Ben Townley Wins His First Ever AMA Supercross

Ben Townley Wins His First Ever AMA Supercross.

It was Round 2 of the Eastern Regional AMA Supercross, before a crowd of 58,131 at the 9th round of the Ampd Mobile AMA Supercross Series at the Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Moussouri.

Townley made up for last week's disappointment in Atlanta by winning the $1,000 Progressive Direct Holeshot Award on his Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki.

He led most of the 15-lap race, but had to fend off serious threats from last week's winner, Ryan Dungey, and his teammate Darcy Lange before the race was done. Lange actually took the lead at one time, but Townley came back with an authoritative pass to move Lange back into the runner up position.

While Townley and Lange were going at it up front, the Suzuki-mounted Dungey ran a solid race in third and was slowly reeling in the duo. On lap eight, Lange made a mistake, allowing Dungey to move into second. However, on lap 12, Dungey crashed while trying to make a pass on Townley for the lead, giving second back to Lange. Lange made a pass to take the lead at the end of lap 14, but was quickly re-passed by Townley with one lap remaining.

Lange closed to within a bike length of his teammate before a spectacular crash, ironically in the same spot as Dungey's earlier crash, ended his chance at a win. Townley went on to take the win, followed by Yamaha riders Ryan Morais and Matt Goerke, in second and third. Lange recovered to finish sixth, but Dungey had trouble starting his bike after his crash and finished 18th.

"I got the hole-shot and tried to ride my own race," explained an elated Townley. "It is new for me riding out front, especially as though I couldn't see what the other guys were doing behind me so I had to put some steady laps in, breathe and try and stay calm. I rode pretty solid for the 15 laps - it wasn't the fastest race I have ever ridden but it was definitely one of the smartest ones. I'm really pumped about this victory and would like to thank my Team, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki, THOR and Parts Unlimited, Scott, Alpinestars and the rest of the sponsors and people behind the scenes who have supported me through the rough times and have never doubted me. This is pay back time."

Townley has jumped to 7th in the championship standings after his disappointment in Atlanta and is only 15 points adrift of the lead. The SX Lites championship is turning out to be a thriller as the series heads to Daytona next week for the 3rd round of The AMP'D Mobile AMA Supercross Lites series.

Alan Henderson
HH Media

Interview courtesy Glen Dempsey. View: www.bentownleymx.com
Race results: St Louis - SX Lites East Coast.
1 Ben Townley Tallahassee, FLKawasaki KX250F
2 Ryan Morais Temecula, CA Yamaha YZ250F
3 Matthew C Goerke Lake Helen, FL Yamaha YZ250F
4 Mike A Alessi Victorville, CA KTM 250SXF
5 Broc Oneal Tickle Cary, NC Yamaha YZ250F
6 Darcy G Lange Hemet, CAKawasaki KX250F
7 Jeff Alessi Victorville, CA KTM 250SXF
8 Ryan Sipes Vine Grove, KY Honda CRF250R
9 Zach M Osborne Abingdon, VA KTM 250SXF
10 Justin D Brayton Fort Dodge, IA Yamaha YZ250F
SX Lites championship standings:
1 40 R. Morais
2 40 M. Goerke
3 37 D. Lange
4 28 R. Dungey
5 26 J. Brayton
6 26 Z. Osborne
7 25 B. Townley
8 25 R. Sipes
9 22 J. Alessi
10 18 M. Alessi

ENDS

© Scoop Media