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Dungey’s first supercross race took place at the Georgia Dome in late February of 2007, marking his full-season debut for the top tier Makita Suzuki team. Their premier class rider at the time was none other than Ricky Carmichael, widely considered by many as the GOAT (Greatest of All-Time) of supercross and motocross racing. Carmichael already had one foot out the door as he commited part time to the 2007 season, and Suzuki’s Team Manager Roger DeCoster was
in search of a replacement. 162 career wins indoors and
out, 16 AMA championships, and two perfect seasons in the Pro Motocross series; those are some big shoes to fill. After DeCoster faced much skepticism and criticism for plucking a rider with only one Loretta Lynn’s title and a handful of ama- teur wins out of the B class, Dungey shut everyone up with a show-stopping performance at the opening round of the 2007 East Lites Championship with a dominant victory, proving himself to all the doubters that he’s the real deal.
Although the Minnesota native found himself on the top step of the podium in his very first supercross race, no one could have predicted his meteoric rise to the top of the sport, except maybe DeCoster. From 2007 to 2017, he accumulated a total of 80 AMA wins between supercross and motocross (4th all- time), including 34 in AMA Supercross. He racked up a total of 9 AMA championships as well as 3 Motocross Des Nations titles, boasting one of the most impressive stat sheets in motorcycle racing history. It took him until 2009 to win his first championship, but he made up for lost time as he bagged two in one season, and topped it off with a Chamberlain Trophy
at the MXDN for good measure. He shocked the world in 2010 as he won the 450 supercross title and the 450 outdoor title in the same year as a rookie in the premier class, setting the stage for what was to come in the following years of his career. After following DeCoster and Ian Harrison to KTM in
60 THE PULSE • FEBRUARY 2018