Seattle

Photo By Simon Cubby

Seattle is know for rain and grunge and although we didn’t have any rain we sure had some exciting racing that smells like teen spirit.(whatever that means). The 15 round was the return of the west coast and hometown boy Ryan Villopoto. RV was coming back from an illness that kept him away from the last five weeks and the odds were stacked against him. Who in there right mind would have thought some else beside Stewart or Reed would have won? Villopoto did!!! In his first 450 supercross season he won in front of his hometown crowd, something that has eluded him outdoors at his home track at Washougal. Alessi pulled the holeshot (big pattern here) and lead alot of the race before falling and handing the lead over to he’s arch rival RV. Villopoto held onto the lead on the sandy Seattle track until the flames shot out of the finish line. Where was Stewart and Reeds epic battle? Well Reed took a soil sample before the first turn after colliding with Tyler Bowyers and Stewart got a bad start and was outside the top 10. Stewart had tough time coming through the pack and would settle for second after a pass on Millsap’s. Davi rode a great race and thanks to his agent, trainer, finance, and pet dog gave it 110%. Reed was trying to shake the cobwebs out and could only muster a 7th place finish surrendering his points lead to Stewart and leaving Seattle 3 points down.

The 250 west coast guys are back and so is the 2nd championship hunt. Could Dungey keep it together to finally win the crown or would he throw it away like last year? Thankfully for Dungey his buddy J-law was suspended again, this time for taking out Helpler and showing him the middle finger a couple of times in Jacksonville. The troy lee design’s team was in full effect and all made the night show. Weimer was clearly off Dungey’s pace and looked a little bit out of sync since last time we saw him. The gate dropped and Jimmy Albertson grabed the holeshot and was quickly passed by Dungey. Dungey held on for the win while Weimer would have a bad start and worked his way up to 4th. Morais rode a great race finishing second and so did last years champ coming in third after a fall.

1355 words, and 10 years of Motocross

So im bored at work and got the great idea to try and remember all of the outdoor nationals I have attended. I can easily remember all of them, but can’t really recall who exactly won. Supercross had its first weekend off since January so obviously there is nothing to read about. So instead of reading random Wikipedia pages, im going to read my own words and pacify the time……
The first outdoor national I had the pleasure to watch was in my home state of Florida at Gatorback. The year was 1996 and I was the biggest little Jeff Emig fan and of coarse I dis-liked McGrath with a passion, as he was Emig’s only challenge. (Sorry Jeremy). Im not sure who won I want to say Emig, all I can remember was yelling for McGrath to fall in the Gator pit and Brian Deggan doing tricks by the grandstand jump. Steve Lamson won the 125 class with Windham getting second (I think) ridding a number 7 Yamaha just like Stewart today. After the race was over they let the fans go into the pits and hangout by the box fans. I was only 11 at the time so I don’t remember much, but I do remember trying to get Emig’s autograph.

The second outdoor national I attended was none other than Gatorback(97) and just happened to be the start of Ricky Carmichael’s annihilation of outdoor motocross. Ricky was riding a number 70 Kawasaki with AXO gear and brought home the overall with a 2-1. Steve Lamson the 1996 125 champ came in second with a 1-2. The 250 class was won by Emig. Simply put Emig was the shit in 97, he dethrones McGrath in supercross, had the coolest looking helmets and was wearing the all new Shift gear. McGrath was riding Suzuki and im not sure were he finished, but 97 was his last year of outdoors.

The late and great Troy, Ohio(97) was my third outdoor national and the temperate there was around 110 degrees. Of coarse Emig won both motos wearing all black shift gear and I believe Damon Huffman won the 125 class. I remember seeing the infamous widow maker jump that took out Tim Ferry a few years back and I also remember thinking what the word widow meant? Was it something dirty or that spider that was in my science book? Kenworthy’s had a major party the night before the race with a live band and a few hundred intoxicated race fans. The crowd got a little too excited about the next days race and showed their appreciation by throwing beer bottles onto the stage and drinking until they had to take quick little power naps In the grass.(that’s what my dad told me at least)

I’ve never been more excited to see a track than I was for Budds Creek in Maryland 1998. As a kid I can remember watching Henrys horrible crash that sent him higher than the trees and back to the earth breaking his back. The paramedics carried him off the track and Henry gave his fans a thumbs up as they carried him away. Then in 1997 Henry crashed over a double and broke both arms, lighting had struck twice and im sure Henry was not looking forward to coming back. The whole family had made the trek up to Maryland and we picked the perfect year to do so. Henry conquered his fear and won the 250 class on the same track that almost ended his career. Carmicheal won the 125 class and till this day has never lost an overall at Budds Creek.

In the summer of 2000 my mom, dad and I took a motocross vacation going through Michigan, Canada and New York. Dad and I had a blast and im sure my mom read a lot of books and was bored to tears. (Thanks mom!) First stop was at Baja Acres in Michigan. It was an awesome sand track that had alot of elevation changes. I pulled the holeshot on a full gate and lead most of the race only to get tired and fade back to second. We stayed in Canada for about a week with some friends of ours and rode everyday on their many tracks. On the way back home we stoped by New Berlin, New York to see Carmichael win the 250 class and either Pastrana or Roncada win the 125’s. Unadilla is a huge track and the 125’s were struggling to get up some of verticals cliffs on the all natural track. I remember Sebastian Torteli not signing a sticker I had because he was not sponsored by them (What a dick), and my dads tooth falling out and making and emergency trip to the dentist. All in all it was a great time, even if Larry was one tooth two short for a bit.

2001 we headed back to Troy Ohio and for some reason I don’t remember much at all about the races. I do remember Ricky won the 250 class and did not go to the podium after the second race because he shit his pants. He was battling a stomach problem and wasn’t seen until it was time to race; I have no clue who won the 125 class. Mike Brown maybe?

After a 3 year hiatus my dad and I made the drive all the way to Millville, Minnesota to Spring Creek in 2004. We left on a Wednesday and drove over 1,190 miles to of coarse watch Carmichael win again going 1-1 in his first undefeated season. This was Alessi’s very first race and the year of the “believe the hype” shirts. I don’t remember how he did maybe top ten. The track also had a new jump called holly Schmidt, named after local boy Donnie Schmidt that was around 100ft and sent the riders sky high. Stewart won the 125 class and was one of the only 125 riders to clear the jump. My father likes to try to smuggle in weapons at sporting events and was almost busted and taken in. He had a pistol in the center console, but he quickly had to hide it after we noticed they were searching vehicles. He must have done this before because he made the gun vanish like a ninja and thankfully we got to enjoy the races.

In 2005 we headed to Southwick, Massac hues to once again watch Carmichael, this time on a Suzuki, win the overall. It wasn’t easy though; Ricky went over the bars and let Reed win his only outdoor race to date. Stewart rode the first moto and later pulled off and didn’t show up for the second. Alessi pulled the holeshot and over jumped the first jump and I think dislocated his shoulder. The weather I remember was much like Troy in 97 and everyone walking was like a sweaty beast. I believe Langston won the 125class or by this time I guess it was called the “lites class” My most vivid memory of this trip was a bee flying into my shorts and stinging me while I was riding my dads Harley.

The last national I went to was REDBUD, in Buchanan, Michigan. This was one of best tracks I have ever been too and the fans are by far the most rowdy of any other round. 2006 was Ricky Carmichael’s last full season in outdoor motocross and just like he did in his first season at Gatorback he won Redbud as well. Larcoo’s leap was one of the biggest jump I’ve ever seen. I believe either RV or BT won the lites class and Alessi got third. The crowd at redbud is the best and they constantly yell “redbud” every 3 to 4min just to remind everyone the location their at. So after nine nationals I have attend Carmichael has won everyone he raced but one, I was able to see the start of his first season and the end of his last, and saw a man passed out drunk in Troy, Ohio. Im ready for another one…..maybe Texas.

Jacksonville!

First Practice about to line up

Why does the state of Florida always produce such good racing? Stewart crashes in Daytona and J-Law almost wining, Stewarts official 250 debut in Orlando in 05, Ricky’s last supercorss race in 07 and Larry Ward wining in the rain in Tampa!!!! Florida must love good racing because Jacksonville saw another great race tonight. The track was very hard packed and slick and looked more like a west coast round. The dirt wurx guys had the track covered all week as the sunshine state wasn’t so sunny until race day. Reed and Stewart had a few words in practice and neither of them would comment on the altercation. Stewart laid down the fastest lap with Reed right behind him. Although I didn’t see much of the heat races because I was dressed in a 115 degree fat suit and getting pushed down by a girl for the halftime show, I did notice Hann grabbed the heat win after Pourcel stalled his bike.

At least I got to see the track up close

I lost my race of the night against 2 guys and a girl all wearing different color fat suits. Thanks Toyota! I finally made it on national television, just not quite how I expected it to be. Reed won his heat but it was not easy. Alessi the holeshot kid took the holeshot with Reed closely behind him. Reed jumped too far to the left on the big triple and went of the track, but soon caught Alessi and took the win. Stewart won his heat (big surprise), but did tip it over after the start but kept the bike running and won. Time for the 250 main and Will Hann grabbed the holeshot and almost won if it wasn’t for the insanely fast Frenchman. Hann rode the best race of his career and held Pourcel off for more than half the race. Nico Izzi had third in the bag but hit the eject button on the big triple and fell from the sky. The crash was ugly looking and the initial reports are saying a broken hill. Izzi’s crash left the door open for a hard charging Stroupe to take home third. Izzi did hold on to 3rd in the championship by one point over Wharton.

The Goat Time for the main event! The holeshot went to…… Alessi of course, but Chad took the lead by the time they hit the triple with Stewart in 3rd. Soon Stewart would quickly pass Alessi and put on a charge for the lead. Reed was riding an AWESOME race in this brand new hotrod thor gear and was gaping the number 7 for a bit. I could have thrown a blanket over the top two as they were neck and neck for the first 13 laps. Stewart was taking a outside line after the start and gaining on Chad every lap until he made the pass their. Reed quickly got the lead back after the big triple but Stewart took it back in the rhythm section and that was all she wrote. Stewart won, Chad got second and Windham got his 2nd podium of the season. Reed and Stewart did collide after the triple and tore Reed’s fork guard off and the two had a few words after the race. Grant, Millsap, Boni (Broken Pinky) all did not finish. J-Law took out Broc and himself and eventually pulled off the track and gave up. (what a winner) Florida must hate Grant, Daytona took him out and so did Jacksonville, what gives? The race was awesome and Stewart looks to be holding the driving wheel at this point, but he better hold it steady cause we only got three rounds left.

Windham is a super nice guy
Just hanging out with my buddy Denny!!

A Beautiful Mess

This whole mess started when I was 5 and my bicycle broke. I remember it vividly as I was in the kitchen asking my mom for a new bike when my dad over heard the conversation and volunteered to buy me a motorcycle. The next weekend we were headed to the local Honda dealer and shortly after that I was sitting on a brand new 1990 Honda Z 50. I rode that bike everyday after school and soon going around the pine trees in the front yard was just not enough. My father was a farmer and thankfully for me a motorcycle enthusiast that built me a little pee wee track on the farm. As time progressed so did my little pee track that turned into a full blown motocross track that most kids would envy. Soon my father starting riding with me and before you knew it we were both racing and having the time of our lives. Living on a farm has its advantages for a young boy who loves to ride. I was never surround by the city lights only open land and acres of possibilities. Every week the whole family would pack into the camper and go racing. I can remember dreaming of being the next “McGrath” and riding till the sun went down with my dad and cousin Gannon. Every summer my family would take a vacation to an outdoor national like Ohio, Michigan, Maryland, etc…. Racing was my life and it brought us as a family closer and gave my father and I something we both enjoyed. After eight years of racing and too many broken arms it was time to move on. I just turned sixteen had wheels under my feet and suddenly girls where on my mind instead of checkered flags. I still follow the sport just as closely as I did when I raced. The passion I have for the sport of motocross and supercross has giving me something to look forward to as each new season brings a new challenge. This passed weekend at the Jacksonville supercross I was able to meet my hero Carmichael and chat with Windham and Reynard for a bit. I was in a hotel full of riders, mechanics and managers and to them this just another weekend at the track but to me it was so much more. I’m a fan at best and hopefully my son will be a fan and we can start this whole mess over again.