Chapter number seven of the crazy saga known as the 2011 Lucas Oil Motocross Championship is officially in the books, and once again, it had fans wondering what could possibly happen next. Round seven of the 450 AMA Motocross Championship brought everyone to the beautiful rolling hills of Millville, Minnesota for the Spring Creek National. Millville is known for natural terrain, huge jumps and, of course, the whoop monster, but lately it’s been all about local boy Ryan Dungey. Ryan has won every race he’s raced in Millville since 2008, and since he comes into town trailing Reed by twenty-two points, he needed to continue his hometown winning ways to stay in the Championship hunt. There was also a lot of talk about the return of Trey Canard from injury. Trey hasn’t raced since the St. Louis Supercross, but some thought 2010 250 Motocross Champ could be a factor right away. Those thoughts were quickly validated when the rookie 450 rider went right out and qualified with the fastest time and first gate pick in his first ever 450 race.
Moto one in Millville was all about the number twenty-two. The Two-Two Motosports rider has done his best work all year from the front, and that is exactly what he did in moto one. After going to the lead early and dealing with an ultra-aggressive hometown surge by Dungey, Chad Reed was able to check out for his seventh moto win of the year despite having to throw his goggles halfway through moto one. The hometown hero, Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, was all over Reed for the first half of the moto, but in the end, Ryan didn’t have enough to make a pass stick and the number twenty-two got away from him. Dungey has been Mr. Consistent all season long, but he could not have happy with his ninth second place moto of 2011.
Behind Reed and Dungey it was a long way back to the Monster Energy/Kawasaki of Ryan Villopoto. RV2 got off to an eighth place start and instantly charged to sixth but, once there, was stuck behind Brett Metcalfe for three long laps before the Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki rider crashed and gave the position to Villopoto. From there, Ryan was able to get around Trey Canard and Mike Alessi to finish a solid third. American Honda’s Canard may have been able to get third, but while battling with Dungey and Reed early on, he had a tip-over and wouldn’t get going until after being passed by the factory KTM of Mike Alessi. Trey Carnard would still have a stellar return to racing despite one big mistake and would finish in fifth. Mike Alessi was able to fight for the whole thirty-plus-two to finish right in front of Trey with a fourth.
With Reed winning Moto one and Dungey and Villopoto going two-three, Reed had stretched his Championship points-lead over the two Ryans. If the Ryans wanted to stay within striking distance of the Australian, they were going to need to strike back in moto number two. When the gate fell on the second moto of the day, it appeared that Villopoto was ready to take some of those points back. The number two got a monster jump out of the gate and lead everyone around turn one, but Reed was right there, immediately pressuring the Kawaski rider. As the riders entered the sand whoops on lap one, Reedy was going for the lead and there was nothing Villopoto could do to stop him. Chad had taken the lead once again, but moments later, it would all go terribly wrong.
While exiting the whoops and setting up for a huge table-top, Reedy swapped out, and going up the face of the table-top, his Two-Two Motorsports/Honda was ripped from his hands. Reedy was just along for the ride as he went flying through the air like a man shot from a cannon with no net. Reed hit the ground hard in one of the scariest crashes ever witnessed, but to everyone’s surprise, he was quickly up. After making a few adjustments on the Honda, Chad was back on track, hunting down the last place rider. It was one of the craziest crashes ever seen, and the fact that Reed and his bike were able to continue made it even more crazy. Reedy and his Honda were able to fight the whole way through. By the flag, Reed had made it back up to fourteenth gaining seven points–enough for fifth overall. Those seven points may go down in motocross history books as the most incredible seven Championship points in the history of our sport. Well done, Mr. Reed!
Up front, it was all about Ryan Villopoto early. Villopoto and Dungey were both right behind Reed when the spectacular crash occurred and had to, at first, think they were now battling in a one-on-one war for the Championship. In the first half of the race, Villopoto stretched it to a seven-second lead, but after a few mistakes after the halfway flag, Dungey was right on his rear tire. The two battled for a few laps until Dungey made an aggressive move to Villopoto’s inside, pushing him into the soft stuff and sending the Kawasaki rider down. All year, Dungey had tolerated RV2 and Reedy playing road block, but he appeared to be making the statement that he would tolerate it no more. From there, it was all Ryan Dungey. The Minnesota kid would go on to win moto two and his fourth overall win in a row as a professional in Millville. Villopoto would lose the lead in the crash, but with the huge gap he and Dungey had built up, he was easily able to cross the line with a second place finish.
Behind the two Ryans the whole moto, was the crowd favorite, Trey Canard. The number forty-one–in his first ever 450 motocross race and his first race back after recovering from a broken femur–was able to hang on for a podium finish in moto two. His third in moto two combined with a fifth in moto one was enough for the third spot on the podium overall as well. This performance was huge for the kid from Oklahoma and showed us all that down the stretch, Trey may become a spoiler in the middle of the three-man fight for the Championship. Trey may not be in the points, but he will for sure be in every race from here on. Welcome back, Trey.
Finishing fourth in both motos was Mike Alessi on his factory KTM 450. Mikey has been as consistent as anyone since his return, but unfortunately for the #800, that consistency has him finishing forth or fifth. Mikey is someone who has proved he can run at the front, and we hope to see him get it figured out soon.
As the series leaves Milleville and heads to Washougal, it’s as tight as ever. With Dungey and RV2 finishing 1-2 in the second moto and Reedy finishing fourteenth, the three are only separated by a mere seven points. All three riders are very fond of Washougal, so you better get there to watch if you can. 2011 has us wishing is would never end.
See ya in Washougal!
Spring Creek National 450 Results Click here for full results.
1 1 Ryan Dungey 2 1 2 2 Ryan Villopoto 3 2 3 41 Trey Canard 5 3 4 800 Mike Alessi 4 4 5 22 Chad Reed 1 14 6 24 Brett Metcalfe 6 5 7 32 Jacob Weimer 8 6 8 29 Andrew Short 7 9 9 10 Justin Brayton 12 7 10 14 Kevin Windham 11 10
450 Updated Chapionship Points Click here for more points standings.
1 22 Chad Reed 300 2 2 Ryan Villopoto 294 3 1 Ryan Dungey 293 4 24 Brett Metcalfe 209 5 14 Kevin Windham 193 6 18 David Millsaps 173 7 29 Andrew Short 156 8 800 Mike Alessi 151 9 32 Jacob Weimer 140 10 144 Christian Craig 119
