AMA MX Race Report: Round 4 at High Point

 


MT. MORRIS, Pa. (June 16, 2008) – While Mother Nature put a damper on Saturday’s activities, Sunday went off without a hitch at High Point Raceway. Abundant sunshine welcomed the Father’s Day crowd for the Kawasaki/Monster Energy Motocross National Presented by Centra Bank. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s James Stewart and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto continued their dominance in round four of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship Presented by FMF.






Good Father’s Day Crowd at High Point Raceway – Credit Carl Stone.


The track was prepped superbly after a night of heavy rain. In AMA Motocross Lites moto one, the capacity crowd saw MDK/KTM rider Martin Davalos grab his first BTOSports.com Holeshot Award of the season and led the pack around for the first lap. He was chased by Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Nico Izzi and Geico Powersports Honda’s Jake Weimer. Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, second in the series standings, went down on the first lap and picked up in 36th. He was up to 16th at the end of the first lap. Series leader, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto was buried in the pack a little bit but got by MDK/KTM’s Ryan Sipes in the back corner before the triple camel-back jump. On the second lap, coming out of the famed “Bradshaw Boulevard,” there was a section of whoops in which Villopoto wasted no time in passing Izzi and Davalos, blowing by them in this section. At the end of the second lap, Villopoto was now in the lead and began pulling away. Weimer lost the front end of his Honda on lap two and dropped back two spots. On lap three, Davalos started making some mistakes in the turns and fell back to sixth. Boost Mobile/Yamaha of Troy’s Jason Lawrence was on the move to the front and by lap five he improved from eighth to fourth. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe was also a victim of a bad start and was following Lawrence up through the pack. Metcalfe and Dungey were charging and while Dungey was working on Lawrence, the two riders collided before the tunnel jump with Dungey going down. Villopoto was long gone at this point. Lawrence and Sipes began battling really hard with Sipes trying to hold off Lawrence any way he could. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Austin Stroupe was yet another rider that was way back in the beginning. He would eventually finish a credible ninth. Weimer would also manage to find his way by Izzi on one of the many tricky off-camber sections. Villopoto went on to grab the win while Weimer finished a career-best second. Izzi also notched his career-best finish with a third. Lawrence and Sipes rounded out the top five.






Ryan Villopoto – Credit Carl Stone.


As the premier AMA Motocross class rocketed out of the gates, Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Mike Alessi jetted out to one of his now-patented BTOSports.com Holeshot Awards. Alessi would be followed by Monster Energy Kawasaki’s James Stewart and his teammate Tim Ferry down the downhill double section off the start. Stewart has been the dominate rider so far this year, winning every moto and he wasted no time going by Alessi half-way through lap one. Redux Beverages/Brawndo Honda’s Ryan Clark was running fourth for the first lap and looking to turn his luck around. Red Bull Honda’s Davi Millsaps was the one to watch on the second lap, going from sixth to fourth. His teammate Andrew Short was in chase early on. Tuf Powersports Yamaha privateer Sean Hamblin was the beneficiary of a good start and was in the top ten. Suzuki City Biloxi MS/OTSFF/Rockstar Energy Drink Suzuki’s Cody Cooper was way back and had his work cut out for him in this moto. Stewart would begin to stretch his lead more and more every time around and at one point he had over 40 seconds on second place. Millsaps closed up the gap between him and Ferry and on the uphill whoops he was able to get a little better drive than Ferry and passed the Kawasaki rider over the finish line tabletop. Cooper was up to 14th around the midway point and Moto XXX Honda’s Jeff Alessi was also putting in a good showing in ninth. MDK KTM’s Nick Wey had a good ride in the moto, coming from 13th to seventh. The race order stayed the same for the rest of the moto with Stewart taking his seventh win in a row. Alessi came home second while Millsaps rounded out the podium. Ferry and Short finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Cooper would finish a remarkable 10th as Hamblin was top privateer in sixth.






James Stewart – Credit Carl Stone.


Motosport/Xtreme/Kawasaki’s Andrew McFarlane grabbed a hard-earned BTOSports.com Holeshot Award in the AMA Motocross Lites final moto. First moto winner Villopoto showed everyone why he has been the dominant rider this year passing McFarlane over the triple camelback jump, quickly motoring away. McFarlane would fade to finish 13th in the second moto. After a career best moto one, Izzi had a terrible start and would have to fight his way up through the pack, eventually finishing 15th. Lawrence would get by McFarlane early on in the second lap when he passed the Kawasaki rider going into the downhill step down. Davalos was also up front again but unfortunately would suffer a big crash on a double jump on lap 10 and dropped out of the race. Lawrence was trying his hardest to reel in Villopoto but on lap four Lawrence’s experienced bike troubles and his day would end. Dungey showed that he was probably the second fastest rider on this day when he caught back up to Stroupe. The two youngsters had a spirited battle with Dungey getting Stroupe on lap six. Metcalfe moved up to fourth. Last week’s fifth place finisher, Motosport/Xtreme/Kawasaki’s Tommy Hahn would exit the race with a mechanical problem. The running order stayed the same for the rest of the race with Villopoto well out in front, Dungey in second and Austin Stroupe in third. Villopoto, Weimer, and Dungey finished 1-2-3 on the podium.






AMA Motocross Lites Podium – Credit Carl Stone.


In the final moto for AMA Motocross, Alessi would once again grab the BTOSports.com Holeshot Award, his fourth in a row, and attempt to break Stewarts’ stranglehold on the series. Alessi would actually lead the first lap before Stewart could work his way past in the switchbacks on the far hillside. Alessi would even briefly pass Stewart during the lap but was quickly re-passed. Cooper ran third in the opening laps followed by Millsaps and Short. The Honda riders would pass Cooper early on lap two and soon Cooper fell into the grasp of Ferry. Factory Yamaha’s Josh Hill finally got a good start and was running eighth behind Wey, moving forward. Hill would score his first top-ten finish of the season by the end of the moto, finishing sixth. Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Michael Byrne would suffer a bad start and was back in the pack. Ferry was all over Short and passed the Honda rider for the second time in one of the back hillside turns. The top five was now set with Stewart, Alessi, Millsaps, Ferry and Short all comfortable in their positions. Suzuki City Biloxi MS/OTSFF/Rockstar Energy Drink Suzuki’s Jarred Browne would work his way up to a season best 10th place in this moto while Spike Hardcore Energy Yamaha’s Gavin Gracyk would finish 11th. Gracyk’s teammate Josh Summey would not be as fortunate as he swapped wildly over a double jump and went down hard, unable to finish the moto. The finishing order was Stewart, with another dominating victory, Alessi, Millsaps, Ferry and Short. This would also be the overall placing on the day.






James Stewart – Credit Carl Stone.


Quotes:

Davi Millsaps, Red Bull Honda, AMA Motocross, Third Overall

“This weekend off I think is going to help me a lot. Take a little break and hopefully recover. I’m just going to take a break from racing. I’m just kind of worn out. I’ll take this week to ride hard, take Saturday and Sunday off, then ride hard Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It’ll be good because I’m going to push really hard and hopefully come to Colorado ready. In the first moto, I just saw a lot of dirt flying at me for a lot of laps. I ended up going into third. In the second moto I got a good start and finished third. Everything went good today and the track was really good. The last couple tracks haven’t been very good , but this one was.”



Mike Alessi, Rockstar/Makita Suzuki, AMA Motocross, Second Overall

“Each week, I’m getting a little faster. I’m trying to run up front, but otherwise I’m just riding my own race. I don’t really get that tired. My hand has healed up nicely over the last week. If you look at it, (James Stewart) is only a (little) faster than me. Its not that much, but in a 35-minute moto if he decides to take a chance in this turn or on this straight then that could be a second and a half, which he does every lap. I’m not out of my league. More than anything I just ride my own race, try my best, and go out and have fun.”



James Stewart, Monster Energy Kawasaki, AMA Motocross, Overall Winner

“I had a good line in the first moto (for the holeshot), but (Mike Alessi) had a better angle. In the second moto, Davi (Millsaps) just beat me to the line. I just want to stay up. If I get a good start then I have a chance. I was just happy to make it out of this weekend. My record here isn’t too good, I’ve always struggled here. The Coombs family and John Ayers did a great job in getting the track ready. The changes to the track were awesome. This is so far the best track of the year and I also think it was safest track. I had fun today and I’ve had fun all year. The key (for me) is to take it easy the first couple laps and then get on it. I’m looking forward to going to Colorado, just for some kind of change (with the night race).”






AMA Motocross Podium – Credit Carl Stone.


Ryan Dungey, Rockstar/Makita Suzuki, AMA Motocross Lites, Third Overall

“In the first moto, I got clipped (in the first turn) and went down. I was probably like dead last, but I just tried my best to not get in over my head. I came up to fifth and passed (Jason) Lawrence. When I got by him it was in an awkward position. A lapper was in the way so when I cut outside he got into me and took me out. Kind of my fault, but all I could do was battle back and I got to sixth. Overall I felt it was a good ride. I felt good today, I really did throughout the whole moto. I was battling with (Austin) Stroupe and he was able to get around me, so I just started to follow him and I learned some of his lines that really helped me out. “



Jake Weimer, Geico Powersports Honda, AMA Motocross Lites, Second Overall

“I like this track. It’s only the second time I’ve been here, but I was excited to come back. It’s pretty muddy and for some reason I do well, and I don’t really do well when there’s ruts. I just felt good out there on the track. It was fun. In the second moto I didn’t get quite as good a start. But the first couple laps I always ride a little bit tight and I seem to get a little bit better towards the middle of the moto. Brett (Metcalfe) was behind me and pushing really hard. He got around me and I kind of just followed him through till the end. There wasn’t really a whole lot of battling going on but we were definitely close the whole time. The biggest thing for me is believing in myself basically. I think that I’m a lot better than I really think I am, so I tend to underestimate myself a lot. I feel like I need to be up front. That’s the spot where I should be and I’ve been working on that the last couple weeks.”



Ryan Villopoto, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki, AMA Motocross Lites, Overall Winner

“Getting the holeshot helps out a lot, But for me if I get a bad start I’m comfortable in pushing my own pace. I think the track was a way better racetrack this year. It was open and you could run with two or three guys. I liked what they had this year, except for the rain we had (Saturday), but other than that it was good. (The track crew) worked hard to push all of the (bad) dirt off. I have a little bit more (points lead) than last year, but (last year) I had a bad finish and was down. It’s going to take more than (what I’ve done this year). Ryan is one of the fastest guys out there so I gotta keep my eye, on him and run that pace.”

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