It was more of the same at the 30th running of Buchanan, Michigan’s Red Bud Track ‘n’ Trail, as Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart both dominated their classes on the hilly, rutted circuit.
With rain threatening all day (but not showing up until just after the completion of the day’s events), Stewart worked his way through from mediocre starts in both motos to claim both moto wins by very large margins. Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing’s Brock Sellards and Ivan Tedesco followed him home in the first moto.
Tedesco encountered more than his share of problems in moto two, falling down on the first lap, and then again later on. Red Bull KTM title contender Grant Langston followed Stewart home in the second moto after pressuring and passing Kelly Smith late in the moto. Smith finished third in the moto, and overall, while Sellards’ 2-4 was good enough for second.
Langston’s 10-2 finishes, coupled with points leader Mike Brown’s 8-7 finishes, mean that Langston only sits nine points behind Brown at the halfway point in the series. In addition, Stewart sits 115 points behind Brown with six rounds left to run. Before returning at Budds Creek, Stewart was 156 points behind. If the championship continues at this pace, Stewart would win by eight points over Brown.
Chad Reed started the first 250cc moto up front, but he soon gave way to Kevin Windham and Carmichael. After a couple laps leading the race, Windham washed the front end of his CRF450R out and crashed at the bottom of a downhill and remounted third, but the race for the win was over. Carmichael won going away, while Windham got back past Reed for second, setting faster laps than Carmichael much of the time.
Carmichael got the holeshot in the second moto, followed closely by Windham, and Windham didn’t seem to want to let Carmichael get away – that is until dehydration set in and Windham had to back it down a notch. Windham held on for second in the moto, while YZ450F-mounted David Vuillemin rode strong for third.
Carmichael now leads Windham by 59 points with six rounds left to run.
125cc O/A: 1. James Stewart (Kaw); 2. Brock Sellards (Yam); 3. Kelly Smith (Yam); 4. Grant Langston (KTM); 5. Ryan Hughes (KTM); 6. Brett Metcalfe (KTM); 7. Mike Brown (Kaw); 8. Branden Jesseman (Suz); 9. Ivan Tedesco (Yam); 10. Chris Gosselaar (Hon); 11. Daryl Hurley (Suz); 12. Michael Byrne (Hon); 13. Craig Anderson (Yam); 14. Andrew Short (Suz); 15. Eric Sorby (Kaw); 16. Bobby Kiniry (Suz); 17. Troy Adams (Yam); 18. Brian Gray (Suz); 19. Steve Lamson (Suz); 20. Josh Woods (KTM); 21. Brad Modjewski (Suz); 22. Paul Veracka (Kaw); 23. Ryan Mills (Hon); 24. Randy Valade (Yam); 25. Steve Boniface (KTM).
250cc O/A: 1. Ricky Carmichael (Hon); 2. Kevin Windham (Hon); 3. Chad Reed (Yam); 4. David Vuillemin (Yam); 5. Mike LaRocco (Hon); 6. Larry Ward (Hon); 7. Ezra Lusk (Kaw); 8. Timmy Ferry (Yam); 9. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 10. John Dowd (KTM); 11. Nick Wey (Yam); 12. Clark Stiles (Hon); 13. Heath Voss (Yam); 14. Jason Thomas (Hon); 15. Keith R. Johnson (Yam); 16. Josh Demuth (Yam); 17. Keith S. Johnson (KTM); 18. James Povolny (Hon); 19. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 20. Ryan Clark (Yam); 21. Joe Oehlhof (Yam); 22. Austin Squires (Yam); 23. Thomas Barron (Suz).
AMA/CHEVY TRUCKS 125cc U.S. MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 6 of 12 rounds): 1. Mike Brown (215/2 wins); 2. Grant Langston (206); 3. Ryan Hughes (180/1 win); 4. Eric Sorby (160); 5. Brock Sellards (157); 6. Ivan Tedesco (129); 7. Michael Byrne (120); 8. Brett Metcalfe (117); 9. Craig Anderson (116/1 win); 10. Michael Brandes (108); 11. Steve Boniface (102); 12. James Stewart (100/2 wins); 13. Chris Gosselaar (96); 14. Andrew Short (90); 15. Kelly Smith (85); 16. Stephane Roncada (77); 17. Daryl Hurley (76); 18. Brian Gray (64); 19. Ryan Mills (52); 20. Steve Mertens (50).
AMA/CHEVY TRUCKS 250cc U.S. MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 6 of 12 rounds): 1. Ricky Carmichael (294/6 wins); 2. Kevin Windham (235); 3. Chad Reed (224); 4. Timmy Ferry (202); 5. Mike LaRocco (170); 6. Ezra Lusk (147); 7. David Vuillemin (145); 8. John Dowd (133); 9. Larry Ward (129); 10. Ernesto Fonseca (126); 11. Nick Wey (98); 12. Nathan Ramsey (74); 13. Sean Hamblin (66); 14. Clark Stiles (64); 15. Joaquim Rodrigues (60); 16. Kyle Lewis (52); 17. Stephane Roncada (40); 18. Keith S. Johnson (38); 19. Jason Thomas (35); 20. Sebastien Tortelli (33).
