Greetings from beautiful Millville, Minnesota, the site of round ten of the 2001 AMA/Chevy Trucks US Notocross Nationals...the whoop monster must have appeased the weather gods, as some steady rain from Friday and Saturday has yielded to near-perfect conditions.
This is the historic 20th anniversary of the Spring Creek national - for the record, this year the official name of this round is the Spring Creek/AMA/Chevy Trucks/Speedstick National Motocross presented by Dunlop Truck Tires.
We have a well-represented group of Japanese riders today. Atsuta Yoshitaka (Hon), Koji Ookawara (Yam)made the show, qualifying today for the 250 class, and Akira Narita (remember Mt. Morris?) is again running on a factory Suzuki in the 125 class.
Travis Pastrana reports that he's feeling very good today; Kevin Windham is in an upbeat mood, coming of his big Washougal win at the last round; Heath Voss was expected to race at his "home" national, but was unable - he's still recovering from the wrist injury he incurred at the Las Vegas Supercross final.
The track has had a few changes on the hillsides, and the famous whoops have been made into two sections now...
The first holeshot of the day belongs to Brock Sellards, followed by Fonseca and Damon Huffman...Randy Valade was involved in a first-turn pileup, he's back up & underway...the top five are Fonseca, Sellards, Langston, Thain, Ward, Brown, Pastrana, Schnell and Boniface as they complete lap 1...
Langston has moved into the lead on lap 2, and is followed by Fonseca, Sellards, Pastrana, Brown, Wey, and Vohland...
Lap 3...Langston's on it - he's pulling a bit of a gap on Fonseca, and his KTM crew are waving him on...after that it's Sellards, Thain, Ward, Pastrana, Brown, and Schnell...Langston has around a 3-scond lead at this point...Pastrana's making a bid to try & pass Sellards for the 3rd place spot...
Lap 4 - Langston continues to lead Fonseca, they're a little way apart, then it's a busy group with Sellards, Pastrana, Ward, Thain, Brown, Schnell, Wey, pursuing...the race of the moment is Pastrana and Sellards, and the Suzuki rider out-jumped the KTM rider on the big downhill jump to get himself into the podium position...
Lap 5 - Langston, Fonseca, Pastrana, Sellards, Ward, Thain, Brown, Schnell, and Wey...Arita is running near the back...
Lap 6 - Langston is still maintaining his lead, now 5+ seconds aheady, then Fonseca, and another 5 seconds back to Pastrana, Sellards, Ward, Thain, and Brown...
Lap 6 - Pastrana is closing in on Fonseca, looking to gather precious championship points and maybe take some away from rival Langston...the likeable South African is continuing to extend his lead over Fonseca to 7 seconds now, even as Pastrana moves up from behind...
The halfway flag is shown to Langston, and the man under the gun is Ernesto Fonseca, as the reigning 125 National Champion - Travis Pastrana - has closed to within striking distance for second...running order after that is Sellards, Brown, Ward, Thain, Schnell, Wey, Jesseman, and Vohland...Brock Sellards has the best seat in the house, as he watches the battle just ahead of him...Pastrana now drops off from Fonseca's rear fender...now Pastrana has pulled out of the race!...that leaves the running order Langston, Fonseca, Sellards, Brown, Thain, Ward, Schnell, Wey, Jesseman, and Vohland...
The announcers are speculating about Pastrana's reason for pulling off; in an interview earlier this weekend, the Suzuki rider stated that if his recent lack of ability to train left him unable to maintain the pace, he would indeed pull out, speculation is that may be what has happened in this first moto...
Lap 9 - Langston's solid with a 14-second lead as the moto begins to wind down...Fonseca is second, then Sellards, Brown, Thain, Ward, Schnell, Wey, and Jesseman...
Langston went into this race only 5 points behind Brown - with the dramatic disappearance of Pastrana from this moto, we will have Langston take over the point lead for the series, assuming the positions stay the same with respect to where he and Brown are running...
Lap 11 - no change in the leaders, as Langston keeps laying down the pain on the rest of the pack, even lapping Narita...
Mike Brown is pushing to get around Sellards, but the KTM rider is doing all he can to keep him behind...they're side-by-side through the whoops, and Brown moves alongside and past Sellards - then Sellards takes the 3rd place spot back!...and Brown takes it back, this time he made it stick...
The 2-lap sign is shown to leader Langston, and Fonseca gets it next...the new battle is between Fonseca and Brown as the Kawasaki rider moves up to try for the runner up spot, neither is giving any slack as they slug it out around the sandy Spring Creek course...
White flag's out; last lap - Langston will cruise to collect the 125cc first moto win, with a 15-second lead...Mike Brown hangs it out in a last-ditch effort to get back up to and around Fonseca - it's close - but Fonseca takes second...then Brown, and Sellards for fourth.
Pastrana said that he pulled off due to exhaustion, saying he was too tired to keep up with the pace, and did not feel comfortable; but - he also stressed that it doesn't have anything that his condition has nothing to do with his recent concussions, it's simply a lack of training time; doctor's orders did not allow him to train...we'll know soon if he'll be back to race the second 125 moto.
Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Shae Bentley crashed late in the race over the big jump before the finish line, and was carried off the track (conscious) on a stretcher - early diagnosis is a broken leg.
Results: (Official) 1. Grant Langston (KTM); 2. Ernesto Fonseca (Yam); 3. Mike Brown (Kaw); 4. Brock Sellards (KTM); 5. Rodrig Thain (Suz); 6. Nick Wey (Yam); 7. Larry Ward (Yam); 8. Greg Schnell (Yam); 9. Branden Jesseman (Hon); 10. Tallon Vohland (Kaw); 11. Steve Boniface (Hon); 12. Kelly Smith (KTM); 13. Keith Johnson (Yam); 14. Steve Lamson (Hus); 15. Matt Walker (Hon); 16. David Pingree (KTM); 17. Nate Ramsey (Yam); 18. Ivan Tedesco (Hon); 19. Damon Huffman (Yam); 20. Scott Sheak (Hon); 21. Paul Veracka (Kaw); 22. Casey Lytle (Kaw); 23. Randy Valade (Hon); 24. Keith Johnson (Yam); 25. Akira Narita (Suz).
The gate drops, and the 250 holeshot will go to...Dowd!, followed by Carmichael, Carpenter, Ferry...they swing around and John Dowd leads the pack...now Carmichael moves to the front...Ricky Carmichael leads, then Ferry, Reynard, Vuillemin, Windham, Dowd, and LaRocco...
Lap 2, and Carmichael is on the gas, trying to split, but Timmy Ferry is on it too...keeping Carmichael honest as they set a blazing pace...Reynard, Vuillemin, Dowd, WIndham, LaRocco, Tortelli, Dubach, Carpenter, Roncada, and Preston follow...
Kevin Windham is moving up - pushing Dowd to challenge for 5th...
Windham moves into 5th at the beginning of lap 3 - up front, Carmichael continues to lead Ferry, then the order is Reynard, Vuillemin, Windham, Dowd, LaRocco, Tortelli, and Dubach...
Lap 4 - Carmichael has stamped a 4 second lead over Ferry, then it's 9 seconds back to Vuillemin who leads and angry group comprised of Reynard, Windham, LaRocco, and Tortelli...local rider Michael Kann crashed out, he's being checked out...
Lap 6 - Carmichael continues to extend his lead to 8 seconds over Ferry, then it's 9 seconds back to Vuillemin in third...after that it's Windham, Larocco & Tortelli battling, then Reynard...
Lap 7 - the top 4 are still spread out, and Tortelli's hounding LaRocco, who has passed his way up to fifth...Reynard follows, and then we have Dowd, Roncada, Lusk, Preston, and Dubach...
Lusk, after moving up to 9th, crashed in the whoops section - got back up, but it must have been spectacular, as his front wheel has been taco'd and is rubbing on either side...Isaiah Johnson has also been claimed by the whoop monster...
Running order on lap 8 is Carmichael, Ferry, Vuillemin, Windham, LaRocco, Tortelli, Dowd, Reynard, Roncada, Preston, and Dubach...
Carmichael has an overwhelming lead at the 22-minute mark - Ferry is riding well in second, but is no match for the Kawasaki phenom this moto...Vuillemin continues to ride his own race, and Windham is keeping it just ahead of the LaRocco-Tortelli skirmish for fifth...
We're into lap 10 - Carmichael is carving up the Spring Creek MX track like a Thanksgiving turkey...Ferry is still cruising fast in second, but Vuillemin suddenly has his hands full as Windham checks in to the battle, pushing for third - and the Suzuki speedster makes the move - Windham now third, relegating the French Yamaha rider to fourth...
The running order's now Carmichael, Ferry - soon to get a visit from Windham, and then Vuillemin's getting tremendous pressure from LaRocco - who moves by into fourth! - Now Vuillemin gets the spot back, and they trade the position, along with plastic, paint, rubber, and nylon...the race for third is incredible...
The 2-lap board is out - Windham has closed up ground on Ferry, and has brought LaRocco and Tortelli along to the party...
Carmichael takes the moto win...Ferry has his hands full as they come around to the line, will he keep the spot?...it's close...and Windham moves into second!...this isn't over...they're having a 4-rider battle...the riders who cross the finish line after Carmichael are Windham, Ferry, LaRocco, Tortelli, and Vuillemin.
Results: (Official) 1. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw); 2. Kevin Windham (Suz); 3. Tim Ferry (Yam); 4. Mike LaRocco (Hon); 5. Sebastien Tortelli (Hon); 6. David Vuillemin (Yam); 7. Stephane Roncada (Kaw); 8. John Dowd (KTM); 9. Robbie Reynard (Yam); 10. Travis Preston (Hus); 11. Doug Dubach (Yam); 12. Atsuta Yashitaka (Hon); 13. Paul Carpenter (KTM); 14. Kyle Lewis (Yam); 15. Ryan Clark (Yam); 16. Jason Thomas (Hus); 17. Bruce Stratton (Suz); 18. James Povolny (Hon); 19. Ezra Lusk (Hon); 20. Clark Stiles (KTM); 21. Barry Carsten (Suz); 22. Damien Plotts (Hus); 23. Brian Stone (Kaw); 24. Robbie Skaggs (Suz); 25. Koji Ookawara (Yam).
Travis Pastrana, while being interviewed during the break by announcer Erv Braun, has confirmed that he will not ride the second moto, and in fact will give up his spot on the 2001 Motocross des Nations team, ceding his spot to Mike Brown...Pastrana said he'll be back as soon as he feels that he will have the speed and conditioning required to win; he does not plan to ride at the final two Nationals at Binghamton and Steel City...that will now leave the MXdN lineup for Team USA as Ricky Carmichael, Kevin Windham, and Mike Brown.
OK, we're ready for the second half of the day - the 125 riders are lining up for battle...
The gate hits the dirt, and as they come down the long Millville start chute, the holeshot will go to the KTM duo of Brock Sellards and Grant Langston, then Keith Johnson and Steve Boniface...Brown came through mid-pack...Langston assumes the front, followed by his teammate Sellards, then it's Fonseca, Thain, Brown (moving up quickly on lap 1), then Boniface, Ramsey, Wey, Hadsell, Reid...
Brown moves up to third, displacing Thain to 4th on lap 2...top rundown is Langston, Sellards, Brown, Thain, Boniface, Wey...Brown has trimmed 1.5 seconds between Langston at the front to where he's currently running during this last lapl...Brown slices inside Fonseca, and is into 3rd now...
Lap 3...Brown is reeling in Sellards, and Sellards holds him at bay on the first pass attempt...they roll through the giant whoop section - they're so big they look like VW Beetles covered in sand...Sellards commands a 9-second lead over Sellards who's got his hands full with Brown...
Lap 4 - order is Langston, and Brown has moved into second - Sellards in third, trying to regain 2nd...Sellards goes down! - and that will set up the showdown for the remainder of the moto...
Lap 5 - Langston holds the 9+ second lead on Brown, then Fonseca, Thain, Ramsey, Boniface, Sellards (back underway), Wey, Ward, Jesseman, Reid, and Lamson...
It's all about the championship, with a whole new twist...the two riders at the front are the players for the title - after today, only two rounds will remain...Brown's mechanic signals him that he'll need to step it up to reel in Langston...Sellards has moved back up into 6th...
Lap 6 - Grant Langston continues to lead Mike Brown by 10 seconds, as their mechanics keep them informed of their distance...order after that is Fonseca, Thain, Ramsey, Sellards, Wey, Boniface, Ward, and Jesseman...the Whoop Monster waves the Japanese flag in support of Akira Narita as the Suzuki rider enters the difficult section...
Fonseca had some kind of difficulty, moving from third back to fifth...Langston continues to wick it up, increasing his lead to over 16 seconds over Brown even more...rundown on Lap 7 is Langston, Brown, Thain, Ramsey, Fonseca, Sellards, Wey, Boniface, Ward, and Jesseman...
Vohland has pulled off the track...
Lap 8 - Fonseca is getting busy, with the Yamaha of Troy rider trying to hold off Sellards and YoTeammate Nick Wey...
As of today, Grant Langston is no longer the World Champion (see results from the German MXGP for details), but he is looking to replace that honor with a US national championship...he is riding in dominant form, working out a 1-1 day if he continues to walk away with this moto...
Langston is continuing to keep on eye on Brown's location around the track, his mechanic simply showing a thumbs-up as the KTM rider flashes by...Brown is urged on by three Pro Circuit Kawasaki mechanics, and is indeed doing all he can to stay in contention...
Lap 10 - it's Langston, Brown, Thain, Ramsey, Sellards, Fonseca, Wey, Ward, Boniface, and Jesseman...
Lap 11 - Langston's lead is now 20+ seconds on Brown, Thain runs in 3rd about 2 secs ahead of Ramsey, and Sellards is about the same ahead of Fonseca...Ward is trying to shove his way around Fonseca - not a pass there yet...
Lap 12 - Nate Ramsey is about 2.5 seconds adrift of Thain, and that's possibly the closest battle near the front...they're only about 3 bikelengths apart as they work the hilly sections of the course...Thain fishtails his bike a bit, and Ramsey draws within passing range...
Ramsey's getting huge air, and doing all kinds of antics to unsettle Thain - they're making a race of it for the 3rd spot...they'll come around for the white flag next...Thain missed a gear, slowed, and Ramsey jumped into 3rd...
Langston gets the white flag, still 17 seconds & change for his lead over Brown...he salutes the crowd on the way around...Ramsey moves by Thain to get into third...the checkered flag comes out for Grant Langston as he celebrates his 1-1 victory on the Red Bull KTM...second this moto will go to Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Mike Brown, then Ramsey, Thain, Sellards, Wey, Ward, Jesseman, Boniface, and Lamson makes a bid at the line on Fonseca - we'll see how those two wind up on the official results.
Results: (Official) 1. Grant Langston (KTM); 2. Mike Brown (Kaw); 3. Nate Ramsey (Yam); 4. Rodrig Thain (Suz); 5. Brock Sellards (KTM); 6. Nick Wey (Yam); 7. Larry Ward (Yam); 8. Branden Jesseman (Hon); 9. Steve Boniface (Hon); 10. Ernesto Fonseca (Yam); 11. Steve Lamson (Hus); 12. Greg Schnell (Yam); 13. David Pingree (KTM); 14. Matt Walker (Hon); 15. Damon Huffman (Yam); 16. Ivan Tedesco (Hon); 17. Scott Sheak (Hon); 18. Levi Reid (Yam); 19. Jacob Martin (Yam); 20. Casey Lytle (Kaw); 21. Paul Veracka (Kaw); 22. Randy Valade (Hon); 23. Kevin Johnson (Yam); 24. Akira Narita (Suz); 25. Steve Andrich (Yam).
The final moto of the day's ready as Millville's crowd stands up to await the start...first through and around the Spring Creek water tower is John Dowd, then local hero Povolny, Windham, and Carmichael...John Dowd hammers through the whoops section, leading the pack around on the big KTM 520...Carmichael passes, so does Windham and LaRocco...as they go from the first lap to the second, the running order is Carmichael, Windham, Dowd, Lusk, Ferry, Vuillemin, LaRocco, Povolny, Ookawara, and Yoshitaka...
Lap 3 - Carmichael's working it with a 4-second lead, Windham's riding strong in 2nd, then it's a fierce battle between Lusk and Ferry, they're making the most of all the available lines...then we have Dowd, Vuillemin, LaRocco, Reynard, Povolny, Yoshitaka, Ookawara, and Kyle Lewis...
Lap 5 - LaRocco and Dowd are waging a great race between their big 4-strokes for 6th spot...Carmichael's still leading Windham by 5 seconds now, then Ferry has moved into 3rd over Lusk - we haven't seen the end of that fight yet...then it's Vuillemin, Dowd, LaRocco, Reynard, and Povolny...
Lap 6 - Carmichael, Windham, and Ferry are somewhat spread out with the top 3 spots, then Vuillemin carries only about 1.5 seconds on Lusk - they're about 2.5 seconds ahead of the LaRocco/Dowd war happening behind them...then about 13 seconds farther back, Reynard is just ahead of Tortelli...
Lap 8 - the top 4 are still spread out, but while Lusk runs 5th, LaRocco is reeling him in, having finally dropped Dowd a bit...Tortelli has passed Reynard to move up to 8th...
The crossed flag is out, signalling the halfway point in the moto...up front, it's all about Ricky Carmichael, who's putting together another dominating day...Kevin Windham is proving that his win last week was no fluke though, representing himself well as he continues to run in 2nd...Timmy Ferry is also riding extremely well in 3rd, and in the last lap or so, has drawn up closer to Windham, less than 2 seconds behind him...
Carmichael has lapped his teammate Roncada, and as Windham and Ferry gas it around past the finish line, their battle intensifies...Ferry brings his Yamaha right up to Windham's Suzuki, only 1 bikelength, and bumps the 2nd place rider...Ferry's slamming the YZF426 around trying to unsettle Windham, and he makes the pass - immediately adds about 2 seconds' cushion over Windham...
Fatigue is setting in with the riders as they wind down the second moto...Carmichael continues to look very strong, though - commanding a 14 second lead over Tim Ferry, and then we have Windham 6 seconds back from there...then Vuillemin, LaRocco, Tortelli, Dowd, Reynard, Atsuta, Lewis, Carpenter, Dubach...
The 2-laps-to-go card is shown to Carmichael as the crowd waves him to a second moto win...Tim Ferry is methodically working his way along to the end of the moto, running second well ahead of Windham who's alone in third...
Carmichael, Ferry, and Windham look to be the overall riders for the podium in that order, barring any changes in the final couple laps...
The white flag is out, and Carmichael gives the crowd a show on his final lap, throwing it waaay sideways over the big uphill jump...he comes around and collects the 2nd moto and the 250cc overall win for the day...Ferry comes across second, and Windham cruises in third...after that the others this moto are Vuillemin, LaRocco, Tortelli, Dowd, Reynard, and Yoshitaka.
Thanks for tuning in to Cycle News Virtual Grandstand, and come back next week for penultimate round at Binghamton, New York on Sunday, August 26th.
Results: (Official) 1. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw); 2. Tim Ferry (Yam); 3. Kevin Windham (Suz); 4. David Vuillemin (Yam); 5. Mike LaRocco (Hon); 6. Sebastien Tortelli (Hon); 7. John Dowd (KTM); 8. Robbie Reynard (Yam); 9. Atsuta Yoshitaka (Hon); 10 Kyle Lewis (Yam); 11. Paul Carpenter (KTM); 12. Doug Dubach (Yam); 13. Stephane Roncada (Kaw); 14. Koji Ookawara (Yam); 15. Clark Stiles (KTM); 16. Barry Carsten (Suz); 17. Brian Stone (Kaw); 18. Scott Carter (Yam); 19. Ryan Clark (Yam); 20. Brian Mason (Kaw); 21. Cory Keeney (Hon); 22. Bruce Stratton (Suz); 23. Zeb Armstrong (Yam); 24. Dennis Stapleton (Hon); 25. Jimmy Wilson (Yam).
Broadcast By: Mark Thome - New Media Division
Spotters: Randy Rothlisberger, Dave Deringer, Pat Schutte
Photos By: