The 2012 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship headed east to Mount Morris, Pennsylvania for round number four and the High Point National. With three rounds of racing behind us, a lot of the preseason questions had been answered, but with Yoshimura/Suzuki’s James Stewart injuring his hand—the same hand he injured during the Supercross season—last weekend at Thunder Valley, question marks once again surrounded the #7. We were told coming in that he was very sore, but there were no broken bones in his hand. After the first 450 qualifying session,  Stewart had everyone talking when all he could manage was the eleventh fastest time. Then, in true Stewart fashion, he clocked the fastest qualifying time of the day on the final lap of the final session. Was Stewart playing possum or was one fast lap all he had in him?

In moto one, it was MotoConcepts’ Mike Alessi pulling one of his trademark holeshots. Behind Alessi was Chaparral/Honda’s Andrew Short followed by the Championship points leader Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey and Monster/Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer.  Stewart rounded turn one buried in the field around fifteenth but, by the end of lap one, was already in the top 10. Alessi, with a clear track,  quickly went to work  trying to check out while Dungey worked on Shorty for second.  With Stewart nowhere around, you could tell Dungey was being patient with the #29, and on lap three, he made the pass stick for second.  By then, Alessi had opened up a nice, three-second cushion, and Dungey took off to try and close it down.

Mike Alessi led nearly half the laps raced this weekend in Mount Morris. Photo: Supercross.com

While Dungey went on to hunt down Alessi,  Weimer went to work on Short for third and quickly got the pass done on lap four. For the next four laps, it remained Alessi, Dungey, Weimer and Short in the top four.  On lap eight, after eating a ton of roost off the back of the 800, Dungey made a pass for the lead.  Around the same time, Stewart finally made an appearance in the top five with a pass on his Yoshimura/Suzuki teammate Brett Metcalfe. Unfortunately for Stewart, that is where his forward progress would end.

Up front, it was all Ryan Dungey. The 2010 450 motocross Champion checked out to a twenty-second lead and easily won his third-straight moto of 2012. Behind Dungey, it was Alessi, Weimer,  Shorty with Stewart barely holding off a late-race charge by Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle to finish fifth.  It was obvious, while watching the race, that JS7 was hurting which was later confirmed when he pulled out of moto two. Stewart said after moto one that, at times, he could barely hold on. With that in mind, Stewart and his team decided it was best in the long run to sit out moto two. This will no doubt end James’ 2012 Motocross Championship hopes.

When the gate fell for moto two, it was Dungey with the holeshot, but after a big mistake by the Dungey the #800 took the lead.  After lap one, it was Alessi up front with the #5 of Dungey closely in tow and Weimer again in third. Alessi must have been having flashbacks of his wins during the 2009 motocross  season because the kid was on rails out front for the first quarter of the race. For a minute, it looked like Alessi might have the speed to keep  the KTM at bay, but the machine known as Dungey switched gears and reeled the 800 back in. After a couple laps of cat-and-mouse, Dungey made the pass for the lead and quickly pulled a now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t on Mikey. In the last half of the moto, Dungey pulled away for a twenty-two second win over Alessi. Dungey finished the day with his second straight 1-1 for the overall win, and Alessi’s 2-2 was good enough for his best finish in 2012: second overall.

450 Podium - Ryan Dungey (center) Mike Alessi (left) Jake Weimer (right) Photo: KTM Images

In a very lonely third for the second-straight moto and finishing third overall was Weimer. Weimer was fast enough all day to get away from the field, but not fast enough to challenge Alessi or Dungey. Jake rounded turn one in third and held it wire-to-wire. The #21 has really turned the corner on the 450 and now has back-to-back podium appearances on his resume. Jake sits third in the points and is locked in a heated battle with Alessi for second.

Finishing fourth in moto two in his first race back from injury was JGR/Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps. In moto one, Davi struggled, squeaking into the top ten with a ninth, but in moto two, he fought his way forward from a ninth place start to finish fourth. In the end, his 9-4 was good enough for fifth overall behind Andrew Short’s 4-8 for fourth overall. Andrew had a rough second moto, but probably left High Point feeling pretty good about his fourth on the day.

In the 250 Class, all of the focus heading into High Point was on the tight, four-man war at the top of the Championship points. Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett, Red Bull/KTM’s Ken Roczen and the two GEICO/Hondas—Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac—have completely monopolized the podium in 2012, and High Point would be no different. The four put on a banner show all day long to take the top four overall spots, and in the end, the overall win came down to a last lap pass in the final moto of the day.

The #20 got the jump in both 250 Class motos at High Point. Photo: KTM Images

In moto one, it was the other GEICO/Honda, Wil Hahn, pulling the holeshot with Justin Barcia and Eleven-10 Mods’ Alex Martin right there.  With Tomac, Roczen and Baggett buried in the pack near tenth, Barcia quickly went to work on Hahn, and by the end of lap one, he jumped passed the #58 for the lead. From there, moto one was Barcia’s playground. The #20 sprinted out to a big, ten-second lead, and while it got closer in the end, the moto one win was never in doubt for Bam Bam.

Behind Barcia for the first half of the race was Wil Hahn.  Considering that Wil has only been back from major injuries for a few months, he rode a very impressive fifteen minutes in second place, but the Tomac and Baggett late-race train was on the tracks and coming fast.  On lap eleven, both Tomac and Baggett got around Hahn, pushed him back to finish with a very impressive fourth.  The race between Tomac and Baggett was one of the best of the day, but in the end, Baggett made a few mistakes and had to settle for third behind the two GEICO/Hondas.

Where was Ken Roczen in moto one? Surprisingly, the German was never really a factor in moto one. Kenny started around tenth, was in fourth by lap five and was looking good, but from there, he seemed to lose all momentum. By the end of the race, the #70 had lost sight of the top four and finished fourty seconds behind the leaders back in fifth.

Bad starts did not stop Eli Tomac from making his way up to the leaders in both motos. Photo: Supercross.com

By the time moto two took off, the High Point circuit looked gnarly–rough,  dry and dusty with square edge kickers everywhere, not a great combination for a thirty-minute plus two lap National–but it seemed to be to the 2011 MX2 Motocross World Champion’s liking.  Roczen and  Barcia battled for the holeshot and then lead with Roczen controlling the point at the end of lap one. Unlike in moto one, though, Ken was definitely comfortable in moto two. The KTM pilot secured the lead after a good fight with the #20 and, by the end of lap four, put a comfortable  five seconds on Barcia and Baggett back in second third.

While Roczen ran away from Barcia and Baggett, Tomac was once again making his way forward from a bad start. Tomac rounded turn one in tenth and was latched onto Baggett’s rear wheel by lap seven. Baggett then passed Barcia and looked like he was going to try to close down on Roczen’s ten-second lead. Instead, though, a couple of crashes and weird mistakes sent Baggett backwards to finish the moto in fifth.  Baggett’s 3-5 was good enough for fourth overall and good enough to keep the red plate for at least one more week

With the race winding down and Roczen way out front, Tomac made the pass on Barcia stick for second.  At that point, it looked like Barcia’s 3-1 was going to be good enough to beat Eli’s 2-2 for the overall, but Tomac was given a chance when Roczen slid out and lost six of his nine-second lead with two laps to go. Now, Tomac could see the German, and by the white flag, the race was on. Tomac was not going to be denied, and soon after finding Ken, he was around and leaving him. I would hate to think of the four letter words being used inside Ken’s helmet, but he gave the win away and has nobody to blame but himself. Tomac went on to win moto two with Ken and Justin finishing second and third. Eli’s 2-1 was good enough for his second win of the year, Barcia’s 1-3 netted him second overall and Roczen’s 5-2 was good enough for his fourth-straight third overall.

250 Podium - Eli Tomac (center) Justin barcia (left) Ken Roczen (right)
450 Class (Moto Finish) Full High Point Results>>>
1.    Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM (1-1)
2.    Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., Suzuki (2-2)
3.    Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki (3-3)
4.    Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda (4-8)
5.    Davi Millsaps, Cairo, Ga., Yamaha (9-4)
6.    Brett Metcalfe, Mannum, Australia, Suzuki (7-5)
7.    Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Kawasaki (6-9)
8.    Ryan Sipes, Vine Grove, Ky., Yamaha (12-6)
9.    Nico Izzi, Rochester, Mich., Yamaha (8-10)
10.    Michael Byrne, Rockhampton, Australia, Suzuki (13-7)
450 Class Championship Standings Full Championship standing>>>
1.    Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 186
2.    Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., Suzuki, 144
3.    Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki, 141
4.    Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 128
5.    James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 116
6.    Brett Metcalfe, Mannum, Australia, Suzuki, 114
7.    Nico Izzi, Rochester, Mich., Yamaha, 95
8.    Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Kawasaki, 90
9.    Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Kawasaki, 84
10.    Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Kawasaki, 66

250 Class (Moto Finish) Full High Point Results>>>
1.    Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda (2-1)
2.    Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Honda (1-3)
3.    Ken Roczen, Apolda, Germany, KTM (5-2)
4.    Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki (3-5)
5.    Marvin Musquin, La Reole, France, KTM (6-4)
6.    Wil Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Honda (4-9)
7.    Ivan Tedesco, Albuquerque, N.M., Kawasaki (7-10)
8.    Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Suzuki (13-6)
9.    Kyle Cunningham, Fort Worth, Texas, Yamaha (14-7)
10.    Jessy Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda (10-11)

250 Class Championship Standings Full Championship standing>>>
1.    Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki, 175
2.    Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Honda, 168
3.    Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda, 164
4.    Ken Roczen, Apolda, Germany, KTM, 158
5.    Marvin Musquin, La Reole, France, KTM, 117
6.    Wil Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Honda, 101
7.    Blake Wharton, Pilot Point, Texas, Suzuki, 87
8.    Ivan Tedesco, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki, 86
9.    Kyle Cunningham, Fort Worth, Texas, Yamaha, 86
10.    Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Suzuki, 77
Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.