Motocross and Supercross Legend Ryan Dungey Retires - Ocala, FL

Ryan Dungey, one of the biggest names in Supercross and Motocross, recently announced his retirement, aged just 27 years old. This move comes not long after winning his third consecutive Supercross title.

Ryan announced his retirement during a press conference last week. During the conference, Ryan admitted that he's in the best physical shape he's ever been in but, for the first time in his career, he's had to “talk himself” into starting races – his heart isn't in it anymore.

Dungey:

"I love racing and I love our sport but I just feel it in my heart that I am ready to step away now – happy, healthy and feeling totally blessed. I've accomplished everything that I set out to do and so much more. Although I'm taking a step back from racing, I still plan to be involved in the sport and continue to try to make it better in any way that I can.

Ryan Dungey's Career Highlights

This sport has blessed me beyond belief and I'll forever be grateful for the memories I've made and friendships I've developed along the way. As this chapter of my life comes to a close, I'm excited to see what the next chapter has in store for me.

Although Ryan is retiring at a relatively young age, his career has been littered with highlights, since turning pro at just 16 years old. In fact, he's one of the few racers to successfully turn pro straight from the amateur B motocross class.

Ryan's two brothers and father were all amateur motocross racers but, as a young racer, he never imagined he could make a living from racing. His big break came in 2006 when he got the chance to try out for Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki in California.

Ricky Carmichael, who was riding for Suzuki at the time, saw Ryans try-out and recommended that he be signed to the team. By 2009 Dungey had won both the Lites Supercross and the 250 Motocross Championships, but his biggest achievements were yet to come.

In 2010, at just 20 years old, Ryan won the 450 Supercross Championship and Motocross Championship in his rookie year, becoming the second youngest rider ever to do so. Only one other racer has won the 450 Supercross Championship in their rookie year, Jeremy McGrath.

The 2010 season only got better for Ryan, who lead Team USA to victory in the Motocross Des Nations, a feat he would accomplish again in 2011.

Before the start of the 2012 season, Ryan made the move to Red Bull/KTM Factory team, following his old mentor Roger DeCoster. Many thought this would be detrimental to Ryan's career, aged just 22 at the time, as KTM had yet to win a Supercross race.

In his first race for team orange Ryan took a podium finish in third, and in round two he took the win, handing KTM their first ever AMA Supercross victory. Ryan went on to win the 450 Motocross Championship with KTM later that year.

It wasn't until 2015 that Ryan would see the kind of success he had in his rookie year, winning both the 450 Motocross and Supercross Championships.

Over the next two years, Ryan would go on to win back to back Supercross Championships and is the current champion.