Golden State Madness!

Raced the Golden State round at the Salem fairgrounds today. Here's a few pics from Cliff over at http://www.mcleoudphotos.net/ He's the champ when it comes to shooting moto

A2 good to be true?

A2 was a great race and Reed rode like the man that he is. I was stoked as hell for him. His ride from that far back, on a track that one lined, was amazing.

Houston was a whole different story. James was the one who looked like he was on his game. I think he finally got that pretty Yamaha figured out. He looked like the Bubba from his championship season. Scrubbin, whippin, roostin, slidin. Just vintage Bubba shit! I was watching him, and he did not look like the same rider that was at Anameim and Phoenix. Not to mention his "James Bon Jovi" entrance was extemely bad-ass.

But seriously, back to James and his blazing race. I was surprised that no one had talked about it as much, but he finally looked confortable on the Yamaha. In the heat when he went through the on-off's to the inside and seat bounced the triple, without ever even letting off, I had to pause and rewind real fast. I had to do the same again when he was doing his little parade lap at the end of the heat, and he proceeded to throw the bike over like I hadn't seen him do since he was on a little 125 2-banger. Then a smooth one handed whip over the finish line to cap it all off. It was honestly the first time this season that I remembered that James is from a far away planet. If he can do that every weekend, then I would advise most of the other guys to start training for outdoors...

The 250 east was exciting too. I had called the winner at about 9am that morning. I knew Pourcel had it in the bag when I read that he held the track record at the Kawi test track, over Villo on a 450. I'm pretty sure Stroupe is gonna wear the crown in the end. Mark my words. As far as the #20 goes... Not lookin to hot. He's not one of my personal favorites, but he sure can ride.

That was a pretty cool weekend of racing, and was probably the most "boring" yet. It's been 4 good rounds so far.

The A2 track looks awesome! very technical, and the "outdoor motocross" section should make for good old-school racing. Huge props to the track builders for switching things up this year. S-Turns, flat corners, sand, split lanes. Diversity is key.

This photo is from www.supercrossonline.com

Desert Showdown

Different Race, Same Stuff

Phoenix was another exciting round. It's shaping up to be a very interesting season! Just like last year, there have been 4 main events, and 4 different winners. A2 might see the 5th, and 6th different winners, as Chad Reed won there last year on a technical track similar to what is in store for this weekend, and the 250 class is pretty much a crap shoot.

Wiemer would have won the 250 main, had he not gone down in the tricky sand section. I don't know if SPEED edited the show to have Erin Bates chime in about the sand section taking victims, just seconds before Jake ate dirt, but I found myself laughing at that. Dungey looked good in his new FOX gear, and Brayton and Blose continue to turn heads. Biggest surprise is the defending champs J-Law and self proclaimed, Dr. Tre. Trey went down hard in the heat, and J-Law had a hell of a night. I'm pretty confident both will win a Main before the West Coast is over.

The 450 class was kind of a snoozer if you were just watching a lap chart, as James pretty much led wire to wire. But for anyone there, or watching on TV, it was anything but a snoozer. Very similar to last year, Reed held the #7 honest the entire 20 laps. You know you were on your toes that final lap, when Reed had closed to within a half second. It was also nice to see them high-fiving after the race. Bad blood and rivalries are good for TV, and racing if you think about it, but that was a great battle and both guys rode the shit out of those scooters.

Is the good racing due to the "bad" YZ450F, or the "amazing" RMZ-450? A bunch of people are saying that Bubba just doesn't look good on the new Yamaha. I call BS. The YZ450F has won both races so far, and he's only been on the bike for about 3 months. Reed did just fine on the bike last year, and while Skippy does look light-years better than he did in '08, I don't think it's just because of the new bike, but more so the new team. James has a pretty unique set up, and it takes him a while to get things going just how he likes them. The Cobra was pointing out, over on MotoTalk, that he suspects that James is using an Auto-Clutch as well. The Yamaha also took flak, when Bubba couldn't get it restarted at A1. Anyone out there remember the MXdN's? The only score team USA threw away was the one in which James couldn't get his Kawi restarted. Maybe James just doesn't know how to restart a fallen mount. I'm not just trying to defend the Yamaha 450, or James. I just think it's to early to be pointing fingers at the bike being the difference maker. Give it time people.

J-Law is with ONE, Dungey is with FOX. It's old news now. It was just Business. GET OVER IT

A1, Yeah it's that important.

QUICK RE-CAP

Every year the SX season kicks off at the illustrious Anaheim Stadium, and this year was no different, as 45,000 fans poured in to watch Reed and Stewart do battle, as well as the very hyped J-Law vs. Dungey rivalry. But unlike many years past, A1 was actually very exciting. Josh Grant got his first 450 victory, and scored the first ever win for the JGR team. Stewart DNF'd, but Reed looked fast and the 2 were set to swap the lead a few times. J-Law crashed 2 corners into the race and took Dr. Tre down with him. J-Law was left with a dangling visor, similar to RC from a few years back. Dungey got a bad start and rode his way to the box. And the Idaho kid Jake Wiemer won the race, looking good the whole way. It was an eventful night, and not many people picked the eventual winners. I actually don't know if anyone picked Josh Grant to win the 450 main.


But you already knew all of that since all of you watched it LIVE, on Speed! No need to sit here and re-cap the race for everyone. But I think a lot of moto heads are in agreement that this was the most exciting season opener in recent history, and is hopefully a sign of things to come.

Looking Ahead

Moving on to Phoenix, where James Stewart got his only SX win of the season last year, and Jake Wiemer got his first ever win. I would put a good amount of cash on Bubba for this round. I'm sure he'll be eager to redeem himself. But after A1, who knows what to expect. For those of you doing Fantasy SX anywhere, I'd say looking back to PHX last year, Both Reed and Stewart will be fast on the Fo Fiddy's and K-Dub landed on the podium as well. Josh Hansen finished inside the top 10 in AZ last year. I'd plan on him being the dark horse this weekend, hopefully making up for his lackluster debut with H&H. But I won't throw rocks if your reluctant to put your money on Lil' Hanny.


Wiemer won last year on the 250, and there's really no reason why he won't win this weekend. That's the beauty of the Tiddler class; expect the unexpected. My money is on Dungey for the weekend, with Brayton close to the front, along with the man layin down the Law with the number one plate. Kyle Cunningham is my under dog for Phoenix, as he had a good Top-10 ride there last year.

BRAAAP BRAP

Oregon Weather prevents a lot of riding from November to March, but Normally there are a few places to ride some Arenacross. Well this year hasn't been so cool, and I got to throw a leg over a scooter for the first time in to long on Saturday. The sun came out along the Oregon Coast, and it was the most fun I've had... Well since last time I was on 2-Wheels. Going out to the sand or the local trails, or Ocotillo if your in the area, is really good for the Soul. It reminds us all of why we got into riding in the first place. Pounding out laps at the local track is always fun, but there's still nothing like hitting the sand with my old man.

Back and better than ever.

Supercross has officially begun, and now I'm back to give my "valuable" insights.

I'll be posting some cool stuff at least twice a week.