by Davey Coombs
450 Words: Salt Lake City
Sunday, April 29, 2012 | 6:10 PMYamalube oils, lubricants and care products have been proven to enhance performance, lower ownership costs and lengthen the lives of Yamaha motors. Give our entire line a test drive, and we think you’ll find you’ve changed more than your oil; you’ve changed your entire experience.
Advertisement | Advertise with Us
Share
Comment
Email
Print
It was a metaphor. As Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey made a stunning pass on a bottled-up Davi Millsaps just before the white flag of the 20-lap main event on Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, an overly excited pyrotechnics man squeezed the trigger on the huge ball of fire that usually marks the end of a Monster Energy SX, and not just the white flag. It came well before the real conclusion of the race, just as the titles in all three divisions of this injury-riddled tour were decided long before the true checkered flag on these proceedings next weekend on Las Vegas. Instead, it was at the white-flag round in Utah that the last title of three--the West Region Lites, ended up in a hurry, and the 450 race offered an interesting scuffle between a trio of the last top racers left out there.
I want to give it up first to Davi Millsaps, who I really thought was going to get his first win of the season after leading much of the way following a rare holeshot on the Joe Gibbs Racing/Pirelli-shod Yamaha. He seemed to have the race in the bag until the last lap.
And then there was Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jake Weimer, who seemed ready to do whatever it took to win—including getting physical with Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey midway through the race (after Dungey did a little of the same) and knocking the former champion down, only to then get reeled in by a pissed-off #5, the crowd pulling for the attacker all the way. Weimer wisely gave Dungey all the room he needed, electing to fight another day rather than risk instant retaliation.
Millsaps and company came oh-so-close.
Cudby photo
Even the BTO Sports/Butler Brothers MX guys deserve a nod for getting three riders in the main event—Matt Georke, Jason Thomas and Jimmy Albertson.
But the real workhorse was Dungey. He's had a long, busy week. He just returned to racing seven nights earlier in Seattle, and then took the time to fly to New York City for two days to help do some advance PR on the upcoming Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships. He flew from Seattle to NYC, with a stop along the way, then home to Tallahassee through Atlanta, and finally turned around after two days and headed to Utah. He struggled with his bike set-up all day, got knocked down by Weimer, and then stayed focused on the win until Millsaps got stuck in traffic and left the door wide open.
It's too late for any of these guys to win the title—that firework went off weeks early when Ryan Villopoto iced the championship. But it was good to see these men giving in their all, and they will no doubt keep doing that right up until the finish line in Las Vegas, whether the pyro goes off at the right moment or not.
Did you like this article?
Check out TEAM HONDA AT DAWN
in our Latest issue of Racer X available now.
Forty years ago, Team Honda arrived on the American motocross circuit with a brand new motorcycle: the game-changing Elsinore CR250. Page 170.
Look for the verified symbol 
Impulse Studios
Dungey's 1st pass was clean!
Jake "The Whiner" Wiemer
Thank you, HandlebarDragger! (Seriously).
Lets all talk about Bubba!
Dear Weimer: Please learn to accept your roll as a top second tier rider and quit screwing with those who are fighting for championships!!!! You need to save your crap for Alessi, Grant and the likes.
Weimer was racing hard in front of his hometown crowd, kinda woke the Dunge up with that knock down. After that RD did what he is good at, put his head down and put in solid laps.. Ryans bike seemed to work better for him the faster he rode..Ryan needs to carry a little swagger into the great outdoors, last nights win and fastest lap ought to help him regain some of the comfort and confidence...
Weimers move was not bad but I didn't see Dungey do anything before that at all. Just sayin'
@RCRDDW, I'm with you.
We need to get past the fuzzy-love-every-rider-can't-critique-7th-16th-place BS.
In no order the top tier:
2,5,22,7,41
in no order (again)
24,21,10,18,800,29,14 etc.
They would all be better served to study when someone like Dungey or Reed passes them to maybe get faster. Playing block pass nonsense with only 2 sx races to go gets you nowhere.
Mr Motocross, I WOULD LOVE TO HERE ABOUT BUBBA, go off on your little tantrum again, i laugh so hard at them
super_fro_daddy: Exactly. Every sport has unwritten rules that enhance the sport and if Supercross wants to keep growing and keep getting more coverage, we can't have the very best, most popular riders getting taken out by the others. There is a natural pecking order that isn't hard to figure out. In a year or two that first group you listed will double and man it's gonna be fun to watch!!!
@HandlebarDragger (a.k.a. Holeshot fantasy racer) Really, dude!?! Get a job as a proof-reader somewhere but in the meantime give it a rest. Everybody knows what DC meant. Can we load up and fire at you every time you miss a shift? Relax..., Stop being a knit-picking jack-wagon.
i'm a honda guy but i love it that milsaps is doing well on the yamaha.
Jake Weener isn't on the level of your RV's and RD's, but the kid has talent. He should have stayed focused on the race ahead of him because he wasn't that far off of Davi, and it could very well have been Jake's win. Dungey did not go on his mission until he was knocked down, but then again, being the precise rider Dungey is, he often saves his best for last.
@HandlebarDragger...like we really give a $hit you like to proofread,and point out every little miss spell,It makes you look like a big dorky nerd douchbag a$$wipe,you prob. are one of the biggest geeks on here.
Whiner
Way to try and hide from Dungey
There goes your man cred
JImM
Pala374
Dungey showing everybody once again what a REAL champion is supposed to do....even after a dirty move just put his head down and won the race and no bad mouthing in the interview. Hopefully Stewart took notes while he is at home on the couch! That takeout was uncalled for and unnessasary, but Dungey got him back with class by beating him and winning the race, so put that in your pipe and smoke it Jake Wiener..
I don't like what JW did to Dungey, but he's had a rough year, partially his fault and partially not. He was trying to win and I'm sure most would of done the same. But what I don't understand is why are people saying that the riders that are not racing for a championship should not even try to race the riders that are? They're all out there racing for money and results and ultimately, confidence. I don't know the logic behind it, please fill me in.
anyone else think that mr-motorcross is that idiot jairtime under a different name???
Its all good . Thats racing folks. racing spelled backwords is unpredictable, get that dork motorrrrrrrrrcross back to grade school to spell.
I used to race motorcross and I know what i'm talking about!
I'm pretty sure it's spelled motorcross because my bike has a motor in it. DUH!
I am no scholar BUT, I do appreciate people taking time to spell correctly. I get it, it's D.C.'s mag / website / whatever and, he can do what he wants with it. I didn't go to college to become a journo (as D.C. did) or English major but, if I did, it would bother me to no end to see illiteracy run rampant on these posts.........engaging in it even worse. I'm pretty sure it was an oversight in the rush to get the news out (on a sunday) and, it's not like he's given up on spelling / punctuation as it seems much of today's youth has.
That said, we who enjoy correct spelling are not going to change the text-happy generation of future numbskulls that will soon be our leaders.......idiocracy is almost here.
Motors run on electricity...engines run on gas.
I'm pretty sure my motor runs on gas.
They don't call it enginecycle racing.
Lets all go race some enginecross.
I don't agree with the "tier-system" that was discussed earlier. Every rider that EARNS a gate spot is entitled / encouraged / expected to race for the win.
There are racers that win more, are more consistent, less frequently injured, etc but, it has been that way forever and any one of the "second tier" racers can advance to the "top-tier" with any combination of skill, determination, natural ability, focus, training, luck, better equipment, etc. and I won't hold it against a racer for going for it every lap, every jump, every corner and every start of the race, even if they have a three digit number.
Look, didn't any of you see (I think it was San Diego) where "The Dunge" as some of you refer him to, put Wiemer up a berm and on the ground. Racing is what I call it. You get what you give. Garbage in, garbage out, period!!
Damn, I mis-spelled Weimer... My apologies... hahaha
No issues with hard racing, but professional (dirt bike) racers should have something called racecraft. Wherein you study your opponents, look across lanes in the air see who is where, maybe what they are doing differently. It also means not doing something stupid with sx over and mx starting soon. With 2,22,41 out those second tier guys have a legit shot at wins and heaven forbid the title if something happens to Dungey this summer.
Remember 2007 with RC part time and then James got hurt and "oh shit people with no business winning races under "normal" circumstances were in contention for the title and wins. Took damn Grant Langston to step up and take the title when he got the 2008 YZ450. Only one from 2007 450 class that had won titles before. Who will step up this year?
Dungey and alessi for outdoors. weimer is a doosh.
Not a single comment on Dungey going out of his way to do PR for the upcoming MX series in New York? Good on Dungey, he is a class guy and definitely good for the sport.
dungey rode a great race steady and he has taken out wiemer two sepreate time previous one pretty high speed too broke his shfter off another time after a block pass that put him down rubbin racing fighting foe position is all part of motocross thats just one aspect that makes it the best spectator sport in the world to watch
Nothing wrong with Weimers move, a textbook block pass, Dungey should expect that when u leave the door wide open, brake a little & don't put ur front wheel over the burm, no problem, kinda lit a fire under Dungey, awesome ride to reel him in & make a clean pass stick, made for an great race or Dungey would have had an easy ride around for the win! Nice win RD!
HandlebarDragger- thanks for pointing out what should have been caught during proof reading.
This is supposed to be a professional publication and that means mistakes should be found during proof reading.
RacerX isn't too bad, MXA is egregious by comparison.
@rg807...you're write, "This is supposed to be a professional publication and that means mistakes should be found during proof reading" I say we just hang him for that mistake. Or better yet lets just shut this free website down. It just can't be overlooked,period. This forum is for smart people only! Again thanks for pionting that out. I just don't no how i'm going to sleep tonight with all these miss prints. Lets call the police on him or tell his mom on him. Shame on him. Lets not let him ever forget that mistake. It's just unforgivable.
ya buncha dorky losers!
@rg807=REAL GOOBER 807
Mr-Motorcross,
By the way, the reason the sport is called motocross and not motorcross is because the sport originated and evolved from scrambles races in the 1920's that were referred to as "motorcycle cross country." When the racing moved to shorter, defined closed courses with jumps, the name was then shortened to motocross. The name change happened I believe in the early 1950's.
I'm guessing history, along with english, and probably every other subject weren't your "strong suite". No matter, as long as you can say "would you like fries with that" you'll always have a job.
I put powerbands in motorcross bikes for a living. Thank you!
@ Handlebardragger
Do you actually expect a RacerX editor to spell correctly?
You cannot be serious!
And are you sure that you want to correct the fans who post replies at the ends of the poorly written articles?
You are asking for it!
Ha!
I'd say Weimers move was perfectly acceptable and Dungey simply moved a little too far up and out. In the end it didnt really matter, it turned out to be a gift. Four weeks of training cant get you the lift that he got in that stadium saturday night. He looks red plate ready. Roger has to be very pleased.
"Damnit Jim" 15 sec before the gate dropped for the main, someone struck a power pole in front of the house and, "Boom-Boom-Boom, Out Go The Lights" So I missed the Fireworks in SLC. But it is nice to know they all went down swinging and (one) of the best men left standing won. This will do great things for RD and his confidence moving into the outdoors in a few short weeks. Boy Howdy!
One tip to help clean up the spelling a bit. Use Chrome as your browser, checks your spelling as you go.
Jumps you 2 - 3 grades levels in literacy right there!
also just say'n
I was shocked how quickly RD caught Weimer. You could really see the aggression and determination in his riding after he got back up. Then really shocked when he caught Milsaps. Dungey looks super strong, and must have some how really kept up his endurance despite the time off the bike due to the collarbone break.
Handlebardragger = FAIL
RD was quoted as saying it was his own fault. He said he did not see the pass coming and he got caught clipping a tuff block. That is one classy kid. whether it was his fault or not, he owns it. He knows that he could have protected the line a little better.
Strong internal locus of control. Folks like that do not believe the world does unto them, they believe they control their own situation.
some folks on this thread could learn a lesson from this.
just say'n :-)
Someone please tell Mr. Motocross that motocross bikes (2 strokes that is) have power valves not power bands, only people who pretend to know everything about motocross say "power bands".
I think it is funny how when popular riders knock someone down it is ok but when someone knocks a popular rider down fans go nuts anyone remember early in the season when Dunge took weimer down a few times because someone told him to ride more aggressive.. It was just a little payback maybe someone told Weimer to be more aggressive. and Djmoto you are a tard Allessi is the most dirty rider out there and therefore you are a douche.
Dungey ended up winning, which is the best payback possible. I'm sure he'll forget about it long before some people on these boards will.
I can't even understand the jumbled first paragraph, not unlike as the ship in a sea, from which port of departure, the sentance structure hereinto, led to confusing ends of the earth.
See if Ryan or Roger are holding the Ohlins ride for ransom!!!
@huggies726 your kidding......right. geezus ...its gettin really bad on here. @mx bob agreed!
OPINION
Dungey deserved the high line, even I remember his Wiemer take outs.
OPINION
Dungey deserved the win. He was the fastest overall and It would have been quite an embarrassment to lose.
FACT
Many posters on this site spell poorly.
OPINION
Those that cannot spell usually fade toward the end of the moto.