Millville Minnesota had all the hype of a Mike Tyson - Evander Holyfield prize fight. The course was tough and the riders had to be worthy. The mostly sandy track boasted hard pack on most of the jumps but on a few of the really peaky lips, cross rutting was a real threat...  check out the deep ruts on this supercross sized jump  

Back to the "Hype" While Mike Alessi's finishing performance was lackluster at best, there is no denying that with some riding maturity and experience with the veterans, he will be a constant top 5 threat. Mike rode most of the 2nd moto in that position, fading slightly till the end where he DNF'd after another crash, putting this into perspective, that's a 16 year old kid riding a 450 with the best in the world, of course he is an 11 time Loretta Lynns champ and is used to riding out front in the amateurs, but he deserves credit just for going back out there after the beating he took in the 1st moto.   

Bubba impresses every time he goes out on a racetrack. I think someone should dismantle his bike on the starting line, have him on the far side of the track up on a Millville cliff tied to a tree with a tire chain and his hands bound by 6 big carnival workers until the gate drops, then let him go. Personally I think he would still win. Sheesh, whats gonna stop that kid from running away from his own shadow?  I think thats all thats left to give him some competition, even his starts are solid considering he is underpowered on a "true 125"  Bubba...are you getting bored yet?  Check out the pic....by the time they got a half lap finished at the top of the big hill...Bubba was leading.  

RC...same thing only double, RC has another amazingly perfect season in his sights. Can the dream season be repeated? Will Ricky give honda an unprecedented 2 perfect seasons of outdoor motocross in a scant 3 year span? Binghamton, Steel City and Glen Helen have the answers to those questions. I will be there, you should be too. Don't miss it! Yes Ricky, those Dunlops are definately hookin up.  

The 23rd Annual Loretta Lynn's Air Nautiques Amateur National Championships came to a close on saturday August 7th as the 99th moto crossed the finish line, 33 new champions crowned, medals awarded, trophies in the form of wakeboards handed out. The weather was the best ever according to some people who have been to many of the 23 Loretta Lynn's to date. Started with 2 days of high heat and humidity followed by a relaxing evening of rain which cooled things off for the rest of the week made it much more bearable for the photohounds, not to mention the racers, mechanics, families and track workers who call Hurricane Mills home for one long week every year. Head on over to mxsports.com or motonews.com and find the link that has the motocross summer camp logos to see all the images and read about what exactly went on this year, here is an animation of Ian Trettel going through the grandstand section .... here he is on his way to his championship winning final moto.  Earlier in the week James Stewart was going through this same section by doubling through the Maxxis banner jump and then tripling the rest of it....oh, he was doing it on a klx110 too....no big deal, right?  enjoy the animation :)

2-up Backflip (Click Here)
Stephan Legrande ( sp? ) Sorry )) and Travis " The Village Idiot " Pastrana decided to make history by getting on his RM250 and going for a backflip together, Yea...you heard me....THEY.... as in Both of them at the same time, same bike flipped into the foam pit perfectly.....Check out the lunacy that happened shortly before the washougal national at TP's house. Densmore may have been the first backflipping moto photographer but Stephan one upped him with this stunt....just watch the animation already....and dont forget to watch the X-games, chuck carothers has already nailed the first ever body varial....look for my Loretta Lynn's update coming soon as well :)

Washougal - The prettiest track in motocross, 4 days of perfect weather made for one of the best races I have ever been to, So far this year for me, Unadilla, Redbud and several amateur races have all had rain, it was an ironic twist of fate that the normally rainy Pacific Northwest had the best weather this year. Chad Reed kept RC honest and you can tell he has really stepped up his outdoors game, However....he will have to dig extra deep and ride 100% of the time on the ragged edge if he wants to catch or get in front of the champ....so far this year 'lil Ricky is unstoppable.

Both Broc Hepler and Davi Milsapps were blazing fast on the washougal circuit, when hepler goes by me he just " seems " to be going faster than everyone else and i am really enjoying davi's riding style as he seems to have a really forward and aggressive stance on the bike....

Speaking of forward and aggressive....look at Michigan's Nick Wey pretending he was a Washingtonian local by destroying this berm, Nick must feel at home in the woods because he showed the local granola eaters a thing or two in 'Shougal.

Finally.... showing ME a thing or two, " The Weege " Racer-X's man of the hour Jason Weigandt was on hand doing the announcing with " Rocket " Rob Buydos and he didnt fail to let me know who the man was, There must be something about the cool mountain water up there that brings out aggressive behavior......because weege was all over it! Jason....on a personal note.... the broadcasts have never sounded better, keep up the awesome work.

Everybody is doing a brand new dance now...come on, do the "bubba scrubbin motion" ( melodic sounds of the Miami Sound Machine ringing in my ears ) Check out Tortelli, RC, Reed and the master himself and be the judge of who does it best. Washougal is simply the most beautiful pro national there is, everyone seems to be doing well and enjoying ( so far ) 3 perfect days of weather.  Racing in the amateurs has been going on since thursday and i am pitted with the Sick Racing Girls in the vendors area ( if you dont know or havent met these ladies, you MUST come over and say hi...but be warned, the meek or faint of heart might never leave...they are THAT sweet ( oh, and "supercute" too ) 

 Stay tuned for another update tonight on the racing action from Washougal  :)