THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ryan Dungey goes into every race with the same goal as everyone else in the field: To take the checkers.
What separates Dungey from many of the others in his sport is his even-keel judgment; he knows his limitations, knows when to back off the throttle instead of charging into disaster.
It’s a trait that’s earned Dungey a second AMA Motocross championship in three years.
"Ryan Dungey has made a career out of being at the right place at the right time," said Davey Coombs, vice-president of the Lucas Oil Motocross Championships. "He also makes his own luck. The kid always works hard, has become the consummate professional and has an ability to always to be there when things break the right way."
Some of those breaks have been bad ones by Dungey’s competitors.
In 2010, Dungey became the first rookie to sweep the Supercross and the 450 Class after most of his competition dropped out with injuries.
The 22-year-old from Belle Plaine, Minn., did it again this season, securing his second title with two races left as former champions Ryan Villopoto, James Stewart and Chad Reed watched from the sideline.
So are the titles tainted because all the other top riders got knocked out?
No. Attrition is a big part of a dangerous sport like motocross and avoiding injuries is just as important as riding fast when it comes to winning championships; riders can’t win the title if they’re not on their bikes.
Dungey has been the master of finishing rides, evading the big pileups and knowing where that line between hard riding and out of control rests.
It’s not like he rides careful. That’s almost impossible in motocross. It’s just that Dungey knows when to pick his spots.
"I feel that whatever position I’m in, I need to give it all and give it my best," Dungey said. "Every rider needs to know his own limits and areas where he can push it and areas where you just tell yourself that you need to slow it down a little bit, it’s getting a little too sketchy. Sometimes, you have to let it hang out a little more, but it’s a fine line."
Dungey’s approach has him on the verge of history.
He’s won nine races heading into Saturday’s season finale at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park in Southern California, leaving him one short of the mark he had during his record-setting 2010. Dungey has finished no worse than third all season and needs just 13 points to eclipse the record he set on his way to the 2010 championship.
And Dungey has done it with a new team, giving Red Bull KTM its first 450 title after years of struggling to find the consistent success of the big factories like Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki.
"Coming in with a new team, we had a lot of work to do," Dungey said. "Throughout the season, we started off good with a second and started winning and tried to get progressively better with the bike."
Dungey certainly has gotten better as the season progressed.
Entering the finale, he’s won nine straight races and swept both motos seven times after doing it the last race, two weeks ago at Steel City Raceway in Pennsylvania.
Dungey has the third-most wins all-time at 22, has won 55 per cent of the races he’s entered outdoors and has more points than Ricky Carmichael, considered the greatest rider in motocross history, had at this stage in his career.
So is Dungey ready to surpass his mentor?
Well, maybe not. Carmichael changed motocross with a unique combination of talent, work ethic and pragmaticism while dominating the sport like no other rider.
To compare Dungey to motocross’ version of Tiger Woods is probably a little unfair this early in his career.
"Dungey I think is not as invincible as Ricky was and has more competition than Ricky did," Coombs said. "Ricky laid the groundwork for everyone and Dungey is the guy right now that’s using that playbook best."
It’s won him two titles so far.