Round 2: High Point Raceway, PA May 27-28, 2006

Kawasaki/Racer X Race Report

The 2006 edition of the Kawasaki/Monster Energy Pro National at High Point presented by Anderson and Strudwick presented plenty of changes from High Point in years past: a redesigned track layout, a cool vintage parade lap featuring top riders from High Point's past, and plenty of other tricks to make the race better than ever. But to any of the fans on hand, it's the racing that really counts, and it was the rematch of last year's Carmichael/Stewart battle that had the people pumped up.

Of course, last year's battle only lasted half way through each moto. By then, it looked like Stewart had tired from riding his KX250 fast enough to keep up with Carmichael. But this time James had a KX450, and that weapon let him take it to Carmichael nearly all the way to the finish.

Nearly.

In the first moto Stewart collected the Racer X Holeshot, but he picked a bad line in the second turn and lost a few positions. Soon he was up to second and hounding Carmichael, and before long he made a pass and tried to take off. For a few laps, James pulled away, with his gap maxing out at about three seconds. But before long, Carmichael had settled in, figured out the right lines, and started closing the gap back up.

Then Stewart got held up big time by lapped traffic - the duo was going so fast that they caught traffic very early in the moto. This put RC right on him, and the battle raged after that, with the High Point fans going nuts, the cheers chasing the battle around the track like a giant wave.

Finally, with only bout three laps to go, Carmichael made a mistake and went off the track. Stewart opened up a few bike lengths, but Carmichael appeared to be closing when all of a sudden ... Stewart endoed off of the step-down double past the finish line. He went down hard - head first, too. It was a scary, violent wreck, and James appeared to be knocked out momentarily. Amazingly, he was able to walk off under his own power a few minutes later, although he took a seat in the Asterisk medic mule.

Carmichael won big with Chad Reed second and Davi Millsaps in a solid third.

With Stewart out for moto two, everyone knew what would happen in that race, and predictably Carmichael pulled away to an easy win. Reed had to deal with pressure from Millsaps again before Millsaps admittedly pumped up and dropped off to finish a distant third.

And once again the series and the point standings appear to be all Carmichael.

In the AMA Motocross Lites class, a tremendous battle broke out in moto one. Mike Alessi just edged out Chris Gosselaar for the holeshot, but L'il Goose knifed inside and took the lead. Unfortunately, Gosselaar twisted his sore ankle in a rut and had to pull off. Alessi had made a mistake, and this put Josh Grant out front by himself. Meanwhile Grant Langston had hooked up his rejuvenation machine and was charging in second with Alessi behind him and Ryan Villopoto making up time from the back.

Then things unraveled in a hurry. Grant washed out in a turn and hooked his ankle. The crash put Langston into the lead with Alessi right behind him. Langston held Alessi back until he washed out in a corner, also, which finally put Mike into the number one spot. Grant was in second after the Langston fall, but he was suffering with that ankle and dropped second to Villopoto.

Alessi's moto win put him in position for another overall win, but it was not to be when he crashed in the second turn of moto two. He charged from the back, but it was way too late to preserve the overall. Out front, Honda's Andrew Short was trying to make up for a first turn crash in moto one by pulling the lead, but Villopoto's charge from the back was most impressive. He passed the ailing Langston and Grant and then went to work on Short, finally catching him and passing. From there, the young rookie cruised to his first overall win.

So after all the changed at High Point, in the end Carmichael won the battle to leave with a solid points lead in the 450 division, and the Lites class is anyone's game. Sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same.

AMA/Toyota Motocross Championship Presented by FMF
High Point Raceway
Mt. Morris, PA
May 27-28, 2006

450 Class Moto One Results

1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
2. Chad Reed (Yam)
3. David Milsaps (Hon)
4. David Vuillemin (Yam)
5. Nicholas Wey (Hon)
6. Travis Preston (Hon)
7. Josh Demuth (Hon)
8. Joshua Summey (Hon)
9. Robbie Reynard (Hon)
10. Sean Hamblin (Suz)
11. Jason Thomas (Hon)
12. Ryan Clark (Hon)
13. Kyle Lewis (Hon)
14. Jeff Dement (Suz)
15. Bobby Garrison (Yam)
16. Justin Buckelew (Hon)
17. Shaun Skinner (Suz)
18. Kyle Partridge (Hon)
19. Mason Phillips (Hon)
20. Clark Stiles (Yam)

450 Class Moto Two Results

1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
2. Chad Reed (Yam)
3. David Millsaps (Hon)
4. Kevin Windham (Hon)
5. David Vuillemin (Yam)
6. Nicholas Wey (Hon)
7. Travis Preston (Hon)
8. Josh Demuth (Hon)
9. Joshua Summey (Hon)
10. Robbie Reynard (Hon)
11. Kyle Lewis (Hon)
12. Jason Thomas (Hon)
13. Jeff Dement (Suz)
14. Ryan Clark (Hon)
15. Jeff Gibson (Hon)
16. Shaun Skinner (Suz)
17. Clark Stiles (Yam)
18. Bobby Garrison (Yam)
19. Joe Oehlhof (Suz)
20. Jack Carpenter (Hon)

450 Class Overall Results

1. Ricky Carmichael 50
2. Chad Reed 44
3. David Millsaps 40
4. David Vuillemin 34
5. Nicolas Wey 31
6. Travis Preston 29
7. Josh Demuth 27
8. Joshua Summey 25
9. Robbie Reynard 23
10. Jason Thomas 19
11. Kevin Windham 18
12. Kyle Lewis 18
13. Ryan Clark 16
14. Jeff Dement 15
15. Sean Hamblin 11
16. Shaun Skinner 9
17. Bobby Garrison 9
18. Jeff Gibson 6
19. Clark Stiles 5
20. Justin Buckelew 5

450 Class Standings

1. Ricky Carmichael 95
2. Chad Reed 86
3. David Vuillemin 68
4. David Millsaps 63
5. Travis Preston 62
6. Nicholas Wey 60
7. James Stewart 47
8. Kevin Windham 47
9. Joshua Summey 43
10. Joshua Demuth 39
11. Jeff Dement 39
12. Robbie Reynard 36
13. Jason Thomas 31
14. Ryan Clark 21
15. Shaun Skinner 20
16. Ryan Mills 18
17. Kyle Lewis 18
18. Clark Stiles 15
19. Sean Hamblin 11
20. Kyle Partridge 11

250F Class Moto One Results

1. Mike Alessi (KTM)
2. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
3. Joshua Grant (Hon)
4. Grant Langston (Kaw)
5. Michael Brown (Suz)
6. Matthew Goerke (Yam)
7. Andrew McFarlane (Yam)
8. Troy Adams (Kaw)
9. Nathan Ramsey (KTM)
10. Brett Metcalfe (Yam)
11. Andrew Short (Hon)
12. Sean Collier (Yam)
13. Billy Laninovich (Hon)
14. Steve Boniface (Hon)
15. Matt Walker (Yam)
16. Paul Carpenter (Hon)
17. Richie Owens (Yam)
18. Danny Smith (Hon)
19. Brian Gray (Suz)
20. Adam Chatfield (Hon)

250F Class Moto Two Results

1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Joshua Grant (Hon)
4. Grant Langston (Kaw)
5. Troy Adams (Kaw)
6. Martin Davalos (Yam)
7. Nathan Ramsey (KTM)
8. Make Alessi (KTM)
9. Billy Laninovich (Hon)
10. Andrew McFarlane (Yam)
11. Brett Metcalfe (Yam)
12. Matthew Goerke (Yam)
13. Jason Lawrence (Suz)
14. Danny Smith (Hon)
15. Sean Collier (Yam)
16. Robert Kiniry (Hon)
17. Brian Gray (Suz)
18. Jay Marmont (KTM)
19. Paul Carpenter (Hon)
20. Matt Walker (Yam)

250F Class Overall Results

1. Ryan Villopoto 47
2. Josh Grant 40
3. Mike Alessi 38
4. Grant Langston 36
5. Andrew Short 32
6. Troy Adams 29
7. Nathan Ramsey 26
8. Andrew McFarlane 25
9. Matt Goerke 24
10. Brett Metcalfe 21
11. Billy Laninovich 20
12. Mike Brown 16
13. Martin Davalos 15
14. Sean Collier 15
15. Danny Smith 10
16. Jason Lawrence 8
17. Paul Carpenter 7
18. Matt Walker 7
19. Steve Boniface 7
20. Brian Gray 6

250F Class Standings

1. Mike Alessi 88
2. Ryan Villopoto 80
3. Joshua Grant 74
4. Andrew McFarlane 63
5. Andrew Short 62
6. Brett Metcalfe 59
7. Nathan Ramsey 41
8. Billy Laninovich 41
9. Michael Brown 39
10. Grant Langston 36
11. Matthew Goerke 33
12. Troy Adams 29
13. Danny Smith 26
14. Christopher Gosselaar 26
15. Martin Davalos 25
16. Sean Collier 24
17. Matt Walker 23
18. Steve Boniface 23
19. Thomas Hahn 19
20. Zach Osborne 15



© 2008 MotoworldRacing.com Call Toll Free: 1-888-929-9111