5 Ryan Dungey

Ryan was signed to a factory ride with Makita Suzuki in the summer of 2006. Many industry eyebrows were raised at the decision to sign Dungey, whose amateur resume was somewhat shorter than several other riders making their pro debut that August. He debuted for Suzuki in Millville. With thousands of home-state fans in attendance, he put in two solid moto scores for seventh overall in his very first professional appearance. He even showcased his mud-riding skills when the skies opened up for one of the muddiest outdoor national races in history. Though his performance in the remaining rounds of the series was somewhat lackluster after his finish in Millville, it was a learning experience.

The first round of the 2007 East Coast Supercross Lites series got under way in Atlanta, Georgia. Nobody could have predicted that Ryan Dungey, in his fist ever supercross race, would walk away with the win. Once again, he proved his critics wrong and showed that Suzuki had not made a mistake by signing him. The supercross series was a roller coaster of emotions for Dungey. He either won the main event with amazing style or went down in flames trying. He ended the series with four wins, including the Dave Coombs Memorial East/West Lites Shootout, and the 2007 Rookie of the Year award. More importantly, he walked away from the series with some valuable lessons about what it takes to race professional supercross.

As the 2007 AMA Motocross series headed to the great outdoors, it was a chance for Ryan to get back to riding what he grew up on. He consistently finished in the top five and first reached the podium at Southwick after an incredible come-from-behind battle with Josh Grant. Two weeks later, Ryan had a high-speed practice crash on the ski jump at Red Bud, where he suffered a concussion, and was forced to sit out Sunday’s race. At the next round of the series he again surprised everyone with a second-place finish at the Unidilla Valley Sports Center, only two weeks after his horrendous crash at Red Bud. The season ended early for Dungey when another scary getoff at Steel City forced him to, again, drop out of the race. He took the remaining rounds of the series off and still finished a strong fifth place overall.

Ryan competed in the West Coast Supercross Lites class for 2008 and hoped to bring home a title in only his second year of AMA Supercross. From the drop of the gate at Anaheim I, he appeared to be the stand-alone favorite for the title. He built a sizeable points lead, quickly making it look like he had the title in the bag. That’s when things started to go all wrong. Ryan, once again, started making mistakes and saw his points lead get chipped away by title rival Jason Lawrence. By the time the west coast series got to its midseason break, Dungey had seen his once insurmountable points lead disappear into a two-point deficit. He needed something to get his confidence back and he needed it fast.

A change in the AMA rulebook that permitted off-season Lites riders to race in the premier Supercross class let Ryan get his feet wet with the new Suzuki RM-Z450. His smooth riding style adapted well to the 450 and he scored a career-best second place in front of his hometown crowd in Minneapolis. Ryan had regained his preseason confidence when it was time to jump back on the 250F for the final round of the West Coast Lites series. He won the last round in Seattle convincingly but, unfortunately, it was too little too late. The series points leader Jason Lawrence did just enough to wrap up the title in Seattle. Once again Dungey missed out on the title because of minor mistakes, though for the second year in a row he won the Lites Shootout in Las Vegas and took home yet another Toyota truck as a bonus.

Ryan is poised to battle it out for the title in the 2008 outdoor nationals, and you can bet that he’s learned from his past mistakes. With the help of Roger DeCoster, and the rest of his top-notch team and family, Ryan will be a force to be reckoned with this summer in the great outdoors. Justin Fisk