If there is one race that I truly look forward to all year long it is the Outdoor National at Glen Helen. The track at Glen Helen is one which truly separates the men from the boys. It is not as rough as some, but what it lacks in roughness it more than makes up for with the scariest hills in the history of motocross. Watching the best riders in the world come bombing down those hills lap after lap just serves to remind us mere mortals how unskilled we really are.

Glen Helen - Talladega, the biggest, widest, fastest first turn of all time.

Normally Glen Helen is the opening race of each year's Outdoor Motocross Series, but this year the AMA changed it to the last race. The race has historically been held on Mother's Day, so there has always been what seems like a smaller crowd. Because this year's event didn't have the normal Mother's Day interference the crowd definitely seemed much larger. Or could it have just been the additional heat of late summer, or the fact that the track was made wider than ever before leaving less room for spectators?

Did I mention the heat? Yes, it was hot, but in Southern California that really just means that all of the beautiful girls would be wearing even less than usual. Aside from the obvious benefits of the oppressive heat was the fact that the riders were going to have to battle more than just the hills this year.

You've Got To Prove Yourself

The new route to the top of Mt. St. Helens. Flag is at half mast for 9/11.

With both 125 and 250 titles already decided it might seem like there wasn't much on the line at Glen Helen. In fact, the dominance of Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart has been so complete in their respective classes that there had been only one moto in the entire outdoor series that wasn't dominated by one of these two riders. But even with RC going for his second perfect season, a feat which otherwise might seem impossible if not for the absolute dominance that he has shown outdoors, I don't think that anyone believed there was any chance of it not happening again. Even Carmichael was showing tremendous confidence, both in media interviews and by running the number one plate as a tribute to his team at Honda and to his motocross heroes who had proudly fought for and run their number one plates in the days before permanent numbers. Although his mechanic added a very small sticker next to the 1 that had 3+ on it, showing that superstition is still alive and well, at least among mechanics.

Yamaha Hill is more like an elevator.

Of course, fate always has something to say about things like this. And so it was that things were looking sort of ho-hum until the nasty practice crash on Saturday in which RC landed on Kevin Windham's bike where Kevin had bailed off in the front stretch. As with most crashes, it wasn't the obvious that was damaged. But the damage was done. RC ended up with a left foot and ankle that were swollen up and looked like something from the Elephant Man.

There were also lots of others that had something to prove at Glen Helen. With one of the silliest "silly seasons" in memory there were a larger than normal number of riders looking for new rides. Thanks to factory rider salaries that are rising as a result of the increased popularity of motocross there just isn't as much left in the pot after the top riders are signed to their contracts. This means more competition for the rides that are left after the dust settles. And with factories bidding for Carmichael, Stewart and Reed this year, the deep pockets are definitely a bit shallower.

Race Day:

These were the ruts before racing began.

As Sunday dawned the stage was set. Would RC overcome his injuries and tough it out to claim a second perfect season? Would Bubba suffer the Kawasaki curse on the 250F and blow up another one of those seriously pumped motors? And most of all, how would the rest of the field finish with a variety of rides on the line? Who was going to go home with bragging rights for next season?

By 7AM the good spots along the fences were already being claimed. By 8AM it was already obvious that today's temperature was going to be HOT. The sun was shining, the track was perfectly manicured, and the hills of Glen Helen were crawling with rabid motocross fans hoping to witness history in the making...or remaking as it were.

SoCal Moto Fashion.

Practice went off without any real surprises. Bubba was 4-6 seconds faster than any other rider in the 125 class. It was quickly becoming apparent that Bubba on the four stroke was going to leave the rest of the field racing for second. RC set the fast time in the 250 practice, but was followed very closely by Chad Reed. This left everyone hoping for some serious competition when the gate dropped on the 250 class.

There were very few surprises in the 125 qualifiers. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the 125 qualifiers was getting to see the latest batch of Loretta's graduates learning the ropes in the big leagues.

The 250 qualifiers showed a few surprises. In the second 250 qualifier, local hero Rusty Holland showed everyone why he is always a threat with a convincing win. Then in the 250 LCQ, the retired David Pingree came home with the win while actually being on-set for a motocross movie that was being filmed during the race. And even more surprisingly was the fourth place finisher in the 250 LCQ, offroad and desert legend Ty Davis who had decided to come play with the motocross racers in his own backyard.

125 Moto 1:

Mike Brown roosting on the 250F.

James Stewart took the lead on the first lap and that was the last time that anybody in the 125 class would see him again unless he was lapping them. I counted an eighteen second lead by the fourth lap and almost a minute on the last lap. Every time James came around for another lap, all that I could do was think about what a great season it is going to be next year when he gets to join in the fray with RC, Reed, Windham and Vuillemin. If everyone stays healthy we are in for a couple of years of what may be the best motocross and supercross racing ever. Our sport won't be the same after the next couple of seasons.

Meanwhile the battle for second through tenth raged on. Matt Walker managed to stay ahead of Broc Hepler and Davy Millsaps until the halfway point when Hepler finally got around Walker. Also in the fray were Chris Gosselaar, Danny Smith, Thomas Hahn and Greg Schnell.

Take Bubba out of the 125 class and it will be very competitive indeed. It's just another reason to look forward to next season.

250 Moto 1:

With the health of Carmichael an unknown and the possibility of an unheard-of second perfect season on the line, the start of 250 Moto 1 had everyone on their toes. Holeshot king Kyle Lewis led everyone into the first turn, but before long both Chad Reed and Ricky Carmichael had made their way past Lewis and had begun to pull away from the field. By the end of the second lap RC had pulled past Reed and begun to put a gap between himself and the rest of the field. And as the laps wore on it was obvious that nothing was going to stop Ricky from claiming this moto in his march towards a second perfect season.

This might have been your only opportunity to ever see RC wearing the number 1 jersey. This was his personal salute to Team Honda and his old-school motocross heroes.

In outdoor motocross Ricky Carmichael showed once again that he is in a class by himself. But Chad Reed, by pulling out all of the stops and somehow keeping Ricky in sight proved that between RC and the rest of the field he is also in a class by himself.

It was also interesting to note that by the end of the moto both Sebastian Tortelli and Sean Hamblin managed to finish 3rd and 4th respectively on Suzuki two-stokes. At a track like Glen Helen with massive uphills that are obviously more suited to four-stroke torque, this was truly a testament to the engineers at Suzuki who have have plugged along with two-stroke development due to their late entry into the four-stroke realm.

With Carmichael going yellow next year one can only wonder just how fast he will be on the RM250 in Supercross.

Kyle Lewis managed to hold on for fifth while Vuillemin, Fonseca, Voss, Byrne and Ryan Clark rounded out the top ten. Ty Davis managed to cross the line in 24th showing that he's still got what it takes to hang with the big boys on the motocross track.

125 Moto 2:

Bubba took the holeshot and it was all over from there. As we have all become accustomed to over the last couple of seasons, James Stewart took the lead and proceeded to put on another riding clinic. With Stewart switching to the four-stroke for Glen Helen the rest of the class had to be wondering how much more dominant he could have been had he given up the two-stroke earlier in the season.

Bubba was all alone all day.

Walker and Hepler both got good starts in 125 Moto 2, but both would be out of contention before the third lap was over.

With Hepler crashing out on the first lap and Walker and Millsaps disappearing on the third lap, the battle for second through fifth showcased some different faces. Managing to hold second for the entire moto was Ivan Tedesco. Third was a back and forth battle between Nathan Ramsey and Chris Gosselaar with Gosselaar eventually coming out on top. Kelly Smith and Mike Brown swapped blue plastic all moto in their battle for fifth with Smith eventually holding on to the fifth position for the finish. Seventh through tenth was Troy Adams, who is showing better speed with each race, Danny Smith, local boy Josh Grant and Paul Carpenter.

250 Moto 2:

This was the race that everyone came to see. Another perfect season was on the line for Ricky Carmichael. Fans were lined up five deep at the fences to see motocross history in the making (again).

RC on his way to a second perfect season.

Kyle Lewis pulled another holeshot, but his lead was short lived as RC passed him on the first uphill heading towards the top of Mount St. Helens. By the time Carmichael reached the top of Yamaha Hill there was nobody close to him. Chad Reed pushed as hard and fast as he could but was again unable to keep up with RC. Just as with Moto 1, Ricky took off and left the pack except for Chad Reed, who also left the pack but was unable to stop the 1-2 second per lap gap that Ricky was putting on him.

Kyle Lewis did manage to hold on to third up until being passed by Tortelli on lap eight and Windham on lap twelve. In the end Tortelli was able to hang on to third with K-Dub coming in fourth and Lewis in fifth. Nick Wey had one of his best finished on the season coming in sixth with Fonseca seventh, Voss eighth, newcomer Juss Laansoo ninth and Joaquim Rodriquez in tenth.

At the finish Ricky Carmichael was greeted with a huge crowd of Honda mechanics who were celebrating his second perfect season, albeit the celebration was somewhat bittersweet because this was also Carmichael's last race for Honda.

Ty Davis ended up finishing 20th in the second moto, which allowed him to join the elite list of 250 class riders who had actually scored points for the season.

Final Notes And A Look Forward To Supercross:

The 2004 Outdoor National Series was one to remember, especially if you were watching the race for second and third. While the dominance of James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael definitely adds a snooze factor, the competition for spots two through ten was harder fought than we have seen in several seasons.

2004 was a relatively injury-free year. Let's hope that this trend continues.

2004 was also the year that the two-stroke died in the 125 class, although it still appears to be going strong in the 250 class. While there was only one 125 two-stroke on the starting gate at Glen Helen, in the 250 class 10 of the top 20 finishers in Moto 1 and 8 of the top 20 finishers in Moto 2 were two-stroke 250's.

Brett Metcalfe was the only 2-stroke to qualify in the 125 class.

The lone 125 two-stroke rider was Brett Metcalfe on the Red Bull KTM. Brett deserves special mention here because of the obvious effort that he put in at Glen Helen. While being outpulled on every hill by the four-strokes, Brett was making up ground in all of the flat sections by riding like a man possessed. It was absolutely amazing to watch him come around the berm at the bottom of Mt. St. Helens after the long rutted straight. Everyone else was either cutting high at the entrance and dropping down on the inside, or coming in low and riding up to the outside. Metcalfe was the only rider railing the entire berm. Watching him reminded me of the Carmichael of old riding right on the edge. It was definitely a pleasure to watch. Now somebody please get this kid a thumper.

Reed finished second on the day and second for the season. Maybe it has something to do with all of those 2's on his bike.

Things should get very interesting in December as the next season of Supercross kicks off James Stewart will make his much anticipated debut in the 250 class where Chad Reed is set to defend his title. Ricky Carmichael will be making his return to Supercross after missing last season recovering from knee surgery. He will make his return on a new bike, the Suzuki RM 250, which judging by the results in the 2004 National Series is by far the fastest factory two-stroke on the track.

Along with Carmichael, Reed and Bubba will be Vuillemin, Windham, Fonseca, Tortelli, Byrne, Pastrana (hopefully) and a host of others ready to strut their stuff under the lights at a stadium near you. There is so much talent right now that there are guys without rides that are capable of running consistently in the top ten, if not top five. Let's hope that everything gets sorted out by January because this could be the start of several seasons of AMA Supercross and Motocross competition, the likes of which have never been seen before.