It’s that time of year, people—time to head to the excruciating weather of Wortham, Texas for round two of the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship and the Rockstar Energy Drink Freestone National. Round one was a brutal awakening for the 80 National pros that lined up for the Hangtown National. A far cry from the controlled environment of the stadiums, riders were reintroduced to the outdoor Nationals on one of the most brutal circuits we have ever witnessed. The breaking bumps were rhythm sections, and the ruts in the corners had their own hidden whoop sections. It was definitely a day where only the strong survived and only the true outdoor warriors thrived.

450 Outdoor Nationals

450 MX nationals - Hangtown - 2011
Photo by Hoppenworld

The man that thrived above everyone in the 450-class was Chad Reed. We were treated to another performance of the ages by the man they call CR22. The Two-Two Motorsports veteran seems to have had a “performance of the ages” every other week in 2011, but for some reason, each stellar performance is received with surprise. At this point if you’re still surprised by what Reedy is doing, you just have not been paying attention. Reed is a winner and winners do just that—win. Other than a period of time when the man that retired as “the greatest of all time” was on the set, Reedy has won at a fairly regular clip. The 2009 Outdoor MX Champion came into the 2011 Outdoor National season saying he hasn’t felt this strong since 2009, and he proved it by going 2-1 for the overall win at the opener. Not only did he win, but he did it by hunting down the odds on favorite RV2 in both motos and blowing by Dungey in Moto 2 for the win.

The question now is, can he back it up at round two? Last year at Freestone, Reedy rode to a solid second overall but seemed to struggle staying with the workhorse Ryan Dungey for 30 + 2.  After witnessing Reedy’s second moto performance at Hangtown you can bet he is far more prepared to fight to the finish this weekend in Texas.  Reed seems to have a swagger about himself this year that we haven’t seen from him since 2003. Earlier this week, Chad put out a tweet complaining about having to share the red plate with RD1 due to the fact that they are tied in points. Well, Chad, we can only think of one way to fix that: go 1-1 at Freestone.

Chad talks about his opening round win at Hangtown. Video by Guy B

Chad Reed: Hangtown Review – More Motocross Videos

Finishing second overall at round one was the 2010 450 AMA National Champ Ryan Dungey. In SX, it took the Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki rider twelve rounds to make it to the top step of the box. In MX, though, it took him only one moto. Ryan came out in the opening moto at Hangtown and simply outlasted the field for the first moto win. In Moto 2, he would start second behind RV2, pass him for the lead, but later be passed and straight up beaten by CR22. Now heading into the place of his first-ever 450 MX win last year, Ryan has to be feeling pretty good. Last year at Freestone—in 100+ degree weather—RD1 didn’t just win; he laid a whooping to the field, winning the two motos by a combined 38 seconds. After that win, Ryan would string together an incredible nine straight overalls and ten out of the last eleven. It’s hard to imagine that he will be able to pull that off again with a rejuvenated Chad Reed and the addition of RV2 to the 450-class, but after being reminded at round one of RD1’s incredible late-moto dominance, we know anything is possible.

The man that was on the top of everyone’s list as the favorite heading into last week’s opener was the Monster Energy/Kawasaki factory pilot Ryan Villopoto. Ryan—coming off his first 450 SX Championship, and being the highly regarded outdoor specialist with three outdoor championships on his resume—just seemed to be the obvious choice for the win. But that wasn’t the case last Saturday. While RV2 was not short on speed—he had the fastest lap time in both motos—he did seem to be surprisingly short on fitness. In both motos, he didn’t seem to have the gas in the tank to stay with Dungey or Reed for the 30+2, and by the end of Moto 2, he was nearly a whole minute behind the battle for the lead.

Ryan Villopoto - Hangtown - 2011
Photo by Hoppenworld

Now with only a week between the opener and the race known to be physically the toughest, we’re not sure how different the outcome will be at round two. One thing is for sure: if there is one man that can make a difference, it’s Aldon Baker, RV2’s trainer. But the task will be monumental, even for him. By no stretch of the imagination can we count RV2 out for any title. We’re just saying it may take longer than expected to get back on the outdoor horse after being away from outdoors for two long years.

Fourth in the opener and in the points as we head to Freestone is the old dog Kevin Windham. The lone ranger underneath the factory Honda tent, K’dub represented well. In Moto 1, he holeshoted and lead the first half of the moto before being hunted down and passed by the top three. He would fade back to sixth, but only amidst reports that he was nursing an ailing Honda. In the second moto, K’dub would start fourth and finish right where he started. In his sixteenth year as a professional, Kevin continues to amaze.  To think it was just two years ago that K’dub showed up and barely broke the top twenty in the 250-class is simply incredible, especially now that he is back pushing for podiums at the elite level of the sport at the young age of 33. This week, though, may be K’dub’s biggest test. Knowing how brutal the Texas heat can be is half the battle; the other half is preparing for it. Kevin has spent the last couple of days in Conroe, Texas  spinning laps at 3 Palms Action Sport Park to get himself acclimated and should be ready to go at the drop of the gate.

Kdub - Kevin Windham - Hangtown - 2011
Photo by Dan Lamb

Other riders to keep an eye on at Freestone are Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe, JGRMX’s Davi Millsaps, and Motoconcepts/Yamaha’s Christophe Pourcel and Tommy Hahn. Finishing fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth respectively at the opener, they all have a solid base to work off as they head into the long outdoor season. And don’t be surprised to see other riders like Kyle Chisholm, Andrew Short, Jake Weimer and Christian Craig begin to creep up into the top ten and even the top five as the season wears on.

One round down, eleven to go to decide the 450 Outdoor National Championship!

250 Outdoor Nationals

The winner of the 250-class at the Hangtown opener was considered by many the surprise of the week. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett was a super human amongst mere mortals at the Hangtown opener, and if not for a slew of mistakes in the opening 250 moto of the year, no one would have stopped him from going 1-1. Blake got a bad start in the first moto, but would fight to third, crash back to ninth, then proceed to make up thirty seconds and pass Tomac at the end to finish second. In the second moto, Blake would again get a bad start, but this time he made no mistakes. Blake rode a perfectly patient thirty-five minute moto and methodically worked his way up from sixth. At the twenty-five minute mark, Blake made his final pass of the day on teammate Tyla Rattray for the lead and would go on to his first-ever Outdoor National win.  Can the man we call “B.B. King” back that performance up in Texas?

250 motocross - Hangtown National - 2011
Photo by Dan Lamb

Blake’s Pro Circuit teammates were the best of the rest at round one. Dean Wilson finished second overall with a solid opening-day score of 3-1 and sits only two points behind Baggett as the series heads to Freestone. Dean comes into Freestone hoping to erase the memory of last year’s Freestone where he literally handed the second moto win to Rattray on the last lap. Dean—feeling the effects of the sweltering Texas heat and thinking he had a bigger lead than he did—let up just a bit too much on the final lap, allowing Rattray and Tickle around. That mistake cost Deano the overall win in 2010, and we can pretty much guarantee you will see a charging Wilson on the white flag lap this weekend in Wortham.

Sitting tied for third in the points as we head into round two is GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Eli Tomac and another Pro Circuit pilot Tyla Rattray. Tyla would edge out Eli for third overall at Hangtown with a better score on the incredibly rough second moto circuit. The tough South African has built a World Championship resume on outlasting the fittest of the fit in second motos, and at last year’s Freestone National he did just that. While everyone was seeing their lives flash before their eyes and pulling off from heat stroke, Tyla would pound out the second moto win and finish second overall. You can bet your house that Tyla will be more than ready for whatever weather shows up in Texas.

Tyla Rattray - Hangtown - 2011
Photo by Hoppenworld

Tomac, on the other hand, melted like the Wicked Witch of the East in the Texas heat last year. Eli went into the Texas round last year straight off the high of winning the Hangtown opener and was treated to a rude awakening. The rookie sensation went out fast and furious in the opening moto and built a huge lead. After hitting a heat exhaustion wall head on at 100mph, he was able to hold on till the end for second. In the second moto, though, the best he could muster was an eleventh. From the Texas round on, Eli was never the same and has been heard saying he really never recovered fully in 2010 from the heat exhaustion he experienced in Texas. This year, Eli is a year older and a year wiser. Eli now knows this is a twelve round series, and you cannot win the title in the first two. We expect to see a much more controlled pace from the sophomore professional—and a much better result.

As the series heads to Freestone, Blake Baggett appears to be the man to beat. You should remember, though, that round one always seems to bring out the guy that flies in under the radar and either comes close to winning or wins the opener outright. Last year, it was Tomac; the year before, it was Barcia; and this year, it was Blake Baggett. One thing is for sure: by round two, the other riders know he’s there and seem to have an answer. With the crop of 250 talent on the line for 2011—like two-time World Champ Marvin Musquin, who spent most the opener passing up from last place to finish fifth on the day, Ryan Sipes, Justin Barcia, Kyle Cunningham, Gareth Swanepoel, Broc Tickle, Cole Seely and a handful of other contenders—this season is going to be a battle to Pala.

Here’s a look at one lap around the Freestone National track with Rockstar Suzuki’s Nick Paluzzi. Credit GuyB

One Lap: Freestone – More Motocross Videos

Author

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