MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – With one of the most exciting and unexpected announcements in the history of American motocross, four-time AMA National Motocross Champion Ryan Dungey will come out of retirement to contest the opening rounds of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing.
The Minnesota native amassed one of the most decorated careers in series history before he announced his retirement from racing just prior to the start of the 2017 summer campaign. Now five seasons later, he’ll return to the starting gate as a member of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, with whom he captured the 2012 and 2015 titles in the 450 Class.
Dungey returns to the same Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team with which he captured two 450 Class titles, the second coming during the 2015 season. (Simon Cudby Photo)
Fittingly, Dungey’s comeback will also welcome the return of his famed No. 5 on the KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition.
“We knew that the 50th anniversary season of the world’s most prestigious motocross championship was destined to be one for the ages, but nothing could have prepared us for the competitive return of two of motocross’ most prolific champions in Ryan Dungey and Antonio Cairoli,” said Davey Coombs, President, MX Sports Pro Racing. “When Ryan retired in 2017 it certainly felt like he still had a lot left in the tank, so it was bittersweet to watch him step away in his prime. While a return to action was always something we’d hoped would happen, today’s announcement is unprecedented and we cannot wait to watch two ageless legends of the sport go bar-to-bar with their younger counterparts this summer. Seeing the No. 5 and No. 222 together on the track will truly be one of the series’ landmark moments.”
Dungey was just 27 years old when he hung up his helmet and boots in 2017, putting pause on a career that saw him capture 46 career wins, third all-time, earn 91 career podiums, second all-time, and prevail with three 450 Class titles (2010, 2012, 2015) and a 250 Class crown (2009).
Now, at the age of 32 and just over two months after the birth of his second child, Dungey is set to continue his unprecedented journey.
Not to be outdone, Dungey can simply look next to him under the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing tent for inspiration and motivation for what’s possible past 30 years of age.
Just one week ago, the Austrian manufacturer announced Italian MXGP icon Antonio Cairoli would make his Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship debut at the opening rounds, bringing his nine FIM World Motocross Championship credentials to the states at the age of 36, just five months removed from his retirement from Europe’s premier series.
The two have gone head-to-head in the U.S. just once, at the 2010 FIM Motocross of Nations from Colorado’s Thunder Valley Motocross Park, and engaged in a memorable battle for the win for their respective countries, from which Dungey emerged triumphant in leading Team USA to victory on home soil.
Combined, Dungey and Cairoli provide the single-most-successful combination of teammates the sport has ever seen as they join Cooper Webb and Aaron Plessinger, two AMA National Champions in their own right, for a historic lineup at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
They, and the rest of the star-studded international field of the world’s fastest riders, will line up for the first time together on May 28 in Southern California at the Fox Raceway National before traveling to Northern California for the legendary Hangtown Motocross Classic on June 4 in Sacramento.
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