Freestone MX - Smaller and Worse?

In its second running, the Freestone national yet again provided Texas natives a wonderful opportunity to watch, in the flesh, some of the fastest motocross riders do battle for a total of 60 minutes and four laps in each division. That is a total of 120 minutes, plus 8 laps of action, not even counting morning practice or the WMA race! So strap on your reading glasses, and start scanning from left to right, top to bottom to learn what the real Freestone race experience was like, along with some scattered perspective from your truest fan, average Joe.

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"Excuse me ma'am, but where exactly is the track?" Joe inquires to the lady behind the convenience store register.

"Go right just out here, and follow the signs" she starts, "oh! and a friendly Texas tip, use the second entrance posted."

Joe darted out the convenience store and opened the door to his truck. Just before climbing in to his lifted Ram 2500 diesel, he froze.

"Crap, I forgot my stuff!" he exclaimed to the register lady after darting back in the store. He was so smitten with excitement he forgot his drinks and ice.

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The Freestone track looked, for the most part, unchanged from the previous year, save a few minor modifications intended at fixing some of the one lined sections in its previous inaugural year. The dirt looked extremely tacky, and seemed to make some awesome ruts in the first motos: quite honestly, I think some of the race report photo's are over saturated (or something like that - or too bright) and made the dirt look somewhat hard packed, but in person it was a sandy loam that packed up well to form ruts.

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"Howdy! Welcome to Freestone, you guys need tickets for today?" asked a young man standing out in the beating sun at the track entrance.

"You know it! How much each?" asked Joe.

"35 a piece, but I'll take 40!" he replied

"Haha, I can give you a 40, but its not cash if you catch my drift" Joe states.

He leans over, removes his wallet, and carefully removes his money. He then turns and collects the trucks occupants share, and hands it to the young fellow.

"WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! THE NATIONALS BABY!" Joe shouts as he enters the premises.

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If you watched the first lites moto, you would know that RV1 is fast. But if you didn't, you missed something special. Vill-"OH my god!"-poto was riding on mission, and from what can be gathered, really enjoyed the Texas track. If you were the competition, that had to be bad news: The dominant rider on a track he likes. RV's style is completely his own, and if you pay attention, you will notice he keeps his feet on the pegs much more than other riders, rarely sticking his leg out in corners. It is unique, amazing to watch, and must require cornering balance that few other riders possess.

Austin Stroupe showed some excellent speed, but when Dungey started creeping into his picture, Stroupy made a mistake, and fell. He quickly remounted and put on a charge that had to make Mitch Payton happy, but no matter how hard he pushed, Dungey stayed a few bike lengths ahead. Those two are in for many battles to come, as in the second moto, a similar story was played out.

The Jason Lawrence Show - or is it The Jason Lawrence No Show? After reportedly nearly getting arrested the night before during the pitbike races for minor in possession/consumption along with his good buddy Josh "King of the" Hill, J-Law looked strong in the first moto, but didn't have the speed of Dungey, Stroupe, or Vill-"OH my god!"-poto.

In the second moto, J-law's sponsors couldn't have been happy, as he wrecked in the whoops and called it a day. Some might argue the Texas heat and a hang over don't go hand in hand, but there is no credibility to those statements. While Jason - the law - Lawrence may make his own rules, Texas law isn't so lenient on its policies, and there still may be some fall out from his little debacle.

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"WOW! YOU SEE THAT?! Vill-"OH my god!"-poto NEVER SHUT OFF THAT WHOLE SWEEPER!" Joe yelled over the thundering bikes. "I DON"T KNOW HOW HE DID THAT!? HE MAKES ME LOOK LIKE I NEED TRAINING WHEELS!" "DUDE, THE PRO CIRCUIT BIKES ARE REALLY LOUD. IT HONESTLY HURTS MY EARS, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY PASS SOUND INSPECTION. HELL, LOOK AT THEIR SILENCER, IT IS WAY SHORTER, IT BARELY GOES PAST THE SIDE PLATE." He yelled again.

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In the motocross class, Stewart was king yet again. He really does look like a new rider this year, as many people were commenting on how smooth he looked. In fact, to quote Joe, "He looks slow, how in the heck is he putting distance on Alessi?"

That said, he was faster than greased snot. Watching closely, it became apparent that he chooses better lines and carries his speed everywhere. He looks slower because he hits the brakes less, and in turn uses the throttle less. He basically does less slowing down any other rider, and thus needs to accelerate less to maintain his speed. It is quite deceiving!

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During the first couple of laps in moto one, Alessi was in front of Stewart.
"What's up with Alessi this year!??! He looks like someone stuck a bottle rocket in his ass this year --- He is railing, dude!" Joe says during the much quieter 450 main event.
"All I know is he looks way better than everyone else, I mean where the heck is Short? He killed it at this track last year, but he looks off or something..."

Then the number 105 on a worn out looking bike flew by, head down charging full tilt ahead.
"DUDE! That is Sean Hamblin! He is doing awesome this year for a privateer!" but five minutes later Joe sees a very frustrated Hamblin pushing his bike towards the pits after a grueling 30 minutes and one lap into the first moto.

"That BLOWS, dude, I can't believe his bike didn't make it, but on the last lap no less!"

Then Josh "King of the" Hill rolls by, his clutch complete toast, and Joe says, "why is it that Yamaha makes the most reliable stock bike, but can't even get their race bike to do 30 minutes without breaking?!!? I would be so pissed."

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The Texas heat was the real story, and if you just started reading, pay attention. Texas is a huge state, and likewise, it has a lot of inhabitants. With Texas also being the hotbed of amateur motocross, combined with its large population, one would think the fan turn out would be superb.

Think again.

While the turn out was nothing to scoff at, I don't think it was quite what the Miller family is looking for. Combine the typical Texas heat and untypical humidity with a track that has extremely limited fan visibility, and you get a recipe for lack luster fan support. Not only were the fans somewhat limited in number, but limited in enthusiasm. But who can blame them! The heat was something to remember, sapping the energy of everyone, riders included.

The riders. Is it just me, or are some of the up coming professional riders being complete wusses? Maybe they are too young to remember, but nationals have been to Texas for many years in a time long, long ago, and those pro's managed to deal with it. Even the amateur racing community saddles up week in a week out to go ride in the heat, and it doesn't seem to be too huge a problem. But what IS a huge problem is when only 24 riders complete the second lites moto. Fans don't pay to watch some kid roll around the track for three laps before pulling off. If you didn't read it, read this on timed qualifying. It may have to do a little something with our riders dropping like a bag of bricks from the empire state building.

That said, Brett Metcalf manned up and gritted out what must have been the hardest couple of laps in his life, followed by his collapse after the finish line checkers from heat exhaustion.

Now THAT is a motocrosser. Other riders who dropped out, take the Metty notes, he deserves that Payton ride just for that.

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"Wow, look look look, there goes Robbie Reynard! I remember when he came to our local track on a Canondale, and dominated some pretty big name riders by like 30 seconds each moto. Considering the bike was crap, that was a sight to be seen!" Joe exclaims with genuine respect and excitement.

As Stewart entered the treacherous Texas Twelve Pack of whoops for yet another pass, Joe's asshole puckered up tight. "GAWD DANG! He scares me there, I mean shoot, he is ONE HUNDRED percent committed entering those things, and at that speed, one tiny mishap....and we would be saying remember that James Stewart kid? But he does it every lap no less, guess he has it dialed." he said.

After watching Reynard put in some of the smoothest riding on earth, Joe says "But he looks slow here today, I don't think he will crack the top twenty, even if he gets lucky."

As the moto winds down, Joe can just hear the race announcer calling out the finishing positions as the moto ended "...and Reynard crosses the line in 13th! That has got to be something he is proud of..."

Joe, straining to listen, tries to process what he has heard. "NO WAY! He looked smoother than glass, but slow as molasses. Man, he has got to be the smoothest rider on earth! How in the heck does he ever get hurt! I can't believe that! Well, great ride for him, I am truly impressed."

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All said and done, the Texas national was a success, but by a different needle and main jet combination. The race finally put the word Manly back into motocross, and it separated the cream from the milk. Texas fans were treated to what had to be some of the finest riders in the world, and it helped spur dreams for hundreds of young kids to aspire to. Be sure to attend your local national, because if you don't we won't have any nationals to attend to.