10 Things to Watch For at Steel City

Courtesy of Alli Sports

We’ve had two mud races in a row and some very surprising results in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Now we’re at the finish line on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the 12th and final round of the tour, and it’s going to be a bright and sunny day of racing here at Steel City Raceway. You can watch the first motos live right here on Allisports.com, beginning at 1 p.m. ET. You can also catch the second moto of the 250 class at midnight Saturday, as SPEED TV shows you same-day coverage of the championship battle between Ryan Dungey and Christophe Pourcel. (The second 450 moto will show on noon Sunday, ET.)

Here are 10 things to watch for as the season comes to its exciting conclusion:

1.) Chad Reed will wear #1

Last weekend may not have gone Reed’s way at Southwick, where he won the first moto with ease, then crashed out of race two while leading. But the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki rider is back in the saddle, and he’s asked to wear the #1 he already clinched as the 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Champion. The thing is, this may be the only time Reed gets to wear his AMA Motocross #1 on the Suzuki, as he’s said to be on the open market for a new ride in 2010. No matter, he can wear #1 with pride, as the Australian was the toughest, most consistent man on the circuit all series long.

2.) Dungey vs. Pourcel

The 250 class is still up for grabs, though the upper hand is Dungey’s right now. Pourcel and his Pro Circuit Kawasaki team had a disastrous day in New England last weekend as his bike broke in one moto and then he crashed on the start of the second moto, while Dungey went 2-4 for second overall on his Suzuki. Add it all up and it was a 30-point swing in Dungey’s favor, which meant Pourcel went from 13 points up to 17 down. That’s a large chunk to pull back in two motos, but stranger things have happened at Steel City—just ask Grant Langston or Mike LaRocco!

3.) Pink is coming to Steel City!

Okay, not Carey Hart’s wife Pink, but rather the color pink, as Steel City is part of the Race For the Cure, part of the Philadelphia Three-Day Breast Cancer Awareness program, and pink ribbons will be on the track and maybe even some pink gear and side panels and other points of flair on the riders and teams. To donate and be a part of it, click here.

4.) The job search is on

The biggest question in the pits right now is this one: Who will have a job in 2010? With the economy causing many teams to make cuts, a lot of riders and mechanics are not quite sure where they will be hanging their hats in 2010. And that usually means there will be a lot of riders desperate to get an impressive result here in the last round of the series. Among the biggest names still unsigned are Reed, Ivan Tedesco, Jake Weimer, Michael Byrne, Justin Brayton…. There are actually too many to list!

5.) Ashley is going for her second title

The Women’s Motocross Championship will also be decided at Steel City as Ashley Fiolek of Honda Red Bull Racing tries to hold off the late-charging Jessica Patterson in this division. Fiolek is the defending champion, but Patterson has won the last two rounds of the series. Is it too little, too late? We will see on Saturday.

6.) Can Matt Goerke pull off another shocker?

When the final results were tallied last weekend at Southwick, it was a shock to many in the sport to see Team Yamaha replacement rider Matt Goerke’s name at the top of the 450-class results with 6-1 moto scores. Goerke has always had the talent and desire, but he never seemed to get the breaks. Now his name is in the AMA Motocross record books as an overall winner, which can be a serious shot of confidence for anyone. Can he do it again? Southwick was a sand track, and Goerke hails from Florida, which has lots and lots of sand. But there’s not so much here in the Keystone State. Still, good starts and smart moves and Matt could very easily end up on the podium again.

7.) Tyla and Tommy both want to win

When the 2009 season started, many thought incoming Grand Prix talents Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle—#1 and #2 in last year’s final rankings over in Europe—would be title contenders on the highly competitive AMA circuit, but it’s been a tough summer for both. But last weekend, Rattray, who missed six weeks with a broken thumb, was solid in the sand, winning the second moto going away. Searle had a tougher go of it, but he would also like to close with a taste of victory. Steel City is their last chance to claim a win in 2010.

8.) Metty and Burner are long overdue

With all of the new winners we’ve seen in 2010—six first-time 450 National winners and three in the 250 class—two names absent but long overdue from the list are Australian imports Brett Metcalfe and Michael Byrne. Both have come close—Byrne tied Goerke for the overall in points last Saturday but lost on the second-moto tiebreaker—and both are riding better than ever. Don’t be surprised to see it happen tomorrow for one of them.

9.) Barcia delivers

That list of first-time winners now includes Justin Barcia, the precocious rookie on the GEICO Powersports Honda team who rode fantastic last weekend in Southwick to earn his first pro win. Barcia even got caught in the gate at the start of the second moto and still came back to finish third, which, combined with his first moto win, was good enough for the overall. Barcia is familiar with the Steel City track—he’s originally from next-door New York—and would like nothing more than to build on what he started last weekend. With several tricky new jump combos thrown in by track designer Marc Peters, the jump-happy Barcia will be right at home tomorrow on his CRF250R.

10.) Kyle Regal deserves a podium

Last but not least is Valli Motorsports Yamaha’s Kyle Regal, the sensational 450-class rookie who has been close to getting on the podium several times now since switching to his new team. Regal has been a pleasant surprise on the tour, and if anyone in that class deserves to step up on the box for the last race, it’s this hardworking newcomer. Keep an eye out for #475!

Stay tuned to Allisports.com for the Racer X Pre-Race Motocross Show, as well as the live feeds, live timing and scoring, and more, all coming to you from Steel City Raceway.