MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (July 13,
2010) - While their focus remains on capturing the 2010 titles with the
resumption of the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship and MotorcycleUSA.com
Women's Motocross Championship this weekend in Millville, Minn., Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey and Honda Red Bull
Racing's Ashley Fiolek are ready to have some fun on
Wednesday night with some of the world's most famous athletes. Recently, the
pair of American motocross superstars were announced
as nominees for the ESPN ESPY Awards in the male and female categories for Best
Action Sports Athlete.
Thanks to the
tremendous amount of success he has achieved in the last year, Dungey, who currently
leads the 450 Class standings with a five-race winning streak, is up for his
first nomination in the category. In 2009, the Minnesota native experienced a
breakthrough season, capturing the AMA Supercross Lites Western Regional
Championship, AMA Motocross 250 Class Championship and leading Team USA to the
overall win at the Motocross of Nations before capping of the year with Rider
of the Year honors.
So far in 2010,
the rising star has continued his dominance during his rookie season in the
premier 450 Class. This winter, he joined Jeremy McGrath as the only other
rider in history to win the AMA Supercross Championship as a rookie and as
mentioned before, sits atop the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
standings halfway through the season. He becomes the fifth AMA Motocross
champion to be nominated for an ESPY, joining Ricky Carmichael, Travis Pastrana, Chad Reed and James Stewart on this illustrious
list.
Since joining the
elite level of women's motocross in the U.S. in 2008, Fiolek
has been the rider to beat. Last season, she captured her second consecutive
WMX Class championship and grabbed an ESPN X Games gold medal along the way.
Through four of eight rounds this season, she has had to overcome some
adversity thanks to a formidable challenge from her WMX rival and former
five-time champion Jessica Patterson. At the last round of the championship, Fiolek captured her first win of the season with a
dominating 1-1 effort at RedBud.
Making Fiolek's nomination more compelling is her incredible story
as the most successful deaf athlete in motocross history. In addition to
overcoming that obstacle, she has helped push the sport of women's motocross to
new heights, most notably by opening a new avenue for female competitors to
receive the same factory support as the men. This marks Fiolek's
second straight ESPY nomination, joining Patterson as WMX riders to receive the
distinction.
Dungey and Fiolek will join fellow star athletes like Kobe Bryant,
Payton Manning, Derek Jeter, Sidney Crosby and Landon Donovan in Los Angeles
tomorrow evening for the festivities. While voting for the ESPY's has closed, motocross fans can show their support of the duo by
tuning in at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
This Saturday's Rockstar Energy Spring Creek National airs with back-to-back
same-day coverage this Saturday on SPEED. The exclusive broadcast of the 250
Class kicks off the two hours of excitement beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern, while
the 450 Class follows at 9 p.m. As always, a live stream of the first motos of each class can be seen at www.allisports.com/motocross.
For tickets and
fan and racing information on the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross
Championship, log on to www.allisports.com/motocross.
For more
information about the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, please
contact media coordinator Brandon Short via email at brandon@mxsports.com or by telephone at (949) 365-5750.