Glen Helen Saturday

Internet rumors that Chad Reed would join the last national of 2007 at Glen Helen were bogus, but Mike Brown did make an appearance and was 5th fastest Saturday.

The best times Saturday were posted by Ferry in MX, and Villopoto in Lites. The MX top ten were:

Timmy Ferry, Largo, Fla., Kawasaki, 2:33.207
Grant Langston, Clermont, Fla., Yamaha, 2:33.448
Josh Hill, Yoncalla, Wash., Yamaha, 2:34.646
Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM, 2:34.975
Mike Brown, Johnson City, Tenn., Honda, 2:35.816
Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 2:36.211
Kevin Rookstool, Klamath Falls, Ore., Honda, 2:36.418
Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda, 2:36.481
Michael Lapaglia Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha, 2:36.955
Cale Wallace, Walnut, Calif., Honda, 2:36.960

With the MX title chase so close, it never hurts to have as many names as possible on the track if you can. Yamaha's strategy to put Josh Hill in MX paid off big last weekend when Hill passed Short in moto 2, knocking him back 2 points to benefit Langston. And to make it worse, he rode the last few laps ahead of Short "mooning" him, since his gear wasn't staying on!

Tedesco crashed out of the first practice and will miss tomorrow, so that's it for his time at Suzuki.

The Lites top ten:

Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki, 2:34.450
Austin Stroupe, Lincolnton, N.C., Kawasaki, 2:35.382
Brett Metcalfe, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki, 2:35.459
Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Honda, 2:36.349
Ben Townley, Tallahassee, Fla., Kawasaki, 2:36.658
Jake Moss, Corona, Calif., Yamaha, 2:36.948
Trey Canard, Elk City, Okla., Honda, 2:37.096
Broc Hepler, Kittanning, Pa., Yamaha, 2:37.276
Thomas Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Honda, 2:37.335
Jake Weimer, Rupert, Id., Honda, 2:37.980
Thomas Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Honda, 2:17.732

Villopoto is going into the last round with the points advantage over Townley, but those two are so far ahead, no one else has a chance even if both stayed home. Villopoto has put together his second motos in the latter half of the season and made less mistakes.

Some other buzz:

-Millsaps was at Motobowl and his inner ear problem is cleared up, but he's not racing yet.
-Stewart's knee is much better than expected, and his recovery time is more like a month, instead of 4-6 months. A lot of people were assuming his injury was an ACL, but it doesn't look like that was the case. He might even make the US Open but they are not pushing him.
-Kyle Lewis is retiring after this season, so Glen Helen is his last pro national.
-Langston made the switch to MSR gear and Bell Helmets. This must be his season to change everything. A couple weeks ago he signed on with Monster Energy too.

Motobowl 2007!

Where did you get the idea this was a Monster event?


Welcome to the Fourth Annual WMXF Motobowl presented by Monster Energy, aka http://www.wmxf.org/
What makes this event cool is the riders and attached people really do get behind it and have a relaxing night mixing it up with fans. Half of them suck at bowling so they just laugh it off. Well except Pingree. He was like really bad. At Motobowl you just forget half your game and wander from lane to lane anyway. Fans are chatting and posing with Erin and Leticia, and all of the MX class contenders, Langston, Short, Ferry, and Alessi, KW - all were there, and Millsaps, and Villopoto, Mitch Payton, plus lots of hotties :) . It was more fun than a track walk.


Even Jeff Ward was there.


All the championship contenders in MX were there.


Sorby, Beeker, and Tedesco.


Ferry has style.


Lots of cool stuff to bid on.


"You want to buy a raffle ticket, don't you?" OK, whatever, here's $5, can I get a hug too?


How did I get mixed in with such a fast crowd?



Leticia and Little D.


Hey check it out, it's Matthew, Mototalk's favorite jr photohound. "Here kid, take some raffle tickets and pay attention, you might win a hat or something.."


Ashley Fiolek, WMA superstar.


DV12 is back in the US, and he's with his son David Li.


Some racing heavy duties - Bruce Stjernstrom, Dave Gowland, and Mitch Payton.


Dana K messing with Paul Lindsey. Dana K is giving our man Matthew $1 for every pin he knocks down...


NHRA drag racer Ron Capps is a Roger DeCoster fan!





Silent Auction tables were full.



Young Albertyn.


Getting a picture with Erin.


Millsaps ear is doing OK, but he's not racing any time soon.


Sel and Tortelli.


What's that all about?


Nice going! Matthew scores $50 from DanaK, then something called 50-50 with the raffle tickets! That's another $450, now the kid is rich. OK, next time I pass a slot machine, I am putting in a $20 to score big and charge it to my karma card....


Amy Albertyn and their youngest.


KW had style, but sytle isn't everything. He did better than Pingree though. :)

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!"