Familiar finish

Stars ride into Budds Creek and take home titles

Friday, July 18, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Photos by MIKE SLATTERY Ryan Villopoto, above, won his 12th and 13th straight motos in Sunday’s Pro Nationals at Budds Creek Motocross Park. In motocross lites, Ryan Dungey, below, used a third-place finish in Moto 1 and a second-place showing in Moto 2 to capture second overall in the event. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Click here to enlarge this photo

At Budds Creek Motocross Park on Sunday at the 2008 Pro National race, Stewart and Villopoto showed once again why they are the two to beat, as each man swept their respective classes to earn another 50 points in the AMA standings.

‘‘I thought the track ran well today,” said Stewart. ‘‘I thought it had a few more lines than last year and overall thought it was very good.”

Stewart won both motocross motos, as well as each holeshot award, to remain perfect in motos this season with 14 straight wins. Villopoto also won each moto in his class, his 12th and13th straight. Villopoto has won every moto this season, except for the first moto of the year, when he placed fifth.

‘‘I seemed to find some good lines on the outside,” said Villopoto. ‘‘Today, the inside lines faded to the outside, so it was something you had to watch out for.”

While Stewart is perfect this season, Villopoto is perfect at Budds Creek. It makes the track a little special in his eyes.

‘‘I’ve always been able to ride well here,” said Villopoto. ‘‘I didn’t think I rode as well as last year, but we all had to ride the same track and I think it turned out decent.”

Of some concern heading into Budds Creek was the condition and difficulty of the track. While many drivers noted before the race that Budds Creek was a favorite, no one knew what to expect from the course.

For the first time in three years, the race was run counterclockwise. And the last time professional motocross rolled into town was last September for the Motocross of Nations. Many of the drivers noted that the track conditions for the Nations was a bit different than what is usually expected at each year’s Pro National and many of the drivers didn’t know which track they would encounter on Sunday: the smoother track they have come to expect at the Pro National or the more rutty track that appeared at the Nations.

‘‘They built some berms for us, which helped,” said Villopoto. ‘‘The dirt here has a lot of sawdust in it, so the lines get blown out. The berms help to form some lines.”

Another factor the drivers considered was the heat. In previous years, the race was run on Father’s Day weekend, when the heat is a little less of a problem. Yesterday, temperatures approached 90 degrees, 10 to 12 degrees hotter than the usual temperature on Father’s Day.

‘‘It was definitely a factor,” said Andrew Short, who finished third overall in the motocross. ‘‘I couldn’t go all-out in the second moto.”

Budds Creek ran exceptionally fast this year, as each moto in each class lasted an unusually high 18 laps. In total, 21 racers from the two classes posted lap times under two minutes.

‘‘I’d rather have 12 to 13 laps, but the lap time was shorter,” said Villopoto. ‘‘It’s tough out there that long. It becomes more mental with that many laps.”

Stewart joked: ‘‘That was a lot of laps. If it went two more, we’d have to throw up some lights and call it a supercross.”

While the typical faces took first place, the same could be said of the second- and third-place finishers in each class as well. In motocross, Timmy Ferry took second place in each moto, while Short took third in each moto. They are now second and third, respectively, in the current motocross points standings behind Stewart.

‘‘The season started off rough,” said Short. ‘‘To get to the podium feels really good. It’s good for our team. It seems like we are making progress and our bike has been getting better all year, so that aspect is really cool.”

In motocross lites, Ryan Dungey used a third-place finish in Moto 1 and a second-place showing in Moto 2 to capture second overall. Bryan Metcalf finished fifth and fourth to take third place. Dungey and Metcalf are now second and third overall in the motocross lites points standings, behind Villopoto.

‘‘Ryan had a good lead, so I just focused on making good laps,” said Dungey. ‘‘Our class has a lot of good competition right now.”

Locals fare wellin event

Scores of local participants also raced in the festivities this weekend, as there were three amateur events on Friday and Saturday. Jarrett Frye and Caleb Hare, both of Mechanicsville, each walked away as two-day winners. Frye won during Friday’s National Amateur Day and the National Saturday Night Supercross in the 50cc class for 4- to 6-year-olds, while Hare won both days in the 50cc oil injected class for 4- to 8-year-olds.

Also on Friday, Christopher Hare and George Aud of Mechanicsville won in the 65cc for 10- to 11-year-olds and the Quad senior classes, respectively, while Nicholas Lane of Great Mills won in the 250B lites.

On Saturday, Rusty Faulds of Mechanicsville won in the Quad C class.

Results for the National Friday Nite Supercross were not available at press time due to a computer error. The weekend’s results for the pro and amateur races can be found at www.buddscreek.com.