Racer X ReduX: Washougal
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 | 4:30 PM
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Last week I went on and on about the parity of competition at the top of this sport right now. This week, we’re seeing how such close competition can change our perception of the races.
In motocross, we like to make sweeping judgments, and the sport cooperates when the racing is predictable. Let’s go back to last week, when we described the McGrath, Carmichael and Stewart level of dominance. With these guys on their game, you could watch one race and pretty much figure out what was going to happen at the rest of them.
Sometimes we break it down with a simple word—speed—which is essentially the complete work of a racer. Speed may be one thing, but it requires a multitude of things—natural talent, desire, bike and bike setup, mental focus, strength, fitness, etc—to be complete. We know that speed, in motocross terms, isn’t just measured on a radar gun. Neither is being “fast.” It’s something that carries over week-to-week. You don’t see someone be 40th fastest one week and fastest the next. Normally. In the old era of MC, RC, and Bubba, you knew that if these guys were the fastest one weekend, they were probably going to be the fastest the next weekend.
Can Dungey take over the points lead at Unadilla?
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
And really, it wasn’t just that way with these three. When I first became a fan of this sport as a kid, it didn’t take me long to figure out that Rick Johnson was going to be the man to beat everytime he lined up. A generation before that, I think Bob Hannah was the same way.
So we have become programmed to think that way. See it once, you’ll see it again the next week. It’s this usual pattern that makes this 2011 season so darned hard to understand. It’s not following the pattern!
Each time we make a sweeping judgment and finally think we have something figured out, it changes. Ryan Dungey was not the man in this tour, not at all, through the first two months. In fact, we had ourselves questioning his usually unquestionable fitness. At Hangtown, Chad Reed outlasted him in the second moto. Reed did it again late in the second moto at Budds Creek. Dungey pushed and pushed, but eventually just lost the pace—dramatically—during the late laps of those races. Dungey was getting tired! Reed is in better shape!
Then the second moto at RedBud comes along and Ryan Villopoto straight puts it to Dungey, pulls away from him, en route to a route. Villopoto is the fastest guy!
And then here is Dungey, running Villopoto down at Millville in the second moto—reeling him in from way back—then reeling him in again in the first moto at Washougal. And straight handling him in the second moto over the weekend. Suddenly Dungey is both fast enough and fit enough. Yes, the puzzle changes a bit since we’re matching up three riders—sometimes it’s Dungey versus Reed, sometimes it’s Dungey versus Villopoto—but the outcome keeps changing.
Villopoto has the red plate for the first time all year.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
It’s just too close, in both classes. We thought maybe Tyla Rattray wasn’t fast enough—but he’s proven to be as fast as anyone. We thought Dungey wasn’t as fit as Reed or as fast as Villopoto, but now he’s proving to be the hottest property in the series.
In the post-race press conference at Washougal, I asked Dungey what changed between RedBud’s second moto—when Villopoto worked him—and these last two races when he got RV back.
“Our speed, it’s so close,” he said. “RedBud was kind of an unfortunate deal, we did an adjustment before the moto, and no excuses, but we went the wrong way. It just wasn’t jiving right, and he just took off. I don’t know, I felt like today I had a good setup. It’s not big things; it’s little bits, and minor adjustments. It’s amazing what one little change will make as far as making you comfortable out there.”
For the second weekend in a row, Villopoto had a chance to make an excuse and blame lappers. He didn’t take it at Millville, saying lappers held him up a bit, but that Dungey was “just the man to beat today.” He didn’t take that excuse at Washougal, either.
“I got held up by one lapped rider going into the whoops one time,” said Villopoto. “I lost a little bit of time there, but I could hear that he [Dungey] was gaining a little bit here and there. Obviously I couldn’t see him, but from what I could hear and where he was inching up, I think he had some better lines. We’re all so close on speed that it comes down to whoever gets the right bike setup and picks the best lines.”
Can Reed bounce back from his worst result of the year at Unadilla?
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
There you go. It changes week to week. We can’t make a definitive judgment because one click on a shock or one new line through a section can swing the whole race another way. In this sense, the races seem more like other motorsports, where a bad tire choice or a setup issue can send anyone back a bit. Yeah, Jimmy Johnson may have won a bunch of NASCAR titles in a row, but you don’t see him flirting with a perfect season, ever.
Hopefully, this is where we are now. We not only had four motos on live TV this weekend in the U.S., but we also had four motos on live TV in the U.S. where you did not know who was going to win. Sure hope this new pattern sticks around!
Now some other thoughts on ‘Shougal
--- It’s a good thing we were airing those 450 and 250 motos live back-to-back. Poor Trey Canard crashed in the second 450 moto and that brought out the red flag and a restart. It also slowed up the TV show significantly, and since these shows are formatted down to the second, so if you lose 10 minutes, it’s almost impossible to get back. The moto restarted at the 23-minute mark (since Trey crashed seven minutes in) but the extra time taken to send the riders back around from the finish to the start, re rack ‘em and drop the gate again put us way behind. Kudos to producer Chris Bond for finding ways to fill in space during that time break, and then to SPEED for letting us run the 450 show long. See, on SPEED, the 450 and 250 shows are supposed to exist as two separate one-hour shows, each with an ending and an opening. On the fly, they decided to scrap that and let the 450 show flow right into the 250s. By dropping the opener for the 250 show, we made up the extra time and our two-hour block ended on schedule. It looked seamless, but had the 250 show not have been coming up right after the 450s, I don’t what would have happened—the 450 moto didn’t even end until after the hour. Isn’t live TV fun?
Luckily for Canard he did not damage the rod in his already broken femur.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
--- As for Canard, man, I’m just happy to hear he didn’t do major damage. Dude is carrying a rod around in that leg (from a crash and femur break in Washougal, oddly, two years ago). If that sucker ever got busted up, you could be looking at catastrophic damage. Not the case, again, just like his previous femur break in April. I’m starting to wonder what material that rod is made of!
--- With Canard out, I’m wondering what goes on in camp American Honda Racing. Kevin Windham would have a full 27 days between Millville and Unadilla to rest and recuperate. Maybe this is just wishful thinking on the part of everyone who loves seeing K-Dub at the races (and that’s just about everyone).
--- Dean Wilson is the man. I need to write this because he hasn’t been able to say he’s officially the man, as in an overall winner, yet, but that’s only because of the two-moto format this sport has always run. Dean has actually won five motos this year. It’s a shame that in motocross you can win five races and officially not have won anything. It’s just circumstances and math—he’s riding as well as anyone. And he’s leading the points and it’s not a stretch to say he’s the title favorite at the moment. If he wins the title without an overall, who cares? He has five moto wins already. He’s a winner.
Dean Wilson holds the points lead in the 250 Class, but has yet to win an overall.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
--- Along with this new-found parity at the top of the MX food chain comes new-found truthfulness. No one is making excuses or playing mind games at the top. When Villopoto gets beat, he admits he got beat. When Reed gets beat or Dungey gets beat, they do the same. And the Pro Circuit boys who are ruling the 250 class are doing the same thing. And by the way, saying your bike setup or lines were bad is not an excuse, that’s just the truth. Excuses are when you say something clearly wrong, like, you start right behind a guy and he pulls away and you say you would have won if you had a better start. Not hearing that this year. We’ve hit a high water mark for both racing parity and sportsmanship. Enjoy it while it lasts!
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Well I used to not like CHAD but now I want him to win so bad. I think things will change up once more. RD is on op of his game and seems o have turned it around. Whoever wins it deserves it.
Thanks for giving Dean some props! I think he will start to stretch this thing out a bit with some overalls...
GO DEANO!
I guess Chad is appealing now that he isnt taking anyone out.
It ain't the rod in Canard's leg that is to worry about/ even though that there rod is prolly at its max as far as grinden and polishen go. Give us a dolla and we'll put in a new one oh'boy. We need your money.
Excellent observation Weege... I have often times looked back to the late 80's and 90's and compared them to how things are this year. 2011 has been the year of " what just happened" and unpredictability.... We were used to guys coming out and winning moto after moto and sure, they would have an off weekend, but only to come back and win again....SX anything could happen and did, and for MX, although the "crazy" crashes, takeouts and other off track nonsense has not reered its ugly head, we have had guys taking turns and nobody showing utter dominance.....I guess we are just "used" to the old days.....change is good, I like it.....GO GET THIS RV !!!
Good job Weeg.You and Fro do a great job on the TV as well.You'll just crack me up.You are gonna have to take out the sexual overtones on this,but we love you man.We still think you're a big Dork though.
I like how you say the old era of MC, Carmichael, and Bubba. Bubba isnt done... he can still go out there and handle those guys. I know i will catch flak for this but you know deep down he can still turn the fastest times. Granted he isnt racing right now and has had trouble keeping it up. But when he is really on his game he is unbeatable. I know you will try and find facts to say im wrong but lets be honest, he is in a league of his own compared to the top 3 right now. They are all around the same pace which is fun. But does everyone really think that chad has picked up a full minute in speed compared to a few years ago when bubba and ricky would drop him? I doubt it. I do have much more respect for reed now though so i am not a reed hater by anymeans.
"Ryan Dungey was not the man in this tour, not at all, through the first two months."
Hey what!
He went 1-2 at round 1
Would've went 2-1 at round 2 if not for running out of gas.
2-3 at round 3
2-2 at round 4
2-1 at round 5
and 2-2 at round 6.
at that point he would've been 3 points ahead of Chad if not for losing those 25 points to something out of his control.
I fail to see how he was "not the man, not at all" until recently?
Come on Weege.
@Ryan - No flak from me dude.. I like Stewart, he has made some mistakes and gets ripped on, but I am looking to see JS7 come out in 2012 and shut alot of folks up, even though RV is my favorite horse......JS7 just turned 25 and he easily has 4-5 years left in him at making runs at Championships if he chooses to do so.....Look at Reed and Windham, Reed is about to turn the big 30 and K-Dub is 34....If James comes out in 2012 and gets blown away, he'll probably disappear but I dont think that would happen...on his worse day he is top 3..shame he didnt race MX, but like Reed did last year, he is making changes for the good.....cant find a problem with that...
I have said this a thousand times, alot of guys know I am NOT a Stewie fan, I hate his attitude, but I do give him all the credit in the world for being fast. He is a threat to win every race he enters. But do I think he will blow away RV, Reed and Dungey?? NO WAY. Alot of people thought that in supercross too. But he is definately a top guy unless he crashes himself out. I really do hope he runs next year, the more the merrier.
It is great to have 3 guys in BOTH classes who can win any moto, its awesome. Can it get any better?? Well, we could have 4 or 5 who could win..
Bob Hannah was the #1 in AMA Racing (between 1977 and 1979), Rick Johnson was the #1 in the WORLD, RJ totally dominates everything between 1987 and 1989, SX250, MX250, MX500, MXoN, USGP, everything!!! only RC in 2001 made a MX/SX domination ala RJ (but without USGP and MXoN that year)! sorry for my bad English
@skeedsteer16,Reed was the man till half way through millville.If you want to add 25 points for Dungey's dnf at Freedstone then you sould give Reed 1st instead of 14th place points for the second moto at Millville he would of had a huge lead.He still had the points lead at that point.Get my drift.You can't add Dungeys 25 and discount Chads crash.Betwwen those giant earrings and being hurt from that crash also affected Chad last week.
Skidsteer - RD has been very consistent, but "the man" the first few rounds was Reed as far as taking the overalls goes. the individual moto victories were being split once RV got up to speed....So there are alot of "2's" for the Dunge and not many"1's" in your breakdown above... he was the "second man" in most those races, which in no means is bad in my opinion...had he won texas, he would be in much better shape....but so would RV if he won texas or Red Bud and didnt have some 3-3 weekends....its all good man...it all worked out and they are neck in neck....its racing buddy....you have to "finish" the race on your bike....
@BrotherFred - no man - the ear blings are what keep dude sort of tracken straight through life/races/sky shots. I used to wonder but now I understand. It's an equilibrium thing.
wooda coulda shoulda .....as the reed guys have put it so well for weeks...'whos ahead in the points rv guy ?'.........now you can answer your own damn question. And if #1 keeps riding like he did this weekend ,he may soon be wearin the red plate. This is gonna get good.
@joshalessi, I don't think he's worn those things for awhile.Washougal is the first time I've noticed those in a while.Your right it was a equilibrium thing.Those earbobs were to heavy.Those had his balance off and caused him to go 7-4.I figured even hurt he could of easily of went 3-3 and then he would still be 3rd in points but just down 2. [.441,440,339]!!!
This is a bit off the subject, but does anyone know if Gareth Swanepoel is related to the gorgeous Victoria's Secret Super Model Candice Swanepoel of South Africa? She's SMOKIN" HOT!
Now back to the subject at hand. Yes Dungey is on his game right now and has his mojo going, but if anybody thinks he's going to do this from here on out is crazy. NEVER, EVER count out Chad Reed, or RV2. NEVER! OK now, does anyone know about the Victoria's Secret Chick?
@jojo,that is Swanepoel's wife/sister.They are from a little town in Kentucky-Alabama ,Africa
Lest brin on Unnidila the Thrilla AK Ali vs Fraizer lol hey the old Unidilla was one bad ass track! Still is.
Good question jojo, not sure. Easy Fred, Kentucky isnt that way anymore, much, well sometimes, but not always. hahaha!!
motobama, yes RJ was easily the best then, my favorite rider of the '80's
Ummmm... Chad crashed! That's his fault!
Ryan running out of fuel is in no way, shape, or form the same thing. It was out of his hands.
BTW, I wasn
...wasn't saying Chad wasn't the guy in the first half of the series...I just didn't agree with weege's statement "Dungey was not the man, not at all".
Skidsteer, I agree with you 100%. Dungey has been awesome from the first race. He has not placed less than third in any moto, niether RV or CR can say that. If not for his bike running out of gas resulting in a DNF he would now be leading the points by 26 over RV. He has shown excellent conditioning and riding from the drop of the first gate. Every track has special needs and all three riders can win on any track but bike set up and rider technique gives each one a little advantage each week.IMO I could never guess who will win this week of the three. What I do know it will be great racing.
holy crap! enough of the 'What if''s' ya freak'n morons! Unless you know what would have happened from Freestone to now had Dungey not DNF'd you can't say he'd be ahead by 26 points! Can anyone guarantee that had he finished Freestone that his riding style would be the same? Would he be riding as confident as he is now had he had the points lead all this time? Would the pressure of having the lead weighed on him? Is he riding so well now because he didn't have that pressure? Can you guarantee he wouldn't have crashed between then and now due to a whole new set of circumstances? Maybe Reed or RV might have taken him out in a corner by now? There's a reason you can't change history....because the outcome would no longer be the same!
Does anyone follow what I'm saying or have you all just sucked in too much exhaust fumes?
Screw the 'What if's' and enjoy the 'What is!' This is great racing, I have no idea who's gonna win it but whoever does deserves it!
With this sport being so endurance related why don't we drug test like bicycling? These riders can do what ever they want and not get caught. And I'm sure some do.
Ripdown WOW! Profound.. especially the part, "you can't change history"
I love seeing people who were saying they hated Reed years ago finally come around. I haven't looked at these post for a long time and its refreshing to see that. All of these guys have tons of heart and should all be respected for entertaining us.
@Sherpa
Pretty sure you're mocking me but that's ok. All I'm saying is if someone other than Dungey wins this championship they earned it. Not because RD dnf'd moto2 at Freestone because it's not that simple......
Hey Ryan you say that stewie is still the fastest guy if he chooses to race . Then I thought Well didn`t everyone also say that about his Supercrossskills, but yet he has not won the Title for 2 Years now . Actually if I count all the races he did over the last 2 years it may be a bit of a joke to call him the fastest man on the planet, seeing he`s only won 6 overal`s? ( Reed 9, villo 14, dungey 21).
But nevertheless we all do think a bit like that about stewie because everyone is remembering his speed and skill on an outdoor track, but still I think a lot of people were also remembering villo`s speed before outdoors started thinking he would clean up. But look what happend he got beat by reed and dungey by over 30sec. at Hangtown, and has only won one overall. And he was also away from outdoors for 2 years.
So I think if Stewie ever does outdoors again he will have to find his feet first and that can take one whole season. so by the time he is a serious contender again for a Championship outdoors he is 27/28, if he doesn`t get injured. What tells me he will have to back down his speed a bit because if he crashes like he does at a higher age he will get hurt sooner or later.
But really what do I care I enjoy RACING much more anyway when stewies not there.
That moniker of "Fastest Man on the Planet" has to go...it is such a joke among the inner circles. I would be embarrased to have people call me that. Anyway, enough about the dude that doesn't race outdoors. The men are bringing it this year and i love the respect and lack of gamesmanship in the interviews. Mookie should do well at Southwick, i'm predicting a podium for the kid. Look for a PC Kawi to blow up there as well. Gotta keep with tradition!
Ripdown Rules!!!!
Maybe this can be the plot to a new Back to the Future Movie ??
" BACK TO THE FUTURE 2011 -The Dungey Do Over " Maybe we go back to PHX 2009 before Two Two took himself and Stewart out of the season....or 2010 before RV broke his leg before and RD was handed he SX and MX titles???
Fact be known, I give RD all the credit in the world for his 2010 year and love the kid,his style, attitude and dont mean to beat a dead horse. .... but 2010 he had more luck on his side than you could ever ask for....this year, we are seeing what happens when the playing field is a little more level and everyone has their ups and down... Dungey is still a top dog, no doubt....he rules...but so do the other guys.....He did have a DNF in SX...but he also only won 1 race compared to to his 6 the year before.....and same in outdoors...he dominated from round 2 on....he we are coming into round 9 and we are neck in neck
We all need to remember that these races are a combination of man and machine. It's a team effort and a bike breaking or quitting is part of it. Many times in racing its the rider that makes mistakes and many times the equipment fails. RD's gas problem at freestone was a reflection on the equipment failure more than rider but the results are the same. For me as a racer it would be harder to swallow because I did my job, but the fact remains,without the complete package the race isn't won.
having a threeway for the championship is great, maybe next year we will see a group of 5 or 6 that could win, I love it
All of you have good points, but if you think RD,CR,RV think about that stuff very long you're crazy. And don't forget MA he knock himself out fastest guy in practice and still not winning moto's. It's all down to who has the most points at the end of the last moto! and guess what none of us can predict the future when the racing is this close. We also get to watch great racing every week.
The post from JoJo if he's the rider from MASS who rode a factory Honda in the 80's you better listen to him he knows his motocross. I raced against him at a hare hound I finished 9th or 10th he was already changed when finished.
Can't wait for Unadilla!
With three weeks between races, there's going to be a whole lot of dead-horse-beating going on around here. Is there really anything new to say about his championship? It's a great, somewhat unpredictable year for sure, but it's not 2010, and JS7 isn't racing outside. Move on.
Not sure if the poster is "the" Jo Jo or not, but I remember said-rider tossing a 250 or 500 around like it was an 80. You don't really see that stuff-it-pinned style anymore with the 450s.
MXBob That's the JoJo that i was thinking of. he was was so smooth and fast.
My question to the fans is: Who do you think will win the 450 class at Unadilla?
Although I will probably hear it from the Reedy supporters, I think that it will be all Dungey and Villo from now on ....
Well Duh, JS7 will win anything else is a joke.
I hope Dungey remembers how that little clicker change here or there can make the difference between hanging with or beating RV and being 10-15 seconds behind him. Remember this Ryan, when thinking of jumping on a KTM for next year.....or any other bike for that matter. Some riders find greener pastures on a new bike, others struggle to make it work as well as the one they were on. Judging how small changes in setup make or break Dungey's results, I don't think I'd change brands any time soon. Make the money in win bonuses. Clearly, Dungey doesn't NEED Roger to win as we can see by the results without him.
I hate that Stewart is being mentioned here....but for the guy that says James just turned 25.....he is closer to being 26 at this point (birthday December 21). Still pretty young, but age really has nothing to do with it. Some guys are done by 27-28 others keep on going (K-Dub/Reed). RC called it quits at 26. But sitting at home isn't doing anything for James as far as getting prepared to beat these guys. These three are pushing each other further in speed while James is doing laps on a practice track. He'll have his hands full again in 2012.
Well put B-KR JS7 isn't in the hunt every weekend getting used to the pace. That's
probably why he struggled last SX season he just wasn't used to the pace that the rest of the guys are running. I know RV had a lot of time off the bike but he's younger they bounce back quicker. It took CR four races to start running towards the front of the pack.
It's going to be a three way battle at Dilla and my guess is that CR will figure out how to pull off an overall, providing he isn't still dinged up from Millville. Not making excuses for him, He just needs to be full strength to beat the Ryan's straight up. That track is very long and technical fitness is going to come into play in the second moto that's were RD and CR have it over RV. IMO
For me it's all good racing!