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digital moto magazine www.impoundmx.com

Introducing A New Era Of Moto-publications

Issue Number One

Team Suzuki’s Chad Reed

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I M P O U N D I S S U E 0 N E F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 9 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

6 1stthings1st: news & info from the moto scene

22 MegaPixels: eyecandy

30 TheSetup: bikes, bikes and more bikes

34 RaceCoverage: anaheim 1 lites racing

44 RaceCoverage: anaheim 1 supercross racing

58 RaceCoverage: baltimore ama arenacross

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I M P O U N D I S S U E 0 N E F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 9 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

70 Halftime: heelkickers and flips

74 PrivateerProfile: ben lamay is living the dream

80 MyFirstRace: blake wharton takes us through his first sx

86 RaceCoverage: houston ama supercross

94 RookieWatch: how the newbies are doing

96 Fresh: products from motoland

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1st things 1st

HULTNER PULICATIONS2816 OVERLAND WAYEDMOND, OK 73012

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STAFF

PUBLISHERSChris & Sherri Hultner

EDITOR / DESIGNER / PHOTOGRAPHERChris Hultner

MANAGING EDITORBreck Bonnell

CONTRIBUTORSTrevor Hultner

Jeff HultnerChristina StickelGlenn Commans

Kristin CheatwoodJeff @ mxpreview.com

TEST RIDERSBrett Cue

Derek LedbetterZac Commans

Hayden Commans

ADVERTISINGSherri Hultner

(405) 330-3584

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1st things 1st

1 ChadReed1 JasonLawrence2 RyanVillopoto3 MikeBrown4 RickyCarmichael7 JamesStewart8 GrantLangston9 IvanTedesco10 RyanDungey11 TravisPreston12 DavidVuillemin13 HeathVoss14 KevinWindham15 TimmyFerry16 JohnDowd17 RobbieReynard18 DavidMillsaps19 JakeWeimer20 NicoIzzi21 CodyCooper22 ChadReed23 KyleLewis24 BrettMetcalfe25 NathanRamsey26 MichaelByrne27 NicholasWey28 CharlesSummey29 AndrewShort31 RyanSipes33 JoshuaGrant34 MatthewGoerke35 PaulCarpenter36 KyleCunningham37 AntonioBalbi38 KyleChisholm39 TreyCanard41 MatthewLemoine42 JakeMoss43 BrocTickle44 AndrewMcfarlane45 JasonThomas47 JimmyAlbertson48 ThomasHahn50 WilHahn52 RobertKiniry53 JasonLawrence54 MattBoni55 RyanClark57 JacobMarsack58 PhillipNicoletti59 TroyAdams60 BrocHepler61 BlakeWharton63 ChrisBlose

64 JeffGibson65 ShaunSkinner66 SteveBoniface67 JoshHansen68 MichaelBlose69 TuckerHibbert70 MichaelWillard71 JustinSipes72 BryanJohnson73 GavinGracyk74 BrandenJesseman75 JoshuaHill76 KevinRookstool77 StevenClarke78 BillyLaninovich79 ColeSiebler80 TylerBright81 KyleSummers82 JackCarpenter83 DustyKlatt84 JarredBrowne85 SeanBorkenhagen86 TravisSewell87 PJLarsen88 BobbyBonds89 MarcDeReuver90 KellySmith91 ChadCharbonneau92 RyanMorais93 KevinJohnson94 JacobMorrison95 BenLamay96 TylerWharton97 JussLaansoo98 KyleTobin99 JaseLewis100 JoshuaHansen101 BenTownley102 ChrisGosselaar105 SeanHamblin111 MichaelSleeter114 JustinBrayton116 RyanMorais121 JeffDement122 DanReardon125 DanielBlair126 HunterHewitt128 RossJohnson129 VernonMcKiddie130 KyleKeylon131 RyanBeat138 MichaelLapaglia141 SteveBoniface143 MichaelHorban

144 AlexMartin147 ClaytonMiller150 ScottMetz152 ScottChampion153 GregoryCrater159 DarrynDurham164 MichaelHall173 NathanTiearney177 MitchellRask186 DerekCostella198 JacobSaylor201 CameronRodriguez207 SeanCollier212 ChrisHay213 KramerPatterson220 ColeSeely221 TigerLacey222 ChrisHowell225 TylerMcEwen229 JeffLoop231 JakeLowry247 TeddyParks252 JustinKeeney253 AaronSmith255 DanielHendrix257 JohnDehn272 TaylorPainter296 BryanEWhite308 NicholasJackson309 SpencerDally318 BennyBreck321 ChadWard323 JamesPovolny337 JeremeyOdriscoll350 BenEvans354 ChristopherJohnson357 JacobLocks359 SamirGonzalez377 ChristophePourcel385 AdamGulley386 AaronGulley387 AustinMiller395 BenjaminRitter401 MickaelMusquin402 CedricSoubeyras404 TylerDMedaglia407 AdamChatfield410 EricMcCrummen411 HugoDagod412 LeviKilbarger413 ShaunHillion417 TravisSmith421 RichieLeech425 JarredJetBrowne

426 ChrisBarrett439 AdamMetzler447 DevenRaper466 KerryMoore501 ScottyWennerstrom521 KyleGills523 DustinGills534 TravisFreistat536 ErikMeusling546 KevinMUrquhart552 FredKarrle555 JerryLymburner575 ChappyFiene577 MartinDavalos610 ChristopherTracy611 BradySheren629 TonyBoughten643 JakeOswald644 KylePartridge651 DanielMcCoy677 JasonHussey703 RickyYorks706 CarlosGonzalez713 ChadCook719 VinceFriese725 LoganDarien727 RhettUrseth737 TannerReidman741 NateAdams758 JasonPotter779 AugieLieber791 RamonGuzman800 MikeAlessi801 JeffAlessi812 LukeVonlinger816 RustinMeyer817 ToddJCarlson851 ScottADavis862 OzzyBarbaree888 HunterMeyer905 TroyCarroll911 TylerBowers917 EricSorby918 MichaelAkaydin921 ManuelRivas930 TomParsons931 DannyBajza933 CyrilleCoulon935 FreddySanchez979 BenCoisy981 AustinStroupe986 TopherIngalls

2009 National Numbers

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The Podium Club2 1 3

2009 450 SUPERCROSS

2009 W 250 SUPERCROSS

Chad ReedPHOENIXJames Stewart Josh Grant

Andrew ShortANAHEIMJosh Grant Chad Reed

Chad ReedANAHEIMJames Stewart Kevin Windham

Chad ReedHOUSTONJames Stewart Ryan Villopoto

Justin BraytonPHOENIXRyan Dungey Ryan Morais

Ryan MoraisANAHEIMJake Weimer Ryan Dungey

Ryan MoraisANAHEIMRyan Dungey Jake Weimer

Brett MetcalfeHOUSTON

Christophe Pourcel Nico Izzi

2009 E 250 SUPERCROSS

It doesn’t happen very often that a team manager gets the axe just as the season gets underway, but that is exactly what happened to Steve Lamson at MDK KTM. Luckily, Steve was able to find a new home at MotoConcepts Honda without skipping a beat. We tracked him down in the pits at Houston to get low down on the switch.

IMX: All right, Steve, tell us about your new gig, and all your new responsibilities.Steve:Ihavethesameresponsibilities,justanewteam.It’sbeengood.I’mfortunatethattheyhiredme.I’vegotagoodgroupofridershere,soI’mjustgoingtobuildtheteamupfromhereonout.TheteamridersareBenCoisy,ColeSiebler,DanielMcCoyfromAustralia,andJeffAlessi. IMX: How is it working out for you, so far?Steve:It’sgoinggreat. IMX: What are your expectations for the year?Steve:Idon’tknow.Rightnowit’sjust,getDanielMcCoyandSieblerinthemains,becausethey’vebeenkindofupanddown.Ben’sobviouslydoingreallywell,sogethimtop-10inpoints,andbuildhisspeedup,andhopefullybetop-fivebeforelong. IMX: So what exactly happened with your last gig?Steve:IwasoveratMDKfortwoyears,andtheydidsomebudgetcuts,andtheyletmego. IMX: Did you cost them too much money?Steve:No.Idon’tknowwhatthewholedealwaswiththat.Theyjusttoldme,“budgetcuts,”andletmego.Rightafterthat,Ijustputmyheaddownandtriedtogetsomething,andthisworkedoutwell. IMX: Did they have higher expectations than were delivered. Steve:Outofme? IMX: No, not for you necessarily, but the whole team?Steve:Idon’tthinkso.Couldbewrong,though. IMX: Are you excited?Steve:Iam,really.Theownerofthisteam,MikeGenova,hasbeenreallygoodtomesofarandletmedowhatIneedtodotogetthingsuptowheretheyneedtobeontheteam.

LAMSON’S NEW GIGChad Reed

San FranciscoJames Stewart Ryan Villopoto

Ryan DungeySan Francisco

Jake Weimer Trey Canard

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Separated at Birth

Denny Stephenson and George Michael of Wham!

The bigshots at Feld Entertainment stirred the internet to a frenzy when they announced the death of the live webcast just before the start of the series. In fact, such an uproar occurred that they finally decided to bring it back as a pay-per-listen feature--which didn’t sit too well with the netizens. But at an annual cost of nearly 200 grand to run the show, giving it away for free just didn’t make sense anymore. The show lives on and Jim Holley and Weedge get to keep their jobs. Hopefully they got a pay raise out of the deal.

Motocrossers are a simple bunch. The seem to grab on to trends and run with them and it always seems to involve fast cars. Back in the day it was the Ferrari Testarosa, like Magnum P.I. used to chase bad guys with. Then it was the Acura NSX. Now everybody’s got to have a Lambo. Saw a few of these bad boys in the lot at Anaheim. Definitely a sweet ride.

FMX star, Nate Adams, decided he wanted to give Supercross a shot. During the FMX off-season he hit the SoCal supercross tracks with friends like Josh Hansen and Ryan Morais, put a deal together with Yamaha and got ready for the Anaheim season opener. On race day, things were going great until he washed out on a jump face, crashed and broke his wrist. Had he not crashed, Nate would have qualified for the night show.

Ricky Charmichael just can’t stay away from Supercross, even though he has bigger things on his plate right now. Ricky just signed a deal with Kevin Harvic to race NASCAR’s truck series, starting at Daytona. Not only that, but RC will start the season racing the ARCA series kickoff at Daytona in an effort to get more seat time at the superspeedway. Ricky’s first attempt at racing at a superspeedway was last season at Talledaga where he ran in the top five before blowing a tire and ending his day.

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With this ring: During the A1 press conference Chad Reed was presented with his second career Supercross Championship ring. Now with Factory Suzuki, Reed is looking to add a third ring to his collection. The only thing standing in his way will be James Stewart.

Belt it out: We spent the night before the Anaheim opener at Dave & Busters enjoying the talent in the karaoke theater where a handful of motocross people took to the stage. While most of them couldn’t sing a single note, one guy hit the stage that kind of surprised us. Jay Perkins, aka 500 Guy on the interweb machine, hit the stage and belted out some country song, and he actually sounded good. 500 Guy definitely has some singing chops.

Rupert X hit Dave & Busters like a sailer on leave. By the time we got there, he wanted to know everything we knew about the J-Law, One and Dungey deal...twice. Rupert’s a cool cat, for sure. He was making the west coast moto rounds with his son. Just enjoying the motolife.

One on One: Danny Doby and Marc Blanchard are the driving force behind One Industries.

Hepler out: Team Yamaha’s Broc Hepler had high hopes for the 2009 season, but those hopes were dashed before practice at Anaheim one had ended. Broc broke his collar bone during practice and has been on the DL ever since. Sean Hamblin was called up to fill in.

1st things 1st

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Whenever a rider suddenly gets cut from a high-profilesponsor, without any real explanation, it often leavesmorequestionsthananswers.That’sprettymuchwhat

happenedwhenFoxRacingcutJasonLawrence,justbeforethestartoftheSupercrossseason.Maybethatdidn’tcomeastoomuchofasurprise,becausealotofpeoplewereleftscratchingtheirheadswhenFoxannouncedtheyhadsignedJasoninthefirstplace.FoxRacingandJasonLawrencedidn’tseemlikeagoodmatchfromtheverybeginning.Itseemedtobesuchanodd coupling that the rumor mill started churning out storiesthat the deal was contingent upon Jason living with JeannieCarmichael, for training,or just thathegetsa trainerastickswithaprogram.

bothMonsterandFox--andwhatgearJasonwouldbewearing.According to a representative at Fox, the deal fell apart afterJason’s people kept coming back with new logo requirementsand said it got to the point where there wouldn’t be any Foxlogosonthegearatall.Atthatpointthedealwasterminated,accordingtooursourceatFox.WhatitultimatelyboilsdowntoisthatFoxisinbusinesstosellFox.

Nowwithoutagearsponsorandtheseasonopenerjustdaysaway,ScottSepkovichadtoscrambletofindsomeclothesforJasontowear.SinceMonsteralreadyhadalicensingdealwithOne Industries and sinceOnewas introducing their new gearline,itseemedlikeaperfectfittoScott.TheonlyproblemwasthatOnealreadyhadamarquee rider inRyanDungey. It’snosecretthatJasonandRyandon’tlikeeachother.

We saw theOne Industries guys on fridaymorning, beforeAnaheim1,whiletheywerewaitingtoparktheirriginthepits,

Certainly one of the enticements for Fox picking up JasonhadtodowiththelucrativeMonsterlicensingdealthatcomeswithhim.Jason issponsoredbyMonsterandhisagent,ScottSepkovichasbeenveryinstrumentalinbringingMonsterintoallaspectsofthemotocrossworld.

Jason is definitely a high-profile rider, both on the trackandoff.CouplethatwiththeabilitytomakesomemoneyoffalicensingdealwithMonsterandit’ssortofawin-winforFox--providedthatJasonbehaveshimself.

AstheseasondrewcloserJason’speopleandFoxwentbackand forthover logoplacement on thegear, size of the logos--

It’s Just BusinessThe story behind Ryan Dungey and Jason Lawrence switching gear companies

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winningraces.InthecaseofRyanDungeyit’ssimple--heandJason Lawrence don’t get along--and that is probably a hugeunderstatement.WhenOneIndustrieshiredJ-Lawitcreatedadistraction forRyan.Heobviouslydidn’tneedanyconnectionwithJasonandthatmeantswitchinggearcompanies.TheironyinallthisisthathejustswitchedplaceswithJasonandwenttoFoxRacing.

Thiswhole thing boils down to something very simple--it’sjustbusiness.Foxdidwhat they felt theyhad todo.OnedidwhattheyfelttheyneededtodoandRyanDungeydidwhathefeltheneededtodo.AndJ-LawjustwentonbeingJ-Law.

everythingtodowiththelicensingagreementtheyalreadyhadwithMonster.Tokeep thedealwithMonster theyhad to takeJason.ButthatispurespeculationasnooneatOneIndustrieswouldgoonrecord,orevendiscusstheissue.

Then there was the issue Dungey had at A1 with his Onepants.BysomeaccountsRyanthroughafitinthepitsbecausehis pants were the wrong size. As the rumor goes, Ryan waspissedandthrewthepantsoutoftheSuzukirig.Therealityisthatoutofthe5or6pairshegotthatmorning,onepairwasthewrongsize,sohetossedthemfromtheupperleveloftherigtohisagent,TonyGardea.Nofitwasthrown...nopunintended.

Themostimportantthingtoariderishisprogramandthepeoplehesurroundshimselfwith.Ifsomethinggoeswrongwiththeprogram, or someone close to himbecomes adistraction,theprogramischangedor thedistraction is removed.It’s justthatsimple.Everythinginthatriderslifehastobefocusedon

andaskedthemaboutpickingupJason.Theywouldn’tcommentaboutitandtheydidn’tevenwanttotalkaboutit.Allwecouldconcludefromthatisthattheyweredefinitelynothappyaboutit.

Thenextmorning,thedayoftherace,wesawanoldfriendintheparkinglot,whileweweregearingup.Thefirstthinghesaidwas,“DidyouhearthatDungeywasgoingtoFox?”Thenitallmadesense.BytakingonJasonLawrence,Onewas losingRyanDungey.

Why would One Industries sacrifice one rider for another?I’m sure that was never their intention. And I’m sure it had

It’s Just BusinessThe story behind Ryan Dungey and Jason Lawrence switching gear companies

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1st things 1st450 SUPERCROSS POINTS & MONEYPos Pnts Rider Bike Purse1 108 ChadReed (Suz) $282502 102 JamesStewart (Yam) $498253 95 JoshuaGrant (Yam) $250004 88 RyanVillopoto (Kaw) $170005 87 AndrewShort (Hon) $172506 73 IvanTedesco (Hon) $125507 68 KevinWindham (Hon) $133508 58 MikeAlessi (Suz) $104909 56 TimmyFerry (Kaw) $1020010 55 DavidMillsaps (Hon) $1030011 51 JoshuaHill (Yam) $1077012 40 HeathVoss (Hon) $822013 39 PaulCarpenter (Kaw) $984514 31 BenCoisy (Hon) $857515 26 NicholasWey (Yam) $795016 23 ColeSiebler (Hon) $775017 14 MattBoni (Hon) $847518 13 CharlesSummey (KTM) $740019 11 KyleChisholm (Yam) $587520 11 TroyAdams (Hon) $685021 10 RobertKiniry (Kaw) $557522 10 SteveBoniface (Hon) $647523 9 JoshuaHansen (Hon) $725024 7 TravisPreston (KTM) $305025 6 DanielMcCoy (Hon) $522526 5 TylerBowers (Hon) $355027 3 DanielBlair (Hon) $380028 3 SeanHamblin (Yam) $360029 2 ManuelRivas (Kaw) $432530 0 BenLamay (Yam) $380031 0 JacobMarsack (Hon) $380032 0 AntonioBalbi (Hon) $360033 0 GregoryCrater (Hon) $210034 0 VinceFriese (Hon) $200035 0 KylePartridge (Hon) $195036 0 TigerLacey (Hon) $185037 0 JarredBrowne (Kaw) $175038 0 ChrisJohnson (Suz) $165039 0 CodyCooper (Yam) $165040 0 EricSorby (Yam) $165041 0 KyleKeylon (Hon) $165042 0 TroyCarroll (Kaw) $130043 0 VernonMcKiddie (Hon) $120044 0 AdamMetzler (Hon) $115045 0 ChadWard (Kaw) $110046 0 JasonR.Hussey (Kaw) $110047 0 MichaelR.Blose (Hon) $110048 0 RyanSipes (KTM) $100049 0 JaseA.Lewis (Suz) $65050 0 DustinE.Gills (Suz) $60051 0 BenjaminRitter (Suz) $55052 0 ClaytonMiller (Hon) $55053 0 CyrilleCoulon (Suz) $55054 0 JamesPovolny (Kaw) $55055 0 NathanTiearney (Kaw) $55056 0 RyanBeat (Yam) $55057 0 TonyBoughten (Yam) $550

Pos Pnts Rider Bike Purse1 25 ChristophePourcel (Kaw) $25002 22 BrettMetcalfe (Hon) $15003 20 NicoA.Izzi (Suz) $10004 18 AustinStroupe (Kaw) $8005 16 BlakeWharton (Hon) $7006 15 WilA.Hahn (KTM) $6007 14 MartinDavalos (KTM) $5508 13 DarrynL.Durham (Yam) $5009 12 DanielM.Blair (Hon) $45010 11 MatthewC.Goerke (Suz) $42011 10 JacobSaylor (Yam) $41012 9 BrandenJesseman (Kaw) $40013 8 StevenJ.Clarke (Suz) $39014 7 HunterHewitt (Kaw) $38015 6 TeddyP.Parks (Suz) $37016 5 TylerA.Wharton (Hon) $36017 4 KyleM.Gills (Kaw) $35018 3 MatthewLemoine (Yam) $34019 2 ChadE.Ward (Kaw) $330

250cc EAST SUPERCROSS: POINTS & MONEY

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250 WEST SUPERCROSS POINTS & MONEYPos Pnts Rider Bike Purse1 92 RyanDungey (Suz) $75002 88 JakeWeimer (Kaw) $68003 80 RyanMorais (Kaw) $47004 68 JustinBrayton (KTM) $34005 56 ChrisBlose (Hon) $25706 54 RyanSipes (KTM) $21607 42 DanReardon (Hon) $19008 38 PJLarsen (Kaw) $17009 34 JasonLawrence (Yam) $173010 31 BenEvans (Hon) $158011 27 TreyCanard (Hon) $161012 27 KyleCunningham (Kaw) $155013 27 EricMcCrummen (Hon) $133014 24 AdamChatfield (Hon) $140015 23 JeffAlessi (Hon) $145016 20 ColeSeely (Suz) $136017 19 MichaelSleeter (KTM) $143018 18 CedricSoubeyras (Yam) $86019 17 RyanClark (Hon) $133020 17 SeanBorkenhagen (Hon) $132021 16 ShaunSkinner (Hon) $132022 12 MichaelHall (Yam) $122023 11 ChrisGosselaar (Kaw) $111024 9 JustinKeeney (KTM) $109025 9 TopherIngalls (Yam) $117026 5 AlexMartin (Hon) $113027 4 ScottChampion (Hon) $104028 3 BradySheren (Suz) $80029 3 MichaelBlose (Hon) $57030 3 MichaelHorban (Yam) $110031 3 SeanCollier (Yam) $111032 3 BradySheren (Suz) $57033 2 MichaelLapaglia (Suz) $86034 2 DanielHendrix (Hon) $102035 0 DerekCostella (Hon) $100036 0 CarlosGonzalez (KTM) $92037 0 RhettUrseth (Kaw) $92038 0 JerryLymburner (Yam) $69039 0 MickaelMusquin (Yam) $69040 0 RossJohnson (Hon) $69041 0 DannyBajza (Hon) $69042 0 BennyBreck (Yam) $69043 0 VernonMcKiddie (Hon) $46044 0 HunterMeyer (Hon) $46045 0 DevenRaper (Kaw) $23046 0 JasonPotter (Hon) $23047 0 JeremeyOdriscoll (Hon) 23048 0 TannerReidman (Suz) 23049 0 HugoDagod (KTM) 230

20 1 VinceA.Friese (Hon) $32021 0 FredD.Karrle (Suz) $31022 0 PhillipNicoletti (Hon) $30023 0 AugieL.Lieber (Kaw) $23024 0 LukeVonlinger (Kaw) $23025 0 KyleD.Keylon (Hon) $23026 0 MichaelAkaydin (Kaw) $23027 0 NicholasJackson (Hon) $23028 0 ChadG.Cook (Kaw) $23029 0 JohnG.Dehn (Kaw) $23030 0 AaronB.Smith (Kaw) $23031 0 KerryN.Moore (Hon) $23032 0 OzzyS.Barbaree (Suz) $23033 0 TylerA.McEwen (Hon) $23034 0 TaylorM.Painter (Suz) $23035 0 LoganB.Martin (Hon) $23036 0 SpencerR.Dally (Hon) $23037 0 AdamD.Gulley (Yam) $23038 0 LeviW.Kilbarger (Hon) $23039 0 JackCarpenter (Kaw) $23040 0 AaronD.Gulley (Yam) $230

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ChristmaswithLangston.Wejustwentoutinthehillsandkindofhadfun.Thatwasit.ThelasttimeIrodesupercrosswasoverayearago.ThelasttimeIracedsupercrosswas2006,soit’sbeenawhile.

I know you were looking for a supercross ride, but were you expecting anything to happen for this year?

No, not really. I was just trying toget some stuff lined up for me to justdooutdoorsagainandthatwas it. Iwasjustkindofwingingaprayeronthat,andgetting things going and then this cameup. I was supposed to go to Germanybefore I got the call. Obviously I stayedforPhoenix.

Your personal feeling on how it’s been

going so far.It’sbeengood.Everyweekendhasbeen

a steady improvement and things havegoneup, up, andup. I couldn’t put toomuch pressure or emphasis on anythingwhenIgotthecallMonday.LikeIsaidit’dbeenoverayearsinceIhadridden,andI’ve never raced a 450cc in supercross,soitwasallnewtome,youknow?Goingout to the supercross track and doingeverything right away. So, every week isgettingbetterandbetter.Morelapsequalmebeingalotbetteronthebike.

What are you foreseeing your results to be?

Hopefully, just steadily improving.Firstweekend,we justmissed it by one

SeanHamblin has always been oneofthegoodguysinthesport.He’swell-liked in the pits, a talented

rider on the track and he’s very popularwiththefans.Butsometimesheaskedtoperforminnotthebestofcircumstances.He’sbeenthegotoguytofillinforinjuredridersforthepastfewyears.Nowhe’sbeencalledupbytheFactoryYamahateamtofillinfortheinjuredBrocHepler.

How does it feel to always be the “replacement guy?”

Idon’tknow. Iguess it’sbetter tobethereplacementthantobenothingatall,so, I don’t know. Kind of good news forme,Iguess.

How many times have you been called in as a pinch-hitter?

This is the third time. Suzuki once,andthenobviouslyoutdoorslastyear,andthennow.Thisisthethirdone.

It’s not always in the best of circumstances when you get called up. When you get the call to fill in for a guy like Hepler, how does that make you feel?

Youhavetofeelbadforthekid,Imean,I know I do. Unfortunately things justhaven’tbeengoinghiswaythelastcoupleof years. He’s just as upset as anybodyelsethat’sbeenpartofit,so,bestoflucktohim,gettingbackandgettingready.

So what were you doing before you got called up?

I would be lying if I said that I wastraining and riding a dirt bike. The lasttimeIrodeuntilIgotthecallwasbefore

The Go To Guy

Sean Hamblin

impoundmx.com 19

andthenlastweekendwemadeitin,andendedup18th.DuringthatraceIlookedupattheboardanditsaidonly12lapsin,anditjustruinedmerightthere.IthinkdefinitelyIdon’tneedtolookattheboardanymore and just ride. Just let the raceunfold as it will, and just keep movingforward.

What’s your training regimen like now. I mean, this is all last-minute and you had to throw a program together, what’s it like?

Yeah, and that’s the thing too, youknow? You can’t do too much too soon,otherwiseyou’reeithergointogetsickorhurt.Ihadadaythisweek,whereIwentouttotheYamahatrackandthingswerejustnotclickingatall,soIhadtopackit

up.Itwassmartofmetopackitupatthetime that I did. Otherwise I think that’swhen things start to go bad.Somedaysyou canfight through it, and others yougottaseeithowitis,andcallitadayandmoveon.Sothat’swhatIdid.Ichangeditup.Iwenttoanewtrackthisweek,andhopefully that helps. Just mixing thingsupabitmore.Rightnowit’sjustriding.BythetimeIgetdoneI’mbeat.

What tracks do you have to choose from?

I’vebeenridingtheYamahatrackandatmybuddyA.J.’strackinPalmSprings.IknowCompetitiveEdgehasone,butI’mnotthereyet.IthinkImightdothatthisweekwithHill.

So what do you think about this track here today in Houston compared to last week’s track at Anaheim? What did you think about last week’s track?

I thought last week’s track was quitestrange.We’lljustsaythat.Idon’tknow,itwasdefinitelyawkwardandunorthodoxtowhatwe’veeverriddenon.

Is that good or bad?We’ll just gowithbad.And I think a

lotofguyswerethesameway.Itwasjustweird.Thewholeleftsideofthetrackwasreally timing/ rhythmic, and the wholeright side was just outdoor-style. Whichwasgood. I think the fans reallyenjoyedit,itmadeforsomegoodracing,butasfarasa rider’sperspective,wehadnowhereelsereallytogobuttodothesamestuffeverylap..

Now what do you think about this track in contrast?

Itlooksgood;Imean,itdefinitelylooksbusy, so it’s a lot like our test track, sohopefullyitworksintomyfavor.

So more like a modern supercross track?

Oh, definitely. It kind of reminds meof the tracks we had in ‘03. Real busy,there’snotreallyanysectionstobreathe.Youdon’thaveanylazysections.We’llseehowitgoes.

[Editors note: Sean crashed during the night show at Houston and injured his knee. During the week after the race he had surgery and will be out of action for 4 to 6 weeks.]

The Go To Guy

Sean Hamblin

20 impoundmx.com

1st things 1st

IMX: Okay, Dave. Explain what your position is, how you got it and what you’re supposed to do here.

Dave:Well,Ioverseetechinspection,teardowns. I guess Technical Directorwould be my official title for the AMA,Supercross, and from what I hear, foroutdoorsaswell.Basically,Ijustoverseetech,Ioverseethesoundinspectionandjusttrytokeepeverybodyinbetweenthelines.

IMX: Make sure everybody’s legal?Dave:Yeah.Andifthatmeanstearing

themdowneveryweek,orcheckingthemaftereverypracticeforsound,that’swhatwe’re trying to do. We’re just trying tokeep it consistent, and even-keeled foreverybody,justwithintheguidelines.

IMX: Now with the new sound guidelines, has it been an issue in tech inspection?

Dave: It has and it hasn’t. A coupleofpeoplehavestruggled,obviously.Likethisweekend,hereatHouston,we’renowwith theEastCoastLites, sowehaven’tseen some of these riders yet. So therehave been some instances where we’vehadtosendsomepeopleback,orwegetthem to change something or whatever.The450ccguys,Supercrossguys,they’refine.Youknow,theywereastruggleatthebeginning, just like everybody else, butwe’re four races into it now and they’redoing great. And everybody seems to bestayingwithin theguidelines.We’vehadtodockacouplepeopletheirfastesttimesatAnaheimlastweekend.

IMX:Whodidyouhavetodock?Dave: Number 417, Travis Smith.

He took his insert out. Basically, whenyou go through tech the muffler hasto be as it is at sound inspection at alltimes. We mark the muffler accordingly.Well, he specifically took his insert out.Anyway,we dock them their fastest lap.Thatcouldmeaneithermakingthenightshow or not making the night show. It’s

thatimportant.IMX: Is that really all the penalty is for

breaking the rules? Dave:Ifyoudon’tpasssoundinitially,

youdon’tevengoonthetrack.IMX: But if you take your insert out, your

only penalty is losing your fastest lap? Dave: Yes. Again, that couldmean a

lot.Nowifyougetcaughtaftertherace,you lose a lap. So in the main events,post-race,it’slosingalap.Soitcouldbe,obviously...

IMX: ...Losing all of your points. Dave: Yes. Basically everything you

worked for, you know what I mean? Wehaven’tgottenintotoomanyoftheotherthingsthatwe’regoingtodo.Sincethisisjustmy third raceasTechnicalDirector,we’re going to build up to just trying tokeepeverybodyintherulebook,basically.

IMX: What other things are you guys going to try to accomplish?

Dave: There are a lot of things wecan look for. There’s fuel, frames haveto be homologated, cases have to behomologated, cylinder heads can bemodified,boreandstrokeobviouslyhavetobethesame,swingarms,ontheLitesbikes, there’s suspension, they have tobewithintheguidelinesofhomologationforthesuspension.There’salotofstuff.Butthere’salotofstufftheycanchangeaswell, somainly, if they’re doingwhatthey’re supposed to be doing by therulebook--that’sallwe’relookingfor.

IMX: Have you guys started testing fuel yet?

Dave:Nope.Idon’twanttosaywhenI’mgoingtobedoingeverything,butyes,it’sonmylist.

IMX: Are you looking forward to it? Dave:Oh,yeah.IMX: Let’s say you get into another

situation where fuel doesn’t pass. What’s going to happen?

Dave:Partofmyjobisnottohandout

thepenalties,soIcan’tsayhonestlywhatwould be done. I’m imagining someonewould be disqualified. You know, post-main event, an infraction such as thatyou’d probably get disqualified. Or losea certain amount of points, orwhatever.But,thankGod,Idon’thavetomakethatdecision.AllIhavetodoisreporttothestewardsandtheracedirectorastowhatIfoundandthenletthemdotheirjob.Ihavetoprovemypoint tothemjust liketheteamshavetoprovetheirpointtome.Andthentheydecidewhatgoesonbehindcloseddoors.

IMX: So you’re not the one that people are going to be looking for?

Dave:No.They’llbemadatme, I’msure,but like Isaid, Ihave topleadmycasetothemjustliketheteamswouldtome.Ihavetoshowthem,provetothemwhatIfound,andit’sjustified.Thentheymoveonandmakeadecision.

IMX: Explain a little bit of your past history and how you got this job, how you got to where you are right now.

Dave: Basically, let’s see, recently,Iworked forSuzukiOff-Road. Idid thatfromlate‘06toDecember‘08,andthenthe economy took a nosedive and theychangeddirectiononhowthey’redoingit.IwasacontractedpersonwithSuzuki.Sothatwentaway.SoIwaskindoflookingforsomething.ItalkedtoDaveyCoombs,JeffCanfield,someoftheAMAguys,andtheysaid,“Hey,wemighthaveaposition,a technical director position.” I said,“Oh.” “Well, would you be interested?”and I said, “Sure.” I met with them atAnaheim and everything seemed to goalright. I went to Phoenix and it was adonedeal.Beforethat,IworkedatFMF,andbeforethatIworkedwithChadReedatYamahaofTroyandatYamaha.Beforethat therewasa laundry list ofpeople Iworked for likeTimFerry,SteveLamsonandafewothers.

TECH INSPECTOR:DAVE DYE

Over the years Dave Dye has done a lot in the industry. Most prominently he was Chad Reed’s mechanic during his stint at Yamaha of Troy. Dave was recently hired as the Technical Director for the AMA. He’s now the guy responsible for making sure all the bikes on the track are within the rules. Definitely not an easy cross to bear. We sat down with Dave to talk about his new position.

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MegaPixels

impoundmx.com 25

Moment of contact: The 450 main event at Anaheim 1 came down to this moment. James missed a shift entering the whoops, with Chad Reed right on his tail, causing them both to crash.

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MegaPixels

Pissed: Call it anger, frustration or whatever, James Stewart wasn’t happy with what transpired in the 450 Main at Anaheim 1.

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2009 SUPERCROSS ROUND 1: ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA

LITES OUTStory By Breck Bonnell - Photos By Chris Hultner

A lot of hype always surrounds thefirstSupercrossoftheyear,withallofthechangesgoingonduringtheoffseasonit’sthetimewhenweseewhichswitchessinkandwhichonesswim.Typicallythemostdrastic changes occur in the Lites/250classwithincomingrookiesmakingtheirSupercrossdebuts.Thisyearsomeofthestand outs of the incoming rookies onthe west coast were Michael Hall, SeanBorkenhagen,AlexMartin,BenEvans,PJLarsenandBenLaMay.Allofwhommadetheeveningprogram.

ChangesalsooccurredamongexistingLites ridersduring theoff season.Someof themostdrasticchangescameunderthe powerhouse Monster Energy / ProCircuit / Kawasaki team tent. Gone arethelikesofRyanVillopoto,totheFactoryKawasaki squad, andBretMetcalf whowent to Geico / Factory Connection /Honda.ThosetworiderswerereplacedbyJakeWeimerfromtheGeicoPowersportsteamandRyanMoraisfromthedeceasedYamahaofTroy.

Without Factory Yamaha backing atYamaha of Troy, defending Lites WestchampionJason‘JLaw’Lawrencewasleftwithout a ride, sort of.Heworked out adealwithhispersonalsponsorsincludingMonster Energy, Boost Mobile and helpfrom YoT leading into Anaheim 1, toprovidea ride forhimselfaswell as thelife-time privateer Nick Wey in the 450Supercross class--with Nick keeping hisMSRgearsponsorship.

OthernotabletransitionsfortheLitesWest class included 2008’s Lites Eastregion Champion Trey ‘Dr. Tre’ Canardswitching to the West region and notdefending his number one plate on theAtlantic seaboard.Another changecamein that former 450 Supercross ridersRyanClarkandJeffAlessihavedemotedthemselves to the Lites class for thisseason.

Another rider in attendance for theLitesclasswasprofessionalfreestylerNateAdams, unfortunately he never made itoutofthepracticesessionsafterbreaking

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his arm. Even with that he was quite abitoffpaceandsurprisinglyseemedtobestruggling hitting the jumps, apparentlythey don’t put a lot of rhythm sectionsbefore thebighitsonFMXcourses.NottocutNatedownaswe’veheardheisagreatrider,thisweekendhewasobviouslynotathisSupercrossprime.

Staying put for the 2009 season ontheRockstar/Makita/SuzukiwaslastyearssecondplaceLitesWestrider,Minnesota’sRyanDungey.Dungeyhasallbutrelocatedto the blossoming Tallahassee, Floridamotocrosscommunity,andisrumoredtobeintheprocessoflookingforlandtosetupshop.Ryanwasheavilyfavoredcominginto Anaheim over his competition,especiallythedefendingchampion.

TherivalrybetweenJLawandDungeyhadindirectlyresumedduringtheseededpractice sessions with Jason and Ryantaking turns setting the fastest laps ofthesession.JLawwouldcomeoutontopwith a 1:01.589, well over one secondfaster than Ryan’s 1:02.185. Jason wasonabouta3:1rationofscoutinglapstoblisteringly fast laps, at times watchingthe timing tower in the infield whilecirclingthetrack.WhenLawrencefinallysawabigrednumberoneatopthetowerhepromptlythrewhisfistupintheairtocelebrate.

Splitting the difference between theJLaungey battle was the Iowan, JustinBrayton, crossing the line in 1:02.039.AshehasforthepastfewseasonsJustinreturnstotheLitesclassaboardhisMDK/MuscleMilkbackedKTM,andaftergreatshowings at the one off races in Bercy,France and the infamous U.S. Open inLas Vegas, he will once again be a topcontender in the series. Justin’s WestCoast teammate this year, Ryan Sipes,threw down the fifth fastest lap in thetimedqualifiersat1:02.715.

The number 39 machine of TreyCanardfilledoutthetopfiveinfourthwitha 1:02.220 on the Geico PowersportsHonda. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/KawasakiridersofRyanMoraisandJake

‘09 W LITES SX

LITES OUT

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Weimer concluded the qualifiers puttingdown the sixth and seventh quickestlaps.

After the Lites class practices hadconcluded all eyes were focused on thebattleupfront,andthestormbrewingonthe horizon. The storm of course beingthe dispute between Ryan Dungey andhisgearsponsor,OneIndustrieswhowasnowproviding JasonLawrencewith gearaswell.JasonlosinghisFoxsponsorshipand switching to the Monster Energy/One Industries gear was apparently notkosher with the temperamental Suzukirider.Forthetimebeingthough,atleastforAnaheim1,DungeystayedinhisOneIndustrieswardrobe.

When the lights fell dark over Angelstadium the stands filled with over40,000screamingSupercross fanswereontheirfeetreadyforthebeginningoftheseason.WhenthecardwentsidewaysandthegatefellonthefirstLitesHeatitwasRyanMoraisandJustinBraytonjumpingout to the early leadwith the Suzuki ofDungey in third. Before the end of thefirstlap,intherhythmsectionleadinguptothefinishline,Dungeywouldlooseallofhismomentumonasmalldoubleandyard dart over the front end of the bikeandbeunabletorestarttheheat.

Meanwhile upfront a dogfight hadbegunbetweenthetwoProCircuitriders,JakeWeimer hadmovedup into secondafter running Brayton high in a cornerand then stepped up his pace to catchhisteammate.OnelaplaterWeimerhadworkedhiswayuptotherearwheeloftheKawasaki.DoingalmostthesamemovehedidtoBrayton,leavingalittlemoreroomthis time though, he successfully madethe pass for the lead and the eventualwin.

LitesheattwobroughtJasonLawrenceto the line for the first time in 2009.Grabbing the holeshot in the heat werethe duo of Geico Powersports Hondasbelonging to Dan Reardon and TreyCanard. Canard would take the lead onthefirstlapwhileLawrencewenttowork

‘09 W LITES SX

LITES OUT

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passinghiswaythroughthefewridersthatwere ahead of him. Making his pass onReardonlastyearsWestregionchampionstarted reeling in last years East regionchampion.Theduelbetweentheriderswasnotonlyproductivebutfastbothridersonthegas,butLawrencepressuringcanardintosomesmallbutcostlymistakes.Withonlya few laps remainingCanardfoldedhis front end in the corner leading intothebeginningof thedualsandsections,handing the lead to JLaw on the silverplatter. With a whip Jason took the winand proved to the skeptics he came todobusiness,andeventalkedsometrashabout the unfriendly rivaly while on thepodiumwithAshleyPhillips.

An unusually stacked LCQ was onthe line, which included the likes ofRyanDungey,RyanSipesandPJLarsen.Walkingaway fromthe timethegatehitthe groundRyanDungey easily took thewintotransferintothemainevent.RyanSipes would take the last available gatein the main event. Taking a main eventwin now appeared to be a long shot forDungey,butalwaystheoptimistheneverruleditoutevenwiththelacklustergatepickthathehadearned.

By the time the main event hadstarted the Lites class had already seenplentyofactiononthenight,andoncethegate fell the action continued.GrabbingtheholeshotwastheGeicoHondaofDanReardon, who was followed closely byJake Weimer and Justin Brayton. JLawwas left on the ground after making amistakeandstartingachainreactionthatalsocaughtthelikesofTreyCanardinthemess. Canard would be slow getting upandgoingagainandwouldeventuallyendup14thonthenight.

OnthesecondlapWeimerworkedhiswaypastReardonandwouldneverloosethelead.WhileReardonandBraytonwerebattlingforsecondplaceReardonlosthisfront end in a corner and left the KTMbehindhimwithnowheretogobutintohisbike.ThecontacthalfwayputBraytonover the bars in a endo-stoppie-fallover

‘09 W LITES SX

LITES OUT

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type of crash. While they picked theirdeadbikesuptheywereloosingpositionsleft and right, allowing Ryan Morais tomakehismove intosecondplace.WhilepickinghisbikeupJustin’srearwheellefthisteammateSipesnowheretogobutoffthetrackintothetufblocks.LuckilySipeswouldquicklyrejointhetrackandendupsixth.

At one point while making his wayback through thepackafterhisfirst lapdirtnap,Lawrenceblew throughabermandoverontothenextsectionofthetrack.In thisprocesshecutabout50’off thetrack,andmaybeafewseconds.Instantlypeoplewerecallingforadisqualification,although it was unintentional followingabobbleandhedidfollowtherulesthebest he could at that point. The rule isto re-enter the safest location near thespotyou left the trackwithoutgainingaposition. There was essentially no otheroptionforhimatthattimethatwouldbesafe other than to continue on his way,whichisexactlywhathedid.Yethewasstill issueda lossofonepositiononhisfinal finishing spot ending him officiallyinfifth.

Out front the Pro Circuit teammateswere running away with this one, onceagain proving that Pro Circuit is thedominantteamintheLitesclass.Thetworiderswouldgo1-2intheirmaidenracefortheteam,nodoubtputtingasmileonteam owner Mitch Payton’s face. RyanDungeywould end up third in theMainwhileTeamTroyLeeDesignsChrisBlosewould take fourth with the docking orJasonLawrence’sposition.

Fortherecord,nooneoutsidetheProCircuit team saw the 1-2 finish on thehorizion,noone.Ifsomeonesaystheydidthey’re lyingtoyou,butnonethe less itwasagreatrace.Hopefullytherestoftheeightraceseasonwillcontinuetoprovideus with more surprises and even morewinners.

‘09 W LITES SX

LITES OUT

impoundmx.com 43For more Dunlop tire information go towww.dunlopmotorcycle.comor call (800) 845-8378. ©2008 Dunlop Tires.

As the 2008 amateur national motocross season unwinds,

one fact remains: Team Dunlop National riders are dominating the podium.

For example, young Jessy Nelson recently put a stranglehold on an army of challengers by winning four National titles and grabbing

one more runner-up spot—all in one weekend of racing. Of course, it helps that Jessy’s tire of choice was Dunlop’s D756, the same

tire that so many amateur champions and top-level pros rely on for quick starts and fast lap times.

Go to teamdunlop.com to keep up with the latest news on the 2008 Team Dunlop National riders.

FULL-NELSON SUBMISSION

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Anticipation, frustration and chaos are usually

the norm at the first round of the supercross

series,andthisyearwasnodifferent.Inasport

aspredictableasSupercrosshasbeeninthepast,Anaheim

Onehasalwaysbeentheleastpredictableraceoftheseries.

WithJamesStewartswitchingteams,fromFactoryKawasaki

toL&MYamaha,andChadReedmovingfromL&Moverto

FactorySuzukiitwasabigmysteryifeitherriderhadmadea

wisechoice.Plus,youjustneverknowwhichoftheother38

ridersonthegatehavesteppeduptheirprogramandturned

intocontenders.

In thepast dozen years therehavebeen some surprise

winnersattheseasonopener.Forinstance,GregAlbertyn’s

win at the Coliseum in 1997. And a year later Sebastien

Tortelli won the opener there too, followed by Ezra Lusk

takingthewinwhentheopenerreturnedtoAnaheim.Then

in2002DavidVuillemintookthefirstSupercrosswinofthe

season. And finally it was Kevin Windham who scored the

surprise opener win in 2005. While I wouldn’t call any of

those victories a fluke, they were unexpected and none of

themresultedintakingtheserieschampionship.Thepoint

is,theSupercrossseasonopenerhastraditionallybeenknown

2009 SUPERCROSS ROUND 1: ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA

BRING IT ONStory By Breck Bonnell - Photos By Chris Hultner

46 impoundmx.com

‘09 450 SX

tothrowacurveballortwo.

Themomenteveryonehadbeenwaitingforhadarrived,the

450’swere on the line and itwas time tobring theAgames

to the table. Stealing his first big bike holeshot of his career

RyanVillopotobeganrunningaway.ChadReedhadagoodstart

gettingpinchedoffontheinsideandthenwasunabletojump

thetripleafterthefirstwhoopsection.Tomakemattersworse

ReedwentoffthetrackandrodearoundtheoutsideoftheTuf

blockslosingpositionsinbulk.WhileReedwasgettingsquirrely

Villopoto was putting this one in the books. The veteran Tim

FerryonhisMonsterEnergyKawasakihadafirmgrasponthe

second spot, while Andrew Short was alone in third. Passing

ridersliketheywerestandingstillChadReedhadquietlymoved

passedthemajorityofthefieldanduptofourthplacefromhis

dismalfirstlap.Whentheblackandwhitecheckeredflagcame

outVillopototookthewinlikehewastryingtoprovesomething,

whichithedid.

Heat two had a result thatwas atypical of themajority of

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theraceswe’veseenJamesStewartrace.Stewarttookthelead

headingintothewhoopsfollowingthefirstturnandneverlooked

back.Stewarthadanearmiss in the last turnof thefirst lap

jumpingontoaTufblock,butkeepingthebikerubbersidedown.

Withthenumbersevenputtingonaclinicoutfrontthe19rider

fieldwaslefttobattleforsecondplace.TheJGRYamahaofJosh

Granttookasecondplacefinishinhisfirstheatasafulltime

bikerider.Josh’sheatperformancewasasignofgoodthingsto

comeasweallknow.Thethirdplacefinisherwasthenumber18

RedBullHondaofDaviMillsaps.

The LCQ had a massive pile up in the first turn leaving

notableridersCodyCooperandTravisPrestonsprawledoutlike

a yardsale in a retirement community. Holding onto the lead

throughthewarzonewasBrawndoHonda’sJacobMarsackwho

appearedtohaveitonlockdownuntilhefadedtothirdposition.

ThenewleaderswerePaulCarpenteronhisCernic’sKawasakiin

thesecondpositionwithMattBoniupfronttakingthewinand

the‘gotothemainevent’cards.

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‘09 450 SX

With the start of the main even it was the race we’ve all

wanted to see, Stewart vs. Reed. Stewart got the holeshot,

followedbyJoshGrantandChadReed,Reedwouldquicklywork

hiswaypasttheYamahaofGrant.Withthecrowdontheirfeet

Reedwouldovertaketheleadonthesecondlapjustbeforethe

finish line setting up a battle no one will soon forget. Reed

would quickly pull away on hisRockstar Suzuki,while James

was regrouping tomakeacharge. JoshGranthadsettled into

thirdplace.

Ontheseventhlapofthe20lapfeature,Stewartovertookthe

leadafterthefirstwhoopsection,halfalaplatercomingintothe

secondwhoopsectionallhellbrokeloose.Hittingthefirstwhoop

StewartsYamaha450 lost itsdrive forasplit second, leaving

Reednowheretogoexcept intothesideof therearwheelof

James.Thistookthetworiderstwothegroundjustinsidethe

beginningofthesection.Reedwasquicklyupandhuntingdown

hisbikewhileStewartwasobviouslydazedandconfusedafter

takingabodyslamtotheground.Reedrejoinedtheraceafter

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losingonlyoneposition,whileJamesfloppedonthegroundafter

adirectblowtohisnewBellhelmet.Jamesfinallyhadgotten

backtohisfeetandgrabbedhisbiketopushitoffthetrack,the

onlyproblemwasthathehadnotlookedwherehewasgoingand

pushedhisbikedirectlyintothepathofKevinWindham—eerily

reminiscent of James pulling out in front of Travis Preston in

2006.Kevinwassentoverthebarsandintothetufblocks

After the smoke had cleared the world as we knew it had

changed,JoshGrantwasnowoutfrontandlayingdownfastlaps

andpullingawaywithovera10plussecondleadoverthenew

secondplaceriderofAndrewShort.Reedhadfallentothirdand

wouldbetherefortheremainderoftherace.Theraceforfourth

wasagoodonebetweenIvanTedescoandTimFerryswapping

positionsnumeroustimes.

WithtwolapstogoJoshGrantnearlyhadaheartattackwhen

overthesmalldoubleintothewhoopshisbikenosedived.Josh

haspickedupaPartsUnlimitedtufblockcoverinhisrearwheel

andithadcausedtherearwheeltolockupandstopspinning

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‘09 450 SX

ultimately dropping the front end in the air. The mishap had

causedhisbraketosoonoverheatandtakeavacationleaving

himwithoutthestoppingpowerhedesiredgoingintothenext

turnandalmostovershootingit.

Limping his way around the last lap and a half with an

impressive smoke trail in tow, Josh Grant was on his way to

hisfirstSupercrossclassmaineventwin.Withfistpumpsthe

motocrossworldcouldfeelallacrosstheglobe,JoshGranttook

thecheckeredflag.AndrewShortheldontosecondwithReed

salvaging a third and the Monster Energy / Kawasaki duo of

TimFerryandRookieRyanVillopoto roundingout the topfive

riders.

At the post race interviews and in the Joe Gibbs Racing

Yamahapits everyonewas happy to see JoshGrantwin, even

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‘09 450 SX

LitesriderJasonLawrencecameovertotheJGRpitswithplenty

ofexpletivestoshowhisexcitement.

IfAnaheim1wasanyindicationofwhatwe’resettoseefor

theremaining16racesoftheseries,it’sgoingtobegreat.The

battlebetween1and7willbeepicifbothridersstayhealthy

alsothereareagaggleof riderswhowillbeableto takewins

fromJamesandChadshouldthechancearise.

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The GOAT!

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By Christina Stickel

I recentlyattendedmyfirsteverAMA

Arenacross series in Baltimore,

Maryland at the First Mariner

Stadium. Arenacross is like Supercross

justalilbitsmallerandtighter.However,

they promote and perform them both in

the same way. Like I have said before

whenIshottheVegasSXbeingdownon

thefloorfortheopeningceremoniesand

soupclosenpersonalwithalltheracing

actionisafeelinglikenoother.Itwasa

great weekend with tons of bar banging

racing.

Night one, Friday night, of the AMA

Aenacross series opened up with Tuf

Honda’sJeffGibsontakinghisfirstwinof

theseasonandputtinganevenbiggergap

on the points lead over Nathan Skaggs.

Gibsongrabbedtheearly leadandnever

looked back. At the same time battling

behind him Chad Johnson and Demuth

battledfor therunnerupposition.When

itwasallsaidanddoneBabbitsMonster

Engergy Kawasaki’s Chad Johnson

prevailedintakingthesecondspotbehind

Gibson.

SpeakingofJoshDemuth,hetookfull

advantage of being able to run both the

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AX class and the lites class.He’s had a

disappointing start to the season and

wanted to get more track time and race

experience tohelphimout.He took the

winintheLitesclassFridaynightandthat

definitelygavehimsomeconfidencegoing

intotherestoftheseason.

Team Green Kawasaki’s Michael

WillardfromOhio,andSpinechillersWilly

Browning fought it out for the second

placeposition.ButitwasWillardwhoheld

offBrowningforsecondplace.

ThesecondnightoftheAMAArenacross

SeriesinBaltimore,Marylandwasjustas

exciting. I think theyhadwaymore fans

andridersonthesecondnightinthefirst

MarinerArenaandtheyallgotagreatshow

asBainbridge,Ohio’sNathanSkaggswon

hissecondracewinoftheseasoninthe

Arenacross class.Skaggs tookadvantage

of a great holeshot and just rode his

own race to thewin.Skaggs lookedvery

smoothandneverletanyofthepressure

of coming through lapped riders bother

him. Skaggs said, “Im feeling good and

Spinechillers has supported me a lot”.

“Thefirstfivelapswerethesame.Ikept

aneyeonwhowasrunningbehindmeand

ranmyownpace.”.

TripleEffect’sKawasaki’sBrockSellards

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hadaroughFridaynightwithhimrunning

third and getting massive arm pump

that made him slip outside the top 10.

However,hecamebackswingingSaturday

andhimandTufHonda’sJeffGibsonkept

Skaggshonesttheentirerace.Theykept

the pressure on but Skaggs didn’t let it

phasehim.Sellard’swentontotakehome

therunneruppositionfollowedbyGibson

taking third. Gibson holds an 18 point

leadoverSkaggsintheArenacrossclass.

Utah’sGrayDavenport put in a strong

race in the Arenacross lites class. He

hadahuge leadoversecondplaceWilly

Browning when the checkered flag flew.

Browning and Oreint Express Suzuki’s

Dave Ginolfi of New Jersey took second

and third respectively. Browning leads

thelitesEastDivisionbysevenpointsof

Ginolfi.

Both nights were filled with tons of

good racing. It was definitely a good

experience.

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FRIDAY NIGHTAMA ARENACROSS LITES EAST MAIN EVENT1.JoshDemuth HON2.MichaelWillard KAW3.WillyBrowning SUZ4.MattCottrill YAM5.ChadWages SUZ6.DaveGinolfi SUZAMA ARENACROSS MAIN EVENT 1.JeffGibson HON2.ChadJohnson KAW3.JoshDemuth HON4.TylerBright SUZ5.MichaelWillard KAWSATURDAY NIGHTAMA ARENACROSS LITES EAST MAIN EVENT 1.GrayDavenport KAW2.WillyBrowning SUZ3.DaveGinolfi SUZ4.BrockSellards KAW5.CodyGilmore HONAMA ARENACROSS MAIN EVENT 1.NathanSkaggs HON2.BrockSellards KAW3.JeffGibson HON4.GrayDavenport KAW5.MichaelWillard KAW

Ama Arenacross Lites East Points Standings1.WillyBrowning 422.MattCottrill 333.ChadWages 264.GrayDavenport (1) 255.BenRitter 24Ama Arenacross Lites Central Points Standings1.KurtisMccabe 362.AlexMartin 353.BruceDehn 334.CodiAdams 285.JustinBerry 23Ama Arenacross Lites Midwest Points Standings1.WillyBrowning (1) 452.DaveGinolfi 443.JoshuaLichtle 344.CodyGilmore 315.DanielAulsaybrook 26Ama Arenacross Points Standings1.JeffGibson (1) 872.NathanSkaggs (2) 793.ChadJohnson 574.KeithJohnson (1) 544.BrockSellards 544.MichaelWillard 54

AMA ARENACROSS RESULTS & POINTS

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Sorted out: Once the L&M Yamaha team finally got things sorted out with James’ bike, he’s been much happier and has been putting in the dominating performances we’ve all become accustomed to.

Photo—Kristin Cheatwood

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There’s Your Sign

Photo—Kristin Cheatwood

Phot

o—Kr

istin

Che

atw

ood

www.kendausa.com

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NacNac: Seeing The King of Supercross, Jeremy McGrath, bust out a NacNac never gets old. It was only fitting that Feld Entertainment invited MC out to christen the new Supercross season with a parade lap air show at Anaheim One.

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THE NEW HALFTIME SHOWBy Chris Hultner

From the beginning of time most Supercross halftime

showshavebeenthesubjectof ridiculeandscorn.For

themostparttheyhavebeenahodge-podgeoftirerolling

races, daredevil acts, monster truck exhibitions and the all-

timebest,lettinglocalradioDJ’sraceatv’sorOdyssey’saround

a supercross track. Yes, simply put, the supercross halftime

showwasajoke,withafewexceptions.

TheWheelieKing,DougDomokusbeingoneofthem.Itwas

alwaysprettycooltoseeDougattempttowheeliealltheway

around the track. The crowd always got behind him and he

seldomletthemdown.

The other example of a good halftime showwas theKTM

JuniorSupercrossChallenge(KJSC).TheKJSCaccomplisheda

fewthingsthathadapositiveimpactonthesport.Forstarters,

it show thepeople in the stand that their kidscouldbeout

thereracingmotocross.Anotherpositivewasthatitgaveyoung

riders and their families something to shoot for by trying to

makeitintotheKJSCprogram.Andthebiggestthingofallwas

thatthecrowdsreallygot intotherace.Someoftheloudest

cheersof thenightatanygivensupercross racewas for the

littlekids rollingaroundthetrackontheirKTMSX50’s.But

sadly,aftertenyearsofbeingapartoftheshow,theKJSCis

nowathingofthepast.Thankstobudgetcutsinthissagging

globaleconomy,KTMcouldnolongeraffordtofootthebillfor

theKJSC.

Butevenwhentheylose,KTMwins.TheJagermeisterFMX

Team,headedupbyKennyBartram,isKTM-mounted.Thenew

halftimeshowisentertaininganditgivesthecrowdtheirfill

ofSuperman-Seatgrabs,Barhop’sandBackflipvariations.But

thelongsetuptimeleavesthemsittingtherewithnothingto

do.

WhileIdohavenothingbutrespectforwhatthoseguyscan

doonabike I stillhave the feeling thatonceyou’veseena

all the various backflip tricks, you’ve seen it all. But during

halftime at A2 they did something that made my jaw drop.

Theypulledadeath-trainbackflip--allfourteammemberswere

in theairat thesametimedoingabackflip...sick!Thatwas

definitelyworththepriceofadmission.

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Backstage pass: No one is allowed on the track during the opening ceremonies because of the pyrotechnics, so everyone huddles in the tunnel rearing to go. Once the lights come back on, it’s a mad dash for everyone to take their places.

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Throughout his entire amateur career, Ben LaMay hasalways been considered a top rider. He’s won twoLoretta Lynn titles among countless other amateur

nationalchampionships.Byallaccounts,heshouldhavebeenfasttracked to a big rig ride with a factory or major sateliteprogram.Butsometimes,thingsjustdon’tworkoutthatway.BenisspendinghisfirstyearintheProranksasafull-on,no-frills,do-it-all-by-yourselfprivateer.Armedwithnothingbutamotorhome,atrailer,abikeandadream,Benandhisfather/mechanichavehittheroadchasingadream.

How has your season been going so far. It’sbeengoingokay.Thefirst twoAnaheimsandPhoenix

were decent. I could have done a lot better. I’ve just beenstrugglingwithmystarts,andI’vejustbeengettingintomyowngrooveandblankingeverybodyelseout.I’vebeenstrugglingalittlewiththat.Youknow?Ridingthe450cc,it’sareallytoughclass, therearea lotofgoodguys in it. I’ve justgot tokeepsteppingforwardandtrytogetinthemainevent.I’mhopingtogetinhereatHouston;I’vebeendoingprettywellinpractice,soI’vejustgottogetagoodstart,really.

Why did you pick the 450cc class?Well,basically,it’smysize--plainandsimple.I’mlike180

pounds,soformetoridethelittlebikeIwouldalreadybeouttherewithadisadvantagefromeverybodyelse.SoI’vejustgottodothe450ccclass,andtrytodothebestIcan.It’shardformebecauseit’smyfirstyear,andIwouldhavelikedtodotheLitesclassesbecauseit’seasier,andIcouldhavedonealotbetter,andbeenupfront.Butthat’sjustthewaythingsgo.I’mtallandI’mbig,buteventuallyeverybodyhastogotothe450ccclasssoI’malreadyastepaheadofthem.

Tell us about your program.Well,MikeatRockRiver’shelpingmeoutwitheverything.Who’s wrenching for you?Mydad.How’s that working out?It’sprettygood.It’sthesameol’thing.He’sdoneitforme

mywholeyear,andmywholelife.Soit’snotachangeforme.I’dratherbeonateamwithmyownmechanic,butitiswhatitis.

Are you guys able to make it financially from race to race?Um…notreally.What are you doing to save money? We’reJustkindofwatchingeverythingandhowwespend

Privateer Spotlight>>>

Ben LaMay is making a go of it

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it.Butit’salluptomeandhowIdoeachweekendtomakethemoneytogettothenextweekend.I’vejustgottodowell.

You’ve made the night program at all the races so far this year.

Yeah, I make all the nightprograms, no problem. It’s justmaking it into that main event, topninefortheheatracesandthentoptwointheLCQ,it’satoughone.ButI got 12th at Anaheim 2, so I wasclose there. And then we had somesuspensionproblemsinmyLCQ,soIcouldn’tfinishthatoneout,butI’mclose.

What are your realistic goals for the season as a whole?

Forsure, it’s tomakethemains.Iwanttomakethemainsfortherestoftheyear.Becauseitseemslike,ifyou’renot in themainevent, you’renot really considered as one of theguys,I’dsay.Sobasicallyjustmakethemainsandeventuallystarttryingto runup there in the races.Like, Ican go out and practice and run asfast as anybody, and then when itcomes to race time, that’s where Istrugglealittlebit.SoIjusthavetoworkonthat.Youonlygetbetterwiththat when you race. Basically I justgottagetouttheretoraceandworkonthatandgetbetterfromthere.

Is it a mental issue when you get into a racing situation?

Yeah. I think it’s all mental. Ithinkmyphysicalconditionisthere,I’mingoodshape,Iworkhard,alotharderthanIknowalotoftheotherguys.Imean,thereareguyswhoareinalotbettershapethanIam,but,I’mingoodshape.It’sjustallmental.If you have good equipment, you’vebeen riding well and everything’sbeen going well and you have highconfidence, then you’ll dowell. You

Privateer Spotlight>>>

Ben LaMay

www.nmamx.com

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know?It’sjustpsychingyourselfoutandgettingyourselfready.Whenyourideit’sgood to not think about a lot of things,.That’sanotherthingforme--Ithinkabouttoomanythings.

Do you identify the riders in front of you, and just kind of freeze up?

Yeah, I guess. A little bit. I’ve beenworkingonthatalot.

How do you zone them out?Um,justtrytofocusonthetrack.I’ll

usually forget about whoever’s aroundme.

What was it was like walking out of the tunnel at Anaheim I for the first time for you?

Itwasa littleweird,walkingout intothestadiumforthefirsttime.Iwaslike,“Wow, I’mhere.”Butwhen IgotoutonthetrackIreallydon’tnoticeanybodyinthe stands or anything aroundme.So itdidn’t really bother me. Even today, I’mnotreallybotheredbyanything.

Today’s actually a good day. There are only 38 guys in the 450cc class here in Houston. You could ride in the night show without...

...Without even doing anything, I’malreadyinit,butI’vegottogettothemainevent.

Who are all your sponsors helping you out?

Rock River, Fly, Scott, RG3, Dunlop,HotCams, CP Pistons, Dr. D, Yamalube,UniFilters,StompGrips,TagHandlebars,HammerheadShiftLevers,andEtniesformyshoes,andIthinkthat’saboutit.

All right, well good luck tonight. Thankyou.[Editors note: Ben missed making the Houston

main by 1 place--he got the gas card for finishing third in the 450 LCQ. At least that will help him and his dad get to the next race.]

Privateer Spotlight>>>

Ben LaMay

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Each season a new batch of hopefuls walk through the tunnels at stadiums across the country to embark on their supercross journey. It’s a step in their racing career they have dreamed of for many years prior. For some it brings glory and for others it brings heartache. This is the story of one such rider. This is Blake Wharton’s story of his first supercross.

Blake, you just walked into Reliant Stadium’s parking lot for your first supercross. How do you feel?

I feel good. I’ve been here before,watching, and I was actually born inHouston,soit’sgoingtogowell.

Are you nervous at all?Yeah,well,I’llbemorenervoustowards

theend,towardsracetime,butthat’sjustpartofit,youknow?IalwaysgetnervouswhenIrace,alittlebit.I’vegotthatracedayfeeling,so,it’sgood.

How many of the supercrosses so far this season have you gone to to watch? Have you gone to all of them?

I’vegonetoallofthemsofar,yep.Has that prepared you at all for what the

day is going to hold in store for you?I think that’s one good thing about

EastCoast supercross. You get towatchthe West Coast races and see the goodthingsandthebadthings,andthenfigureitallout.Youcankindofgetafeelofwhatit’sgoingtobelike.Ithinkit’sdefinitelyhelpedout.

Did you get any sleep at all last night?Idid.Isleptprettywell.Isleptuntil

eighto’clock.Isleptlikeababy!What did you have for breakfast?Breakfast was oatmeal, milk, orange

juiceandapplejuice.Ididthecombinationtoday.IfiguredIneededboth.

Did you mix them?No, no. They were separate, yeah.

Didn’twanttodothat.Toorisky.

Blake spent the morning meeting

with team personel, signing autographs, walking the track, attending the riders meeting, doing interviews and preparing for his first run at the track.

How did practice go? Secondpracticewentwell.

Ijustrodekindofloose,andI got the track down a littlebetter, so I can’t complainabout that. I stayed off theground.

Did you fall down in your first practice?

NoIdidn’t.How did your first practice

go?I was a little tight. You know, first

practiceinsupercross,soI learnedfromthat and settled down a little bit. SohopefullyI’mgoodfortheheatrace.

How do you like the track?Well,it’smyfirstsupercross,soI’mnot

likeanexpertontracksandratingthem,but I like itbecause thedirt’s good, it’sloose,andit’sactuallyatechnicaltrack.There are some sections that are reallytechnical,soIcan’tcomplain,Iguess.

It looks like it’s getting kind of slick in some spots. Like that sweeper.

The sweeper is getting slick butcompared to other supercrosses, you’vegotta say this is good soil pretty much

By Blake Wharton

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everywhere. Every sweepergets slick like that. They’llprobably water it and it willstillbegood. Idon’t see thetrackgettingdryatall. Iseeit staying like this. It’sgood,though.

So personally, are you where you think you should be, or are you maybe behind where you think you should be?

IthinkI’mwhereIshouldbe.Mytimes,Ifelt,aregoodenough to go out there andgetaholeshotandputmyselfup in front. I’m not worriedabout practice too much,because once the gatedropsit’sadifferentthing.

Where did you practice at prior to this? Did you go to the Honda track in California?

I was at the Honda trackprettymucheveryday.

Yeah.I am currently eating a

jalapeno.It’sdelicious.Do you like jalapenos?RightnowIdo.Givesme

some spice before the moto.Idon’tevenneedtowarmup,justgivemeoneofthose.

Okay, what are you expecting to happen when you walk into the stadium and the stands are full and...

I think the crowd’s gonna go wild. Ithink it’ll be good. They won’t probablyevenseeme, Imean if Iwin they’ll seeme.

So you’re not going to feel like you walk in there and all eyes are on you.

Not really. Probably half the peopledon’tevenknowwhoIam.They’venever

evenbeentoasupercrossbefore.SoI’mnotworriedtoomuch.IknowifIdowellthey’llknowwhoIamandthatwouldbeprettygood.

Now racing the last few nationals that you did last year, do you think that helped prepare you for tonight?

Definitely. I raced those guys outthere,andI’llberacingthemhere.IranwiththemthenandIknowIcanrunwiththemnow.Itjustgivesmeconfidence.IfI

putmyselfinagoodspotthenIcanfinishwell.

What were your lap times in your second practice? Were they better than the first one?

Yes, they were better. Idon’tknowexactlywhattheywere.

Do you know what place you came in, in practice?

Ithinkninthinpractice.Ninth overall?Yeah.Ninth.That’sgood.Have you been keeping an

eye on your brother Tyler at all, seeing what he’s doing or have you even talked to him today?

Italkedtohimearlier.He’sdoingprettygood.Hecrashedinpractice,buthe’salright.Ithink if he gets a good starthecandogoodtoo.Ihopehedoeswell.Probablyifwedon’tcrash intoeachother.Outofeveryone out there we crashintoeachother,thatwouldbesomething.

After practice there are more meetings about bike setup, more autographs to sign and more fans to talk to. Even though Blake is a newcomer to supercross, he’s

a well known rider in Texas, so there were plenty distractions for him throughout the day. Good thing for the riders that the pits are closed before the show begins and the riders have time to focus on the race at hand.

Tell me about your heat race? That was kind of crazy. I saw you bash into Davalos

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www.leatt-brace.com

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in mid air. I thought for sure you were going down.

Yeah, I got a pretty good start, triedto sweep around and that didn’twork. Iwas in third, fourth,fifth, and I rolledasection,andwebothjustjumpedandwewereangledtowardseachotherandwehitinmidair.Itwasoneofthosethingsthatcouldhavegoneeitherway.Wecouldhavegottentogetherandcrashedhardrightoffthe bat, but luckilywe both saved it. Itwassquirrelly.Imean,Iwasallovertheplace.But it iswhat is, and I recoveredfromthatandgotgoingalittlebit.Iwasdoingprettygood.Icameupshortonthebigtriple.Itwastough.Justtogetitwasachallenge,justbecausetheturnwassoslickbefore.CameupshortandIalmostlostitthere.Itwassquirrelly.

You bounced when you landed and then you pinned the throttle and almost crashed into the face of the next jump.

Yeah,IbouncedandIpinnedit,andI got going, but I didn’t crash. I endedupfifthinthat,andmybrother,actually,he got the holeshot in his heat. He ledforalittlebitandandendedupinfourth

place. So both of us started out prettygood.Thenthemainrolledaround,andIdon’tevenknowwhatplaceIstartedoutin.Whatwasit,fifthorsixth?

Yeah, you were fifth. AndthenIgotsixth-You got by Vince Freise for fourth, and

then Stroupe passed you and bumped you back to fifth.

Yeah. Stroupe got around me and Iactuallystuckwithhimforawhile,foracoupleoflaps,maybe.

You stuck with him the whole race. You were running close to the same pace as him.

We were close the whole time, andthen,whathappened--Idon’tknow.Ihadpressurefromtherearforthewholemoto,itseemedlike,andthenIhadguysinfrontofme.Youknow,ifIgetabetterstartnexttime,putmyselfinsecondorfirst...

How about when you and Vince Friese are running together, and then Stroupe came through both of you?

I know!Wewerehavinga good littlebattleandStroupejustranrightupontheinside,andhedidn’thitmebecauseIwas

ontheoutside.Igotluckilyonthatone,butVincedidn’t.Itwasjustagoodbattle.My first supercross, I didn’t really knowwhattoexpect.Youknow,hopefullyfromhere,justkeepgoingforward.

When you first walked out of the tunnel for the first heat race, were you nervous at all?

Yeah, I had to pee the whole time.There’s no Port-A-Johns down there. Iwas a little nervous. But it was nothingnew. Just racing nerves,that’s all it is.And you get those any time you line uponagate. I feltgood, Ihavesomestufftoworkon.We’vegotthreeweeks,that’splentyoftimetoworkonsomestuff,andtunesomestuff, andgetbackout thereforAtlanta.

What do you think you need to workonthemost?

Obviously,Icould’vegottenaholeshot,butIthinkthatwillcomeintime.Idon’treallyfeellikeI’vegotonethingtoworkon, more than anything else. Just keepworkingonthewholething,andtuneupand sharpen up, and pick up a secondhere,andhalfasecondthere.Andthen

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I’llbeupthere.Was tonight beyond your

expectations? Or below your expectations? Or did it meet your expectations?

I came in saying Iwanted tobetop-fiveconsistently.Andthatwasprettyclose.Igotfifthplace.Iwanttobetop-fiveconsistently,sonextraceIwanttobetop-five.I’d like to get top-three. And IknowIcanputmyself inagoodposition,andworkonsomestuff,andI’llbethere.

Are you proud of your brother?I am. He got the holeshot,

prettymuch.Youknow,Ihaven’tgot a holeshot yet, so he hassomething to be proud of, forsure.Heobviouslyneedstoworkon some stuff, because I thinkhefell.Ifwecanbothfinishoutthe series strong, we’ll go intooutdoorsswinging.

Congratulations on your ride and top five finish.

Thankyouverymuch.

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HOUSTONSUPERCROSS

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L&MYamaha’sJamesStewartedgedalittleclosertotakingoverthe450Supercrosspointsleadashecruisedtohisthirdstraightvictoryoftheyoungseason.Afterstrugglingthroughadisastrousfirstround,andbikesetuptrouble,heandhisteamseemtohavefigured thingsoutbyHouston. In the450MainJameshadtobattlewithKawasaki’sRyanVillopotoforthefirstthree laps before taking the lead. From there it was smoothsailingtothecheckers.

SpeakingofVillopoto,heputinoneofhisbestridessincemovingupinclass.Henabbedhisfirst450podiumfinishwithathirdbehindChadReed.Ryanisdefinitelyprogressingasarideranditshouldn’tbelongnowbeforehe’sbattlingforthewin.

ChadReedhadtoworkforhissecondplacefinishashegota

badstartandcamearoundonthefirstlapineighth.Eventhoughittookhimmostofthemototogetupthere,hestillmanagedtogetthejobdone,asalways.

Itseemsoddthatwe’dalreadybetalkingaboutthefirstroundoftheEast250Supercrossseriesaswearejustfourroundsintotheseason.Butregardless,thenewcropofrookiesthatshowedupatHoustonwerecertainlyreadytorace.Infact,justaboutallthenewkidsmadeitintothemainontheirfirstattempt.GuyslikeBlakeandTylerWharton,DarrynDurham,StephenClarke,VinceFrieseandHunterHewitteachmadeitin.ButitwasthatFrenchkid,ChristophePourcelwhostolealltheglorybymakingasupercrosswin lookeasy.Christopheshuteveryonedownbygrabbingtheholeshotandleadingeverylap.

HOUSTON

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Wow: We already knew Christophe Pourcel was talented, but dang, he holeshot the 250 Main and ran away. They oughta just mail him the number one plate now.

Go time: Nico Izzi definitely came to Houston prepared to play. He ran most of the 250 Main in second until he got zapped by Metcalfe.

Rookie night: The most impressive riders of the night at Houston were the rookies. Just about all the new riders made the 250 Main and put in good rides. Darryn Durham (159) finished eighth in the Main. That was the second best performance by a rookie that night. He was only topped by fellow rookie, Blake Wharton, who finished fifth.

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Two for one: While Vince Friese (719) and Blake Wharton battled it out for control of fourth place in the 250 Main, Pro Circuit’s Austin Stroupe snuck up from behind. He dove underneath the two Honda riders, stuffed and dropped Friese and passed Wharton for fourth. Wharton was able to hang with Stroupe for most of the rest of the main to finish fifth. The 250 main went downhill for Friese from that point. He remounted after losing a couple spots, but crashed out on lap ten.

Taking it easy: If there’s one rider in the 450 class who’s already thinking ahead to the outdoor nationals, it’s Mike Alessi. Mike is just trying to get through the supercross series unscathed. While he has been getting great starts, he’s not quite at the point in his recovery from a preseason injury to hang it out just yet. However, look for him to be a serious threat outdoors, once again.

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HOUSTON

Making progress: James Stewart has his work cut out for him. After scoring no points at the first round, he’s climbing the points ladder by winning each race since.

Avoid the radar: Tony Alessi is doing everything in his power to stay out of trouble. We’ll let you know how that works out for him.

First timer: Rookie Steven Clarke squeaked into the 250 Main by winning the LCQ in his first ever supercross. In the main he finished a respectable 13th.

HOUSTON

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Rollover: Josh Grant was nursing a sore ankle at Houston. During his tustle with Reed at A2 Josh rolled it and was unable to ride the whole week between.

Reining Champ: Chad Reed has the points lead, but he has yet to win a 450 Main event. He’s going to have wick it up a notch as James is gaining on him, quick.

Solid: Brett Metcalfe had a solid night in Houston. He won his 250 Heat over Pourcel, got a good start in the Main and finshed second.

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Date: 7-6-06 Time: 3:14 PM

File Name: D3160 4604 OffRoadManual VD C2

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THIS IS NOT A BLEED AD

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SO MAKE SURE YOU READ IT, BECAUSE SOONER OR LATER, STUPID HURTS.

PLAY IT SAFE, READ YOUR OWNER’S MANUAL, AND NEVER MIX ALCOHOL OR DRUGS WITH MOTORCYCLING.Stupid hurts is a registered trademark of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. ©2006 American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (7/06)

American Honda Motor Corporation112-MA-M-HO4604 Ver. D

FY 2007 Safety Ads“Owner's Manual” (Off-Road)

3/C - 1/3 Page - Standard PubsLive: 4-3/8” x 4-1/2”Vendor: Graphic Orb

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#350 BEN EVANSANAHEIM ROUND 1 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:22 01:06.034HeatRace: 6LCQ: NAMainEvent: 9PointsScored: 12PHOENIX ROUND 2 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:17 00:57.480HeatRace: 9LCQ: NAMainEvent: 9PointsScored: 12ANAHEIM ROUND 3 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:14 01:04.561HeatRace: 7LCQ: NAMainEvent: 14PointsScored: 7TOTAL POINTS 31#87 P. J. LARSENANAHEIM ROUND 1 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:11 01:04.334HeatRace: 17LCQ: 18MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:11 00:56.501HeatRace: 6LCQ: NAMainEvent: 6PointsScored: 15ANAHEIM ROUND 3 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:12 01:04.253HeatRace: 6LCQ: NAMainEvent: 10PointsScored: 11TOTAL POINTS 26#164 MICHAEL HALLANAHEIM ROUND 1 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:10 01:04.241HeatRace: 16LCQ: 21MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:14 00:57.110HeatRace: 16LCQ: 18MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0ANAHEIM ROUND 3 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:21 01:05.606HeatRace: 5

LCQ: NAMainEvent: 9PointsScored: 12TOTAL POINTS 12#220 COLE SEELYANAHEIM ROUND 1 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:26 01:06.250HeatRace: 12LCQ: 3MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:21 00:57.694HeatRace: 4LCQ: NAMainEvent: 11PointsScored: 10ANAHEIM ROUND 3 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:22 01:05.820HeatRace: 10LCQ: 7MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 10#85 SEAN BORKENHAGENANAHEIM ROUND 1 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:14 01:04.955HeatRace: 9LCQ: NAMainEvent: 12PointsScored: 9PHOENIX ROUND 2 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:25 00:58.114HeatRace: 13LCQ: 5MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0ANAHEIM ROUND 3 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:13 01:04.399HeatRace: 18LCQ: 4MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 9#144 ALEX MARTINANAHEIM ROUND 1 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:28 01:06.310HeatRace: 14LCQ: 9MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:19 00:57.549HeatRace: 10LCQ: 2MainEvent: 16

PointsScored: 5ANAHEIM ROUND 3 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:15 01:04.869HeatRace: 15LCQ: 3MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 5#986 TOPHER INGALLSANAHEIM ROUND 1 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:25 01:06.187HeatRace: 18LCQ: 7MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:12 00:56.998HeatRace: 7LCQ: NAMainEvent: 17PointsScored: 4ANAHEIM ROUND 3 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:24 01:06.248HeatRace: 13LCQ: 16MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 4#152 SCOTT CHAMPIONANAHEIM ROUND 1 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:36 01:07.288HeatRace: 19LCQ: 16MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:36 00:59.498HeatRace: 20LCQ: 9MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0ANAHEIM ROUND 3 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:33 01:07.431HeatRace: 8LCQ: NAMainEvent: 17PointsScored: 4TOTAL POINTS 4#255 DANIEL HENDRIXANAHEIM ROUND 1 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:24 01:06.122HeatRace: 10LCQ: 19MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 WEST 250 SX

ROOKIE WATCHKeeping track of the newbies of Supercross

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TimedQualifying:30 00:58.795HeatRace: 7LCQ: NAMainEvent: 19PointsScored: 2ANAHEIM ROUND 3 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:35 01:07.643HeatRace: 20LCQ: 11MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 2#318 BENNY BRECKANAHEIM ROUND 1 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:48 01:09.454(didnotqualifyforthenightprogram)PHOENIX ROUND 2 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:32 00:59.142HeatRace: 18LCQ: 15MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0ANAHEIM ROUND 3 WEST 250 SXTimedQualifying:29 01:06.910HeatRace: 17LCQ: 15MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 0#61 BLAKE WHARTONHOUSTON ROUND 4 EAST 250 SXTimedQualifying:9 00:52.839HeatRace: 4LCQ: NAMainEvent: 5PointsScored: 16TOTAL POINTS 16#159 DARRYN DURHAMHOUSTON ROUND 4 EAST 250 SXTimedQualifying:10 00:53.086HeatRace: 6LCQ: NAMainEvent: 8PointsScored: 13TOTAL POINTS 13#77 STEVEN CLARKEHOUSTON ROUND 4 EAST 250 SXTimedQualifying:8 00:52.517HeatRace: 10LCQ: 1MainEvent: 13PointsScored: 8TOTAL POINTS 8#126 HUNTER HEWITTHOUSTON ROUND 4 EAST 250 SXTimedQualifying:13 00:53.267HeatRace: 12LCQ: 2MainEvent: 14PointsScored: 7TOTAL POINTS 7#247 TEDDY PARKSHOUSTONROUND4EAST250SXTimedQualifying:24 00:55.247HeatRace: 7

LCQ: NAMainEvent: 15PointsScored: 6TOTAL POINTS 6#96 TYLER WHARTONHOUSTONROUND4EAST250SXTimedQualifying:23 00:55.043HeatRace: 4LCQ: NAMainEvent: 16PointsScored: 5TOTAL POINTS 5#521 KYLE GILLSHOUSTON ROUND 4 EAST 250 SXTimedQualifying:20 00:54.827HeatRace: 9LCQ: NAMainEvent: 17PointsScored: 4TOTAL POINTS 4#719 VINCE FRIESEANAHEIM ROUND 1 450 SXTimedQualifying:37 01:07.448HeatRace: 19LCQ: 19MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 450 SXTimedQualifying:35 00:57.647HeatRace: 16LCQ: 12MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0ANAHEIM ROUND 3 450 SXTimedQualifying:27 01:04.420HeatRace: 13LCQ: 5MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0HOUSTON ROUND 4 EAST 250 SXTimedQualifying:16 00:53.784HeatRace: 5LCQ: NAMainEvent: 20PointsScored: 1TOTAL POINTS 1#95 BEN LAMAYANAHEIM ROUND 1 450 SXTimedQualifying:36 01:07.140HeatRace: 14LCQ: 9MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 450 SXTimedQualifying:27 00:56.653HeatRace: 13LCQ: 13MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0ANAHEIM ROUND 3 450 SXTimedQualifying:32 01:04.796HeatRace: 12LCQ: 15MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0

HOUSTON ROUND 4 450 SXTimedQualifying:29 00:53.099HeatRace: 10LCQ: 3MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 0#354 CHRIS JOHNSONANAHEIM ROUND 1 450 SXTimedQualifying:38 01:07.639HeatRace: 17LCQ: 17MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 450 SXTimedQualifying:43 01:00.162(didnotqualifyforthenightprogram)ANAHEIM ROUND 3 450 SXTimedQualifying:39 01:07.136HeatRace: 18LCQ: 20MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 0#153 GREGORY CRATERANAHEIM ROUND 1 450 SXTimedQualifying:42 01:08.781(didnotqualifyforthenightprogram)PHOENIX ROUND 2 450 SXTimedQualifying:37 00:58.571HeatRace: 18LCQ: 8MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0ANAHEIM ROUND 3 450 SXTimedQualifying:38 01:07.045HeatRace: 15LCQ: 10MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 0#425 JARRED BROWNEANAHEIM ROUND 1 450 SXTimedQualifying:32 01:06.200HeatRace: 20LCQ: 10MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0PHOENIX ROUND 2 450 SXTimedQualifying:31 00:57.107HeatRace: 20LCQ: 22MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 0#309 SPENCER DAILYHOUSTON ROUND 4 EAST 250 SXTimedQualifying:21 00:54.865HeatRace: 20LCQ: 18MainEvent: DNQPointsScored: 0TOTAL POINTS 0

96 impoundmx.com

ALPINESTARS STORM MX CHEST PROTECTORDesigned for MX, Off-Road and racing, the advanced

chestprotectionfeaturesexclusivefeaturesto provide excellent safety, support andflexibility.

NEWSTORMMXCHESTPROTECTORKEYFEATURES

Alpinestarsexclusivepivotingshoulderdesign and articulated rear panels allowsunrestrictedmobility.Biofoampadding atallcontactareasforcomfort.

Can be worn as an under or overprotector, with removable upper armprotectors. Pivoting shoulder designensuresmaximumsafetyandallowsgreaterfreedomofmovement.

Adjustable arms and shoulders for aperfect fit. Adjustable waist with Kidneysupport straps. Semi-auto locking YKKzipperclosure.

Colors: (Clear) Black, (Clear) Red,(Clear)Blue

Sizes:StoXLRetailprice:$129.95

Formoreinformationseewww.alpinestars.com

EXCEL ADJUSTABLE SPOKE TORQUE WRENCHMSRP:$124.95Excel’snew lightweightaluminumbodiedSpokeTorqueWrench takes the guessing and fatigue out of buildingwheels and maintaining the desired tension of yourspokes.Tightensallspokesidenticallytopropertorquesettingtomaximizethehigheststrengthcapacityandreducethelikelihoodofrim/hub/spokebreakage.Unlike other spoke torque wrenches, Excel’s TorqueWrenchiseasilyadjustablewitharangeof15-60inch-lbs.Excel’sTorqueWrenchKitcomeswith5headsinthemost common sizes, including the Spline Drive head.Additionalandreplacementheadsareavailableinsizesrangingfrom4.6mmto6.9mm. Comes in a handy black composite storage box andmakesagreatgift!Website:www.rkexcelamerica.com

freshproducts from motolandby jeff finup of mxpreview.com

impoundmx.com 97

ASV INVENTIONS F3 SERIES PRO MODEL CLUTCHMSRP:$115-$135Material:6061AluminumAlloyProcess:ForgedUnbreakableDesignAdjustableReachSteel,SealedBearingsonPivotChromeSiliconHighTensionSpringStainlessSteelFastenersCompletelyRebuildableAvailableinRed,BlueorBlackAnodizedColorsFeatures:ProPerchthatincludes:1)CNCAdjustontheflycableadjuster2)Doublebearingsbetweentheperchandlever3)Nylon“Rotator”Sleevebetweentheperchandhandlebartoallowverticalmovementtofurtherreducethechancesofbreakingalever4)BuiltondustcoversWebsite:www.asvinventions.com

DP DPK CLUTCH KITSAfterextensivetestingandusebytopoff-roadandATVriders

DPBrakes introducesafull lineofclutchkits for theoff-roadand ATV markets. The DP Clutch Kit has been designed toprovide extended service life coupled with super smooth fadefreepowerdelivery.Eachkitincludesfrictionplates,steeldriveplatesandclutchsprings.Thefrictionplatesarereadytoracewith no need to pre-soak in oil. They are more durable thanoriginalequipmentandthehighheatfrictionmaterialprovidesfadefreeperformance.Unlikealuminiumplates,theDPBrakessteeldriveplateswillnotexpand,fadeorproduceclutchswellwhilelastingthreetimeslongerthanstockplates.Theincreasedweight,comparedtostockplates,addsflywheeleffectimprovingstartingandtraction.Thechromesiliconewirespringsetsareheattreatedandshotpeenedformaximumlife,andareindividuallydesignedtoeliminateslippagewithoutexcessivelystrongspringrates.Thisenablesthemtooperatewithgreatleverfeel.

Website:www.dp-brakes.com

BRAKING OVERSIZED FRONT ROTOR KITMSRP:$335.00

TheBatfly270isthenaturalevolutionofthepopularBrakingdesign profile and is easily recognizable thanks to the blackgrooves thatarecutacross theouterbrakingtrack resemblingbatwings,hencethename‘Batfly’.

Withthelarger270mmdiameter,maximumbrakingpowerisobtained,butwiththeBatflydesign,brakefeelingisincreasedeven further, achieving the perfect combination of stoppingpowerandbrakefeel.

Braking’s Batfly profile maintains the lowest temperaturepossibleinraceconditions,resultinginabetterprogressioninbrakefeelingthananyotheroversizedrotorkitavailable.

Kit includes 270mm oversized Batfly design rotor, caliperrelocationbracket,andasetofCM46SinteredRaceseriespads–allcomponentsavailableseparately.

SameexactrotorthathaswonnumerousWorldChampionships,including the 2007 championship with Steve Ramon. ChadReedandJasonLawrencealsousedtheBatflytohelpthemwinSXtitlesin2008.

Website:www.brakingusa.com

www.decalmx.comT-4 Semi-Custom Graphics Kits. Made with your logos & sponsors ($199.95) T-4 Backgrounds ($69.95) Rim DeCals ($59.95) Fork Tube DeCals ($29.95)

Two-Bike Spread 6/12/08 10:54 PM Page 1

98 impoundmx.com

www.decalmx.comT-4 Semi-Custom Graphics Kits. Made with your logos & sponsors ($199.95) T-4 Backgrounds ($69.95) Rim DeCals ($59.95) Fork Tube DeCals ($29.95)

Two-Bike Spread 6/12/08 10:54 PM Page 1

www.renthal.com