2012 AMA Supercross Championship
GEICO Honda rider Justin Barcia is looking to continue some impressive streaks at this Saturday’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross Lites East series event at the Edwards Jones Dome in St. Louis.
Barcia, the defending Lites East champ, is looking to win his third straight race to begin the 2012 season and is vying for his 12th straight podium finish dating back to the start of the 2011 season.
Justin Barcia (GEICO Honda CRF250R Supercross) says: "The goal never changes. I want to be on the podium every week and be in the position to win races. It’s helped that I’ve matured and I’m not riding over-my-head aggressive any more. That’s been the biggest change over the past year.
"I feel like I ride Supercross really well. It comes a bit easier to me than other things. It’s awesome to be achieving these goals that I have. Now it’s going to take smart riding like I’ve been doing to keep these streaks going."
Barcia also is the two-time defending champion of the St. Louis race and current leader in the standings by 12 points over Darryn Durham. Barcia has won his two races this year by an average margin of 3.6 seconds.
Justin Barcia says: "I’m tied with a couple of guys with two straight wins in St. Louis. If I can get this third one it would be really awesome."
Barcia’s teammate, rookie Justin Bogle, is looking for his second straight podium finish after a third-place result in Atlanta last week. He said things came to him easier once he got the first-race jitters out of his system. Bogle currently sits sixth in the Lites East standings, one point out of fifth.
Justin Bogle (GIECO Honda CRF250R Supercross) says: "I’m a lot more confident now. I got a lot of firsts out of the way last week – I qualified well, won my heat race and got my first podium after not that great of a start. If I clean up my starts a little bit, I’ll have another good chance to end up on the box again.
"We’re having a lot of fun right now. I’d love to get up there and battle my teammate for some wins soon."
GEICO Honda’s Supercross rider Kevin Windham is coming off a week of milestones after riding in career race No. 200 in Atlanta and celebrating his 34th birthday on Feb. 28. The veteran said he’s looking forward to joining the team’s young riders in the podium parade.
Kevin Windham (GEICO Honda CRF450R Supercross) says: "The Honda has been incredible all year and my riding has been better than the results have shown. We’ve just has some poor starts, so I’m really going to focus on getting out of that gate and having a good ride.
"St. Louis has been a great city to me in the past and I’m looking forward to a great ride there. GEICO Honda is a great team to be a part of right now. We’ve got a great atmosphere in the truck right now."
Windham is sixth in the season standings, one point behind Jake Weimer for fifth.
Monster Energy AMA Supercross practice gets under way at 12:30 p.m. CDT Saturday from the Edward Jones Dome with opening ceremonies at 7 p.m. SPEED TV will air the racing live starting at 8:30 p.m. EDT.
