by Davey Coombs
Racerhead #31
Friday, July 30, 2010 | 5:22 PMHonda is the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, and the undisputed leader in motorcycle technology. More motocross riders have won titles on Hondas than on any other bike. When you’re serious about winning, Honda is the machine for you.
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In this article…
Riders
- Andrew Short
- PJ Larsen
- Travis Pastrana
- James Stewart
- Kevin Windham
- Chad Reed
- Trey Canard
- Josh Hansen
- Ryan Dungey
- Davi Millsaps
- Nick Wey
- Josh Grant
- Dan Reardon
- Mike Alessi
- Ivan Tedesco
- Brett Metcalfe
- Kyle Cunningham
- Jason Lawrence
- James Stewart
- Ryan Villopoto
- Justin Brayton
Races
It's the last week in July, which means Loretta Lynn's and the X Games are upon us. As usual, I had to miss the "extreme sports" festival out in L.A. so I could go to Tennessee early to help out on the track and around the ranch, getting the place ready for the single biggest amateur of all, the 29th Annual AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships. It's hard work, but it's fun work. I grew up down here, visiting every summer for at least two weeks to help my dad and mom get things up and running. And every morning that I go out on the track, I see a father and son, and sometimes a mom, out there walking the track. It's the perfect annual reminder of what motocross is really all about when we get started.
A father and son, checking out the Ten Commandments this morning.
And speaking of the track, Marc Peters is here once again doing his magic, but only after Alan Brutto, the longtime ranch manager, saved this place after a massive flood in the spring. All of central Tennessee was drowned in water, and it almost completely covered the billboard along the starting line. That of course led to rumors in the amateur motocross industry that Loretta Lynn's would not be ready in time for the big race, but Brutto and his crew went all-out for several months in order to get it in perfect shape. There are no other motocross races here – no one's allowed to touch the track except Loretta's horses – so they had plenty of time to get the work done without having to cancel anything.
The really interesting thing here for racers is the fact that so much sand washed up and over from the river that the track is going to be extremely rough! It's also going to be hot, as always, and it’s probably going to rain for a day or three. And there will be a million golf carts racing around!
Here's how the track looked last spring…
…and how it looked on Wednesday afternoon!
I will try to do one of our new Racer X iLaps tomorrow or Sunday once the construction on the course is complete. Monday is practice, and the motos—three per class, with thirty-three full classes—begin on Tuesday morning at 7:30 Central sharp. They will run all day long, through Saturday afternoon. I also hear that the schoolboy class calls this place MILF Island.. Hmm.
You can follow every moto's live timing and scoring on www.MXSports.com. You can also go there for the MotorcycleUSA.com MX Sports Center, with daily updates of all the action, beginning Tuesday afternoon. And also check in with www.Vurbmoto.com and www.motoplayground.com for daily reports videos and more.
And here's a sneak peek at the brand-new Loretta Lynn's Hall of Fame billboard. It's an assortment of past champions who have gone on to more success in their professional careers. Many thanks to Heather Moebus for the design and Andrew Fredrickson for helping me pull all the photos together.
Last weekend's Motosport.com Washougal National was an excellent event. The retro vibe was cool, the track looked incredible, and the Fox retro gear was rad (great eighties word). Here are Ten Things We Learned at Washougal
As I mentioned above, I didn't go to the X Games, but I did watch the races on TV last night. It was cool for JGR Yamaha to go 1-2, and I'm not sure what happened to Josh Hansen, though the "wardrobe malfunction" theory is gaining steam here at the ranch.
But I will say that watching that race made me truly appreciate the fantastic job Feld Motor Sports does on the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series—and Feld does it seventeen times a year! ESPN's X Games are a one-off race with a very big platform, but I really think it pales in comparison to the slick, exciting, energetic stage we see every weekend on the AMA Supercross tour. It's cool that motorcycles have such a big role in the X Games now, but I think the race presentation itself was lacking.
But Travis Pastrana? Wow. He never ceases to amaze me. His riding on the FMX course was just fantastic, including his wall rides. Steve Cox fired off some amazing shots right HERE.
My only question is this: What the hell was Travis wearing? He kind of looked like the court jester.
Photo: Steve Cox
Photo: Steve Cox
And speaking of amazing, one month after seeing Kevin Windham return to the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, we are now set to see none other than James Stewart come back at the Rockstar Energy Unadilla National on August 14. The race will be shown live on NBC, which led James to tell ESPN.com yesterday that he thought it might be the highest rated motocross show in years. I agree!
A lot of people have been working very hard on the series, the TV shows, the racetracks, and everything else, and all of that work is paying off now with with these guys coming back out to race.
But I do think some credit for getting both Windham and Stewart re-engaged goes to Chad Reed, who last year reversed the supercross-only trend when he decided to sign up for the AMA Motocross tour. It is cruel irony that he is out right now with Epstein-Barr, because a healthy Chad Reed would be up there battling series leader Ryan Dungey every weekend, and he would be licking his chops at the chance to race again with his rival Stewart at 'Dilla (remember what happened there in 2002?).
Bubba's return brings up another point of interest: Should he be considered for Team USA and the Motocross of Nations at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado, on September 25-26? My personal answer is yes. I believe Team USA should reflect the AMA schedule, which is half SX, half MX. James was hurt all year with his wrist injury, or he would automatically be in the conversation. So if he comes back and is immediately running at the front, I believe Team USA manager Roger DeCoster should consider him.
Earlier this week I spoke to James at length and asked him about the MXoN and whether he wanted to be in the conversation. He responded, "Honestly, I think I have to go to these last nationals and win and dominate to be picked. If I go there and dominate—I call it 'pulling an ’08'—if I do that, I think it’d be good. But it’s all about my performance right now. I don’t want to just get picked because of my resume." Ryan Dungey is a given in my book—he's the MX1 guy. But I think the MX2 and MX3 guys are still up for grabs.
Matt Ware has the best bench-racing job in motocross: he's spending the next few months cleaning up the massive Racer X Photo Archives, which includes the entire Dick Miller Archives, Simon Cudby's catalog of the last decade, all the stuff I shot over the years, plus countless boxes of prints, slides, brochures, etc. For fun, we asked Matt to pull a photo each day for an Old School Moto Photo on the Racer X Facebook page. It's been a lot of fun seeing what he digs out each afternoon, and I personally picked up three friends from my motocross past this week as a result: Jeff Dement and former world champs Greg Albertyn and the Georges Jobe, one of the sport's all-time top-ten coolest riders!
Check the photos out each day of the week, and Matt promised to keep his eye out for some Loretta Lynn's heroes of yesteryear for this week and next.
And speaking of old photos, sorry we missed showing you this last week, but here's what Washougal looked like thirty years ago when they held their first national, through the eyes of our old friend Reese Dengler. The photos are just amazing.
http://www.100megsfree3.com/ahrmanw/Stuff.htm
The Monster Energy Australian Supercross Championship is shaping up nicely. I say Australian because it would also seem to be the AMA tour, given the strong lineups set to visit various rounds of the seven-race series that Chad Reed co-promotes and organizes. So far, they've got Ryan Villopoto, Kevin Windham, Davi Millsaps, Justin Brayton, and Ben Townley signed up for a round or two, and Mike Alessi has committed to all seven rounds as he gets back in to SX fighting trim. Add the best Aussie SXers—Reed, Metcalfe, Byrne, Reardon, the Moss boys, etc.—and you have quite a series! And congratulations to PJ Larsen on wrapping up the Australian MX Championship in the MX2 class!
Nick McCabe spotted this eBay gem:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MR-PIBB-AMA-MOTOCROSS-NATIONAL-CHAMPIONSHIPS-Sticker-W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem53e292d85aQQitemZ360283560026QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
Here's betting Johnny O'Hannah has hundreds of those laying around in his box van.
Congratulations to Carl Stone on snagging the cover of Motorcycle USA. CStone scored on a nice shot of WMX #1 Ashley Fiolek, making her the first woman to grace the cover.
Carl also sent this over today: "While watching the Women's race from the X Games last night, I heard Jeremy McGrath say that he had been working with Ashley, riding with her the last few months or so at least once a week. That made me remember a photo I took after the Phoenix SX in 2006. Ashley was standing down by the podium and I believe MC got fourth that night after leading. Ashley congratulated MC and I took a pic of them together. Bet neither one of them thought they would ever be working together!"
That's the King of Supercross and the Princess of Motocross, four years ago at the Phoenix SX.
Carl Stone photo
In honor of Loretta Lynn’s, check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9aNmjDQnTY
Yes, that's all-time Loretta Lynn's champ Kevin Walker, along with Jeff and Jason Doyle, doing their best – and singing with their eyes closed!
Okay, here’s Ping on X:
I’ve been down at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum all week for the annual spectacle called the X Games. The Super X event was actually pretty good this year as Hansen, Grant, Brayton, and Tedesco all fought over the medal positions. Hansen got out front early and looked like he was headed for his third straight medal. He was charging hard and looked solid until about the seventh or eighth lap, when he made a mistake in the whoops. Then, a couple laps later, he made a mistake in a rhythm section that cost him a bunch of time and allowed Grant to move to his rear wheel. JG made the pass in the whoops and took off for the checkers.
The wheels really started to fall off for Hansen when he jumped off the track and let Brayton and Tedesco by as well. Those three riders would have a great battle to the finish, with Brayton getting second and Hansen edging out Tedesco for third.
Josh Grant was able to get around Josh Hansen and clench the gold medal at X-Games 16.
Photo: Steve Cox
Josh Grant was able to get around Josh Hansen and clench the gold medal at X-Games 16.
Photo: Steve Cox
The track itself was okay, given the limited space they had to use, but just like in years past, they didn’t have nearly enough water down prior to the race and it was a dust bowl. As riders would jump back into the stadium through the peristyle, the sun was in their eyes and the dust was so thick they could hardly see the face of the massive jump they were leading up to. It was a little sketchy.
The women’s event started with an Ashley Fiolek holeshot. Behind her, Patterson and Tarah Gieger slid into the second and third spots. Patterson made a run at Ashley, using the whoops to make up her time. But Jessica would jump off the track at the halfway point and crash hard, knocking herself out of the race and out of consciousness. Fortunately, she walked away from the crash after some help from the Asterisk crew. Fiolek won her second gold medal in a row, Gieger took the silver, and Sara Price left with the bronze.
Jason Lawrence showed up with a new title sponsor … Arma Energy Nuts. The company is owned by Fischer Nuts, a large brand, and their product line consists of trail mix and almonds coated in a gold substance that has caffeine and taurine in it. Hence, energy nuts. According to Dang, Jason’s team manager, Lawrence will be at the last four nationals this summer (DC, add him to the list!), and apparently he will be exclusively powered by energy nuts. Sorry, I just like to say energy nuts.
Energy nuts. Okay, I’m done.
Jason Lawrence showed up with a new title sponsor … Arma Energy Nuts.
Photo: Steve Cox
Jason Lawrence showed up with a new title sponsor … Arma Energy Nuts.
Photo: Steve Cox
Speaking of energy and nuts, Travis Pastrana won the freestyle event. He wasn’t even planning on competing—seriously! A five-dollar bet from Bilko that he could beat him there prompted the Pastrana to show up and destroy everyone. His score was high enough that he didn’t even have to do his last run. So what did he do? He took it anyway and busted a double backflip. Classic Pastrana. Red Bull’s Jeremy Malott said it best: "That guy is a cartoon character." TP is also slated to compete in several other events, including two rally disciplines.
Oh, I just got word from one of the guys at PC that Hansen had problems with his pants coming down during the final. Apparently, something went wrong with the closure and it was affecting his ability to move his legs. This is a recurring issue, and this time it may have cost Hanny a gold medal. Team owner Mitch Payton was apparently quite upset about it and voiced his opinion to several people.
And now here's Steve Cox, also from the X Games:
We got a reminder at X Games yesterday why so many top racers choose to sit out X when WMX points leader Jessica Patterson went down in probably the second-worst possible place on the track – the finish-line jump. The only worse one would probably be the jump just before the finish-line jump. But Patterson landed off the side of the jump, then hit the track markers on the side of the track at the bottom and went down hard. She appeared to be knocked out at least, but we don’t yet know the extent of her other injuries, if she has any at all.
JP$ may have jeopardized her WMX championship, and at minimum she made it a bit harder on herself. But in the case of the female racers, it’s almost a no-brainer to race this event, as the top few girls are significantly faster than the rest, meaning that barring any disasters (like Patterson’s), they are almost guaranteed a medal, and the X Games pay really well—not only for the actual purse money but also with endorsements. It's a great event for the girls.
Ashley Fiolek took the gold at X-Games 16.
Photo: Steve Cox
Ashley Fiolek took the gold at X-Games 16.
Photo: Steve Cox
However, with the men, we essentially had five team racers who have been racing the AMA Motocross Nationals (excluding Ivan Tedesco, who has missed most of the nationals with injuries from the St. Louis Supercross): Josh Grant, Justin Brayton, Dan Reardon, Kyle Cunningham, and Nick Wey. Cunningham was hurt during seeding on Wednesday, and Grant was actually not going to race the event because of how it worked out for him last year, when he broke both of his feet at the Home Depot Center. Grant was going to concentrate on Best Whip, but then changed his mind and raced anyway – which obviously turned out to be a good decision for him.
But for Cunningham, it may not have been such a wise decision. He’s obviously good at supercross (look at his ride in Las Vegas for evidence if you need it), and he has scored in the top five outdoors this year, but his fall on Wednesday resulted in a broken left scaphoid. He had surgery already to screw it back together, and for a scaphoid break, the outlook is very promising (from what I understand, he may miss as little as one outdoor race), but still, it is a big price to pay for a rider who is still looking for a ride for 2011.
For many, as it turns out, the X Games are a bit of a gamble. Using Cunningham as an example, had he gone out and medaled, his prospects for 2011 may have improved quite a bit, but with it ending like it did, his prospects may have been hurt a bit.
This is why riders like James Stewart and Kevin Windham (bronze medalist last year) sat it out. In Windham’s case, he has just been trying to adjust to outdoors again, so the last thing he needed was to race SX in the middle of his outdoor adjustment, and in the case of the GEICO Powersports Honda team, this may have been the downside of having the ever-popular vet-class racer filling in for Davi Millsaps on the Honda Red Bull Racing team, as I’m betting that GEICO Powersports would’ve loved the publicity of K-Dub at X.
And in Stewart’s case, he’s now preparing for the Unadilla National and the rest of the outdoor races, which he hasn’t taken part in for nearly two years, and like Windham, it would’ve been difficult, even for Stewart, to adjust to the strange conditions at X while trying to prepare for the last four rounds of the AMA Nationals.
The last thing we’re going to talk about is Travis Pastrana. I don’t know if it’s talent or what, but for Pastrana to go out after many years out of the full-on freestyle competition and just clean up on all of the full-time freestyle guys is ridiculous. But don’t think the fix was in or anything like that. Pastrana was flipping things that were never meant to be flipped (like he did at the St. Louis Supercross in 2009 during opening ceremonies) and using more of the course than anyone else. And on top of that, no one had better extension or amplitude than he did. To put it plainly, the full-time rally-car driver is still the hands-down best freestyle rider on the planet, and my bet is that if he had fitness, he would’ve done pretty good in the racing portion, too, if he so chose.
Travis ended his run in style...
Photo: Steve Cox
Travis ended his run in style...
Photo: Steve Cox
The Pastrana Games continue tonight with Best Whip, Best Trick, and Step-Up at the Staples Center, although the rumor is that Pastrana had dropped out of Best Trick. But after his performance yesterday, maybe he’s not feeling it and will join in for the action anyway – although he won’t if Subaru has anything to say about it....
By the way, doing a double backflip and then wishing your mom happy 50th birthday on live TV means Pastrana probably has son-of-the-year locked up now too.
Also, this week we featured an interview with new holeshot king Andrew Short on Monday HERE, another interview with the fastest man in moto two at Washougal Brett Metcalfe on Wednesday HERE, and another interview with the hottest man in the 250cc Class, Trey Canard, on Thursday HERE after his first-ever 1-1 performance. Check them out when you get a chance, if you haven’t already.
Look for more photo galleries like today's from tonight's events and
Sunday's Speed & Style throughout the rest of the weekend.
And one other thing, check out who's been riding out at Pala Raceway this week:
Yup, Ryan Villopoto is back on the bike.
Photo: Kirk Chandler
And one other thing, check out who's been riding out at Pala Raceway this week:
Yup, Ryan Villopoto is back on the bike.
Photo: Kirk Chandler
Okay, In other news:
Racer X reader Greg Fisher sent us this note: "LACR, the longtime Southern California track, will be closing its doors after the Labor Day Grand Prix. Apparently, Granite Construction wouldn’t renew the lease."
Here’s motocross artist Rob Kinsey getting some love back home for some of the amazing portraits and moto moments he's put down on canvas.
www.ashbournenewstelegraph.co.uk/News/Kniveton-artist-turns-his-hand-to-painting-bikes.htm
Okay, it's time to get back out on the infield and back to work. Thanks for reading Racerhead. See you at the races.
Did you like this article?
Check out SCHOOL OF ROCZEN
in our Latest issue of Racer X available now.
At the halfway point of his debut American season, German teenager Ken Roczen is starting to find his way. Page 152.
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Hey alright....glad to see RV back on the track. Will we ever get the year where JS,CR,RD and RV stay healthy all year??? Man i hope so!!!!
That pic of the King and Fiolek... was that the race where MC took the holeshot and pulled a nac-nac on the first triple in front of the rest of the field?
On a 2 stroker?
As a kiwi and Levi fan can't agree with Cox's statement that noone has more extension than pastrana-sure he's tall but Levi isn't called rubber man for nothing
Wonder how #29 feels about Stewart's comments and hypothetical selection for MXoN. But Canard is a given as Dungey.
Davey it is just stupid you would go along with let's put Bubba in the Mxdn!!!! When he has done nothing but crash and take people out this year!! He is an utter disgrace to the Mx community!! His stupid bubbas world is nothing but a rip off of nitro circus and flava flav!! So get off of his jock and realize even though he may be the fastest man on the planet he is also the crashingest one on the planet too!! I am sure he will come back and try to play the hero crash his brains or take Dungey out and cost him all his hard work he has put in by training hard riding smart and also by being FAST!!!!!
Very little interest in X games here (I'll watch cause I love MX/SX), but they need to do 2 things: Best whip needs to be on DIRT and they should have best scrub!
YES RV is on the bike!!! That is ahead of what he said before, It was mid Aug..if JS is winning he should go, He should be spanking Shorty IMO so then He goes.CAN'T WAIT FOR THE DILLA!!!
Man X is a joke for MX-SX the track was horrible the coverage was worse. Made the fastest girls on the planet look like C class riders. And where were all the freestyler's the mulisha had no good riders there. Would have rather seen Ponca races than what i seen! DUNGEY RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!
No idea how J-Law can still get new sponsors. The new crop of riders are gonna eat him up. Even Allesi will embarrass J-Law.
Still hope J-law can turn it around. Kind of sad being an old fan seeing as he was on top of the world then threw it away with some dumb decisions. Best of luck Jason.
Good to see RV2 back on a bike as well.
DITO on RV back on the Horse!
Good to hear RV2 is back. Not to start any crap, but does anyone else think Stewie is showing how big his ego is by saying the Unadilla race will be the highest rated MX show in years?? Just because he is racing . I hate to tell him, but myself and all other real MX fans watch the races whether he is there or not. And as big as a star he thinks he is, it has been pretty enjoyable without his huge head and the fantards being gone. I think J-Law is done , there is an example of truly wasted talent. Its sad.
BD200" I was thinking the same thing agree all the way! DUNGEY RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"X Games, No one was there watching it! Lots of empty Seats! Everyone had to work that had jobs.
What the hell this is major TV why havent they watered the tracks in super X? Really theres water in LA right?
Stewart has returned from an injury before, and it was not as big of a deal as it is right now, with dungey having a stranglehold on the class. If no single rider had been dominating all year, then it would not as big of a deal, but this is a gonna be a SHOWDOWN! Thats why people will be watching it.
In a way Stewart is kind of right. Take these two examples. If he announced that he was racing Loket instead of Unadilla that weekend the GP of Czech Republic would probably have record breaking attendance and viewership. Everyone in Europe has been wanting to see him ride in person. Now Stewart has not been on an MX track for professional competition since Pourcel got in to his head at the MXdN in 2008. You bet people are going to make sure they're home to see his return to racing. The average viewers that might DVR it or catch a re run will probably take time out of their day to watch it "live." This increasing ratings. Might not be the highest but I bet the numbers are more than just slightly above the norm.
GP at Lommel this weekend. Sunday morning here in the states. If anyone likes sand tracks this race is a must watch.
Is that photo of Ashley and MC really 2006? Ashley would have been 15, but she looks younger.
It may be true that Levi Sherwood is more flexible than Travis (ages 18 and 26, respectively), and he rode great, but TP199 still kicks ass!
Ok, time for me to come to the defense of Bubba. (Shocked?) He's "an utter disgrace to the Mx community"? I'm sure folks have legitimate reasons not to like him, but that statement is ridiculous. As for ripping off Nitro Circus, the two shows are nothing alike. (I've no knowledge of "flava flav.") And JBS may have a big ego (I'd guess yes), but stating that "the Unadilla race will be the highest rated MX show in years" sounds more like a good possibility than anything else. The old champ vs. the new champ is a natural draw. Yes, WE watch EVERY race, but the thing to look at is how many casual viewers tune in. Likely more. And as for Seb Pourcel getting "into (Bubba's) head at the MXdN in 2008" ... WHAT? Pourcel the elder made a bonzai charge to battle with James briefly until Stewart pulled away and was in control ... only his inability to restart his bike for several minutes allowed Frenchie to win the moto. Why would that allow him into Stewart's head? Stewart was CLEARLY the fastest that day. All that said ... I'll be cheering for the Dung up on the back hill at 'dilla! The other side sucks!!!
I'm torn on the Stewart for MXdN debate. On the one hand, I want to have the strongest possible team -- which Bubba may well prove should include him -- but Shorty is consistently among the top three in AMA MX and sentiment tells me he deserves it, too.
Holy crap "sef", what is the world coming to??? I totally agree with every bit of your last two posts!!! Not as a JS fan either, they just make sense!! "bd" I think you should heed the words of "sef"on the issue of the ratings comment. A very dominant "new" champ finally going head to head with the most recent dominant champ ( i said most recent).....that definitely raises the hype. I honestly dont appreciate your "fantard" comment either guy,totally uncalled for! I do agree with you on the MXDN choice dilemma also sef, Short has stepped it up big time and that counts for a hell of a lot, i truly think that most involved believe that it comes down to performance over the last four races, but even then.......i hear ya on that one!!
.....well, wait a minute, im gonna cite one exception.......im gonna claim neutrality on the "big ego" thing. C'mon, you know i have to!!!
Short has been passed over, at least once before, when everyone thought he should go. I wish all four of them could go. Didn't we used to have a four man team back in the olden days?
i'll keep this simple bpolston4 put a plug in it and save your hating and crying for the last 4 races
Even if its true are not on the biggest ratings comment. For him to say that is very egotistical. It really shows how highly he thinks of himself. What would everyone be saying if Terrel Owens or some other stick and ball athelete said that? They would all be agreeing with me. What is wrong with the "fantard" comment. It refers to one rider race fans who act ignorant over one rider and have no nuetral opinions. You said you arent that way, whatever, so why do you care if I use that term?? The Des Nations and Stewie is a wait and see for me. If he proves he is in shape(I feel he is) and is the fastest, or top two, then send him. We are supposed to send our best and fastest. We didnt really do that last year and still won of course. But on our home soil, I really want to spank everyone just like Budds Creek,> We are already without RV2, so why take another top rider away because of injury. I do feel that if he never got injured and won the supercross title he wouldnt be near a National, but it is what it is.
I'm not so sure the casual fan has any idea Stewart will return for Unidilla. Unless there is some ad campaign I doubt there will be a big increase in viewers, Casual fan barely knows what kind of bike Stewart rides. Obviously this will be a big deal for us rabid MX fans.
There absolutely used to be four-rider teams for MXdN. When the U.S. went on its record-breaking win streak, the format was changed more than once to try to stem the tide. I've always felt that the bigger the teams, the better we'd do! Imagine if you had a format where the top ten from each country competed ... I don't think any other country would be close to us.
IF Pastrana had fitness. IF he had something he never had. Glad you didn't say he would have won. One thing I will say is it's amazing TP isn't addicted to pain pills, that I know of, ...yet.
Canard is going, we need him on the 250, we dont have anybody better than him right now, and he is on a roll. Dungey is obvious, and is the reigning mxon champ, Duhhh! But that third spot......If stewart is healthy, and fast, and WINNING, we would be crazy NOT to send him. It would be our strongest team EVER, comparable to RJ, wardy, and (o'mara?) back in the 80's. But, I still feel bad for shorty, he deserves to go, and is a reliable choice. I guess times are tough, when you have TOO many good riders, and cant make up your mind.
Atta Boy DC, keep kissin up to JS. His qualifications for MXdN are missing most of the SX season and two possibly winning the remaining MX rounds? Yeah let's reward him with what he wants personally, to get an episode for his TV show. What about prior year's when the team could have used his talent and he chose his personal desire to not go. Hmmm. Yeah that makes good sense. And what's with the picture of him with the red number 1? That's an '09 SX and '08 MX number.
The problem I have with JS over Shorty is reliability. As has been mentioned Stewart has a tendency to crash when under pressure. He hasn't ridden very much, especially MX and it would be a shame if a couple of crashes cost US the trophy. The safe bet is Shorty. The likely hood of his crash and burning is lower that Stewies chances so we pretty sure to get points from AS. Dungey and Canard will fill in the rest of the points.
fczook, I have nothing to do with picking the team, so I am not rewarding anyone here or"kissing ass" by bringing it up. DeCoster will pick the riders he wants; the riders will not pick for him. And that photo of Stewart is from Anaheim 1, '10, not sure what you're talking about there either. DC
bpolston4.. Your opinion about Davey, Stewart and just about anything are some of the most ignorant things Ive read on here. Stewart has done NOTHING wrong what so ever, Stewart is one of the fasest riders on the planet, period. Dungey, Canard are on the team, Stewart is faster than anyone else so he shoud get the knod. Hey everyone Im off to Lorretta Lyns for the week to see the next generation of Stewarts and Dungeys. Stop by the beer tent and say hi if youre there!!! Ill post some pics on Facebook at Johnny O'Hannah.
You contradict yourself greatly with your opinion "fczook"........you say "What about prior year's when the team could have used his talent and he chose his personal desire to not go." Survey said.....zero!!!! Dude, your logic that he hasnt raced much lately so he should not go this year doesn't jive with your idea that he did not do the Des Nations last year...BECAUSE HE HADNT RACED OUTDOORS AT ALL!!!! SO which is it?? He's bad for NOT going last year when he hadn't raced or it's bad if he DOES go this year even though he hasn't raced much?? Hmmmmmm!!! Let it be man, Roger Decoster will make the best decision based on the right reasons....you do trust that dont you??? I'll be curious to see if people start to rag The Man if they are not happy with his choice!!
James Stewart does NOT deserve to ride at the des Nations !!! We have many talented riders who are conditioned and ready (and willing) to go to Colorado to represent the USA. James, I'm sure, is still very fast, butt is he ready to maintain that pace with that kind of pressure ? I don't think so !!! Ryan Dungey, Trey Canard and Andrew Short would be a very competetive team and could carry Team USA to another des Nations victory. My only concern would be Christophe Pourcel, should he be picked to ride for France that would give the French a very formidable team that could actually beat US on our home turf !!!!! It almost happened last year in Italy.
I thought it was team kawasaki that wouldn't let stewart go, those years he didn,t go, because they were afraid of him getting hurt, for the upcoming sx season. I don't remeber him ever being asked to go, and him refusing to do it. Why wouldn't he want to go?
Also, I think stewart will be more prepared than some people have suggested. Do you really think he has been sitting on the couch, eating doughnuts, and watching re-runs of 'bubbas world ' for the past 7 months ? He has probably been able to carry on with a good percentage of his normal training program, as far as his fitness goes. The wrist, and that arm ,would be the last thing to get ready, when he had the green lite to finally do so. True, he hasn't ridden moto's during that time, but I don't remember him ever looking too tired on the podium in his life, so maybe he's not in THAT bad of shape right now. Only unadilla will provide the answers, and personally, I CANT WAIT.......
To answer the question in the caption, Pastrana was wearing 2011 Fox gear with the Fox heads covered up. Maybe he and Thor are done?
scottyyz..."Stewart doesnt deserve to be on the team??" he is a former 125 champ, 125 supercross champ, 450 outdoor champ, 450 Supercross champ. He was regarded to be the fastest man on the planet up untill 9 months ago. So what would qualify someone to be on the team??? Why would we not want the fastest guys on the team?? SO WHAT IF STEWART DID A TV SHOW?? Get over people. If someone offered you a few million dollars to do a TV show you wouldnt do it?? Stewart broke his wrist and took the time recover properly. New Zealands Ben Townley took off 2 years and came back just as fast as ever, I think Stewart will be fine after 9 months.
DC I am aware of you are not the person that picks the riders for the team but you do benefit from exposure for the sport in a financial way. Also I do know that "The Man" Roger DeCoster will is the US MXdN team manager and is opinion matters the most. My point was that your publication, website and MX Sports continually use pictures of JS that have his red number one for his prior year's championships when the current SX Champion is not Stewart but Ryan Dungey and the current MX Champion is Chad Reed. You do not use pictures of either with their red number 1 but constantly can "only" find one's of James that way. "Whatever" come dude you are the only one that can post opinions here? And I never said he should have gone last year so where's my contradiction? And you are absolutely correct, Roger DeCoster will make the best decision. Again I'm just stating an opinion like you, DC and everyone else. I never said that Stewie isn't a talented enough or not wicked fast. My opinion is just he's not reliable and I question his motivation which could jeopardize the US's chances. That's it. If he's chosen then I'll root for him and the other team members because at the end of the day I just want to see our team do well and keep the trophy.
Only person to EVER get in Stewart's head was RC.
A couple of thoughts: first, how can we even be discussing JS for MXoN yet? What if he comes back at Dilla and goes 10-10? What if he goes 1-1? To discuss it now is ridiculous. Wait a week or two and let the fighting begin. Two, what's with all the bagging on X-Games? C'mon people, it's guys on dirt bikes roosting, flipping and flying. Is the track and coverage up to Nationals standards? Probably not, but it's free moto coverage. Stop the whining already. And as far as an earlier comment about the fastest girls on the planet looking like C-class riders, I have news for you, that wasn't ESPN's fault. Fiolek could barely make it through the whoops. Even McGrath made mention of that and he had been coaching her.
Whatever, prepare yourself......I agree with Sef's comments as well. I don't consider Stewart "a disgrace" to the MX community, not by a long shot. I consider his reality show ill-advised, but I take it with a grain of salt. Although, I do think it makes MXers look like a bunch of partiers between Potter and Sorby being on there. I also welcome James back outdoors with excitement. As for MXoN, if he is capable of being up front I will not be too upset if he is chosen. I do feel though, that he himself used the thought process of not being out there and not deserving to go last year to politely remove himself from consideration. Certainly he was in better position to go last year, preparation-wise ( no injury). So with that same thinking I feel Short "deserves" it more since he's been at it week in and week out and sits 2nd to Dungey's dominance. I'm also surprised by James' comments that BOTH other spots are up for grabs......Canard should be a lock at this point. The real question is if he will be outside next year, or if this is just about MXoN. I've got my fingers crossed that he will be and we'll see him, RV, Dungey...holy crap, Canard, Pourcel, Townley, Metcalf, Reed?....wow, getting top 10 next year might be a serious accomplishment.
And we see another rider, Kyle Cunningham, put his MX season in jeopardy over X-Games...not to mention JPatterson, hope she's ok. I think that ESPN might (ALMOST) want to see crashes and that is why there is insufficient track prep/design. Jumping off the peristyle blinded by the sun and dust clouds? SX is dangerous enough without other factors being involved that are described as "sketchy".
JohnnyO'- If Stewart was paid a few million dollars to do that show, I will stop giving him any grief about it. You honestly think he gets that kind of money? What is it on, FuelTV? I don't know because I can't get it. Pastrana supposedly get $350,000 for Nitro Circus so I doubt James gets half that much.
JohnnyO, looking for old Hodakas on eBay and there is an ad for a Dirt Squirt featuring a picture of it sitting at Washougal in the Retro Bike display. Posing on that bike is.... you? Item number 230505835966.... JohnnyO, please resolve this obviously very important issue.
bhfox39...yes that was the race he pulled the holeshot on a 2 stroke then nac-nac'd, coolest damn thing i ever saw at at SX start. He got 4th o/a also that night. RC,JS and CR were the top 3 that night. sef 154, yup that photo was from 2006 for sure. I know becasue i shot it! haha And yes i think that would have made her 15
amazed RV2 is back riding.....can he walk yet?? Love it though,cant wait to watch him ride again.