If there is one round on the AMA National Motocross circuit that everyone involved with the sport always look forward to, it's probably Red Bud. Historically held on or around Independence Day, it's come to be known as "America's Track". Based on every factor that defines a great race and event weekend, this weekend's national was no different, as it provided drama, suspense, excitement, beauty, action, surprise and, unfortunately, near-tragedy. Let's get down to it, here's what really happened at Red Bud, but before you read on, be sure to get caught up on everything else by clicking the below links.
The track was great. Comprised of a fairly heavy sandy/clay soil mix, portions of the track reminded one of Southwick with its deep, sandy bowl turns while others were reminiscent of... well just about every other track, since they're all now bringing in soil that mimics Red Bud's in every way. Suffice to say the surface was ‘like buttah' and really forced the riders to carry as much speed as possible through some sections, or be robbed of momentum that was quite hard to build back up again. As much a part of Red Bud's lore as its luscious soil is quite possibly "America's Jump"-LaRocco's Leap. This year, track owner/operator Tim Ritchie decided to alleviate that ‘dropping in from the heavens' effect that riders had complained about in the past by increasing the height of the landing by at least four feet over last year (which had been increased from the year prior to that). Otherwise, the jump remains the single most daunting obstacle on any National track (except possibly that big crazy triple step-up thing at Glen Helen). The thing about The Leap is A) the run-up is short, rough and full of deep sand, B) the face is similar to riding up a cliff face, which robs a lot of the forward momentum, which means that C) when you come down, you come down hard-hence the bigger landing. Regardless, there were a few Lites class riders who managed to make their mark on it this weekend-Josh Grant gets a Motocross.com high five for not only being the first to jump it-on the first lap of the first practice on Saturday-but for winning a $500 betin the process. It was his teammate Daniel Reardon who hucked it first on Sunday, followed by Justin Brayton and Broc Tickle (we just happened to be standing right there when they did it). But the biggest props must go out to Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey, who was able to launch his factory RM-Z250 up and over that monster leap just about every lap during his motos. We say ‘just about', because it was at the base of the leap where Ryan's bike sputtered its last breath of the weekend-on the last lap of the second moto while battling for second place with Trey Canard-much to his dismay. Heart broken to say the least, Dungey tried momentarily to get the bike up the hill to push it across the finish line (a la Sebastien Tortelli several years ago), but it wasn't to be, so he threw his helmet to the crowd and rambled back to the pits for a hard-earned DNF. Whether his bike blew up or ran out of gas depends on who you choose to believe, but the end result was the same-his points gap to Ryan Villopoto by another 25 points due to the problem.
Speaking of trouble with Rockstar/Makita Suzuki riders, one need look no further than Mike Alessi for another example. Absolutely, positively the second fastest rider on the track in the Motocross class on any given weekend, Alessi suffered a horrific crash just after the start of moto two on the ultra-rough and rutted landing after the ski jump. In what appeared to be a high-side following a cross-rut mistake at high speed (with 38 tapped-out 450's behind him), Mighty Mike landed on the backside of a single just at the base-out of view of the hungry field behind him. KO'd by the impact, Alessi was then hit squarely several times before the pack made it past and the race was red-flagged. It took Doc Bodnar and the Asterisk crew quite some time before they felt comfortable to move him from the track, and when they did so he was conscious, moving his arms and legs, and strapped to a backboard. Thankfully-and saying this gives an idea of how scary the situation was-the official word was that he "only" suffered two broken scapulas (should blades), broken ribs, a bruised lung and concussion (he was out for roughly three minutes). What this spells is most likely the end of his season, which is bad news for race fans that have embraced the Alessi's like never before after both Mike and brother Jeff have put in such awesome performances all summer.
Not enough news about the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki squad, you say? Okay, here's more: Alessi's teammate Michael Byrne continues to improve, this weekend getting good starts and running up towards the front in both motos to end up third overall. Furthermore, Nico Izzi nearly mimicked that performance and continues to show the speed that earned him the factory ride to begin with. Izzi originally hails from Michigan, and he clearly felt at home in the green, rolling hills near his home. Young Dominic went 4-5 for fifth overall and now sits seventh in points.
Besides Alessi's injury, Doc Bodnar commented to us, "Boy, I sure have seen a lot of shoulder injuries today!" Specifically, and in order of occurrence, we know of the following: Sean Hamblin, Saturday practice, LaRocco's leap-Hambone toughed it out and rode hard in both motos-and his shoulder did pop out for a second time. Chris Whitcraft, LaRocco's Leap, Sunday practice-right shoulder popped out which lead to a yard-sale crash that resulted in the thumb on his left hand being broken, which happened while his right knee was being bent back, injuring his MCL. Davi Millsaps, moto one, Sunday-extent of injury unknown. We do know, though, that he was seen icing his right shoulder while watching moto two. Bodnar mentioned to us that it took all of his strength and ability to pull Whitcraft's shoulder back into socket, and that the crowd that had gathered to watch winced in pain and many turned away while he went to work on it. Poor Whitcraft just can't catch a break-oh wait, he catches way too many breaks, strike that.
Austin Stoupe was out with a rumored case of mononucleosis, which is a minor form of what's been referred to in this sport as Epstein-Barr syndrome. While caused by the same virus (which nearly 100% of the population has but is able to fight off), it is sometimes an indication of over-training and its probably a very good thing that Stroupe-Loop chose to sit this one out, as the only way to get over it is to keep one's heart rate way, way down-often for several weeks at a time. The next phase is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but hey we aren't doctors around here so for more info check out www.webmd.com
Making up for a few missing regular riders were a few that we hadn't seen for a while, and this was partially due to an off-weekend for the Canadian nationals. Situated so close to Canada brought down to front-runners from the great white north-brothers Tyler and Jeremy Medaglia. Tyler leads the points in the MX1 class, while younger brother Jeremy sits in third in the MX2. While Jeremy put in some impressive lap times during Saturday's practice he didn't show up to the line for the motos on Sunday, while bad luck prevented Jeremy from making the show. Cernic's Kawasaki's Jeff Gibson also made his first AMA National appearance in two years, making the drive up from Ohio with his Dad in their van, privateering it just like the old days. While Gibby was happy to be back, a small electrical problem lead to trouble in Sunday's qualifying but can't be blamed for so-so results on Sunday-Jeff was outside the top 20 in moto one, but moved up pretty well in moto two for a 16th. Another American that's been known to hit the Canadian series is Minnesota's Tucker Hibbert, who's better known for winning X Games gold in Snowcross than anything else. This is changing, though, as Hibbert-who's real dream has always been to succeed at moto-won both of the Canadian Lites nationals he contested this year, and looked fast at Red Bud despite mustering only a 19-17 on the day.
Mike "The Rock" LaRocco got a rock memorial dedicated to him on Sunday. Seemed appropriate, although his Leap is much more impressive. Speaking of old guys who don't race anymore, "Rocket" Rob Buydos put together a heck of an assembly of riders for the Legends Lap, including Jeff Stanton, LaRocco, Todd DeHoop, women's pioneer Lisa Akin-Wagner, along with several others. They actually did two laps, so Rob may want to re-think the name of his event for next year.
KTM took both Lites class holeshots-the first one by Ryan Sipes (who lead a lap and ran up front the whole moto, only to DNF moto two due to a mechanical) and the second one by Martin Davalos. Davalos ended up third in the moto after Dungey's unfortunate demise, and made it onto his first overall podium in AMA Nationals racing. Davalos commented afterwards that the MDK/KTM team are still working on the bikes a lot every week and developing things to make them better and better, and it appears to be working, since the whole team seems to be moving forward every weekend (with the exception of Justin Brayton, which is a real surprise).
NoFear continued to debut new 2009 gear (as did SHIFT, MSR and Answer), but the stuff that Josh Grant wore in moto two en route to his fourth-place finish was most notable.
What happened to Mike Brown? It appears that he blew up his YOT YZ250F in moto one, and in moto two just didn't seem to have any sort of mojo at all. We miss the old Mike Brown, but its apparent in watching him ride that this crop of young'ns has evolved style and speed-wise over this former 125cc National Champion. Here's to hoping that Brownie gets it figured out sooner rather than later-he's about all that's left of YOT these days.
Are you impressed that we made it this far without mentioning the latest Jason Lawrence debacle? The thing is, there are so many rumors and so much hush-hush commenting going on behind-the-scenes that the real truth seems to have gotten lost. What we do know is this: Yes, he was arrested on Friday night/Saturday morning while at the track and that he spent most of the night in jail before being bailed out in time to head back to the track under the impression that he'd still be riding the next day. Unfortunately for Jason, the AMA says he's done "indefinitely", and while we've heard rumors that he'd been let go by YOT and/or Yamaha, we weren't able to confirm them. We do know that he flew home Saturday afternoon and made a couple of calls begging either to not be fired or to get it back. We did hear from a solid source that Jason was quite remorseful upon being picked up at the jail, but it may be too little too late for the New Jersey speedster, as his days may be numbered as a pro motocross racer in AMA competition.
What a weekend it was. There is plenty more to talk about (like Stewart being late to the gate in moto one and getting last gate pick, yet still snagging a great start), but we'll end it here. Next weekend the roving band of merry men make their way near the nation's capital and Budds Creek MX Park, home of the 2007 Motocross of Nations. Check back here for a full race report, photos, and Monday's What Really Happened.
Courtesy of MotoCross.com
