Ryan Dungey

Just barely out of his rookie 450 season, Ryan Dungey is already aiming for his second Supercross and motocross title.

Not common to most factory sponsored riders, Ryan Dungey grew up racing District 23 races in Minnesota. Success did not come quickly for him until he jumped off the minis and onto the bigger bikes. Dungey seemed to find his groove with this transition and he won several amateur titles at Lake Whitney, World Mini, Oak Hill and Olympic races. Dungey finally won the prestigious Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Championship in 2005. The following year he had planned on competing again for the amateur title, but was surprised by an offer from Team Suzuki.

In his first-ever debut to professional racing he placed seventh overall at Millville during one of the muddiest outdoor national races in history.

During the first round of the 2007 East Coast Supercross Lites series, Dungey pulled off a win in his first SX race to everyone’s surprise. What followed, however, was a series of dramatic and unpredictable finishes throughout the rest of the season. Either winning or going down trying, he ended the season with four wins and the 2007 Rookie of the Year Award.

The 2007 Motocross Lites Championship offered Dungey a chance to return to familar racing. He consistently finished in the top-five and reached the podium at Southwick after a great battle with Josh Grant. Even though he was forced to end the season early due to injury, Dungey finished the '07 MX season fifth overall. 

In 2008 he was the favorite to win the Supercross West Coast title in only his second season. Throughout the early half of the series he built a sizeable points lead, but by mid-season his advantage had dwindled and dropped to a two-point deficit behind his rival, Jason Lawrence.

After finishing second in both SX and MX in '08, Dungey returned strong in 2009 and grabbed the Supercross Lites title and the 250 MX Championship. The champ followed this success by moving up to the 450s in 2010 and crushing the competition in the premier class. In the process RD5 also claimed the record of achieving the most wins as a rookie in a single season. Facing what was dubbed the greatest supercross season ever in 2011, Dungey was unable to defend his title against Ryan Villopoto and Chad Reed, finishing third overall with a total of 13 podium finishes. During the outdoor season RD5 once again had to accept runner-up to Villopoto, but the 21-year-old notched four overall wins and podium finishes in nearly every round.

For the 2012 season, Dungey turned heads by joining Red Bull KTM alongside previous manager and mentor, Roger DeCoster. In his first Supercross event with Team Orange, Dungey came out and scored a podium finish in third, and then in Round 2 took the win, giving KTM its first ever AMA Supercross victory. He maintained championship pace through the subsequent rounds until a mid-season crash in practice left him with what doctors determined was a cracked collarbone. Dungey pushed through the pain and went on to race in St. Louis where he earned second-place. After St. Louis, doctors re-evaluated the injury and determined that his collarbone was broken. Dungey missed the next five rounds to undergo and recover from surgery. He returned for the final three rounds and won the last two races, putting him third in overall points for the season.

Dungey was fully charged for the MX campaign in 2012, but had trouble getting past James Stewart in the opening rounds. RD5 was one of the only riders in the field to keep pace with Stewart though, and once Bubba crashed out in Round 3, Dungey quickly stepped up was nearly uncatchable for the rest of the season. He rode on to give KTM its first American Motocross title ever, clinching the championship at Unadilla with two rounds remaining.

Near the end of the MX season it was announced Dungey would once again represent the United States in the Motocross of Nations in Lommel, Belgium. He was joined by Blake Baggett and Justin Barcia vying for the eighth consecutive title but, owing to the difficulty of the deep sand at Lommel, came up short and finished third overall.

Dungey continues in his second year with Team Orange for the 2013 SX and MX seasons.