This past weekend marked the 32nd edition of the High Point AMA Toyota Motocross National in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania. Having personally witnessed at least 20 of those puts us in a good position to comment on the wide variety of changes that the track, spectators, and racers have gone through over a good portion of that history. That, along with the fact that there was a lot to talk about even if the track itself wasn't the real story, means there's a ton of stuff to go over for this week's What Really Happened. And as always, if you missed any of the other coverage, click the links below before getting into the WRH report.
Historically held on Memorial Day-in fact, an absolute Memorial Day institution for moto-heads in the PA/WV/OH quadrant of the country-this year's High Point was held on Father's Day. This (along with the weather) no doubt led to what at least appeared to be a small'ish crowd for a warm, muggy day of racing. We must say, though, that the crowd may have been about the same (although noticeably tamer) as in the past, but due to all of the new track changes, they were just spread out a bit more. The biggest story of the weekend, though, was actually the track. Going into this event, there was a lot of talk about big track changes, and the fact that track builder extraordinaire Marc Peters was shipped out to re-map the historic High Point Raceway. This news was received with mixed emotions, as High Point was, in many ways, the epitome of east-coast national motocross with its hills, ruts, bumps, rocks, off-cambers, and sections of the track that'd seen the likes of most of the greats in the sport over the past three decades. Once at the track, it was plain to see that the flavor of High Point was still present, only it'd been spiced-up and modernized a bit, with an entirely new section added out in the back 40 where the amateur start area had been (which included a double-double-double), some fairly big changes on the back side of the downhill rockers, and the re-addition of the woodsy section leading to the big uphill before the finish line straight (Bradshaw Boulevard), which featured a sort of uphill ‘natural' style whoop section that made for great viewing.
The biggest problem, though, was the weather, which is no surprise to High Point regulars. The site of many, many epic mud races (think Bradshaw's win in his comeback year, Scott Sheak's victory, David Vuillemin's, etc.), it would've been no surprise if western PA weather delivered yet another cruel blow to everyone hoping for a fast, dry race. What happened was an all-day deluge that destroyed any hopes of a completely normal race, and cutting short Saturday's practice and consolation races due not only to heavy precipitation, but lightning as well. The 450's never touched the track until Sunday morning, just after the Lites consolation race, and even then it was for only a brief 20 minutes as all practices were cut in half (only one session per group instead of two). The goal was to minimize the abuse to the track and maximize the amount of time track crews had to clean things up a bit. What they did was essentially push all of the mud to the side, removing any hope of great variety in ruts and racing lines and creating a sort of hard-packed, somewhat more rocky track surface that forced the riders to glide through corners to search out the cushions on the outside (a la dirt track racing). The result was a track that everyone seemed to love-"a real race track" according to Lites winner Ryan Villopoto. Comments on the track overall were positive across the board from riders, spectators and journalists alike, so props must go out to the folks like Marc Peters and the entire MX Sports staff who made the best of a potentially disastrous situation!
The racing, though, was pretty much predictable although not without its moments. James Stewart and Ryan Villopoto both won fairly easily, so there's not much to talk about there. Mike Alessi, though, is becoming somewhat of a pleasant surprise with his ability to distance himself from third on back, and even becoming a bit of a thorn in Stewart's side for a couple of laps. Not surprisingly, Alessi totally sprinted to both holeshots, even when he didn't start on the customary fast-guy-favorite line all the way towards the inside of the uphill start straight. In the second moto, Mike chose a spot almost completely in the middle which, presumably, would allow him to make a more graceful arc through the long sweeping downhill first turn area-making a big assumption that he'd be the first guy to the top of the hill. He was, and his plan worked, giving him a fairly massive gap before heading over the RC tunnel double and down the rollers for the beginning of lap one. After being passed for the lead by the big number seven, Alessi made a move to get back around James Stewart. That's fairly shocking, really, and although it didn't stick, Alessi stayed reasonably close to Stewart the rest of the race, ultimately finishing only nine seconds down, and although it was fairly clear that James had stopped pushing his pace, full props must go out to Mike Alessi for putting himself in a position to capitalize on any mistake that Stewart may have made.
The Lites class was also fairly interesting from second on back, where Jake Weimer made his way back where many believe he belongs-toward the front-with a couple of great starts. Also running up front for the first time this season was Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Nico Izzi, who was incredibly (surprisingly?) fast and steady while running in second for 12 of 15 laps in the first moto before being passed by the aforementioned Weimer to end up a solid third for the moto. Never without scandal as his co-pilot, YOT's bad boy Jason Lawrence (JLawless) made a move on Ryan Dungey that put both of them at serious risk, and Dungey on the ground. They'd both been moving up from bad starts (Lawrence) and first turn crashes (Dungey), so both had a full head of steam heading into the corner before the RC double/tunnel. Afterwards, Dungey vented what must've been a smoldering caldron of hatred for Lawrence by really opening up and letting him have it in the press conference afterwards. Referring to his nemesis as an "idiot" and "bad for the sport" several times, an invigorated Dungey ended the exchange with a quote something to the effect, "I'll clean his ass out." With that, the room broke into applause, as the ‘good kid' Dungey finally may be either A) showing his real colors or B) is so affected by J-Law that he's actually being sucked into his vortex of destruction. Either way, we like it! Go get ‘em, Ryan. Check out half of the comments for yourself in the Racer X Post-Show right here on Motocross.com
With that, we'll bust out a few "bullet points", since there were several newsworthy bits that caught our attention throughout the pit cruising we did all weekend.
Trey Canard was absent following his crash/heat stroke/concussion at Freestone. Word has it that Canard actually wanted to race High Point, but the team wouldn't allow it. That leaves the Geico Powersports team down to just two riders, as teammate Josh Grant still hasn't set a knobby on a national track after his concussion at the Vegas Supercross back in early May.
Joe Gibbs Racing's quietly content lead man Josh Summey went down hard in the second Motocross class moto, in an awkward high speed uphill double section of the track that had crews scrambling to help him get away in one piece. Chucky J. laid still in the racing line for a few minutes until the Asterisk crew and local medics could get to him. It appeared that Summey suffered some sort of leg injury since he was carried off the track, unable to walk. He didn't appear to be seriously injured, although we've gotten no official word on his injuries.
Speaking of the JGR/Spike boys, it was clear that everyone is looking forward to Davi Millsaps joining the team next year (if in fact the rumors are true), since even after Summey's incident, all or most of the staff stayed on the track to cheer on teammate Gracyk and Millsaps (running a solid third) for the duration of the second moto. This all while sitting on the ailing Summey's bike...
Poor, poor Ivan Tedesco once again appears to be injured, as his nasty get-off in Texas left him with a tweaked ankle, which apparently was tweaked again in the second moto first turn here at High Point. Hot Sauce was slow to get up, and rode his bike back to the Honda rig to DNF moto two after clearly struggling a bit in the first go-round.
Two 250cc 2-strokes made an attempt to qualify in the Motocross class Sunday morning, but both failed. Here's to PA's Steve Roman and some-other-guy-we don't-know for keeping it real on those simple bikes of an era gone by...
J-Lawless was sporting a new hairdo this weekend, following a disastrous couple of nights in Texas only seven nights prior. Will this new ‘do play along with a kinder, gentler and more law-abiding Lawrence in the future? Ask Ryan Dungey.
Once again, some of the sports' legends took to the track in what's becoming somewhat of a tradition at High Point. This year's event included Broc Glover, David Bailey, Gary Semics, Mike Fisher, Jeff Stanton, and Tom Carson.
High Point marked the first of the three-round Monster Energy Triple Crown of Motocross. If a rider wins each round, which consists of High Point, Red Bud and Steel City, they stand to gain a chunk of a $100,000 purse-even if they ride for a competing brand (not likely!).
Geico's Jake Weimer was spotted talking with his new coach Randy Lawrence several times which, when coupled with his new choice in best buddies (Ryan Villopoto), lends a whole lot of credence to the rumor that he'll be on a Monster/PC KX250F next season.
Fans are always part of the story at High Point, not so much for their couch-burning tendencies as their feverish love for Ricky Carmichael. Since RC wasn't around (nor was Kevin Windham, apparently the second favorite), many wondered who'd be next? The answer seems to be split evenly between James Stewart and Ryan Villopoto, as both enjoyed thunderous support as they dominated both of their motos.
Sean Hamblin (Motocross class) and Michael Willard both put in great rides to snag a chunk of Monster cash for top privateer on the day. Great job guys.
That funny guy Matt Boni was sporting a brand-new set of X Brand Beer Goggles all weekend. Props to him for being a goof ball and running the wackiest goggles on the track.
Andrew McFarlane briefly lead the second Lites moto, only to fade out and drop back a ways by the end. Here's hoping to better luck for ALL of the Motosport/Xtreme Kawasaki riders in upcoming rounds, as they appear to be struggling this outdoor season so far.
Nick Wey looked solid all day on his big MDK/KTM, riding steady and fast and with a lot of style (as usual) from start to finish in both motos.
Austin Stroupe nailed the fastest practice time, plus added a few of the fastest laps throughout the day (along with Dungey, J-Law and RV1). He managed a third in moto two after falling a couple of times in the opening moto.
With that, we head into an off weekend for the Nationals. After that, the roving band of moto gypsies heads to Lakewood, Colorado, for the first-ever Nationals under the lights at Thunder Valley, just outside of Denver. At a mile high and with notoriously gnarly late-afternoon weather, things should be interesting at Lakewood, to say the least. Come back right here to check out pre- and post-video shows, as well as a full race report and Monday's What Really Happened on Motocross.com.
Courtesy of MotoCross.com
