Ashley Fiolek, the 2009 X Games Women’s Moto-X Gold Medalist and 2008 AMA Women’s Motocross Champion put in a courageous ride to clinch the 2009 Women's Motocross Championship at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, PA on September 5. Less than a day after throwing out the first pitch at a Pittsburgh Pirates home game at PNC Park, Fiolek lined up against the best women motocross racers in the country for the finale of the AMA Women’s Motocross Championship.

Going into the race with a 41-point lead in the Championship standings, the 18-year-old deaf athlete needed to finish eleventh or better in the first moto race to wrap up the 2009 title. After qualifying fastest, Fiolek got off the line in sixth but quickly worked her way into second as her Championship rival, Jessica Patterson, held a strong lead. Ashley settled into a comfortable pace to ride for the Championship points, but that all changed when she cross-rutted on the back side of a large tabletop jump.

Fiolek took a hard hit as her Honda tumbled end-over-end in the dramatic crash. The bike was still running on the ground as Fiolek ran to the downed motorcycle, but upon picking it up, she felt a sharp pain in her collarbone. She remounted and continued on, not knowing that her collarbone was broken.

"When I crashed, I knew I had to get back up and keep going," commented the bandaged Fiolek after the race. "I was in a lot of pain, but I couldn’t let my team or fans down."

Fiolek slowly worked back up to speed and was soon clearing all the big jumps, despite her broken collarbone. She finished seventh in the moto, which gave her enough points to secure the 2009 Women’s Motocross Championship.

"My team and I worked so hard this year, and I am thrilled to win the Championship," said Fiolek after the race. "I have to thank Honda Red Bull Racing for their incredible support throughout this season."

Fiolek travelled home to Florida where Dr. Steve Augustine of the Asterisk Mobile Medical Center performed surgery on the collarbone in Jacksonville.

About Ashley Fiolek

Born profoundly deaf, Ashley began riding and racing motorcycles at age seven and worked her way up the amateur motocross ranks. In 2004, at the age of 13, she won her first national championship at the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn’s. Between 2005 and 2007 she went on to win 12 more national championships and more than 100 races.

2008 marked Ashley’s first full season as a professional and she competed in select world championship rounds in Europe and won the AMA/WMA Women’s Professional Motocross Championship. 2009 has seen Fiolek win the X Games Women’s Moto-X Gold Medal and the AMA Women’s Motocross Championship.