This was the race we’ve all wondered about. What would
happen if you removed
Ricky Carmichael and
James Stewart from the racing mix? We
found out over the course of one weekend at the historic
Unadilla Valley
Sports Center.
Both of the big stars didn’t race, which ended up causing what motocross fans
expected: a big battle between a bunch of riders. It might even add a little
motivation to the pack, too. When the checkered flag fell after two wild motos,
Sobe No Fear/Samsung Honda’s
Kevin Windham had a 3-1 score and his first
AMA/Toyota Motocross overall win in nearly four years. Just a few weeks
earlier, terms like “burnout” were swirling around
Windham, and top finishes were hard to come
by. But this was a much different race weekend than the ones before it.
| Stewart's weekend didn't last long.
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It started
when
Carmichael didn’t. For the first time
since his professional career began in September of 1996,
Ricky Carmichael was
absent from the starting line of an AMA Motocross National. RC is headed into
retirement now, and
Unadilla was never on his list of tracks to race on in
2007. That opened the door to Stewart. He skipped Saturday practice as usual,
but showed up and immediately clocked the fastest lap early in Sunday’s
qualifying sessions. Then he crashed hard, sliding and then high siding into
the ground. Qualifying was red flagged, and Stewart laid on the track, visibly
shaken. He barely moved at all, eventually getting strapped to a back board and
taken away in an ambulance, talking of back pain. He was out for the day, at
least, with the whole racing industry holding their breath and hoping he would
be okay.
Not much
was known of Stewart’s status after that, although word is he did have feeling
and movement throughout his body and was flying back to his doctor in
Florida for more
attention.
Then
attention shifted to about six other riders in the Motocross class—they were
suddenly all potential winners! Just one second separated the top five in
qualifying times, and to make matters even more interesting it started raining
just minutes before the first moto. Mike Alessi grabbed another MotoTees
Holeshot, with a snarling pack right behind him. Soon the race broke into a
series of battles: Alessi and Windham
out front, Andrew Short and Ivan Tedesco next, then Grant Langston and Tim
Ferry. Eventually Ferry got around everyone into third, and then Windham made his move on
Alessi. Near the 28-minute mark of the race, Alessi made a mistake and Windham blasted
past, enough to take his first moto win since the first moto on this same track
two years ago. Alessi was second and Ferry tipped over on the last lap,
throwing away third and handing it to Langston.
| Tim Ferry rallied to win moto two, going 5-1 to finish second overall.
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Moto two’s
holeshot went to
Davi Millsaps, who started near the front in moto one but
faded to seventh. This time Millsaps was game, pulling a small gap over his
Honda teammate Short and leading half the moto.
Windham was in third and content, as Alessi
had goggle problems on the very first lap and had to stop in the mechanics’
area for a new set. He had started right with
Windham, but the pit stop ended his bid for a
win.
At the
halfway mark, Millsaps threw it away, washing out in a simple left-hand turn. Then
Ferry went on the attack, passing Windham
and Short to take the lead. Windham
didn’t put up a fight, knowing third was enough for the overall since Ferry
took fifth in moto one and Alessi was back in sixth after the goggle troubles.
It was a wild day, and Windham
emerged the winner. He was happy, but measured his words carefully in the
post-race press conference.
“The win is
good,” said
Windham.
“But so is spending Father’s Day with my daughter, and I’ve spent a lot of
weekends by myself in hotels. Lately, I’ve started to get feelings like I did
back in ’02, which is basically the worst feeling I’ve ever had in my life as a
racer. I could sense burnout approaching. I’m trying to take a more proactive
approach this time. The win is good, but you get to a point in life where other
things are important, too.”
| Andrew Short nearly won the second moto, he surely is looking forward to running up front again in his native Colorado next weekend.
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As for
Ferry, there’s no doubt where his motivation is. “I just tipped over in the
first moto,” said Ferry. “That was about as mad as I have been in between motos
for a long time. I told those guys in the truck that I was going to win the
second moto.”
Will
Stewart be back for next weekend’s race in Denver? That’s not yet known. Amazingly, Carmichael still holds the points lead, and Stewart still
sits second, with Ferry third.
The Lites
class was supposed to be the predictable one this weekend, but that went out
the window as soon as points leader Ryan Villopoto crashed on the first lap of
the first moto while trying to pass Ryan Dungey for the lead. Villopoto went
back into the pack, while his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammate Ben
Townley went around Dungey to take the lead. Villopoto then put his head down
and charged back to fourth, trying hard to get
| Ben Townley got right back in the hunt.
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around
Broc Hepler, who was back
in action after a long layoff with injury (and making his debut with Yamaha).
Villopoto ran into the back of Hepler in a corner and crashed again, and when
he got up, radiator fluid was pouring from his machine—apparently a rock did
damage even before the second crash. RV was out, and Townley took the win and
the points lead. Dungey and Hepler were second and third.
Villopoto
flat smoked everyone in moto two, winning wire to wire. Townley crashed on the
first lap himself and had to rally from the back, getting around Josh Hill, who
was strong early. That put him into third, which was enough for the overall,
but he went after second-place Dungey anyway to try to score maximum points.
They battled to the very last lap, but Dungey held on. His Makita/Suzuki team
thought his 2-2 was enough to win the overall, but Townley’s 1-3 edged him by a
point.
| Ryan Dungey came off the injured list to nearly grab his first-ever overall win.
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Now
Villopoto and Townley are tied for the Lites lead, and the Motocross class
could be totally up in the air. We’re halfway through the series—you had better
stay tuned.