Kawasaki/Racer X Race Report
September 11, 2006 8:23am
Kawasaki swept both classes and all four motos at the final round of the 2006 AMA Toyota Motocross Championships Presented by FMF. Team Kawasaki’s James Stewart took both motos at Glen Helen easily, and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto grabbed both of his 250F motos, and the 2006 Lites AMA National Championship.
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Stewart got the holeshot in moto 1, and it didn't take long for the moto to become a classic RC/Stewart battle. Stewart had plenty of fight in him, and the two went at it for 5 laps, trading the lead over and over. Stewart and Carmichael were in their own race, opening up a huge gap ahead of Windham, Travis Preston and his Honda teammate Davi Millsaps. But then RC crashed and hit his shoulder hard enough he had to pull off and go back to the pits for a rare (for him) DNF. Carmichael got an X-ray that turned out good, but he has a contusion injury in the back of his shoulder that will require an MRI this morning. He still plans on racing the MXdN, pending the results of the MRI.
Stewart cruised out front with no one to race. Millsaps got by Preston for third.
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Not far behind Millsaps was Preston, who logged a great 4-3 score for the day, and a podium finish! He joked around too, mainly about his "I Pity the Fool" Mr. T gear patch, and the fact that right now he has no ride for next year.
Stewart rode moto 2 with a #3 instead of a #7, in full-on Team USA graphics for the MXoN. Villopoto did the same and raced with a #2. RC didn't get to debut his #1 MXoN gear, because he had already left "the building."
In the 250F class, Villopoto had a good points cushion, but he pushed from about 12th in moto 1 on the first lap to second, then he caught Mike Alessi and passed him for the win with 5 laps to go. That was more than enough to clinch the title one moto early. The second moto looked like a repeat, with Alessi getting another holeshot and Villopoto passing him again for the win.
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Some notable performances at Glen Helen: Josh Summey, 7-9 for 7th, Bobby Garrison 13-10 for 9th overall, and in Lites (besides Townley), Kyle Chisholm with a 12-7 for 7th.