The impossible - Acheived.

This years outdoor season has been interesting, but not exciting. I love racing, and follow it intensely, however, one person winning week in and week out is anything but nerve racking.
In fact, this blog exists only because of how exciting the 2008 Supercross season was. But a press release with the title of "Another win, again," is not interesting.



How does, "A king, dethroned" sound?

Now that is a story worth reading, and if you followed the Washougal race this year, you got to read every word.

Maybe we should say a Prince robbed of his inherited rights instead, but any way you cut it, this cookie is still a good one!
The season has been filled with intense battles, great racing, triumphs, and defeats: for second place! Aside from a first moto hiccup at Glen Helen, Ryan Villopoto has been, how shall I say this, perfect.
But you already knew that, and who cares, right?


If one were to describe RV's riding style, no where in that description would reside the words:

smooth
controlled
calculated
error free

or anything resembling your description of technique as:

picture perfect



Ryan Dungey on the other hand, is the Ying to Ryan Villopoto's Yang.
Dungey's riding style can best be described as:

smooth
controlled
calculated

and technique best described as:

picture perfect


(Maybe that's why they are both named Ryan, as they combine to make one whole pie of descriptive riding words, but one without the other is only half that pie (A ying and yang)? Could the world really be that simple? Kidding of course.)

While Dungey may have won the battle of bench racer's words, of the two riders he has had the most and biggest mistakes.
First, he knocked himself out of the series last year with a terrible wreck.
Then he knocked himself out of a Supercross championship, that, by all accounts, he had in the bag with a series of wrecks.
Finally, he knocked himself out of the championship hunt at Colorado's night under the lights this year with his very scary wreck .

Each time, he looked smooth, calculated, and controlled right up until the point where

----gasps----

he crashed.


But Dungey has something few other riders seem to have: Heart in the moments he needs them most. He proved in Vegas that "RV Park" was not a one man show, and that with some good luck, and a strong fight towards the finish, the prince of motocross can be beaten.


This year's Washougal National looked to be like any other.

MX Lites Moto 1 Winner:
Ryan Villopoto - Convincingly

MX Moto 1 Winner:
James Stewart - Convincingly

By the time Moto 2's rolled around, the press had already drafted their releases, titled yet again: "Another Win, Again"

The Moto started off interesting enough, maybe an edit or two would be needed for the release.
For the first time this year, aside from Glen Helen Moto 1, RV got a bad start.
However, like any other race, he was able to quickly close the gap to the lead pack, and by the ten minute mark, was up to third pressuring for first. At this point, the releases had now been sent to print, still titled:
"Another win, again"

It is now the 20 minute mark, and Dungey is still holding RV off.
Hold the presses!!!!
Maybe two or three edits will be needed in the press release, now titled:
"Dungey puts up good Fight, but RV Rolls On."


30 minute mark:
Dungey, still riding hard, and Ryan Villopoto still....in second!??!!
Scrap the press release, gotta start over on this one.

30 minutes + two laps later, and your moto winner is....
Dungey?


Here's the write up every newspaper in America should have run:

------------------------------------------------------

"The Prince of Motocross, Beaten!"

In an epic battle between the Motocross world's biblical
David - Ryan Dungey,
and its Goliath - Ryan Villopoto,
a young and aspiring twenty year old by the name of Ryan Dungey managed to hold off the hard charging Ryan Villopoto for thirty five heart pounding minutes.

The race was not handed to the young racer Dungey, as he first had to catch and pass another young phenom by the name of Trey Canard in order to overtake the lead.

After a lackluster start, mired way back in the forty rider field, two time outdoor champion Ryan Villopoto had bridged the ten second gap created by Dungey after a scant ten minutes of racing. With twenty five minutes left to go, the end result seemed inevitable --- You know --- the one where Ryan Villopoto passes Ryan Dungey and rides off to victory.

With most of the remaining race held at the Washougal motocross facility still yet to be completed, the Suzuki mounted rider initially looked like he would eventually relent and succumb to the mounting pressure increasingly applied by the sport's prince, Ryan Villopoto; just as he had every other moto this year.

But something unheard of happened.
Lap after blistering lap the two riders gapped the field in a display of skill and ferocity not seen for months. Every corner had Ryan Villopoto sticking his front wheel in on the race leader Dungey, and every corner Dungey dug deeper to answer the challenge. Lap after lap found the crowd lining the fences, trying their best to will each rider on. For twenty long minutes their battle ensued, neither rider giving even an inch to the other. With only two laps remaining, the crowd screamed their excitement to the passing riders as they continued their impossible pace, neither backing down for even the blink of an eye.

Both athletes were at pure physical exhaustion by this point, only the will to fight kept them riding.
But then, out of the dark shadows in a back section of the track, where normally both riders would emerge almost simultaneously, only one appeared.

Ryan Dungey had done the impossible, beating heads up the prince of motocross in a twenty five minute battle to forever go down as one of the best races in our modern era.

-------------------------------------------------------

Now that, my friends, was a story worth reading.



In other news, Trey Canard broke his femur in a last lap crash between himself and a lapped rider.

I will get out of reporter mode speak plainly here. Get well soon Trey, that is a hard injury to overcome, best wishes.

But lets back up. That's twice now Canard has gone down in a heap with a lapper.
I hate to jump to forgone conclusions, but no other riders seems to have this problem. The first instance, I immediately blamed the lapper, despite the lapper's claims otherwise.

But now, I blame Canard. No, it's probably not Trey's immediate fault, however think of it this way.
Being a good rider goes beyond pure speed. It requires using your brain as well. While 200 percent Trey may have been giving it his all physically the whole race, sometimes giving it your all means being fast AND smart. He had a sizable lead over fourth, was too far behind the leaders to catch them, and it was near the end of the moto. A smart rider would give the lapper as much room as possible, and maybe even backed it down a notch to ensure a clean pass. Instead of finishing well for his sponsors, and trying again next race, he crashed out of the championship and will be forgotten about until next year.

Now he is out with a bummed leg, in a ton of pain, looking forward to a heck of a lot of rehab and hard times to come (I've been there and then some). Get better soon Trey, but the next time, let's skip the wrecks you can avoid by using a little common sense. I don't care what the lapper did, it's not the first time you have tangled with one, and had you backed it down a notch, this would be a non issue and I would never have wanted write this double edged "paper."


Send all your hate mail to
aggiemoto99@yahoo.com

Oh yeah, the other press release reads:
"Stewart Wins, Again"

Daytona SX

No word can ever describe the Daytona Supercross, but a few that come to mind are:
-bad-ass
-brutal
-epic
-unpredictable
-unique
-defining
Let's not forget brutally exciting as well! The Daytona SX has a history much its own unlike any other venue in Supercross, and I'll have more on that later.
This year, after watching two somewhat amazing races, I could do nothing other than write some thoughts down.

- The "Lites" Class -

How amazing is Trey Canard? The kid has already smashed through the walls of conventional wisdom not just once, not just twice, but now a third, and very un-conventional, time. He just keeps winning. Given the first race circumstances with Villapoto's wreck, one could have thought it was a fluke. The second race, with Villopoto clearly showing his dominating speed and desire after an uncharacteristic Villopoto moment, had some people thinking yet another "lucky break" for the ole' 48. But this Friday night proved that Canard is no fluke, as he stomped everyone, including the new two, into the ground.


And what a stomping it was. If ever a rookie were to have a race to prove the neigh sayers right, this was it! Torrential rainfall, the track a complete slop, extreme pressure from who many are calling the next big thing (Villopoto), a change of his routine schedule with the gate dropping 24 hours earlier than usual, and a lack of a mud racing background to boot are only a few things presented to the young rook trey, yet he still won. This kid knows how to work hard; he may not have always been the fastest, but in the last couple years, he made a choice, and it shows.

But don't count Villopoto out yet! The championship at this point must to look like Calculus to a sixth grader, damn near impossible. But, some sixth graders have done Calculus, and Villopoto has some serious fight. I think the real story with him has to be the injuries. No reporting agency has the full inside scoop, but we do know his bike setup was changed to accommodate that injury. Think about that for a moment, if you have to change your bike from what is fastest to what feels better because of an injury, and speed is at a premium, it must be major. I also don't think Josh Grant helped Villopoto's wrist with the wall incident either (understatement of the century).

Speaking of which, what is up with Josh Grant? This was his year to prove he is a winner, his year to become a new champion, and his year to move on to better things. I think he may be the newest Ezra Lusk, and that's a shame. With Villopoto showing weakness, 4 (I believe) years of experience, a healthy off season, and a great bike, he has ZERO excuses. The kid is talented, everyone knows that, and he isn't a fat blob by any stretch of imagination, but something doesn't seem to click come main event time. Good luck to him, I'd love to see him break through.

- The "Supercross" class -

If you watched the race, it was exciting. For a mere 4 laps, that is! Reed struggled at first, in my mind maybe a little to aggressive for the track, and experienced more than one off track expedition. And yes, I said expedition, as each off track instance was one where he checked his backs, got anal cavity searched, boarded his plane, and took a vacation. He cheated! At the beginning of the race I have no doubt his run outside the lanes was beneficial, and his re entering with Windham the last time was complete cheating. That said he was fastest. I'd like to tell you about the other racers on the track, but from what was shown on the the telecast, I honestly can't, they received no coverage.

Chad Reed. He has absolutely pissed me off this year. He has had a "I'm better than you, shove off" mentality since his little "Hiatus", which I'd rather call his "I don''t wanna get beat again" time. The entire year he off handedly mentions about his "problems" needing to get worked out, but never mentions what. It is getting old. He is an amazing rider no less, and deserves a lot of credit. He was clearly the fastest tonight, but bad luck struck at quite nearly the worst time it could have. Having completed 11 and 3/4 laps out of 12, his bike, as the Brits say, expired. When it first happened, I leaped from my half seated, half laying position and shouted and emphatic "YES!" to the T.V. thanking the motocross gods for the vindication upon Chad Reed. Now it was a race! I still assumed the bike would run, but it wasn't to be, and his bike truly did, expire.
You have to feel for the guy here, he put in a very inspired showing, was clearly the fastest on the track (or pond), and gritted out damn near 12 laps of hell.


Kevin Windham; my boy! I, along with tons of fans, love the guy. Maybe it's because America loves an underdog, or maybe it's because he is just that cool, but either way, he is always a fan favorite. I hope he continues to have fun: maybe one race night we will all get to witness the god like Windham many speak of. Still, even though he hasn't proven he is clearly faster than Reed yet, he still managed a couple wins thus far. I'm glad he won Daytona, I'm glad he choose to ride this season, and maybe I'm just plain glad, because otherwise, I wouldn't even watch the races.


Speaking of which, is it just me, or was making the riders race in those conditions absolutely STUPID?
If we really want to grow the sport and expand to larger audiences, how is showing a mud race going to accomplish this? If we want Nascar like status, maybe we should implement some Nascar like policies. One that comes to mind is postponing racing during wet conditions. I don't mean when there is a little muck, but the conditions this race were atrocious. Supercross was invented to showcase the high flying, talented riders our sport has to offer. Not the feet locked in skiing position, slow, rolling of obstacles that mud racing presents. Had I personally went to the event, I would have felt jipped of my ticket price, and stayed only because I had spent that hard earned money. (racerx photo)
Imagine this, your Ricky Carmichael, you spend tons of effort designing, what looked like, a bad ass track. You even suit up and rode it to ensure a good design! Then, mother nature runs its course, and your masterpiece becomes a master-mudpie. I would feel disrespected having my track raced in such condition.

Which brings another point. Imagine your a privateer. Not the kind with paid for equipment, and a salary of some sort, but the kind who shows up in a pick up truck with your one bike. You decide to give it hell, manage to make the main, only to learn you must ride in those conditions. You are now putting your bike on the line, your health on the line, and your pride on the line, for NOTHING. All the who's who are going to write off any good finish you have anyways. They will say, "well with the mud, he got lucky." Now your bike is ruined, your most likely poorer because the promoters hoard all the ticket sales money, and you've gained nothing towards a deal with a team because of the the inclement conditions and their view on your luck. I'd say no thanks, I'll show up next year.
Congrats to Jacob Marsack for finishing third.

The T.V. coverage was pretty damn boring too. They literally only showed the leader of each race. Nascar doesn't do that, they show the RACING, whether it's the rubbing for first, or for last. The broadcast team should go thank Yamaha and Chad Reed for his bike blowing up. It made the telecast interesting. I honestly would have said Daytona was the worst race of the year if it weren't for Reed's bike letting go. Speed needs to take a page from the Canadian motocross broadcasts, nothing gets me excited about racing like those guys!
Things they do speed doesn't:
-Showcase all racing on the track: I have literally seen broadcasts where the winner of the race is only seen when he crosses the finish line and on the podium, if he wasn't battling someone, they don't show him.
-Less rider analysis, more rider hype: They at least get rider names out there, giving them exposure
-Get excited about racing: I love listening to them talk, or shout, or yell, or whatever it is they do, because it is interesting, something neither Ralph Shaheen or Jeff Emig are.