Race Day

Spring Creek MX Park in Millville, Minnesota is the home of monster whoops and the Whoop Monster. Imagine, if you will, the longest, deepest, sandiest whoop section on the entire AMA Outdoor circuit. Then add a tight sandy berm at the end of the section and add another section of brutal whoops going back the other way. Okay, now imagine a crazy guy dressed in a camouflaged gilly suit running back and forth with a chainsaw motor revved to the moon, amping up the screaming fans that line the track and pushing the riders to go faster and take just a few more chances through what is arguably the most difficult section of track in all of America. Now you have a bit of an idea what Millville is all about.

The Millville Whoop Monster Photo: Carl Stone

This year there was a new addition to the nastiest whoop section in all of motocross. Just to give the guys a little bit more motivation, a speed trap was put in place for this year's event so that everyone could see how fast the riders are going through the whoops. Basically, this amounted to a trackside radar gun, but it gave both the fans and riders a new way to look at what happens in the notorious Millville whoop section.

In addition to nasty sand whoops, there are a couple of jump sections at Millville that are notorious. The first is the Holy Schmit tabletop, named after Donny Schmit, which is the longest table in the series and has yet to be jumped in competition. The other is a triple section that was intended as a double to single until Ricky Carmichael cleared the whole thing. It is now called the RC triple.

Millville was also the home track to Donny Schmit, who succumbed to a rare disease, Aplastic Anemia, just a few years after retiring from motocross. Donny will always be remembered in this part of the world and the local AMA District continues to raise money to help fund research for Aplastic Anemia.

Carmichael pays homage to John "The Junkyard Dog" Dowd?.and he's a sponsor Photo: Carl Stone

Photo: Carl Stone

The expectation for this weekend is that it would mark the return of Kawasaki's James Stewart to competition after his high-speed crash with RC at Unadilla. Unfortunately a practice crash at Glen Helen did more damage to Bubba and he will not be racing this weekend. This comes two weeks after Yamaha's Chad Reed had a season-ending practice crash at Glen Helen. This puts two of the fastest four guys in the 250 class out of the contention and opens up the third podium position, which should result in some very good racing between the other fast guys in the class.

With Bubba and Reed out of the action there is sure to be some jockeying in the points in the next few weeks. With David Vuillemin and Ernesto Fonseca running within seven points of each other in 4th and 5th overall, there will surely be a battle to inherit 3rd place overall in the point standings to fill the slot currently held by Chad Reed.

In the 125 class, the excitement continues. Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Ivan Tedesco has become a dominant force in the last few races and has established a clear lead in the point's standings. Mike Brown, who had controlled the points through the first seven rounds, continues to slip back, but still holds on to 2nd. 3rd through 6th in points are separated by a miniscule eight points and everybody in the class seems to be having a strong season. Another poor finish by Brown could drop him out of 2nd, and a slip by Tedesco could tighten up the class standings once again. At this point in the season Tedesco is the only top-ten rider in the 125 class that has had consistent top-ten finishes in every Moto.

125 Moto 1

The start of an AMA Outdoor National is like nothing else on earth. The sound of 40 bikes pinned to the rev limiters and blasting off of the line is pure controlled chaos. The first few people through the first turn have an incredible advantage, and those unlucky enough to go down in a first turn pileup have lots of ground to make up if they have hopes of a decent finish.

Ryan Mills takes the holeshot in 125 Moto 1 Photo: Carl Stone

As 125 Moto 1 came off the line it was KTM's Ryan Mills with the holeshot. He was followed closely by Tommy Hahn, Mike Alessi and Andrew Short. Stuck back in the first turn in a huge pileup was the Suzuki of Broc Hepler. Hepler's luck continues to be bad. Once he got his bike untangled from the first turn mess, he found that his bars were bent, which would leave Hepler struggling throughout the Moto.

Josh Grant throws an impressive scrub   Photo: Carl Stone

As the lead pack made its way around the Millville circuit, Andrew Short showed that his recent showings are no fluke as he made his way from 4th to 1st before the finish line jump. At the end of the first lap it was Short, Mills, Alessi, Laninovich, Matt Walker, Ivan Tedesco, Josh Grant, Grant Langston, Jesse Casillas and Ryan Hughes in the top ten. Mike Brown had suffered another less-than-spectacular start and came around in 13th position, with the Suzuki of Davi Millsaps running 18th.

As the second lap got underway, Ivan Tedesco began to show his speed and make his move on Pro Circuit teammate Matt Walker. Tedesco got by Walker, but then bobbled, allowing Walker to retake 6th position. Further towards the front Mike Alessi made clear his desire to push towards the front by out-jumping Ryan Mills to make a pass.

Millsaps can't seem to find a good start, but continues to charge Photo: Carl Stone

Ryan Hughes, in his first race since Round 5 at Red Bud, was bitten early by a mechanical failure and had to drop out before finishing the second lap.

As things began to settle out and the running order stabilized, it was the Amsoil Chaparral Honda of Tommy Hahn that was the real surprise. First he managed to get by Ryan Mills, then he passed Mike Alessi to grab 2nd place. Hahn would manage to hold on to 2nd through the eighth lap, despite massive pressure from the KTM of Mike Alessi.

In the eighth lap it turned into a game of musical chairs as Alessi finally got back by Hahn, then the freight train of Matt Walker, Ivan Tedesco and Josh Grant all pushed past Ryan Mills. Then in lap nine, Billy Laninovich would also get past Mills.

In lap ten, Mills went down and dropped back to 8th position, while lap eleven saw Hahn suffer the same fate and drop back from 3rd to 8th. With the door open for 3rd position, Josh Grant took the opportunity and blew by both Tedesco and Walker in the whoops. While Walker did his best to keep pressure on Josh Grant, Ivan Tedesco bobbled and Laninovich took the opportunity to pick up another spot.

With all of the craziness going on from 3rd place back, both Short and Alessi were able to put some gap between themselves and the rest of the pack. Short had already established a nine second gap between himself and 2nd by the ninth lap, and he was able to keep this gap right up to the end of the Moto.

Alessi continues to improve from his early season shoulder injury Photo: Carl Stone

On the last lap Laninovich began putting massive pressure on Walker and was able to finally get by, but Walker wasn't about to settle for this and fought back. Just before the finish Walker was able to reclaim 4th place.

At the finish it was Short, Alessi, Josh Grant, Matt Walker, Billy Laninovich, Ivan Tedesco, Ryan Mills, Tommy Hahn, Jeff Alessi and Grant Langston. Mike Brown had managed an 11th place finish and Davi Millsaps had made his way up to 12th.

The Moto 1 win by Short marks the tenth different Moto winner in the 125 class this season, while the battling going on in the lead pack was enough to keep everyone on the edge of their seats. The 125 class of 2005 is perhaps the most competitive class ever in the history of AMA Outdoor Motocross.

250 Moto 1

With both Stewart and Reed out of the running in the 250 class, the top two finishers are almost a foregone conclusion. Ricky Carmichael has been nearly unstoppable this season, and unless he has some sort of mechanical problem it is unlikely that anyone is going to touch him once he finds his way to the front. This weekend, RC was nearly four seconds a lap faster than anyone else in practice, which didn't bode well for the competition.

Chris Gosselaar is adapting to his new ride Photo: Carl Stone

Kevin Windham is also in his own class this season. While he is one to two seconds slower than Carmichael each lap, he is really the only guy that has consistently run anywhere near Carmichael's speed this season. Kevin continues to improve his speed and push the edge, but Carmichael always seems to take it up another notch before Windham can catch him.

Aside from the incredible show of speed and finesse being put on by Carmichael and Windham week after week, the real show in the 250 class is now the battle for 3rd through 10th positions. While RC and KW run away with each Moto, there is some very good battling happening further back in the field, and several people are really starting to shine.

As the pack neared the first turn it was once again Ernesto Fonseca with the holeshot. Ernesto is coming off of his first 250 podium finish two weeks ago at Washougal and it is sure to bolster his confidence. Close behind Fonseca was RC, with Matt Goerke, David Vuillemin, John Dowd and Kevin Windham in tow.

Fonseca takes the drive on the outside at the start of 250 Moto 1 Photo: Carl Stone

Carmichael quickly made his way around Fonseca and began charging away from the field. Matt Goerke also managed to get by Fonseca, and then Fonseca went down and dropped back to 10th. RC was charging so hard that he was a full straightaway ahead of Goerke on the first downhill, before the first lap was even complete. RC had so much distance on second that he was able to set up and jump the Holy Schmit jump on the first lap.

As the first lap came to a close, RC had a nearly seven second lead on Goerke. Meanwhile, Kevin Windham had managed to pick his way through the field and was pressuring Goerke. KW was followed by Vuillemin, Dowd, Brad Smith, Robby Reynard, Jeff Dement, Travis Preston and Ernesto Fonseca.

Early in the second lap Windham made his way around Goerke, and as everyone suspected, Carmichael and Windham both left the rest of the field far behind, with Carmichael slowly building his gap on Windham with each passing lap.

David Viullemin was not so lucky as he went down on the second lap and ended up back in 14th position. This opened the door for Fonseca, who was charging back through the pack. Ahead of him Travis Preston was pressuring Dowd to try and take away 4th position. Preston hounded Dowd and managed to get past him on the third lap. No sooner had Preston gotten by than Dowd began feeling the pressure from Fonseca.

Fonseca looks for a way around Dowd Photo: Carl Stone

By the end of the fourth lap Fonseca had gotten by Dowd, but Dowd was not giving up and began pressuring Fonseca on the downhill sections. This would continue for the next several laps.

On the sixth lap Travis Preston was able to get past Matt Goerke, who was impressively holding his own and running at speeds that we have not seen from him before.

The real battle was further back in the pack as the riders in 8th through 11th place were running within five seconds of each other in a tight pack. This included a charging David Viullemin, who was trying to gain back positions that he had lost, as well as Michael Byrne on the Kawasaki two-stroke.

By lap eight, the battle further back had caught up to Fonseca and Dowd as Nick Wey began to pressure Dowd. This quickly became a three way battle. While Dowd and Wey swapped positions, Fonseca was unable to shake them. Wey managed to get by Dowd on the ninth lap and began to put pressure on Fonseca. Dowd slowed a bit after letting Wey by and was quickly under pressure from Vuillemin until Vuillemin did a hard swap and lost him momentum.

Travis Preston showed impressive speed in both 250 Motos Photo: Carl Stone

Fonseca continued to be pressured by Wey. Wey even cleared the RC triple in an attempt to get past Fonseca, but Fonseca continued to slam the door on Wey turn after turn. Wey continued to push the inside and finally found his way past Fonseca on lap twelve.

At this point Carmichael had a twenty second lead on Windham, who had a forty-five second lead on Preston. The gaps started to open up at this point and the top ten held steady for the last three laps.

At the finish it was Carmichael, Windham, Preston, Goerke, Wey, Fonseca, Dowd, Vuillemin, Byrne, and Kyle Lewis, who finally seems to be getting his health and equipment sorted out and is starting to show better results on the Moto XXX Honda.

125 Moto 2

With all of the tight racing in both 125 Moto 1 and 250 Moto 1 the crowd at Millville was hyped up and ready for more. 125 Moto 2 would not be a disappointment. At the start it was Mike Alessi with the holeshot. Alessi seems to be getting better each week as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury early in the season. We are finally starting to see Alessi get back to his usual ways, which are consistent good starts.

The Alessi trademark holeshot in 125 Moto 2 Photo: Carl Stone

Boost Mobile Yamaha of Troy teammates Brock Sellards and Kelly Smith were 2nd and 3rd, with Joaquim Rodriquez in 4th. Midway through the first lap Andrew Short managed to catch and pass Rodriquez, while Grant Langston, Josh Grant and Ivan Tedesco worked through the front pack.

Hepler's string of bad luck continued at Millville Photo: Carl Stone

By the end of the first lap it was Alessi, Sellards, Short, Langston, Josh Grant, Kelly Smith, Billy Laninovich, Tedesco, Carpenter and Rodriquez in the top ten. Alessi had already sprinted to a nearly six second lead while Short looked for a way around Sellards. Midway through the second lap Short got past Sellards and began tracking down Alessi. KTM's other consistent fast guy, Ryan Mills, dropped out of Moto 2 due to mechanical problems.

In lap two Langston would get past Sellards, then in lap three Tedesco would do the same. At this point Langston was also starting to put pressure on Andrew Short and both of them were gaining on Alessi by about a second and a half per lap.

Makita Suzuki's Davi Millsaps was having a much better ride in Moto 2 having come from a 13th place start and moved up to 7th by the end of the fifth lap. Further back Mike Brown was having more problems as had gone down early in the Moto and dropped all of the way back to 28th and was struggling to work his way back up. He would only make it to the end of the tenth lap before dropping out of the Moto. Suzuki's Broc Hepler continued his unlucky streak and dropped out of the Moto in the seventh lap.

Andrew Short dominated the 125 class at Millville Photo: Hal Kennedy

By the end of the sixth lap Andrew Short had caught Alessi and begun to pressure him. Alessi can be notoriously hard to pass and Mike did his best to hold off the hard-charging Short. Short repeatedly bumped Alessi's rear tire. Alessi holding up Short allowed Langston to catch them both and it turned into a three-way battle.

In the ninth lap Short had finally gotten side-by-side with Alessi and the two tore through the whoops and put some distance between themselves and Langston. As the two cleared the end of the whoops, Short was finally able to make the pass stick and began to put a gap between himself and Alessi. Langston mounted another charge and began to close on Alessi in the hill sections.

In the tenth lap Langston continued to put pressure on Alessi, but couldn't find a way around. Short took this to his advantage and opened up a nearly five second gap. In the eleventh lap it was Langston and Alessi going side-by-side through the whoops. Alessi was able to hold his position this time, but Langston found a way around on the outside several turns later.

As 125 Moto 2 wound down Langston began to closing on Short, but lappers got in his way and he was unable to get close enough to mount a real challenge.

At the finish of another barn-burner of a 125 Moto it was Short, Langston, Alessi, Josh Grant, Davi Millsaps, Tedesco, Laninovich, Kelly Smith, Matt Walker and Ryan Sipes for the top ten.

Matt Walker drops in Photo: Carl Stone

Andrew Short celebrates his first overall win Photo: Carl Stone

The 125 class continues to be incredibly competitive as Andrew Short became the 10th different person to win a Moto on the season and the 6th different person to win an overall in nine rounds.

250 Moto 2

Windham owned 2nd at Millville Photo: Carl Stone

At the end of the first lap it was RC, KW, Dowd, Fonseca, Reynard, Vuillemin, Sean Collier, Kyle Lewis, Jeff Dement and Nick Wey in the top ten. This order would hold until Dowd went down in the whoops in the third lap and lost three spots. Travis Preston was also making a charge from mid-pack and managed to find himself in 9th by the end of the third lap.

Dowd's tip-over in the whoops seemed to inspire him as he began to pressure Reynard in the next lap. Dowd eventually got past Reynard and pulled Nick Wey along with him.

Fonseca continues to impress Photo: Carl Stone

By the end of the fifth lap RC and Windham were long gone. RC had a six second lead on Windham and Windham had a nearly thirty second lead on Fonseca. While the racing at the front of the 250 class may not be all that exciting, the display of speed and ability that both Carmichael and Windham are putting on is truly something to be witnessed. They both carry an unbelievable amount of speed through all sections of the track and are consistently clearing things that are truly sketchy and put them in another class from the rest of the field.

Vuillemin almost spoiled the day for Fonseca Photo: Carl Stone

Back in the field the battle for third overall waged on. Vuillemin closed on Fonseca in the sixth lap and continued pressuring him, while Travis Preston showed his speed and continued working his way up through the pack.

As the laps clicked off, Vuillemin continued to hound Fonseca. DV would catch Fonseca, try everything possible to get by, then bobble and fall back. This happened several times until the 12th lap where Vuillemin finally found a way by. But Fonseca wasn't having any of this and pressured Vuillemin until finding a way by on the last lap.

Further back in the pack, Travis Preston had gotten by Dowd and was steadily putting pressure on Wey. Dowd gathered himself back up and battled back to retake the position from Preston, while Wey took advantage and managed to gain a small gap.

At the end of 250 Moto 2 it was RC, KW, Fonseca, Vuillemin, Wey, Dowd, Preston, Reynard, Collier and Byrne.

Wrap-Up

Fonseca makes it two 3rd overalls in a row Photo: Carl Stone

In the 250 class RC now has an 89 point lead over Kevin Windham, who has a 71 point lead over Vuillemin. So unless something terrible happens to either Carmichael or Windham the top two in this class is a foregone conclusion with three complete races to go. From third place back, however, there is still a lot of room for the standings to change.

Ernesto Fonseca has now claimed two third place overall podiums in a row and is only three points behind Vuillemin in the standings. Chad Reed holds on to fifth, but because

he is out for the season he will continue to slide. Behind Reed, Preston and Dowd are separated by only nine points.

Dowd is also receiving a lot of attention lately as it is his last full season of AMA Motocross and he is getting sweet sponsorship deals from the likes of Ricky Carmichael. It also looks like the folks on Mototalk are looking to raise money to possibly sponsor Dowd and others for a round. With all of this positive attention, Dowd has to be feeling very good about himself and should continue to be fast.

Next week we head back to New York for Round 10 at Broome-Tioga. With only three rounds left the top five guys in the 125 class are going to have to pull out all of the stops in order to have a chance to hold on to a podium finish for the season. And with third place sitting wide open in the 250 class it is anybody's guess what will happen in the next three rounds.

With the end fast approaching and Glen Helen already having taken down both Chad Reed and James Stewart in practice crashes, you would be crazy not to try and make it to see the remaining rounds in person. We are closing out an epic season and it only gets better as each round clicks off.

It seems like everybody gets their own Mule these days Photo: Carl Stone