Is This The Year USA Re-takes the MotoCross Des Nations?

The big hope for Team USA fans this year at RedBud MX is the 1-2 punch of Eli Tomac and Chase Sexton, who pushed each other to a higher level all year, will push themselves ahead of the pack to secure the Chamberlain Trophy for the Americans. This is a well-worn pathway to victory for the U.S. squad, which would often trot out riders who battled for titles all year in a united front, especially in that magical 13-year win streak. Names like Johnson, Ward, Bailey, and Stanton would go from foes to friends and pull Team USA to victory.

It's wild to think that a Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart Team USA never materialized, as RC was injured in 2006 and Stewart was injured in 2007, their only chance to really line up for the team together. The last win for Team USA came in 2011, and looking back now, it’s the 1-2 punch of Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey, at each other’s throats all season battling for titles, that made that team hard to beat.

The Ryans came to define a generation, and while you can ignite endless bench racing arguments over what history duo is the best ever, the sheer longevity of these two at the top can’t be questioned. Quality? We’ll never know what duo is best. Quantity? Well, no others can match what The Ryans did, which is combine for eight-straight Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championships and AMA 450 Motocross Championships in five out of six years. They pushed each other to a higher level by trying to beat each other, and the one time they got to form the 450 effort for Team USA, they delivered.

That year was 2011 in France. Even with The Ryans, this battle would not be won easily. Dungey and Villopoto only got thirds in each of their first two motos. Team USA’s 250 rider Blake Baggett took 17-17 moto scores on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250F (which isn’t good but isn’t as bad as you’d think, he was actually fourth overall in the MX2 class with those finishes).

Team USA had the back against the wall in moto three, but somehow, miraculously, Villopoto and Dungey emerged with great starts together in moto three, which shouldn’t be possible since each team gets only one decent gate pick per moto. It still wasn’t over, though, as the home team of France was determined to win and Christophe Pourcel, an old rival of both Dungey and Villopoto in his 250 days, was out for victory. Pourcel actually passed Dungey and was about to mount an attack on Villopoto, until his rear tire somehow came off the rim and ruined his moto. That kind of good luck and clutch final-moto riding seemed to bail out the Americans year after year. The 2011 triumph marked seven-straight wins for the Americans.