Dodge/RCH Racing - Hill Earns Silver Medal at X Games - Race Recap and Quotes - Los Angeles 

August 3, 2013 , LOS ANGELES -  RCH Racing’s Josh Hill (No. 75 Dodge/RCH Racing/Suzuki Z450) earned Dodge its first-ever X Games podium finish with a silver medal performance Saturday in Men’s Moto X at Summer X Games 2013 Los Angeles. Hill led the first 19 of 20 laps in the Main Event before a last-lap pass on the final turn by event winner Justin Brayton.

“What a race,” said a jubilant Hill. “Justin was on my rear tire for the entire race. We were 1-2 almost the entire race and he got me on the lap that counted.”

Men’s Moto X Racing returned to the X Games for the first time since 2010 in grand style as the top riders from multiple moto cross genres took to the purpose-built, all-dirt course that featured huge jumps, rollers and whoops sections inside the famed Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Hill was fast all day, seeding third during afternoon practice aboard the No. 75 Suzuki. In the evening program, Hill broke clear of the 12-rider field early in Heat 1 and never looked back to secure the automatic transfer into the Main Event with a wire-to-wire win.

“It was gnarly,” said Hill after his Heat 1 performance. “The track is so tight that you have to ride totally defensive when you’re leading. I was looking over my shoulder the last two laps to protect my position. You couldn’t run the fast line and lead the race.”

The mini Supercross-style event inside the home of the Los Angeles Lakers featured a 12-rider Main Event. Race starts were critical as early track position trumped any passing opportunities.

“The race start (60-feet long) was really everything,” said Hill. “It was such a tight course that if you didn’t break clean off the gate it was going to be tough to score well.”

In the Main Event, Hill broke first and avoided a multi-rider mishap in Turn 1 that allowed the RCH Racing rider to pull ahead early in the moto. Hill’s consistent pace and semi-defensive racing lines allowed the Oregon native to hold off the hard-charging Brayton who nipped at Hill’s rear tire all 20 laps. Hill was quick to point out how his “wide” riding style played a factor.

"He (Brayton) rode awesome,” Hill said. “He would have been faster if I wasn’t holding him up the entire time (laughs). It was an awesome race for me.”

Hill was flawless all day aboard the Suzuki, crediting his RCH team for preparing a fantastic race bike.

“Our team had a game plan to make my bike good on race starts and get me in position to break away and it worked tonight,” he added.

Tight racing had fans on their feet in the feature event with the Hill-Brayton battle taking center stage. Hill’s defensive racing lines late in the race forced Brayton to be aggressive in the final corner. He stuffed his front tire underneath Hill, pushing him up the track to gain the position.

“I needed to install a rear-view mirror on my bike (laughs),” Hill added. “It was a game of inches all day. If I railed the berm I could have carried a lot of speed, but there were times where I had to hold my line and race slower to protect the lead. It was great racing. We just come up short tonight. Justin made a great move on the last lap to get us.”

Race Results
Dodge/RCH Racing
Summer X Games 2013 Los Angeles
Men's Moto X
Staples Center
Los Angeles
Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013
1. Justin Brayton
2. JOSH HILL
3. Chris Blose
4. Chad Reed
5. Kyle Regal
6. Ryan Sipes
7. Wil Hahn
8. Mike McDade
9. Vince Friese
10. Tyler Bowers
11. Ben LeMay
12. Weston Peick

Men's MX Heat #1
(6 Laps, 12 Riders - 1-5 to Main Event, 7-12 to LCQ)
1. JOSH HILL
2. Justin Brayton
3. Weston Peick
4. Ryan Sipes
5. Wil Hahn

Men's MX Heat #2
(6 Laps, 12 Riders - 1-5 to Main Event, 7-12 to LCQ)
1. Chad Reed
2. Chris Blose
3. Ben LeMay
4. Vince Friese
5. Kyle Regal

Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ)
1. Tyler Bowers
2. Mike McDade


Summer X Games 2013 Los Angeles
Men’s Moto X Racing
Post-Race Quotes

JOSH HILL (No. 75 Dodge/RCH Racing/Sycuan Casino/Suzuki Z450) Finished Runner-Up (Silver Medal)
TALK ABOUT THE MAIN EVENT: “What a race. Justin (Brayton, race winner) was on my rear tire for the entire race. We were 1-2 almost the entire race and he got me on the lap that counted. He rode awesome. He would have been faster if I wasn’t holding him up the entire time (laughs). It was an awesome race for me. I had another surgery on my foot after Supercross; I haven’t raced all summer and trained really hard. To come out and do this is awesome. Gold (medal) would have been great. Three years ago, I almost died training for this event, so to come here and get a medal feels really good. I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about it. I never really thought that I’d get back to this point. I really believe my best racing days are still ahead of me.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW PHYSICAL THE RACE WAS? “Justin could have hit me 10 times tonight and moved me out of the way but he rode really clean.”

HOW IMPORTANT WERE THE RACE STARTS? “It was everything. Our team had a game plan to make my bike good on race starts and get me in position to break away. It worked tonight. I made a couple little mistakes and Justin (Brayton) was really on the gas. It was tough to protect the lines and carry the speed. I gave Justin just enough room to stick and wheel in and push me up the track to take the lead. That’s racing. No harm, no foul. I was racing a wide bike against him all night. Mark (Johnson), Kenny (Watson), Shawn (Bell), Carey (Hart), everybody at the Dodge/Sycuan/RCH/Yoshimura Suzuki team, have been more than awesome to me. They gave me everything that I needed to win tonight. We just came up short. I think that I have my best racing days in front of me.”

WAS THERE ANYTHING ON THE LAST LAP THAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO HOLD BRAYTON OFF? “Not really. I needed to install a rear-view mirror on my bike (laughs). It was a game of inches all day. If I railed the berm I could have carried a lot of speed, but there were times where I had to hold my line and race slower to protect the lead. It was great racing. We just come up short tonight. Justin made a great move on the last lap to get us.”

SHAWN BELL (Lead Mechanic, No. 75 Dodge/RCH Racing/Sycuan Casino/Suzuki Z450)
“A great day for everyone. It was a nail-biter for sure in the Main. We just got clipped there on the last lap. Josh rode great all day. We worked hard for this (silver medal) and spent a lot of time training for this type of racing. We knew that we needed a good start and Josh was awesome all day on the gate. I thought we were going to win, just a high-intensity race that didn’t go our way at the end. It was a really tough track. You could over-drive this track really easy and Josh handled it great.”
Page 2 – Dodge/RCH Racing Men’s Moto X Race Quotes – X Games Los Angeles

IT MUST BE A BITTERSWEET FEELING TO COME UP SHORT AFTER LEADING 19 LAPS (OF 20): “In some way yes. We put in the work leading up to X Games and just missed getting a gold medal. Josh rode great all day. His race starts were great and the bike was fast all day. We really worked hard on our setup, changed a lot of things around to fit the style of racing that we thought we’d see here and it worked. We’ll take a silver medal. All the guys worked hard and it’s cool to walk away on the podium at X Games.”

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