Freestone Weekend Wrapup

Bring on the racing!


It was hot (not THAT hot), it was flat, but the first Texas National since 1987 went off big somewhere in the middle of Texas. The nearest hotels were like in the next state or something, or an hour away, but it didn't seem to matter. Sunday had a full crowd and they all seemed to be happy that AMA motocross was back in Texas..



This guy brought a shirt from the last national in Texas.



The track had big sand whoops.


The track is really spread out, so lots of places to find a spot along the fence.




Short was on fire in the first moto and checked out, and was leading the second until he cross-rutted in a turn, which cost him the overall and the points lead (that he had for about an hour).





Short's moto 2 holeshot.


BBMX mechanics want the gate for moto 2 to wait for Jason Thomas' bike to get back from a quick pit stop to do something with the steering. The 30-second board goes anyway.


WTF? As it turns out, you can't return to the pits after going to the track for a moto.


Kiwi Cody Cooper was really strong, finishing 7-6 for 5th overall!

Freestone MX - AMA Motocross Meets Texas Pride

At least there are a lot of shade trees...



Steve Matthes is not a US Senator.



The first MX national in Texas since who knows when is well under way here in Freestone Texas, conveniently located about 90 minutes south of Dallas, and 2 1/2 hrs north of Houston - but that is a short drive in Texas, your pickup barely warms up.

Pics are not uploading from here, so this update is all text.

The weather is hot but not unbearable. The Texans are saying "Heat? What heat?" The crowd is filling up pretty good as of the last practice.

The first impression a lot of people had of the track is "Troy is Back!" It's flat and hard to see. That may change once people learn where to get (writers included).

Some notes:

-Tyler Wharton makes his pro debut this weekend, on a KTM pitted next to the team semi. Based on his practice times, he is ready.
-Wil Hahn is making his pro debut.
-Kiwi Cody Cooper is here and looking very fast.
-Factory Connection is hosting Team Mexico for the MXoN at Budds in 3 weeks. The team is sending it's Lites semi, mechanics, and 3 bikes for the three riders representing Mexico! They will be totally factory.
-DeCoster said he was surprised at how many old friends from his days of racing Texas are here. Texas used to hold nationals at Rio Bravo and Lake Whitney.
-Yamaha's Josh Hill is riding 450 this weekend.
-Ryan Mills is in. Chris Gosselaar is still out (crash last weekend).
-The organization is good and a lot of effort is going into making this first national here a success. So far, so good.
-Jason Lawrence is out.
-Jake Moss is here racing for Lucas Oil.

Pro Circuit guys were the fastest three in Sunday practice. Villopoto was fastest (and his time would have been second in 450s), then Townley and Stroupe. The series is already down to either RV and Townley. RV wants to win convincingly to make next weekend less stressful, and Townley wants the points lead back.

In MX, Langston has the advantage in points (barely) and the knowledge that he does well under pressure. The mood is good at Yamaha.


Guy on left - "That's BS, you aren't quitting racing..." Guy on right - "Yeah, and you ain't leaving Mototalk either!"

Steel City - Good to the Last Lap!

The absence of Stewart and RC meant new hopes for the rest of the MX guys. The second MX moto was awesome, with the overall shifting more times than one could count. It was a three way battle between KW, Langston and Alessi for the overall.


New hat.

Langston won moto 2 and the overall, even though he went off the track once. Langston also has picked up Monster as a sponsor again.


In the press conference, KW said he didn't flip Langston off in the first moto.



KW was right, he was just pointing. :)

Ferry tangled with Jeff Alessi in the first turn and Jeff hurt his shoulder. He had to have the shoulder popped back in right at trackside. It looked painful. Ferry charged all the way to 7th.

Villopoto roosted the second moto, with a clean holeshot and he checked out. Townley fell and caught up to second. Metcalfe was third.


If you don't think that's a killer holeshot, you can just get on outa here right now...

Pro Circuit swept the podium again, and rookie Austin Stroupe was 4th overall. Wow. Pro Circuit was 1-4.


Hepler lost the overall when he fell in a turn, right in front of a group of spectators called "Camp Hepler." Oops.

Points in MX with 2 rounds to go: Langston 347, Short 345, Ferry 343, Alessi 337.


Alessi said in the press conference that Ferry needed to get his act together, but he didn't know at the time Ferry was on the ground in the first turn, tangled up with his brother Jeff.

Some notes and great rides:

-Gracyk, 8-6 for 7th overall. This guy keeps hauling!
-Yoshitaka Atsuta, 11-8 for 9th, riding under the Honda factory tent.
-Kyle Keylon, son of Kenny, in his second ever national! He rides for BBMX out of Florida.
-Nico Izzi,7-7 for 5th, his second national.
-Ryan Mills got off hard early in moto 1 while in about 16th.
-RC's mechanic Goose didn't want to attract attention by taking RC's bike to tech, so he waited until something started on the track and rushed over there hoping everyone would be watching the track instead of him. Just then his phone rang, it was RC.
-Austin Stroupe, in his first ever national, 2-12 for 4th! He had a great start in moto 1, while half the class seemed to be on the ground. In moto 2 he charged from nearly last to 12th. Amazing.
-Ryan Dungey injured his collarbone Saturday.
-Pro Circuit's other guy, Chris Gosselaar, crashed out of Saturday but will be OK.
-Trey Canard went 16-5 in his second national - 10th overall, and the first moto was charging up from a first turn pileup. His debut was Millville. That's a total of 3 rookies in the top ten in Lites.

Steel City First Motos

Quick report on moto 1s:

Lites:

A huge pileup first turn, looked like it started with Canard on the inside or Stroupe on the outside (depending who you ask). Villopoto and Townley were at the bottom and got going nearly last. Villopoto charged a little harder and took the points lead. Hepler won the moto. Rookie Stroupe led in the beginning and still finished second - wow.


MX:

Alessi started outside the doghouse and it worked. He got the holeshot, and the moto spread out with KW and Langston charging. Alessi controled just about all the laps but KW caught him and led a few. Alessi passed KW back, then Langston caught KW and they battled.

At one point something happened between them and when they got to the right hander 4 turns from the finish. KW missed the turn completely and looked over, angry at Langston and flipped him off! (edit- it just looked like it, he was pointing at him.) Then KW went through some banners and got back on the track, and they looked at each other and took off racing again. Right after the finish, after Alessi won the moto they stopped to talk it over, and both went to the podium.

Steel City Sunday - Wet Practice and No Elvis

Steel City's practice schedule was pushed back a little due to a muddy ground. The first practice was the last chance for an unexpected "Elvis" (RC)sighting, but he's not in the building.



The rumors were fun and the possibilities interesting, but it looks like the outdoors will continue on without RC or Stewart. As of this writing, Langston's practice times are fastest. The rest of the series is going to be interesting for sure.

Rumors about RC making an unexpected return started a little over a week ago, even before the news that Stewart is out were confirmed. In fact a lot went down at Suzuki, and his bike was here and ready just in case.

Steel City Preview - Stewart Confirmed Out

Kawasaki sent out a short press release this morning on James Stewart's knee, ending a long wait from fans who wanted to know if his knee injury would keep him from finishing the season. The answer - he's out. They didn't mention surgery, but it is pretty much understood he needs surgery and time to recover. The impact on supercross 2008 is unknown at this point, but at least the first race is Anaheim 1 in January and not in Canada in December.

Tim Ferry is replacing Stewart on Team USA at the MXoN in Sept, 2 weeks after the nationals wrap up at Glen Helen. Ferry was on Team USA in 2003, the year the event was held in Zolder and had a strange one 30-minute moto format.

Weather is improving rapidly for Steel City. A heat wave baked West PA until Saturday morning.

What about RC? RC is spending his Saturday at a car race in Florida, but rumors and hints about Sunday are still kicking around. The series has 6 motos to go and RC sat out a few rounds, but if he changed his mind and wanted to go for it.... wow.

A poll on Motonews asked fans what they would think if RC un-retired for 3 Steel City, and the results were: 71% were strongly in favor if him coming back for Steel City, 5% said "OK" and the rest about split between "I don't think so" and "Hell no!"

There is Monster Triple Crown money on the line for RC if he changes his mind.

Other Steel City bits:

-The track gets re-designed.
-There is an ATV National there this morning.
-There is also a WMA national this weekend.

Pre-Race Show is Up on Motocross.com

http://live.motocross.com/springcreek_preshow.php