Words and Photos by Shan Moore
With Chad Reed out of the picture due to the season ending injuries he suffered last week in Dallas, this year’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series was starting to look like it would boil down to an anticlimactic Ryan Villopoto runaway. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider had four wins in seven races heading into Atlanta’s Georgia Dome – the location of round eight of the 17-round series – and he was currently enjoying a three-race win streak. And, over the course of the last two rounds, only Reed seemed capable of consistently challenging the flying redhead… and, unfortunately, Reedy wasn’t coming back anytime soon.

Scott Hoffman Notes:
Just as we were posting this, we read another post that said Ryan Villopoto had to go to the hospital on Sunday after the race due to an illness. We don’t have an official word what is going on but we suspect it might be the flu bug that has been going around, at least in Southern California. Blake Baggett is also said to be bitten by this bug and it is not an easy one to kick, especially when a racer has to travel each and every week going through dirty airports and walking past thousands of people (who could also be sick). Also imagine having to sign autographs and be around thousands of fans each week. We have noticed that many riders are wearing gloves during the autograph sessions to help avoid extra germ contact with others.

People ask why do riders get sick so often? Having to train, practice, and travel for most of the year can take its toll even on top athletes. Being in contact with so many people and having to beat your body down each week and then try to rebuild it each and every week is not an easy task. And when a bug is going around, a racer crosses paths with so many people it is easy to understand how they can catch something and they have to race regardless and there is very little time to recover.

Now back to Shan:
However, in front of 70,000 Supercross-savvy fans, Ryan Dungey capitalized on a great start and consistent lap times to claim his second win of the season, holding off a late-race charge by Villopoto to do so. With the win, the Red Bull KTM rider clawed his way back into title contention, and with nine races still to be decided, the Minnesotan sits just 10 points behind Villopoto in the championship chase.

Meanwhile, in the East Lites race, Justin Barcia delivered another spectacular performance, leading the 15-lap main event from flag-to-flag in his signature go-for-it style. Keeping Bam Bam honest was a Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki ridden by Blake Baggett, and a hard-charging Oklahoma rookie named Justin Bogle on his GEICO Powersports Honda.

450/Supercross
Ryan Dungey

The Atlanta race was a huge turnaround for Dungey, who struggled with setup two weeks before in San Diego, especially in the rugged whoop section. According to KTM team manager Roger DeCoster (pictured talking to engine man Ian Harrison), the team simply had a “bad” setting going into that round. Before Atlanta, the team experimented with different shock settings and shock angles, and obviously had things working much better in the Georgia Dome. “It was obvious we had some settings issues in San Diego,” DeCoster told Motocross.com before the race. “We screwed up and had the ‘bucking bronco’ setting by mistake (laughs). We were way off at that round but last week in Dallas we were much better and it was good here at Atlanta. The power is good on the new bike so it’s mostly down to suspension settings for us, and it’s hard because this is the first year with this bike and with only one rider you only get so much input. Ryan wanted to change something before San Diego and we changed it and on the test track it looked good but obviously in the race it didn’t work. It’s hard to make big changes on race day because you have so little time. We just screwed up at that race and we were off our settings.”

According to Dungey, the changes the team made for Atlanta were spot-on. “We made some changes on the bike – the rear shock angle (via the linkage), and some tire choices, too,” said Dungey. “We have continually experimented with the bike, and sometimes we find it’s better and sometimes it’s not. A new bike, it’s going to take time and I think everyone is doing a great job with it. I’m happy that we’ve moved to the eastern tracks and this is a good race to build on for the rest of the series.”
Cole Seely
Cole Seely took Trey Canard’s factory Muscle Milk Honda and ran with it, literally! After accepting Eric Kehoe’s invitation to fill in for the injured Canard, Seely made the best of it by grabbing the holeshot in the Atlanta main event and leading the first seven laps. “I think I was running on adrenaline and holding my breath for seven laps straight,” said Seely. “I was kind of thinking I was going to win that thing, but those guys are so tough and so consistent up there. I tried as hard as I could for as long as I could and I just couldn’t hold those guys off.” Seely said he only had about a week on the big bike, but since the chassis on the 450 is the same as the 250 he was able to switch clamps and bars and make the adjustment without too much trouble. But of course, there’s the power difference. “That 450 has a lot of power – I mean a LOT of power!” Seely explained after stepping off the bike at the end of the race.
Ryan Villopoto
Ryan Villopoto came up just short in his bid for a fourth-straight win and fifth overall of the season. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider got off just inside the top-10 at the start and then turned in an amazing effort to work his way into second, moving to within striking distance behind Dungey with two laps to go. Unfortunately for Villopoto, a late-race pass attempt came up just short and the defending series champ had to settle for second. After the race, Villopoto acknowledged that at this level, it’s all about the start. “The track was tight, so it made it tough for racing,” said Villopoto. “For sure, I didn’t put myself in the best shape with the start, but that’s the name of the game. We’ll go back and work on it and be ready for St. Louis.”
James Stewart
The was obviously tension in the JGR pits in Atlanta, and there were reports after Dallas that there had been a confrontation between Big James Stewart and Coy Gibbs. Making matters worse, in the final, James Stewart caught an unlucky break at the midway point of the race, which caused him to lose touch with Villopoto. After getting off to a poor start, complicated by an encounter with Jake Weimer in the first turn, Stewart was forced to come from behind. After working his way into third behind Villopoto, Stewart was forced to roll a triple when the red-cross flag came out for a fallen ride. Villopoto was already in the air over the triple when the red-cross flag came out and so was able to gain considerable ground. At one point, a rider went down and the red-cross flag came out while Villopoto was already in mid-flight over a triple, however, it caught Stewart where he had to roll the triple, giving Villopoto a huge benefit. “I didn’t get the best of jumps off the line, I don’t know, maybe I was late off the line, but I squirted around the inside and then Weimer held me up and that knocked me way back,” said Stewart. “Then when I got up to third, the red-cross flag came out and I had to roll it and those guys jumped it and I lost all my time from there. I was starting to catch those guys, so I’m upset about that. We had a little bit of traction this week and the bike was working better. We made improvements to it this week, but we need to continue to work on it. We should have won this race, but it’s hard to do starting that far back.” This was a race that Stewart could have easily won, however, a poor start and just plain bad luck held him back.

250/Lites
Justin Barcia

Justin Barcia made it two wins in a row with an exciting flag-to-flag victory, the GEICO Powersports Honda rider letting it all hang out in typical Barcia fashion. The defending East Lites champ nailed the start and put a few bike lengths on the competition, although he could never really shake Blake Baggett, as the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider kept Barcia honest for the full distance of the 15-lap final. “I was so nervous the whole race, just trying not to make any mistakes,” Barcia admitted after the final. “The track was super-tough, it was rutted and had a lot of kickers, so it was kind of squirrelly out there. In my heat race, I kind of pushed the front end in one of the corners and went down, it was just a little soft there, and that made me leery of going down in the final.”
Blake Baggett leads Justin Barcia across the finish line in a heat race.
Blake Baggett
After finishing a disappointing 15th at the East Lites opener in Dallas, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett looked to get back in the hunt with a strong ride in Atlanta. And, indeed, Baggett turned in a strong ride, finishing second despite struggling during qualifying. Baggett made some suspension changes before the race, which may have accounted for his strong showing in the final. “I actually ran some completely different forks from what we ran in Dallas,” said Baggett. “I tested on them Wednesday, ran them Thursday, and they actually flew them here; they’re my practice bike forks. We’re just going to keep tweaking the bike until we find something that works for me.”

Justin Bogle
Oklahoman Justin Bogle grabbed his first-ever podium with a come-from-behind third place finish, the GEICO Powersports Honda rider also getting his first heat race win earlier in the day. “I got shut off pretty bad in the first turn, but I was able to work my way up to third be the end of the race,” said Bogle. “It feels cool to be up here, this is my first podium, and to be up here with my teammate (Barcia) is great. I’ve been working with Robbie Reynard during the week and that helped me a lot, plus we made some tire changes this week that I think helped too. I wasn’t as tight as I was last week in Dallas, so that was huge.”
Ken Roczen
Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen had a disappointing main event after getting caught up in the gate when he jumped the gun at the start. The 17-year-old MX2 World Champ from Germany did an impressive job of working his way through the pack to finish an eventual sixth, however, he now sits 15 points behind Barcia in the series standings.
Malcolm Stewart
Malcolm Stewart had problems as well. The J-Star JDR KTM Rider led his heat race but then suffered a spectacular endo, which put him in the LCQ. However, Stewart never got a chance to qualify when his team couldn’t get his bike to start before the LCQ.

Official Monster Energy Supercross Results

âèSupercross/450 Results: Atlanta
1. Ryan Dungey (KTM)
2. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
3. James Stewart (Yam)
4. Davi Millsaps (Yam)
5. Justin Brayton (Hon)
6. Cole Seely (Hon)
7. Jake Weimer (Kaw)
8. Kevin Windham (Hon)
9. Brett Metcalfe (Suz)
10. Nick Wey (Kaw)
11. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)
12. Mike Alessi (Suz)
13. Matt Goerke (Suz)
14. Rob Kiniry (Yam)
15. Josh Hanson (Kaw)
16. Broc Tickle (Kaw)
17. Kyle Partridge (Kaw)
18. Jeff Alessi (Suz)
19. Justin Sipes (Kaw)
10. Weston Peick (Kaw)

Lites/250 Results: Atlanta
1. Justin Barcia (Hon)
2. Blake Baggett (Kaw)
3. Justin Bogle (Hon)
4. Blake Wharton (Suz)
5. Darryn Durham (Kaw)
6. Ken Roczen (KTM)
7. Kyle Cunningham (Yam)
8. Hunter Hewitt (Suz)
9. Jake Canada (Hon)
10. Shane Sewell (KTM)
11. Lance Vincent (KTM)
12. PJ Larsen (KTM)
13. Matt Lemoine (Kaw)
14. Les Smith (KTM)
15. Shawn Rife (Hon)
16. Levi Kilbarger (Hon)
17. Daniel Herrlein (Hon)
18. Angelo Pellegrini (Suz)
19. Austin Politelli (Hon)
20. Bradley Ripple (Hon)