American Motocross Festival Kicks Off

Shan Moore | August 29, 2008

The American Motocross Festival kicked off today with qualifying and other activities in preparation for the final round of the AMA Motocross Series which will be held tomorrow at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pennsylvania. For the first time, a motocross national will take place on a Saturday, and most of the riders and fans in attendance today seemed to like the idea. In today’s practice and qualifying, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s James Stewart (pictured) set the fastest lap time, lapping the redesigned Steel City course in 2:20.295 seconds, followed by a 2:23.702 by teammate Timmy M. Ferry and a 2:24.533 from Yamaha’s Josh Hill. Pennsylvania native Broc D. Hepler was fourth-fastest, on a Yamaha, while Suzuki’s Michael Byrne rounded out the top five. In the Lites division, Suzuki’s Ryan M. Dungey topped the field with a 2:23.050, while Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto was second with a 2:24.299. Rookie pro Blake Wharton posted a 2:25.615 on his Geico Honda, followed by Suzuki’s Nico Izzi and Geico Honda’s Joshua M. Grant. The festivities will go late into this evening, with a Mini Bike National and an Industry Party. Meanwhile, after tomorrow’s national, a concert featuring Billy Morris, formerly of the band Warrant, will take place.