August 20, 2008
MILLVILLE, Minn. – Every year at the Millville round of the AMA National Motocross Championship, the newest and brightest stars make their debuts, up from the amateur ranks at the previous week’s Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Championships, and into the pro class.
Last year, that rider for the GEICO Powersports Honda team was Trey Canard. Canard finished fourth in the second moto at Millville last year before going on to win the Lites East Supercross Championship. He’s now out with a broken femur.
This year, the team’s understudy making his pro debut was 17-year-old Blake Wharton, of Pilot Point, Texas.
Coming into Millville, Wharton expected to be in the top 10, but hoped to be in the top five. In the first moto, he fell twice, but still managed to finish 10th.
“The first moto, it showed me a lot,” Wharton said. “My times were pretty good, and I was coming from the back. I went down twice but still managed a top 10. That showed me that the next moto, if I just got a good start and put myself in a good position, that good things could happen, and that’s what happened.”
In the second moto, Wharton fought his way through from a decent start near the front of the pack to run second in the early going behind local boy Ryan Dungey, and eventually finished fourth.
“I was just riding my own race out there,” Wharton said. “I just got a start in the top five and then I just rode my own race. I wasn’t trying to beat any one person or block anyone or try to pass anyone back or taking any chances. Villopoto was going his speed, which is faster than everyone, so it really made no sense for me to do anything dumb and try and block him. What I did was finish up the race in fourth, and that was one of my goals.”
The end result was fifth overall in his first attempt. With his first race out of the way, it should be onward and upward for Wharton.
Jake Weimer had a decent start in the first moto, but fell right away, meaning he had to dig out from a hole he dug for himself.
“I was actually pretty happy with the first moto – probably more happy than the second moto – because I don’t think anybody even knows, but I was in sixth or seventh and I fell down, so I had to ride through from back in like 13th up to seventh, so I honestly thought I rode pretty well,” Weimer said of his seventh-place finish. “Considering where I was, I felt I rode a pretty decent pace for being in the back and getting around people.”
The second-moto result was better, but Weimer wasn’t as happy with his ride the second time out.
“I should’ve gotten a good start, but basically I let off when I shouldn’t have in the first turn, and I ended up with a not-very-good start,” Weimer said. “But I should’ve had a good start. I had an awesome jump and I probably could’ve had the holeshot if I wasn’t such a girl. I had a good start, but I threw it away, so I don’t even know where I was, to be honest with you. The second moto, I didn’t feel that well. I had a stomach ache and I wasn’t really feeling 100 percent, but I put my head down and did the best I could, and I ended up getting into fifth and rode it out to the finish. I had a couple close calls, almost endoing over a jump, and I swapped big in the whoops one time, but it was a pretty good weekend. It was a little bit better than Washougal, and hopefully I can have another good race at Southwick.”
The end result for Weimer was a strong fourth overall, just in front of his rookie teammate.
After sitting out the last few rounds with an injured shoulder, Aussie Dan Reardon made his return at Millville. In the first moto, he ran around the tail end of the top 10 for most of the race, eventually finishing 11th.
“My start wasn’t so good, but I moved up a little bit, then moved back, then moved up,” Reardon said. “It was a yo-yo thing. I ended up finishing up in 11th. It definitely wasn’t a strong moto for me, but I’m still hurting a little bit from previous injuries, so I’m just trying to do the best I can.”
The second moto, though, saw Reardon drop out early on after a fall, and then a subsequent save, tweaked his injured shoulder.
“Over toward the back, I ended up running into another rider and went down, and where I went down was a sandy part of the track, and I couldn’t get back to my bike because of all the riders going by,” Reardon said. “Then I picked it up and started it in 39th, but I ended up nearly going down again and tweaked my shoulder again, and by that point I was pretty far back, so I just called it quits. This weekend, I’m just going to regroup and try and be as healthy as possible for Southwick.”
And finally, the top single moto of the day for the team went to Josh Grant, who grabbed third place in the opening moto. However, he had some stomach discomfort between motos and had to lay down and rest, and during the second moto, he started inside the top five, moved up to fourth, then dropped out of the race after lap six, too ill to continue.
Still, Grant is now tied with teammate Trey Canard in the championship chase and is less than 20 points out of sixth place in points, despite missing the first five rounds.
The GEICO Powersports Honda team now heads to Southwick, Massachusetts, this weekend for the penultimate round of the AMA National Motocross Championship.
Team Sponsors: GEICO Powersports, Honda, Planet Fitness, No Fear Energy, AMSOIL, Factory Connection, Torco Racing Fuels, No Fear, Shoei, Gaerne, Spy, DVS, Cycra, Dunlop, EK, Ferodo, Hinson, Ogio, One Industries, Pro Circuit, Renthal, Showa, TAG, Twin Air, and Works Connection.
Millville Lites Overall:
1. Ryan Dungey 2-1 Suz
2. Ryan Villopoto 1-2 Kaw
3. Brett Metcalfe 4-3 Kaw
4. Jake Weimer 7-5 GEICO Powersports Honda
5. Blake Wharton 10-4 GEICO Powersports Honda
6. Kyle Cunningham 5-11 Hon
7. Andrew McFarlane 9-9 Kaw
8. Wil Hahn 8-10 Yam
9. Justin Brayton 12-7 KTM
10. Josh Grant 3-34 GEICO Powersports Honda
17. Dan Reardon 11-33 GEICO Powersports Honda
AMA Lites National MX Championship (After 10 of 12 rounds):
1. Ryan Villopoto (485/7 wins)
2. Ryan Dungey (376/2 wins)
3. Brett Metcalfe (305)
4. Jake Weimer (259)
5. Nico Izzi (230)
6. Ryan Sipes (192)
7. Kyle Cunningham (174)
8. Trey Canard (173)
9. Josh Grant (173)
10. Andrew McFarlane (156)
16. Dan Reardon (126)
