Racer X Holeshot Award

The first turn at Red Bud Track ‘N Trail in Buchanan, Michigan, is notoriously fast, but also very wide. As a result, the riders at the front are usually tapped out in fourth year as they hit the big left-handed sweeper. Once they break out of the corner and cross the Racer X Holeshot line, they begin one of the best laps in all of motocross, as the track is as popular with the riders as it with fans, and thousands of them were on hand Sunday to see the second leg of the Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross, also known as Round 5 of the 2006 Toyota AMA Motocross Nationals.

The fastest man to turn one in the first 250F moto was also the first man to the finish, as Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto introduced himself to the Red Bud fans by flat-out smoking everyone, earning $500 off the start for his holeshot, then 25 points to his championship haul. Right behind him off the start was his teammate Troy Adams, then Yamaha of Troy’s Andrew McFarlane. By the end of the moto, Villopoto was way out front, with McFarlane hanging on for a career-best second-place moto finish. (By the way, moments after this photo was clicked, Martin Davalos (#577) got right up in the grill of our contributing photographer Carl Stone, so Cstone moved to the inside of the corner for the rest of the afternoon!)

The second moto did not go as well for Villopoto, as he was not the first man across the Racer X Holeshot line. Instead, the $500 bonus went to Sobe/Samsung Factory Connection’s Josh Grant, with Adams again right there in second. The eventual moto winner would be Mike Alessi on his Red Bull KTM, but Villopoto’s eventual runner-up ride earned him his second straight overall win. Alessi was second with a 3-1. Alessi’s streak of four straight races with a holeshot is now over.

The 450 class saw an upset of sorts as Ricky Carmichael grabbed up both holeshots over Team Kawasaki’s James Stewart—often the fastest starter in this class when he’s racing. But this time the Makita Suzuki of #4 led both starts, earning matching $500 Racer X Holeshot checks to go with his matching moto wins. Carmichael has now won four rounds in a row after seeing his 27-race winning streak stopped by Stewart at Hangtown.