto, I got a good start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 and just tried to put in some consistentlaps. I got a fairly bad start in the second moto, but I worked my way through the pack. It's great to beback in the points lead. You just have to have faith and hope and courage, and know that anything ispossible if you believe in it. Now we have two more motos left and that's still a lot of racing, so we'll try tocarry the momentum into the last round and enjoy it."
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race the final round of AMA Motocross at Steel City Raceway inDelmont, Pennsylvania, next Saturday, September 5, 2009.
AMA Motocross 450 Class Top 10 Overall Event Finishers:
1. Matt Goerke, Yamaha
2. Michael Byrne, Rockstar Makita Suzuki
3. John Dowd, Kawasaki
4. Tommy Hahn, Kawasaki
5. Robby Marshall, Suzuki
6. Kyle Regal, Yamaha
7. Andrew Short, Honda
8. Chad Reed, Rockstar Makita Suzuki
9. Jake Moss, Kawasaki
10. Ricky Renner, Honda
AMA Motocross 250 Class Top 10 Overall Event Finishers:
1. Justin Barcia, Honda
2. Tyla Rattray, Kawasaki
3. Brett Metcalfe, Honda
4. Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki
5. Taylor Futrell, Honda
6. Tommy Searle, KTM
7. Blake Wharton, Honda
8. Broc Tickle, Yamaha
9. Jake Weimer, Kawasaki
10. Blake Baggett, Kawasaki
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