By Chase Stallo, Aaron Hansel and Jason Weigandt
- You probably heard about the sacrifices made by Mike Alessi's mechanic Chris "C-Lo" Loredo, whose wife had their first child in California on Saturday morning, but Chris stayed at the track to help Mike grab another podium. "He told me I better go 1-1 for him," said Alessi in the post-race press conference. "I tried!"
- Phil Nicoletti has been having some of the worst luck a rider could have this year. Crashes, DNFs and weird mechanical problems have, for the most part, all kept the Eleven 10 Mods rider from showing just how fast he can go. If you've been reading Steve Matthes' column, Observations, you're aware that the situation has gotten so ridiculous that Matthes has likened Nicoletti to a cartoon character that is constantly getting an anvil dropped on his head. Well, at The FMF High Point National, the anvil dropped harder than ever when Nicoletti learned he wouldn't be racing because he had missed the sign up deadline.
Matt Moss finished 17th overall in his first action of the season.
Simon Cudby photo
- It's commonplace for the best 250 qualifying times to be just a tick off the pace of the 450 leaders, but last weekend at High Point, the opposite was true. In the first set of qualifiers, Red Bull KTM's Ken Roczen beat out Mike Alessi's fast time of 2:10.949 with a 2:10.860. When the second set of qualifiers was finished, Roczen's teammate, Marvin Musquin, had topped fastest 450 qualifier James Stewart (2:08.757) with a blistering 2:08.740.
- Entering High Point the quartet of Blake Baggett, Justin Barcia, Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen had finished outside the top four only twice—the Rockstar Energy Racing duo of Martin Davalos and Blake Wharton crashed the party at Hangtown and Freestone, respectfully. A streak made even more remarkable considering the talent laden field that inhabits the 250 class. High Point would mark the first time in 2012 that two different riders finished inside the top four in consecutive motos. GEICO Honda’s Wil Hahn held on down the stretch to finish fourth in moto one, while Marvin Musquin capitalized on late mistakes by Blake Baggett to grab fourth in moto two.
- J-Star JDR KTMs Matt Moss made his season debut at High Point after missing the first three rounds of the series due to calcium deposits. The Australian was solid in his debut, finishing 17th overall via 18-17 moto scores.
- Unfortunately, Moss' teammate Malcolm Stewart didn't have the results he hoped for at High Point, with 38-39 scores for 39th overall. What that doesn't tell you is that Malcolm was flying in moto one, and had moved as high as fifth before crashing out.
Michael McDade made his 2012 outdoor debut for the KR4 Performance team at High Point.
Andrew Fredrickson photo
- Kyle Cunningham continues to tough it out. Already dealing with an ankle injury coming into High Point, KC had a big crash in practice and hurt his hand. He dug deep and raced the motos anyway, putting his Rockstar Star-Valli Yamaha into 9th overall with 14-7 scores in the 250 class.
- Cunningham's teammate Gareth Swanepoel got stuck in the gate in the first 250 moto, but rallied all the way back to 14th. A strong eighth in moto two gave him 12th overall.
- We're pumped that Russia's Evgeny Mikhaylov scored two more championship points via his 22-19 scores for 22nd overall. The Russians are coming!
- Eleven 10 Mods rookie Dylan Slusser qualified for his first professional National at High Point. Growing up just miles from High Point Raceway, the Uniontown, Pennsylvania native used his home track knowledge to record a 31st place finish.
- Reining 2012 Lites East Arenacross Champion Michael McDade made his season debut Saturday. Riding for the KR4 Performance team, McDade, also a local product, finished 33rd overall after a mechanical problem in moto two relegated him to a 35th place finish.
Travis Sewell made his season debut at High Point, finishing the day 27th overall.
Andrew Fredrickson photo
- Dakota Tedder’s career-year continued on the rolling hills of Mt. Morris, PA. The California native finished a seasons-best 16th overall after 17-14 moto scores. Make sure to check back later this week to hear more from Tedder regarding his breakout season in this weeks Privateer Profile.
- HRT Racing’s Matt Lemoine's search for his first career 450 top ten continues after the Texas native, by way of Louisiana, suffered a hard crash in moto two while running in ninth. Lemoine was able to walk away from the crash relatively unscathed and will be in action this weekend at Budds Creek.
- For the first time all season both Travis and Shane Sewell lined the gate together in the 450 class. Travis, making his season debut, finished 27th overall, while Shane suffered a hard crash in moto one and was unable to line up for moto two.
- Held scoreless through the first three rounds of the series, California native Sean Borkenhagen scored his first point of the season with a 20th place finish in moto two at High Point. Borkenhagen would finish the day 24th overall in the 450 class.
- An eighth place finish in moto one left Josh Grant in prime position for another overall top ten finish. But a rear flat tire in moto two would dash Grant’s hopes of his third top ten overall on the season.