Buchanan: Saturday summary

Stewart and Dungey Set Fastest Laps on Saturday at Monster Energy/Kawasaki Motocross National from Buchanan

BUCHANAN, Mich. (July 5, 2008) -- With Saturday's practice and qualifying action, the halfway point of the 2008 Toyota Motocross Championship kicked-off with Monster Energy Kawasaki's James Stewart and Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey pacing the field for the 35th Annual Monster Energy/Kawasaki Motocross National Presented by Scott USA from RedBud.

Stewart regained his spot atop the charts after sitting out the opening days' practice last weekend in Colorado. His lap time of 2:24.203 was over four seconds faster than any of his competitors.

"I've been looking forward to this race all week," said Stewart. "My Kawasaki feels good, but we're going to make a couple of small changes to make it even better. The track is in great shape and I can't wait for the racing to start tomorrow."

Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Mike Alessi posted the day's second-fastest lap with a time of 2:28.302. Monster Energy Kawasaki's Tim Ferry followed in third at 2:30.413.

After suffering a hard fall in Thunder Valley which knocked him out of the event, Dungey bounced back this weekend to set a stellar lap of 2:31.600 to sit atop the AMA Motocross Lites leader board.

"I took a little tumble last week," explained Dungey. "I just needed some time (to recover). It's a little bit scary and brings you back to reality, but I'm just really glad to be back doing what I love. I did my best and just tried to be on today. Being fastest isn't what counts though. You got to be able to put two motos together."

MDK/KTM's Ryan Sipes finished Saturday with the second fastest lap time at 2:32.419, while Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto grabbed the third position with a 2:32.647.

Sunday's main event action for the Monster Energy/Kawasaki Motocross National kicks off at 1 p.m. Live audio of the event can be heard on live.motocross.com while SPEED will air the action from the AMA Motocross class on July 12 at 10 p.m. ET and the AMA Motocross Lites on July 15 at 2 p.m. ET.

-credit: ama