The Dog Days of Summer
AMA Motocross Rolls Through Budds Creek
By Jason Weigandt
The professional motocross and supercross tour here in the U.S. has entered into the dog days of summer, which means long hard days for racers who have been battling it out since January, and training and testing for several months before that.
The series doesn’t offer up any rest for the weary, either. When the summer grind hits, the tracks are rougher and the weather is hotter. For the racers who have been in contention all year, each round is just another stop not unlike all of the other towns and tracks they’ve been visiting for months. But there are other racers who are just rebounding from a break, be it from injury or bad luck or other troubles, and they’re hungry and ready. It leads to a big mash up on the track, and when you throw in the fact that summer time means contract time for 2008, then you have a real change in the system.
As a result, riders who were once shining bright for the season have run into trouble, and riders who were at once struggling are finding their groove. That’s the story coming into and out of Budd’s Creek, the first round of the second half of the 2008 season.
In the wake of last year’s wide open and wild chase for the AMA Motocross Class Championship, this year’s tour began with a pile of 450 talent on a variety of teams all thinking “this could be the year.” But Monster Kawasaki’s James Stewart was on that injured reserve list, missing the entire Monster Energy Supercross tour with a knee injury. Stewart came in healthy, motivated and ready, and soon the series started knocking out the competition. Ben Townley was considered a 450 threat but never got going due to a variety of injuries, and his teammate Ivan Tedesco has suffered the same fate. Now Davi Millsaps is dealing with an ailing shoulder, which leaves Andrew Short as the only gun left in the Red Bull Honda chamber.
Yamaha is decimated as well. Defending National Champion Grant Langston is out indefinitely with eye problems, and Broc Hepler, who was ready to graduate from the Lites class, is still healing from a broken arm. Josh Hill, a winner in Monster Energy® Supercross just a few months ago, doesn’t appear to be the same rider outdoors as he was inside. Yamaha picked up Sean Hamblin to help, but now Hamblin has shoulder problems, too.
Suzuki is reeling, with Mike Alessi out with injury, and David Vuillemin coming back from knee troubles. The results are now being logged by Michael Byrne, who, yes, missed Monster Energy® Supercross with a knee injury, and is turning in great results since he’s so fresh. Support rider Cody Cooper has been strong this year, as well, and he’s another one who wasn’t seen at a supercross track this year.
If you look at the results chart from supercross and motocross, you’ll see very few names hitting the top of both. In fact, in the factory 450 trucks, only Short, Hill and Millsaps can claim perfect attendance this year, and now even Millsaps is ailing. It’s been a long season for them, and a much newer one for riders like Stewart, who are surging right through the dog days of summer.
