A massive crowd filled the hillsides surrounding RedBud on Saturday, as the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship reached the halfway point at the Rockstar Energy RedBud National. With three overall victories to his credit coming into Round 6, TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray Racing's Chad Reed, of Australia, relied on consistent moto scores to capture his fourth win of the season. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Blake Baggett, of Grand Terrace, Calif., swept the day's 250 Class motos to secure his fourth overall victory of the year.
Both Reed and Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey, of Belle Plaine, Minn., began the day with strong starts in the opening moto. The pair asserted themselves early behind Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGR's Davi Millsaps, of Murrieta, Calif., before Reed made the pass for the lead on Lap 7. Dungey soon followed and paced Reed throughout the moto, attempting to take over the lead on the final lap. However, Reed fended off the challenge to take his sixth moto win of the season.
In Moto 2, Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto, of Poulsbo, Wash., took the early lead, looking to rebound from a tough first moto in which he crashed and finished ninth. Dungey positioned himself in second, and set his sights on trying to claim his second straight overall. Meanwhile, Reed was forced to work his way through Red Bull KTM's Mike Alessi, of Victorville, Calif., for third.
Villopoto gradually pulled away, forcing Dungey to settle for second. Behind them, Reed made the pass on Alessi on Lap 9, and carried it through to the finish to secure the overall win.
"I got a good start (in Moto 2) and got into third," said Reed. "Dungey made some mistakes and I tried to get by, but then I made mistakes and Alessi passed me. At that point I knew I had to just settle down and be smart. I actually learned a lot today. I got my butt kicked last week, and we worked on suspension. Each time I went out on the track today, it was different. I learned a lot about my bike, and a lot about myself as a person about the decisions I need to make on race days."
Dungey (2-2) posted his second runner-up finish of the season, while despite his misfortune in the first moto, Villopoto rounded out the podium in third (9-1).
"I felt good today," said Dungey. "It was just a little unfortunate. I wanted to run in contention with Villopoto, but I wasn't making it happen. Now we've got a week to work on things and get better. We'll just keep plugging away. At this point, points are valuable. We're halfway now. I can't get stuck behind like that. I need to get up and go."
Reed's advantage in the standings currently sits at 16 points over Villopoto.
