Race Day

	Brittney George, Miss Supercross 2006 was on hand training for the 2006 season Photo: Carl Stone

Round Three of the AMA FMF Outdoor National Series would be a true test for every rider brave enough to test the deep sands of Southwick. "The Wick" is known for its horsepower-robbing deep sand that gets rougher and tougher throughout the day. Smooth straights end up with whoops the size of Volkswagen's after packs of professional riders on four-stroke tractors make enough passes. Some parts of the track get wider as riders continually search for a smooth line. Other parts get narrower because there is only one good line. The track changes from lap to lap, so the rider who is best able to choose good lines, or make good lines will have the advantage.

The Wick is a place that favors sand-specialists. In the past this has meant that local riders have had a fighting chance. Because many of the current top racers now make their homes and training grounds in Florida, this is not as much of a factor today. Unless you consider the fact that two of the "locals" are veteran past-champions John Dowd and Doug Henry, both of which are perennial favorites at The Wick.

Team Henry out for a Sunday ride Photo: Karl Ockert

John Dowd has won twice at Southwick and is on his farewell tour. At age 39, and rapidly approaching 40, his results so far in the 2005 AMA Outdoor Motocross Season have been very impressive. He will surely be giving it his all for a chance at a win in front of his home crowd. Doug Henry has made it a habit to show up for the Southwick National and is always a threat. If his results in the one GNCC that he ran earlier in the year are any indication (he won in Florida, in the sand), then he can surely be considered a threat for at least a top ten finish.

This year the heat and humidity at Southwick will definitely be a factor. Saturday practice was a real eye opener for the uninitiated. With temperatures hovering in the 90's and humidity in the 90% range the riders were coming off of the track after Pro Practice looking like they had been swimming instead of riding motorcycles.

	John Dowd showing everyone exactly how hot it was at Southwick Photo: Karl Ockert

The fans showed up in droves to stand at the fences at Motocross 338. With the temperature and humidity it might more aptly be termed the gates of hell, but everyone was there to see their hometown heroes do battle with the best in the AMA.

The other buzz was, of course, the battle between Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael and Kawasaki's James Stewart. Nobody had forgotten about what had happened two weeks previously at High Point, where Bubba was the first rider in a long time to actually challenge RC on an outdoor track. The hope was that this would be repeated in the deep sands of Southwick and many a bench-racing session could be heard debating whether the 2-stroke of Stewart was at a disadvantage to the 4-stroke of Carmichael.

RC was Mr. 100 at Southwick celebrating his 100th consecutive Outdoor National Start Photo: Carl Stone

Carmichael came into Southwick with four straight Outdoor National victories under his belt and is always a favorite in the sand. But, with riders like James Stewart, Chad Reed and Tim Ferry living and training in the sands of Florida it wouldn't be a walk in the park for RC. The conditions at Southwick would be the ultimate test of fitness and preparedness. The winner wouldn't be the guy who could go the fastest, but the guy who could maintain the best speed for 30 minutes plus 2 laps in this sweltering heat.

Then there was the 125 class, where young Mike Alessi is making his presence known. There was plenty of buzz about his High Point battle with Mike Brown and everyone was hoping for the return of Grant Langston. With these three riders snapping at each other's heals, and a packed field of other riders capable of challenging for a win, it would surely be a day to remember.

The 125 class at Southwick has also been known for epic struggle. This is where Craig Anderson came out of nowhere to win two years ago. It is also where Ryan Hughes rode with a broken leg, and Grant Langston rode with a separated shoulder and Mike Brown rode with only one grip. This is the place for Iron Men.

125 Moto 1

Before the start of 125 Moto 1, the track was groomed to perfection. This was the last time today that it would look like anything other than a torture chamber. In a matter of just a few laps the ruts would be deep, the whoops would start to develop and the sand would be thrown across everything within 60 feet of the track.

	Did somebody say Pro Circuit? Photo: Carl Stone

The question about whether Langston would make the event was answered during the 125 sighting lap. Langston had made it on to the track and would at least make the start. What was still unknown was whether he would do what he had done at High Point and just run a few laps, or whether his ankle had healed sufficiently to allow him take a real shot at The Wick.

As the riders lined up at the gate and the 30 second board went up, everyone was on their toes. The deep sand at Southwick changes everything, so it was anybody's guess who would pull the holeshot. As the gate dropped it was the number 66 Amsoil Chaparral Honda of Tommy Hahn who led into the first turn. On his tail were thirty-nine of the fastest 125 riders on the planet. Hahn wouldn't hold his position for long as Mike Alessi pulled his KTM by Hahn and started to try and gap the field.

Ivan Tedesco would follow Alessi by Hahn and would stay within striking distance of Alessi for the next five laps. Alessi and Tedesco would be followed by Ryan Mills, Josh Grant, Tommy Hahn, Grant Langston and Mike Brown at the end of the first lap. Also impressive in his first Professional AMA race was Jason Lawrence, who would cross the line in tenth after the first lap.

	Mike Alessi making it look effortless Photo: Hal Kennedy

As the race wore on Alessi continued to slowly increase his gap over Ivan Tedesco by a fraction of a second per lap. The real story was further back in the field as it quickly became apparent that Langston was here to stay. Langston brought Brown with him through the field, slowly gaining on Tedesco as each lap clicked by. Further back in the pack Ryan Hughes was doing the same thing with Jason Lawrence as both slowly made their way up through the pack. And even further back still was Broc Hepler, who had gotten a mid-pack start, but was steadily gaining on the front runners.

By the fifth lap the lead pack was a freight train and there were very few changes of

position through the tenth lap. On lap eleven the lead pack began to encounter lapped traffic and the field started to change. Langston slowly caught Tedesco and Brown was close behind. When the two-card came out, Langston took this as a sign and made his way around Ivan by holding it pinned through the deep, sandy Southwick berms. On the last lap Brown would do the same.

In the end Mike Alessi had stretched his lead to over sixteen seconds. Jason Lawrence would hold on for a seventh place finish in his first Outdoor national.

One of the most interesting statistics would be the number of actual finishers for 125 Moto 1. Of the starting group of forty riders, only 25 would survive the heat and humidity and make it all of the way through the Moto. This would be a sign of things to come.

250 Moto 1

This was the show that everyone came to see. Local heroes Doug Henry and John Dowd going up against Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Chad Reed, Kevin Windham, David Vuillemin, Tim Ferry and a host of others. All eyes were on the starting gate as the 30 second board dropped sideways.

Dowd knows his way around The Wick Photo: Hal Kennedy

As the gate dropped and the bikes roared off of the line it was quickly apparent that things were going to be a little bit different today. Instead of the usual #4 Suzuki of Ricky Carmichael at the front of the pack, it was the #16 Suzuki of John Dowd. Dowd would take the holeshot as the crowd went into full-tilt frenzy mode at seeing one of their local boys in the lead. Meanwhile, Carmichael had pulled an uncharacteristic start in around tenth position and Stewart was even further back, while David Vuillemin and Tim Ferry had both gone down in a huge pileup. With all of the confusion at the start and Dowd quickly getting passed by both Kevin Windham and Chad Reed, the crowd settled in to see what would happen next.

At the end of the first lap it was Windham, Reed, Dowd, Carmichael and Stewart in that order. RC was hot on Dowd's tail and the two began to dice back and forth. After a couple of back and forth moves RC blew past Dowd and was immediately on the rear tire of Reed. Stewart then took up position behind Dowd and started to make his move. Dowd would do his best to hold off Stewart.

While Dowd was holding off Stewart, RC found a way to slide past Windham in a sweeper and take the lead, so at the end of the second lap it was RC, Windham, Reed, Dowd and Stewart.

As the third lap got underway Windham would falter and lose two positions while Stewart would finally get past Dowd and start working on Reed. Carmichael, with a clear track ahead began to do what he is famous for and sprint away from the pack. At the end of the third lap it would be Carmichael, Reed, Stewart, Windham and Dowd.

	RC at the moment when his Moto winning streak ended Photo: Carl Stone

On the fourth lap RC's sprint came to an end as he wadded at the bottom of a choppy downhill and couldn't immediately get the bike restarted. The lead pack would pass him by along with Ernesto Fonseca. Reed, who had inherited the lead, continued to hold off Stewart and show his true speed.

RC would quickly catch and pass Fonseca, but the lead pack had a gap on him that he would need to make up. The front running order stayed the same until lap seven when Windham would get by Stewart, who was slowing down and starting to show signs of something being wrong. Further back in the pack Vuillemin and Ferry had made their way up to 12th and 15th respectively, while local favorite Doug Henry, who had been running a solid 12th fell back to 13th.

On lap nine RC finally caught up to Dowd. As he set his sights on Stewart and everyone got ready to watch the rematch from High Point, Stewart's problems had finally caught up with him and he was forced to pull off of the track. This left Carmichael with a clear shot at Windham and he would get past K-Dub on the next lap. Meanwhile, Chad Reed had taken the advantage and had put lappers between himself and Carmichael.

Reed roosting the field in 250 Moto 1 Photo: Carl Stone

While Carmichael and Reed traded fast lap times, Carmichael was never able to close the gap and Reed came home with his first 250 class Outdoor National victory. Not only had he accomplished something that he had been working towards for two years, but he had also broken RC's win streak that had been running since August of 2003. Finally there was somebody different at the top of the podium. Gone was another perfect season for Carmichael.

While RC was doing everything in his power to try and catch Reed, Dowd had passed Windham and had held on for third. This left Windham in fourth, Vuillemin had made his way up to fifth and Doug Henry had followed him through the pack to finish sixth.

As with the 125 class, the field of 40 starters in the 250 class had yielded only 26 finishers as the heat and humidity continued to take their toll.

125 Moto 2

As 125 Moto 2 came to the line, all eyes were once again on Mike Alessi, who is slowly living up to his early hype. As the gate dropped Alessi once again was leading the pack into the first turn. This would be short lived as he would lose it in the first turn and hand over the lead to Billy Laninovich, who was closely followed by Ivan Tedesco. Alessi's former mini-bike rival Davey Millsaps would get a better start in Moto 2, but would also go down before the end of the first lap.

	Langston with his good leg out Photo: Carl Stone

At the end of the first lap it would be Laninovich, Tedesco, Langston, Kelly Smith, Mike Brown and Mike Alessi in that order. In lap two Tedesco would get past Laninovich and Langston would start applying pressure. Behind this pack were Alessi, Matt Walker, Kelly Smith, Ryan Hughes and Tommy Hahn. Further back, Jason Lawrence was making another good show of it and had moved up to 12th by the end of the second lap.

As the lead pack disappeared around the backside of the track it would be Mike Alessi's turn at misfortune. It seems that he clipped a stack of tires on the side of the track, which had popped his shoulder out. Somehow the flagger in that section didn't notice Alessi stuck there under his bike and he ended up pinned for about twenty seconds. Alessi showed true grit when finally freed by popping his shoulder back in and getting back on the bike, but would only make it to the end of the lap before having to pull off.

By the fifth lap things had begun to settle out as Langston and Brown had made their way past Laninovich. Behind them Matt Walker, Josh Grant and Ryan Hughes were also making their way to the front.

	The Zulu Warrior back on top Photo: Carl Stone

Jason Lawrence had also made his way up through the pack and was running a solid 8th at the end of lap seven, but would be forced to retire on the ninth lap. As the laps clicked off Langston continued to close on Tedesco. While the field had sorted itself out, the top ten riders were all running within 23 seconds of each other.

On the tenth lap, Langston finally got by Tedesco and Hughes had made his way up to 4th. At the end of lap ten it was Langston, Tedesco, Brown, Hughes, Josh Grant, Matt Walker, Kelly Smith, Tommy Hahn, Ryan Mills and Billy Laninovich in the top ten. This put two of the oldest riders in the class in the top four, definitely a day for the veterans.

As the 125 Moto 2 ground down to its end things would remain pretty stable, other than Ryan Hughes and Josh Grant getting past Mike Brown in the last few laps. At the end of 125 Moto 2 it would be Grant Langston coming home with the victory, followed by Hughes, Josh Grant, Brown and Tedesco. Kelly Smith held on for a sixth place finish and Tommy Hahn had one of his best performances to date coming in for seventh.

250 Moto 2

	J-Mack Scrub? Photo: Hal Kennedy

The big question leading up to 250 Moto 2 was whether or not Stewart would make it to the starting line. Nobody was sure what had happened to him in Moto 1 and everyone was thinking back to Hangtown where Bubba had dropped out of the race due to feeling light-headed after a hard practice crash. Would the RC/Bubba battle that everyone had finally gotten to see at High Point happen here at Southwick, or would the disappointment of Hangtown be repeated once again?

Unfortunately, Stewart never made it to the starting gate for 250 Moto 2, so the battle would have to wait. Now everyone was looking to Chad Reed to step it up again like he had done in Moto 1 and run with RC.

If this wasn't bad enough, the sky had darkened dramatically and it appeared that heavy rains were imminent. The track crew even covered the starting pad in preparation for rain and to preserve whatever traction they could for the start of the second 250 Moto. Thankfully the rain held off and the 250 class was able to line up on a dry starting pad.

Doug Henry showing the kids how to ride a 250 2-stroke in the sand Photo: Carl Stone

As the gate dropped on 250 Moto 2 it was once again John Dowd with the holeshot. Dowd would manage to hold off Reed and Windham through the first lap. RC had his own troubles, having gotten a 12th place start, and quickly worked his way through the field to come across the line in 4th at the end of lap one.

On lap two, Reed had to work his way past Dowd, who wasn't giving up a position without a fight. Meanwhile, RC had managed to get past Windham for 3rd. Further back in the lead pack Nick Wey, David Vuillemin, Doug Henry and Tim Ferry were following closely to one another and were all working on Jeff Dement, who was having his best ride to date since returning from Europe.

	RC got a taste of Reed's roost in both motos Photo: Carl Stone

As lap three began all eyes were at the front of the pack as Carmichael worked his way past Dowd and set his sights on Reed. Reed was looking back, trying to find Carmichael and Carmichael was closing quickly. As RC closed on Reed, he began taking different lines in order to get out of Reed's roost. RC stalked Reed through a couple of turns, and then found a way to jump past Reed and take the lead.

Reed would continue to follow closely on RC's tail for the next two laps, but then Carmichael started to build a gap and it was all over from there. As the laps wore on RC would continue to increase his lead and the top four would remain RC, Reed, Dowd and Windham right up to the end of the Moto.

Further back in the pack, Nick Wey, Tim Ferry and Doug Henry would battle back and forth and trade positions. At the end it was Wey and Henry who would come out victorious as Ferry was forced to drop out two laps from the finish.

Wrap-Up

	Hughes with 3rd Place Overall trophy and ready to ride another ten laps Photo: Carl Stone

The sands of Southwick have always served up surprises and this year was no different. In the 250 class Ricky Carmichael's Moto win streak had finally been broken, although he was able to hold on for the overall victory. The local veterans John Dowd and Doug Henry had both shown the youngsters what training and preparation are all about, in a race where nearly half the starting field from Moto 1 either didn't start or didn't finish Moto 2

In the 125 class Grant Langston had shown everybody how tough he is by overcoming an ankle injury and a brutal practice crash to emerge victorious on the day. Mike Alessi had also shown his mettle by attempting to ride with serious pain from his shoulder. At the end of the day, it was the veterans in the class who had shown themselves to be true champions, just as in the 250 class.

The battle that never was Photo: Karl Ockert

Will the heat and humidity continue to play havoc on both classes? Will James Stewart's problems get properly diagnosed and solved? Will Alessi be back and ready for action? Will Langston be able to get past Brown in the points standings? The internet chat rooms are buzzing.