250 Words: Dallas
They always say things are bigger in Texas, and they were right this time! The big rains came down for three days and a lot of people saw their flights canceled and the chances of even getting to Texas Stadium became a big chore. Some went through hell, just like I did. When I finally arrived at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, I could tell that something big was going to happen. Ryan Morais had a 10-point lead over Ben Townley and hadn’t even won a race yet!
If motocross is your thing, the track was perfect when the main events went off. Townley pulled the start and his teammate Darcy Lange was second and Ryan Dungey third. Those guys were hauling and pulled away from the rest of the pack quickly. But on the second lap Townley made a mistake and Lange got by him. A few laps later, Dungey came through to take the lead. Meanwhile, Morais had about an eighth-place start and started working his way to front of the pack, picking off people where he could.
Dungey was next to make a mistake, right after the finish line, and Lange was there to take advantage of it. But so was Townley, who started getting back into his groove and was pulling up on Lange. Once Townley took the lead back from Lange, he never looked back. The 2004 MX2 World Champion, Ben rode strong and never made a mistake for the rest of the race. Dungey got back into his groove and would get close to Lange but could never get close enough to prevent a 1-2 for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki.
With his third win, Townley gained seven points on Morais, who finished fourth. With one round to go in Detroit, it’s come down to the wire, and suddenly it’s Townley who controls his own destiny: If he wins again and Morais were able to match his career-best second, they would tie on points, but BT101 would win on the tie-breaker based on having more race wins. If Ben finishes second, he needs to have Morais fourth or worse again.
Unless Morais can find some true speed in the two weeks they have off, it’s going to be tough to keep Townley from becoming the 2007 AMA Amp’d Mobile East Region title.
