Fiolek Edges Closer to Championship and Tomac Turns in Season-Best Performance

The Steel City MX National held at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, PA, hosted the penultimate round of the 2011 AMA Motocross Championship and Women's Motocross Championship (WMX) this weekend, and the Honda Red Riders put in podium performances on their Honda CRF250R and CRF450R race machines. American Honda Racing's Ashley Fiolek edged closer to clinching her third WMX title after finishing runner-up at Steel City, while GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac had his best showing of the season, finishing runner-up in the 250 class.

After capturing his first-ever 450 class win last weekend, American Honda Racing's Justin Barcia got his third round of racing the factory Honda CRF450R away to a great start with a fourth place in moto one. However, the heat and humidity took its toll, and he succumbed to the extreme Pennsylvania temperatures near the end of the second moto. Forced to retire from that race, Barcia finished the weekend 13th overall.

"I'm really disappointed about not finishing moto two," said Barcia. "I feel like I let the team down. The track just wasn't my sort of track, and I struggled to find my groove. I used a lot of energy up in moto one-I pushed really hard and think I overdid it. Come the second moto I was feeling fatigued, and nearing the end of the race I was overcome by the heat. I thought the safest thing for me to do was pull off rather than risk hurting myself. I really want to finish the season off on a high note so I'll be bringing my A game to the final round at Pala next weekend."

TwoTwo Motorsports' Chad Reed put in solid performances aboard his American Honda Racing–prepared CRF450R, finishing moto one in fifth and nabbing third in the second moto for fourth overall. Reed maintains third position in the championship chase with one round to go.

In the 250 class, Tomac overcame the heat to race his Honda CRF250R to a season-best second overall after finishing runner-up in both motos. Tomac's podium result elevated him to fourth in the championship. At only his third race of his professional career, GEICO Honda's Justin Bogle nabbed his third-consecutive top-10 result, going 6-10 for seventh overall, while privateer Honda rider Alex Martin rounded out eighth place.

In the Women's class, Fiolek is only one race away from securing her third WMX title after turning in 3-2 moto results on her factory Honda CRF250R and finishing second overall for the round. Fiolek has a solid 22-point lead in the championship with one round to go. Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Honda's Tarah Gieger went 2-3 for third overall while fellow Honda rider Kasie Creson finished in seventh.

450 Class Overall Results
1. Ryan Villopoto 1-1
2. Ryan Dungey 2-2
3. Brett Metcalfe 3-4
4. Chad Reed (Honda) 5-3
5. Jake Weimer 6-6
6. Mike Alessi 8-5
7. Justin Brayton 7-7
8. Kyle Regal 9-8
9. Nick Wey 11-10
10. Michael Byrne 13-9

450 Class Championship Points (after 11 of 12 rounds)
1. Ryan Villopoto 481
2. Ryan Dungey 467
3. Chad Reed 402
4. Brett Metcalfe 342
5. Mike Alessi 272
6. Jake Weimer 251
7. Andrew Short 196
8. Kevin Windham 193
9. Justin Brayton 191
10. Davi Millsaps 173

250 Class Overall Results
1. Dean Wilson 1-1
2. Eli Tomac (Honda) 2-2
3. Marvin Musquin 3-3
4. Tyla Rattray 4-4
5. Gareth Swanepoel 7-6
6. Blake Baggett 5-8
7. Justin Bogle (Honda) 6-10
8. Alex Martin (Honda) 10-7
9. Martin Davalos 11-9
10. Malcolm Stewart 8-14

250 Class Championship Points (after 11 of 12 rounds)
1. Dean Wilson 488
2. Tyla Rattray 436
3. Blake Baggett 427
4. Eli Tomac 290
5. Kyle Cunningham 283
6. Gareth Swanepoel 270
7. Broc Tickle 236
8. Martin Davalos 197
9. Alex Martin 195
10. Justin Barcia 181

WMX Class Overall Results
1. Jessica Patterson 1-1
2. Ashley Fiolek (Honda) 3-2
3. Tarah Gieger (Honda) 2-3
4. Mariana Balbi 5-4
5. Jacqueline Strong 4-6
6. Vicki Golden 6-5
7. Kasie Creson (Honda) 8-7
8. Sayaka Kaneshiro 7-8
9. Alexah Pearson 9-9
10. Sarah Whitmore 10-10

WMX Championship Points (after 7 of 8 rounds)
1. Ashley Fiolek 321
2. Jessica Patterson 299
3. Tarah Gieger 268
4. Jacqueline Strong 195
5. Kasie Creson 180
6. Vicki Golden 171
7. Marissa Markelon 168
8. Alexah Pearson 161
9. Sayaka Kaneshiro 140
10. Lindsey Palmer 137

For more information, contact American Honda Motor Co., Inc., (310) 783-3745.

About Honda
American Honda Motor Co., Inc., is the sole distributor of Honda motorcycles, scooters, ATVs and MUVs in the US. American Honda's Motorcycle Division conducts the sales, marketing and operational activities for these products through authorized Honda dealers. For more information on Honda products, go to powersports.honda.com.

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