AMA Toyota MX Championship–Washougal '06

The weather may have been cool with occasional showers in Washougal, but the racing was nothing short of stellar, with the point lead changing hands in the Lites class, and two of the best motos that we've seen with Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart duking it out for the win in the big-bore class.

Lites Moto 1
 Chris Gosselaar grabbed the holeshot and led the pack through the first couple turns, followed by MotoworldRacing / PPG / Yamaha's Justin Brayton, Team Honda's Andrew Short, and Star Racing Yamaha's Matt Goerke. The riders atop the point standings, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto and Red Bull KTM's Mike Alessi, were inside the top ten, and trying to work their way up to the front.

Andrew ShortMuch to the dismay of the partisan hometown crowd, Ryan Villopoto dropped out early with a valve failure on his Kawasaki.

 By lap three, Honda's Short had worked his way into the lead, and was closely followed by another Honda, with Sobe/Samsung Mobile/No Fear's Josh Grant aboard. Mike Alessi was also trying to maximize the opportunity to make up points on the idled Ryan Villopoto, and had moved into third.

Late in the moto, the top three remained the same, but Makita Suzuki's Broc Hepler got by Matt Goerke for fourth spot.

Motocross Moto 1
 Davi Millsaps holeshot the first moto ahead of Sobe/Samsung Mobile/No Fear's Kevin Windham, Kyle Mace, and Team Honda's Travis Preston, Daniel Sani (MB1/Fox/Tokyo Mods) and Yamaha's Chad Reed. Neither Carmichael nor Stewart got a great start, and were mired in mid-pack. Reed (who had skipped Saturday practice to rest a sore knee) passed Windham early in the moto, and took off after Millsaps' Honda.

Millsaps' lead was short-lived, and Reed went by him through the whoops before the finish line, and Stewart had charged up to fourth spot and wasted little time in getting by Kevin Windham, and later, Millsaps as well.

Carmichael was on a charge of his own, slipped by Kevin Windham, and took off in pursuit of the lead trio of Reed, Stewart and Millsaps. RC made his way past Davi in the new (and very narrow) back section of the Washougal circuit, and set his sights on Stewart, who had a gap that was most of the length of the finish straight.

James Stewart and Ricky CarmichaelThe riding surface of Washougal is a bit deceiving. While it looks loamy and traction-filled on the surface, underneath the top layer is slippery, as Chad Reed discovered on the fourth lap when he lost the front end on an off-camber section, handing the lead over to Stewart. That left James and RC running 1-2 on the track, and from then on, it was another of their classic battles. The two traded the lead a couple times, including what RC admitted was short of a cheap shot in getting by James, but the Kawasaki rider returned the favor not long afterward. and scoring showed that Stewart led the next nine laps, all while being dogged by Carmichael. Three laps from the end, RC made his way by Stewart, and held on for the win, though neither one of them were coasting in.

Lites Moto 2

Nathan Ramsey was first into the first turn aboard his KTM 250 SX-F, followed by Andrew Short, Josh Grant, and Alessi. Josh Grant moved by Ramsey on the first lap, but later had a minor crash that dropped him back a few spots. That moved Alessi up a spot, and he got by his Red Bull teammate, Ramsey, and settled into second behind Short, who was pulling away out front.

Ryan VillopotoThe man on the move however, was Villopoto, who made his way past both Ramsey and Alessi, and settled in to second spot behind Short. Josh Grant was also marching forward, and was trying to reel in Villopoto.

Motocross Moto 2
Stewart holeshot the second moto, with Millsaps on his elbow, and exiting the second turn it was Stewart, with his Kawasaki teammate, Michael Byrne, and Millsaps, Reed, and Carmichael. Reed quickly made his way into second, but up front, Stewart was alreadys starting to build a healthy lead.

Just behind the lead duo, Michael Byrne and Davi Millsaps went down, and collected Ricky Carmichael as well. That moved Rockstar Suzuki's Mike Brown into third spot, after making his jump from the Lites to the 450s.

After remounting quickly, RC put on a passing clinic, getting around Sani, Preston, Brown, and Windham, all within a lap. Up front, Stewart had build a sizeable gap over Reed, and Reed had an even larger gap over RC. But RC was riding like he was on a mission, and not only reeled in and passed Reed, but with just a  couple laps left, made his way by Stewart in the mechanic's area. But not long afterward, RC's front end crabbed in a rutted section before a very peaked jump, and as everyone watched in horror, he got bucked off his Suzuki right as he peaked the jump. Windmilling all the way back down to earth, he looked unaffected, and was already scrambling for his bike.

 Stewart cruised in for the win, and the overall, capping one of the most exciting races in recent memory.


James Stewart


Note: The story doesn't end here! If you click any of the photos in the article, it jumps you to the photo gallery for this race, which includes a total of 30 photos. Click the images in the gallery to get a jumbo-sized images.

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Results

AMA Motocross Lites Washougal Results


















































































1 Andrew Short
1
1
Honda
2 Josh Grant
2
3
Honda
3 Mike Alessi
3
4
KTM
4 Troy Adams
6
5
Kawasaki
5 Matt Goerke
5
14
Yamaha
6 Ryan Villopoto
40
2
Kawasaki
7 Nate Ramsey
14
6
KTM
8 Danny Smith
10
10
Honda
9 Brett Metcalfe
15
7
Yamaha
10 Chris Gosselaar
7
15
Kawasaki
11 Jason Lawrence
16
8
Suzuki
12 Paul Carpenter
13
11
Honda
13 Sean Collier
12
12
Yamaha
14 Broc Hepler
4
39
Suzuki
15 Steve Boniface
8
17
Honda
16 Martin Davalos
39
9
Yamaha
17 Robert Kiniry
11
19
Honda
18 Matt Walker
9
35
Yamaha
19 Jake Weimer
17
16
Honda
20 Kelly Smith
26
13
Honda
21 Brian Gray
20
18
Suzuki
22 Ryan Morais
19
20
Suzuki
23 Justin Brayton
18
26
Yamaha
24 Yohei Kojima
24
21
Suzuki
25 Eric Nye
23
22
KTM
26 Justin Keeney
22
23
Honda
27 Adam Metzler
21
28
Honda
28 Michael Sleeter
30
25
KTM
29 Levi Kilbarger
25
30
Honda
30 Tony Sherman
32
29
Yamaha
31 Tucker Hibbert
38
24
Yamaha
32 Charles Castloo
31
31
Yamaha
33 Anthony Charette
28
34
KTM
34 Cory Green
36
27
Honda
35 Chris Pugrab
27
36
Kawasaki
36 Brad Kelly
33
33
Yamaha
37 Levi Reid
29
37
Honda
38 Garth Sutherlin
35
32
Kawasaki
39 Bryan Johnson
34
38
Yamaha
40 Richie Owens
37
40
Yamaha

Motocross Lites Point Standings




















































1  Mike Alessi 315
2 Ryan Villopoto 312
3 Andrew Short 280
4 Josh Grant 261
5 Andrew McFarlane 229
6 Brett Metcalfe 226
7 Nathan Ramsey 168
8 Troy Adams 143
9 Matt Goerke 136
10 Broc Hepler 133
11 Paul Carpenter 115
12 Sean Collier 112
13 Steve Boniface 109
14 Danny Smith 105
15 Jason Lawrence 100
16 Martin Davalos 90
17 Matt Walker 76
18 Kyle Chisholm 69
19 Grant Langston 61
20 Kelly Smith 59
21 Billy Laninovich 53
22 Robery Kiniry 48
23 Chris Gosselaar 46
24 Mike Brown 41
25 Brian Gray 34

AMA Motocross Washougal Results



















































































1 James Stewart
2
1
Kawasaki
2 Ricky Carmichael
1
2
Suzuki
3 Chad Reed
3
3
Yamaha
4 Davi Millsaps
4
6
Honda
5 Tim Ferry
7
4
Honda
6 Travis Preston
6
5
Honda
7 Kevin Windham
5
7
Honda
8 David Vuillemin
8
9
Yamaha
9 Daniel Sani
10
10
Honda
10 Michael Byrne
9
11
Kawasaki
11 Mike Brown
14
8
Suzuki
12 Josh Demuth
11
15
Honda
13 Ryan Clark
18
12
Honda
14 Nick Wey
12
38
Honda
15 Josh Summey
36
13
Honda
16 Clark Stiles
13
22
Yamaha
17 Kuraudo Toda
23
14
Suzuki
18 Heath Voss
19
16
Yamaha
19 Jason Thomas
16
19
Honda
20 Yoshitaka Atsuta
15
27
Honda
21 Jeff Dement
17
20
Suzuki
22 Kyle Lewis
22
17
Honda
23 Antonio Balbi Jr.
38
18
Honda
24 Jeff Gibson
20
39
Honda
25 Colton Facciotti
24
21
Kawasaki
26 Matt Karlsen
26
24
Kawasaki
27 Michael Lapaglia
28
26
Suzuki
28 Doug Dehaan
21
33
Honda
29 Tony Boughten
31
25
Yamaha
30 Robbie Reynard
34
23
Honda
31 Bobby Garrison
29
28
Yamaha
32 Kyle Mace
27
30
Kawasaki
33 Michael Blose
25
34
Kawasaki
34 Joe Oehlhof
35
29
Suzuki
35 Ryan Grantom
33
31
Yamaha
36 Jacob Saylor
30
35
Honda
37 Derek Mahoney
32
36
Honda
38 Gregg Crater
39
32
Honda
39 Chris Blose
37
37
Kawasaki
40 Kyle Partridge
40
40
Honda

Motocross Point Standings





















































1 Ricky Carmichael 389
2 Chad Reed 313
3 Davi Millsaps 269
4 Kevin Windham 261
5 Travis Preston 226
6 James Stewart 211
7 David Vuillemin 206
8 Nick Wey 202
9 Tim Ferry 178
10 Josh Summey 129
11 Josh Demuth 112
12 Ryan Clark 100
13 Kyle Lewis 97
14 Jason Thomas 88
15 Michael Byrne 62
16 Antonion Balbi Jr. 60
17 Robbie Reynard 55
18 Clark Stiles 54
19 Jeff Dement 53
20 John Dowd 49
21 Sean Skinner 38
22 Juss Laansoo 35
23 Jeff Gibson 34
24 Heath Voss 33
25 Daniel Sani 32
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