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2008 AMA Outdoor Motocross Nationals - High Point

Monday, 16 June 2008

The racing action moved back East this weekend for the fourth round of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship series. The weekend at High Point Raceway started off a bit wet… On Saturday, the Lites riders were the only ones to see the track before a big thunderstorm made its presence known and cancelled the rest of the practice for the day. On Sunday, however, the weather was perfect, complete with blue skies and cool temperatures.
As for the racing action on Fathers Day, Ryan Villopoto was able to sweep both motos in convincing fashion. However, the opening Lites moto provided a lot of action, passing, and a few surprises. In the Motocross class, James Stewart was able to continue his perfect season, going 1-1 on the day and continuing to extend his points lead. There was lots of action this weekend, so go ahead and read on to see what happened this weekend in Pennsylvania.

MOTOCROSS LITES MOTO 1

As the gate dropped on the first Lites moto of the afternoon, it was Geico Powersports Honda's Jake Weimer who grabbed the holeshot with Rockstart/Makita/Suzuki pilot, Nico Izzi, close by in second place. Martin Davalos grabbed a third place start, and by the time the end of the first lap had come to a conclusion, Davalos made his way around both Izzi and Weimer to take over the lead. Meanwhile, back in the pack, Ryan Dungey, Ryan Morais, and Wil Hahn were all victims of a first turn pile up and were forced to work their way through the 40-rider field. After a couple of laps into the first moto, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit's Ryan Villopoto caught the lead pack and, over the finish line jump, flew by MDK/KTM's Davalos for the lead. However, Davalos didn't back down to the defending champion and he quickly retaliated, taking over the lead once again. Eventually, RV2 found his way around the number 577 rider and began to pull away from the rest of the field. Izzi and Weimer were also able to find their way around a quickly fading Davalos. Yamaha of Troy's Jason Lawrence was riding in the fourth spot, and he looked to be catching Weimer, who sat in third place. Weimer eventually bobbled, tipping over in a corner, but he was able to keep his bike running and maintained third place. Weimer was not only able to keep his bike running in his crash, but he also managed to put on a late moto charge to out jump Suzuki's Izzi over the finish line jump to take over the second place position. Once the checkered flag made its appearance it was Villopoto, Weimer, Izzi, Lawrence, and Ryan Sipes rounding out the top five. The overall winner at the opening round at Glen Helen, Austin Stroupe, suffered from a bad start, but he was able to break into the top-10 once the moto came to an end.

1. Ryan Villopoto
2. Jake Weimer
3. Nico Izzi
4. Jason Lawrence
5. Ryan Sipes
6. Ryan Dungey
7. Brett Metcalfe
8. Matt Goerke
9. Austin Stroupe
10. Jake Moss

MOTOCROSS MOTO 1

In the Motocross class, it was none other than holeshot master, Mike Alessi, who raced to the first turn first. Unfortunately for Alessi, Monster Energy/Kawasaki's James Stewart was right on his heels within the first lap. A bit of a surprise in the opening moto was Team Solitaire's Ryan Clark, who rode in the third position for the first lap. By the time the end of lap one was in the books, Stewart had made his way around Alessi for the lead, and Tim Ferry was able to find his way around Clark to take over the third spot. Further back in the pack, Yamaha's Joshua Hill took a soil sample and struggled to get his bike started. Once Hill was able to get his 450 fired up, he was in 40th place.

Meanwhile, up front, Red Bull Honda's Davi Millsaps was able to find his way around the veteran, Tim Ferry, to claim the final podium position. After the half waypoint, it was Stewart, Alessi, Millsaps, Ferry, and Short. Behind the lead group, Ivan Tedesco was struggling to hold onto sixth place while he and Jeff Alessi battled it out. However, the 801 machine had a big get off on one of the back sections of the High Point course, and he would finish a disappointing 16th place. Although Tedesco was able to rid a hard charging Alessi, Hot Sauce looked to run out of steam as Nick Wey and Michael Byrne made their way around the Honda rider. At the conclusion of the first 450 moto, it was Stewart, Alessi, and Millsaps who rounded out the podium.

1. James Stewart
2. Mike Alessi
3. Davi Millsaps
4. Tim Ferry
5. Andrew Short
6. Sean Hamblin
7. Nick Wey
8. Michael Byrne
9. Ivan Tedesco
10. Cody Cooper

MOTOCROSS LITES MOTO 2

Once things got underway in the second Lites moto of the day, it was Xtreme Kawasaki's Andrew McFarlane who grabbed the holeshot and the early lead. Moto one winner, Ryan Villopoto was close in toe in the second spot. However, McFarlane wasn't able to hold onto the lead for longer than half a lap as Villopoto made quick work of his Kawasaki counterpart to take over the lead. As the green flag waved, Villopoto was out front, and Jason Lawrence was able to move his way around McFarlane to take command of the second spot. Unfortunately for the Yamaha of Troy rider, J-Law was only able to hang on for four laps before he had a mechanical problem and was forced to retire from the moto early.

With the exit of Lawrence, Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki's Ryan Dungey was able to move into second place, but he had a hard charging Austin Stroupe right on his heels. Runner up the opening moto, Jake Weimer, was running in fourth place. A little bit behind Weimer was MDK/KTM's Ryan Sipes rounding out the top five. By the half waypoint, Villopoto was all but gone. His teammate, Stroupe, had a mishap while he was battling with Dungey and lost a lot of time on the 28 machine. Brett Metcalfe was slicing his way through the field, and he eventually found his way around Weimer to take over the fourth spot. As the checkered flag waved on the final Lites moto of the day, RV2 had a perfect day, sweeping both motos. Behind Villopoto were Dungey, Stroupe, Metcalfe, and Weimer rounding out the top five.

1. Ryan Villopoto
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Austin Stroupe
4. Brett Metcalfe
5. Jake Weimer
6. Ryan Sipes
7. Matt Goerke
8. Dan Reardon
9. Jake Moss
10. Justin Brayton

Motocross Lites Overall Results:

1. Ryan Villopoto 1-1
2. Jake Weimer 2-5
3. Ryan Dungey 6-2
4. Austin Stroupe 9-3
5. Brett Metcalfe 7-4
6. Ryan Sipes 5-6
7. Matt Goerke 8-7
8. Nico Izzi 3-15
9. Dan Reardon 11-8
10. Jake Moss 10-9
11. Robert Kiniry 12-11
12. Jason Lawrence 4-36
13. Justin Brayton 20-10
14 Michael Willard 15-16
15. Broc Tickle 13-19
16. Kyle Cunningham 23-12
17. Andrew McFarlane 34-13
18. Wil Hahn 21-14
19. Matt Lemoine 14-34
20. Martin Davalos 16-32

Motocross Lites Overall Points:

1. Ryan Villopoto 191
2. Ryan Dungey 163
3. Austin Stroupe 152
4. Brett Metcalfe 128
5. Jake Weimer 127
6. Jason Lawrence 113
7. Dan Reardon 76
8. Broc Tickle 66
9. Matt Goerke 63
10. Ryan Sipes 58

MOTOCROSS MOTO 2

In the final moto of the weekend, it was a repeat of the first Motocross class moto as Mike Alessi rocketed out front to claim another holeshot. Behind MA800 was Red Bull Honda's Davi Millsaps, Cody Cooper in third, and James Stewart in fourth. Stewart, however, wasted no time as he made his way around Cooper and Millsaps to move into second place. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider, once again, made quick work of Alessi, taking over the lead within two laps. Once the riders reached the half waypoint, things were looking a lot like the first moto with Stewart out front, Alessi in second, Millsaps was in third, Ferry was in fourth, and Short was in fifth place. A ways behind Short was Joshua hill, who was clearly having a much better second moto. Further back in the pack, Joe Gibbs Racing's Josh Summey had a tough go at it when he found himself on the ground and able to finish the remainder of the moto. After everything was all said and done, it was a carbon copy of the first moto. Stewart, like Villopoto, was able to make it a perfect day with yet another 1-1 performance. As the series moves to Colorado in a couple of weeks, Bubba is still undefeated and holds a comfortable 45-point lead over Alessi.

1. James Stewart
2. Mike Alessi
3. Davi Millsaps
4. Tim Ferry
5. Andrew Short
6. Josh Hill
7. Cody Cooper
8. Nick Wey
9. Sean Hamblin
10. Jared Browne

Motocross Class Overall Results:

1. James Stewart 1-1
2. Mike Alessi 2-2
3. Davi Millsaps 3-3
4. Tim Ferry 4-4
5. Andrew Short 5-5
6. Nick Wey 7-8
7. Sean Hamblin 6-9
8. Cody Cooper 10-7
9. Joshua Hill 13-6
10. Michael Byrne 8-13
11. Gavin Gracyk 12-11
12. Jared Browne 20-10
13. Ivan Tedesco 9-38
14. Jeff Alessi 16-15
15. Jimmy Albertson 15-17
16. Ryan Clark 11-24
17. Chris Blose 38-12
18. Tyler Bright 30-14
19. Justin Sipes 14-23
20. Matt Boni 24-16

Motocross Overall Points:

1. James Stewart 200
2. Mike Alessi 155
3. Tim Ferry 150
4. Davi Millsaps 150
5. Andrew Short 103
6. Michael Byrne 99
7. Ivan Tedesco 95
8. Nick Wey 86
9. Cody Cooper 82
10. Sean Hamblin 75

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