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That’s because on Sunday afternoon, the 2006 Toyota AMA Motocross Nationals kick off with the 38th running of the Hangtown Classic—the longest-running professional motocross race on this continent. All weekend long, you can keep up with the lap times (practice, qualifying, motos) on @The Wire Live on www.amamotocross.com. And come Sunday at 1 p.m. out West (4 back East) you can listen to the Hangtown National on your computer through the Racer X Webcast, presented by Cycle News. The program can be heard on www.mxnationals.com.
As for TV, the opening round of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF will air next Saturday, May 27, at 6 p.m. (EST) on OLN. The 250F class gets their due on Tuesday, May 29, at 5 p.m. (EST) also on OLN. Don’t miss them!
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For the sport’s two biggest stars, Ricky Carmichael and Stewart, the cans must be half full (the Red Bull can in James’ case, of course). Stewart just ended the series with some solid rides, winning Seattle and Las Vegas and earning himself the World Supercross title. He’s never been faster … actually, it could be argued that no one has ever been faster.
Carmichael, on the other hand, has done pretty much exactly what he’s done in every AMA Supercross Championship he’s won since his first one in 2001: He sprinted to the halfway mark in the series while his competitors struggled to keep up, got to Daytona and sized things up, and then backed it down a notch to where he did just enough to win the title, all the while using time in between main events to get ready for the outdoors, where he absolutely dominates.
That always worked well for him, too. As a result of his outdoor prowess, Carmichael has never even had to race the last round of an AMA Motocross Series to clinch the championship—he’ been given the #1 plate in each of the last nine years before he ever got the final round!
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It's still a question mark as to what brand Reed and Nathan Ramsey will be riding on their private team next year. He's looking for factory equipment, a la Jeremy McGrath at Chaparral Yamaha. This could get interesting.
So did Carmichael let Stewart build up too much confidence? Will he find himself in an even tougher fight than he had on his hands at the end of the SX tour? Will the KX450F be as potent outdoors in its national debut as it was when it showed up under Stewart in Canada last December? Guess we’ll find out soon enough. What a great time to be an American motocross fan!
If that weren’t enough, the 250F class—the Toyota AMA Motocross Lites?—has too many fast riders to list without leaving someone out. In reverse alphabetical order (so people don’t think I’m betting on #800 like Andy Bowyer did in the Rev-Up, the obvious favorites are Villopoto, Short, Langston, Grant, Brown and Alessi. And then there are guys who could sneak in there like Walker (if he can keep from crashing), Ramsey (if he gets a good start), Mills (who won a moto last year), Metcalfe, his Yamaha of Troy teammate McFarlane (who was second in the MX2 Grand Prix series last year), Lawrence (who knows?), Laninovich, Jesseman, Hahn (just needs to be patient), Troy Adams (remember him?) and a whole list of other guys. This division is wide open.
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We didn't mention Broc Hepler in that last paragraph. He was a question mark, but it appears now that he won't be racing until at least Southwick, according to an interview we saw on MXA's site this week. The word on the streets is that while the foot isn't healed up enough for him to race, it is looking good enough for Yamaha to have reportedly signed him to a three-year deal. You’ll hear more about this later, as well as the deal that rookie-to-be Josh Hill has in place.
Wow, mentioning Hill just reminded me of Bobby Bonds, the ill-fated, injury-plagued, can’t-miss kid of just five years ago. Bonds was incredibly fast, though AMA motocross fans didn’t get much of a chance to see the Californian. In fact, the only memory many have of #129 comes from his incredible effort against Grant Langston at Hangtown back in 2001. Bonds battled with Langston throughout the race before he touched the real wheel of Langston’s KTM with his front coming down a hill, and down he went. The injuries mounted quickly for the 16-year-old and he never got a chance to show much more of his amazing potential. I don’t mention this because of Hill, who I think has vast potential; I mention it because of Hangtown.
Not sure what the status of SoBe/Samsung Honda rider Joaquim Rodrigues is for the weekend, but one of his friends from Portugal dropped us a note to show us just how big J-Rod is back home. Rodrigo Castro sent a copy of the May issue of FHM Portugal, with an interview on that nation’s favorite rider.
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And speaking of fun, new stuff, we spent a few days ramping up a few short feature films on the Racer X Films site. There’s a cool clip of RC practicing on his SX track, a little trip to Baja with Malcolm Smith and friends, and a look at Castillo Ranch Ride Day. They are there for your free viewing pleasure, and it’s more about quality than quantity, for now anyway. So bear with us—we’re magazine guys and motorcycle riders—and will come up with some things you’re really going to like. After all, Racer X Films is not yet three days old. I can only imagine what it will look like in three months, let alone three years. Stay tuned.
And speaking of Simon, if you'd like to ask our ace shooter anything, now's your chance: He's the subject of our next Racer X 10Q. Send your questions now!
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Missing from Hangtown will be Ivan Tedesco, of course. He hurt himself at the last supercross, where he still managed to grab up a solid fourth in his first year on the big bikes, and he was set to back Makita Suzuki teammate Carmichael on the 450s here, but now he’s sidelined for summer. Stewart also lost his wingman when Kawasaki teammate Michael Byrne went down in practice in Las Vegas. Burner is hoping for a quick return….
Just got the press release from Kawasaki: “Michael Byrne is expected to be out of competition for a minimum of eight weeks due to a dislocated right thumb…. Byrne is expected to make his return by the sixth round of the AMA Motocross Championship at Unadilla Valley Sports Center near New Berlin, N.Y. July 15-16.”
Also on the sidelines is Ben Townley, as we discussed last week. The New Zealander is busy rehabbing his knee in Florida, and he’s been watching the DVDs that B.J. Smith of Chet Burks Productions and OLN sent down for him to study.
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Our own Sarah Whitmore finished second overall in the opener, which featured a lot of inconsistent finishes by series regulars like Jessica Patterson, Tarah Gieger and Tania Satchwell.
By the way, if you’re a WMA fan, make sure you stop by their booth at Hangtown to pick up the full-color 2006 WMA Souvenir Yearbook, which was produced by the Racer X staff and donated to the girls. It features defending champ Jessica Patterson on the cover and has all of the information on the series and the riders that you’ll need to follow them this summer. You can also keep an eye on the series website.
Hey, here's some food for thought: It has been since Glen Helen 2004 since James Stewart last won an outdoor national. Astonishingly, it has been since July 27, 2003 at Washougal that Ricky Carmichael lost an overall at an AMA National. That day, he went 2-2 behind Kevin Windham's 1-1. RC currently has two perfect seasons in a row in which he won every overall. Will he be able to maintain that streak this season?
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Let me turn it over to Ping here.…
The tracks in Southern California have been busy the past two weeks. If you hit the right tracks on the right days, you could have ridden with Ricky Carmichael at Competitive Edge, Chad Reed at Perris, and just about every other top rider on the circuit at one of the other courses in the area.
One rider you won’t see this weekend is team Makita Suzuki’s Ivan Tedesco. Ivan underwent surgery yesterday (Thursday) to repair damage done to his shoulder in a crash at the Las Vegas Supercross. Something tells me that Suzuki will still be well-represented by their other rider. He’s fast.
If you’re wondering who will step in and take the place of Tedesco in that battle at the front of the pack, I have the answer: “The Duke,” “Doughnut,” “Maverick” or whatever you want to call Davi Milsaps, the new Racer X cover boy, is going to be a player. The word is that he has been faster than Kevin Windham at both of the test sessions that they were both at. Faster than Windham? If that’s true, we are going to see Davi on the podium this summer.
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Brian Deegan will make his return to motocross this weekend with the Richardson’s RV team. Richardson's RV is also the sponsor of WMA stars Sarah Whitmore and Tarah Gieger. How’s that for juxtaposition? The Metal Mulisha sergeant and two really fast girls will be under the same tent at the races! Marc Hauser definitely has the spectrum covered. Seriously, it will be good to see Deegan back on the track. He may not be racing for wins in the 450 class, but he has a lot of fans and he certainly adds some color to the weekend.
Deegan may be best known in racing circles for his ghost ride across the finish line when he won the ’97 Los Angeles 125 Supercross, but for a while there in the mid-1990s, when he was riding with the Chaparral team and Moto XXX Suzuki, he was very fast outdoors. What’s going to hurt him now is the fact that most freestyle runs last maybe two minutes—less than the time it takes to make one lap around Hangtown. Regardless, Deegan told Eric Johnson he’s stoked about the prospects of returning to his racing roots.
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Josh Hansen bought a new car. Apparently, Josh needed something to get himself to and from physical therapy for his back. He wanted something comfortable yet economical. He thought about maybe going with a nice sedan or maybe even one of those hybrid vehicles that can save you hundreds at the pump. In the end, Hanny went with the Lamborghini Gallardo. It’s a $450,000 ride that he got a “great deal” on. At least he went with a subtle color: bright orange.
And now here’s a Prequel follow-up from roving photographer Carl Stone.…
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It was good to see Troy Adams out riding again--first time I had seen him ride since his injury. He looked as strong as ever and he took 2nd for the day. He for sure is a great addition to Mitch's Pro Circuit Kawasaki team, even if he hasn’t been able to actually race yet!
YOT's Andrew McFarlane was having a good day also but in moto 2 he had bike problems and had to pull off. I think the best moto of the day was moto 2 of the 250F class, by the way. About the halfway point Martin Davalos had the lead with Brett Metcalfe right behind him. They raced the rest of the moto only bike lengths apart. I am sure Brett was hoping Martin would make a mistake, but he rode solid and never did. Davalos won that battle but Metcalfe won the war and took the overall. It was a great race to watch. And Daniel Sani finished on the podium with third overall.
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When I asked Josh why I did not see him all day, he said he was at his house playing pool and decided to come out and watch the race. When he got to the track and found out the 1st moto was not for two hours, he asked his mechanic Naveen to run to the shop and get his bike he wanted to race! Well the 450 was all ready to go, so that’s what he raced.
I got this picture of Casey Lytle in his first official race as KTM team manager. He’s a good guy, and he’s got podium-cred as a racer, so I hope this works out as well for him as it did for Larry Brooks, his predecessor.
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Rounding out the 450 podium was Darcy Lange (though the scoring sheets said “Derecy” I think), so that’s not a 450 podium we are used to seeing!
After the races I was walking through the pits and a truck pulled up and the driver said "Hey Carl, you get any good pics of me today?" It was Joe Oehlhof. I looked in the back of the truck and saw a Suzuki in the back with a #49 on it. I was like, that was you? Oops! I did not even know it was you out there! It was amazing and great to see how well he rode after seeing him all last year with that halo on his head. He took fifth overall and said he felt great and was looking forward to next weekend.
It was also round one of the WMA series. There was also some great racing in the pro class. At the end of the day it was the hard-charging New Zealander Katherine Prumm taking the top spot on the podium. Racer Xer Sarah Whitmore would take second and the Balbi girl would finish third.
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Now, back to our regular programming.…
Sadly, Ernesto Fonseca will also be missing from the lineup this weekend. Fonseca continues in his recovery from his severe back injury at a hospital in Colorado. But he will not be forgotten by the Hangtown faithful this weekend—the Dirt Diggers have organized a benefit auction for the Honda factory rider. If you’re going to the event, bring a little something extra for Ernesto.
To keep up on Fonseca’s progress as he fights back from his devastating injury, please visit www.ernestofonseca.com.
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Brian Deegan is not the only 125cc supercross winner from Nebraska making a racing comeback of sorts: 1990 East Region Supercross Champ Denny Stephenson is ramping up a return to Loretta Lynn’s in the vet classes. Steve Kaster snapped a couple of photos of Denny, who works with Smith Goggles and also Speed TV and CBS Sports, as he won both of his classes at his area qualifier in Athelstane, Wisconsin.
Once he gets to Tennessee, Stephenson will probably feel like he’s in a real national again. Doug Dubach will be there for the first time, and two-time World MX Champion Trampas Parker will be returning for the first time since he moved to Italy and his amazing story started to take shape. Heck, MX Sports even got a call from Ronnie Lechien about coming back to the ranch the first week in August!
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But Beeker kept his word and showed up on Wednesday with the fresh new look just in time for this weekend’s Hangtown opener. What's he going to do if Bubba wins the outdoors? Any suggestions?
In more retro racer news, 1980 AMA 500cc National Champion and Team USA star Chuck Sun is coming back east for the 30th Annual High Point National next weekend. Sun will join several other past heroes of High Point, including Jeff Stanton and Broc Glover, for a ceremonial lap around the track. High Point was the site of Sun’s first AMA National win. The Hall of Famer is now the National Off-Road Sales Specialist for Tucker-Rocky Distributing.
The Racer X Vet Series kicked off last weekend at Motosports Park in Byron, Illinois. Over 300 riders turned out for a superbly prepped track at one of the nation's oldest motocross tracks. Perennial winner Andy Stacy did it again, winning in both +35A and +40A.
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Another highlight was a vintage bike display featuring three exotic works bikes from the www.mxworksbikes.com collection of former pro Terry Good and an outstanding 1981 490 Maico from moto announcer Pete Reitsch and a beautifully restored Monark and Penton from the collection of Rod Gorzny. Next stop for the Racer X Vet Series is June 10th at Millville, MN, for round two.
Just got the Alessi Weekly newsletter and it’s good to see Danielle back in the picture. We were really worried for a while there.
What’s cool is that Mike Alessi is back out at Hangtown doing amateur day, just as he and his dad and brother have always done.
And speaking of the Alessi boys, the Pourcel brothers over in France seem to have grabbed another gear—especially Christophe, who won the German MX2 Grand Prix last weekend. Someday, the Pourcel boys are going to meet up with the Alessis, and it’s going to be one helluva interesting day at the races.
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Check this out: “The 38th annual motocross competition east of Rancho Cordova draws about 27,000 spectators and about 1,000 riders. The May 18-21 competition is the longest-running, and one of the largest, outdoor national motocross events sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association. It's also big business. Hangtown pumps an estimated $4 million into the local economy, through sales of food, gas and ice, hotel stays, meals at restaurants and vendor sales. Hangtown is one of the five largest money-making events for Rancho Cordova's hotels and restaurants, said Curt Haven, the city's economic development director. The event also makes nearby Folsom's top 10 for generating business and the top five for attendance, said Mary Ann McAlea, vice president of the Folsom Tourism Bureau.”
Okay, so who's got the 450 class covered at Hangtown this weekend? Vote here.
For a truly bothersome story, check out what happened to this rider.
If you're in the Morgantown area during High Point weekend, you'll definitely want to check this one out:
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