2008 AMA National Motocross Series – Preview
Published May 20th, 2008
Questions coming into the Nationals …
The 450 class – it could be wide open, as it was the second half of last year. Are the top two guys in AMA/FIM Supercross Series (Chad Reed and Kevin Windham) going to race the Nationals? If so, how many races will they race? (There is no confirmed answer on either.)
What about James Stewart? Is he ready to go after missing most of supercross from knee surgery? (The answer is ‘Yes’. He is ready!)
How about defending National Motocross Champion Grant Langston? He’s probably going to miss the first few rounds due to a broken collarbone … will he be able to come back and be competitive? Mike Alessi, runner up in last year’s championship – he’s also coming back after missing the last half of the supercross season – how will he fare?
Andrew Short keeps on improving on the Honda Red Bull Racing CR450F. Could this be his year? Both Yamaha’s Josh Hill and Honda’s Davi Millsaps won supercrosses this year in the big class? Can they be consistent enough to run for the title?
Half of Honda’s team (Ben Townley and Ivan Tedesco) are coming back from injury as well – how will they do?
The 250 class – there are so many talented & fast guys in the 250 Lites. Besides defending National Champion Ryan Villopoto, you have East Supercross Champion Trey Canard, West Supercross Champion Jason Lawrence, Team Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, and a ton of other hungry guys that all want to win. Who will be the most consistent, and therefore champion at the end of the series? (Ryan Villopoto has shown he can do that the past two years.)
Last year, in the 450 class, Ricky Carmichael raced part time, winning 6 races. James Stewart was the prohibitive favorite coming in, since Carmichael would only ride a limited schedule. Then – injury for Stewart. The series was wide open – Langston, Alessi, Short, Ferry – all had a shot at the title. In the 250 class – it was all Ryan Villopoto and Ben Townley as they battled all season long.
2007 AMA 450 Motocross Points Final Standings:
- Grant Langston – 439
- Mike Alessi – 423
- Andrew Short – 421
- Tim Ferry – 417
- Kevin Windham – 363
- Ricky Carmichael – 291
- James Stewart – 290
- Michael Byrne – 230
- Gavin Gracyk – 218
- David Vuillemin – 207
2007 AMA 250 Lites Motocross Points Final Standings:
- Ryan Villopoto – 544
- Ben Townley – 525
- Josh Grant – 346
- Jason Lawrence – 277
- Ryan Dungey – 267
- Jake Weimer – 255
- Brett Metcalfe – 242
- Thomas Hahn – 220
- Martin Davalos – 203
- Broc Tickle – 201
2008 MX Schedule – The Venues.
Visit their websites or call to buy your tickets & get more info.
May 25 – Glen Helen, CA – http://www.glenhelen.com/ phone 909 384 9342
June 1 – Hangtown, CA – http://www.hangtownmx.com/ phone 916 984 1167
June 8 – Freestone, TX – http://www.freestonemx.com/ phone 713 880 5533
June 15 – High Point, PA – http://www.highpointmx.com/ phone 304 284 0084
June 28 – Thunder Valley, CO – http://www.mxthundervalley.com/ phone 303 909 7003
July 6 – Red Bud, MI – http://www.redbudmx.com/ phone 269 695 6405
July 13 – Budds Creek, MD – http://www.buddscreek.com/ phone 301 884 9722
July 20 – Unadilla, NY – http://www.unadillamx.com/ phone 607 965 8784
July 27 – Washougal, WA – http://www.washougalmxpk.com/ phone 541 673 1671
August 17 – Spring Creek, MN – http://www.springcreekmx.com/ phone 507 753 2779
August 24 – Southwick, MA – http://www.moto338.com/ phone 413 569 6801
August 31 – Steel City, PA – http://www.steelcitymx.com/ phone 304 284 0084
Supercross.com asked John Ayers, NPG Director of Operations, what’s cool about the AMA National Motocross Series: “The up front & closeness of the bikes, the track, and the racing – you can literally get right next to the track to see your favorite athletes. At most tracks, you can be just a few feet away from the all the great racing action. There is also a great vendor area, with lots of autographs to be had, Miss Supercross, a lot of photo opportunities, including one with a podium, and there are a lot of hands on demonstrations as well.”
2008 MX Riders Numbers:
Ryan Villopoto (2007 Motocross Lites Champ) and Grant Langston (2007 Motocross Champ) can ride with the number #1 in their respective classes, as they are the defending champions. Below are riders ‘permanent’ numbers for 2008.
2 – Ryan Villopoto
3 – Mike Brown
4 – Ricky Carmichael
7 – James Stewart
8 – Grant Langston
9 – Ivan Tedesco
11 – Travis Preston
12 – David Vuillemin
13 – Heath Voss
14 – Kevin Windham
15 – Tim Ferry
16 – John Dowd
17 – Robbie Reynard
18 – Brock Sellards
20 – Josh Grant
22 – Chad Reed
23 – Kyle Lewis
24 – Josh Summey
25 – Nate Ramsey
26 – Michael Byrne
27 – Nick Wey
28 – Ryan Dungey
29 – Andrew Short
30 – Jake Weimer
31 – Brett Metcalfe
32 – Tommy Hahn
33 – Gavin Gracyk
34 – Martin Davalos
35 – Broc Tickle
36 – Kyle Chisholm
37 – Jason Thomas
38 – Andrew McFarlane
39 – Ryan Clark
40 – Josh Hill
41 – Matt Goerke
42 – Paul Carpenter
43 – Jeff Gibson
44 – Troy Adams
45 – Robert Kiniry
47 – Joaquim Rodrigues
48 – Trey Canard
49 – Steve Boniface
51 – Austin Stroupe
52 – Matt LeMoine
53 – Cole Sielbler
55 – Antonio Balbi
56 – Shaun Skinner
57 – Ryan Sipes
58 – Kyle Cunningham
60 – Broc Hepler
61 – Daniel Sani
63 – Dusty Klatt
64 – Tyler Evans
65 – Ryan Morais
66 – Jacob Marsack
67 – Bryan Johnson
68 – Kyle Mace
69 – Kelly Smith
70 – Ryan Mills
71 – Kyle Keylon
72 – Kevin Johnson
73 – Adam Chatfield
74 – Chris Blose
75 – Ricky Renner
76 – Zach Osborne
77 – Branden Jesseman
78 – Keith Johnson
79 – J. Sipes
80 – Michael LaPaglia
81 – Bobby Garrison
82 – Jake Moss
83 – Matt Boni
84 – Chris Whitcraft
85 – Billy Ainsworth
86 – Michael Willard
87 – Tucker Hibbert
88 – Joseph Oehlhof
89 – Robbie Marshall
90 – Scott Simon
91 – Ritchie Owens
92 – Jeff Dement
93 – Kyle Summers
94 – Kevin R.
95 – Kyle Partridge
96 – Doug Dehaan
97 – Tyson Hadsell
98 – Jacob Saylor
99 – Wil Hahn
101 – Ben Townley
102 – Chris Gosselaar
116 – Ryan Morais
118 – Davi Millsaps
132 – Billy Laninovich
341 – Nico Izzi
338 – Jason Lawrence
800 – Mike Alessi
801 – Jeff Alessi
Television: SPEED TV – schedule:
450 Motocross Premiere class
Glen Helen – Sat. – 5/31/08 – 9pm Eastern
Hangtown – Sun. – 6/8/08 – 6pm Eastern
Freestone – Sun. – 6/15/08 – 6pm Eastern
High Point – Sat. – 6/21/08 – 10pm Eastern
Thunder Valley* – Sat. – 6/28/08 – 11:30pm Eastern
Red Bud – Sat. – 7/12/08 – 10pm Eastern
Budds Creek* – Sun. – 7/13/08 – 10pm Eastern
Unadilla – Sat. – 7/26/08 – 10pm Eastern
Washougal – Sat. – 8/2/08 – 10pm Eastern
Spring Creek – Sat. – 8/23/08 – 10pm Eastern
Motocross 338* – Sun. – 8/24/08 – 6pm Eastern
Steel City – Sat. – 9/6/08 – 10pm Eastern
* same day coverage
SPEED will air 12 one-hour broadcasts of the 250 class in the week following the 450 class.
250 Lites class
Glen Helen – Tues. – 6/3/08 – 2pm Eastern
Hangtown – Sun. – 6/15/08 – 5pm Eastern
Freestone – Tues. – 6/17/08 – 2pm Eastern
High Point – Sun. – 6/29/08 – 2pm Eastern
Thunder Valley – Tues. – 7/8/08 – 1pm Eastern
Red Bud – Tues. – 7/15/08 – 2pm Eastern
Budds Creek – Thur. – 7/24/08 – 2pm Eastern
Unadilla – Tues. 7/29/08 – 2pm Eastern
Washougal – Wed. – 8/6/08 – 2pm Eastern
Spring Creek – Tues. – 8/26/08 – 2pm Eastern
Motocross 338 – Tues. – 9/2/08 – 2pm Eastern
Steel City – Tues. – 9/9/08 – 2pm Eastern
Women Will be Racing Too!
The Women’s Motocross Association (WMA) 2008 championship features an all-new race weekend schedule that will showcase the WMA racers during the primetime Sunday program. AMA/WMA Championship rounds will take place at six of the AMA men’s national events and the new schedule has the WMA riders competing their second moto on Sunday afternoon, with moto one taking place on Saturday.
The 2008 WMA schedule is:
Round 1 – May 31 -June 1 – Hangtown MX Sacramento, CA
Round 2 – June 7/8 – Freestone Raceway Wortham, TX
Round 3 – June 28/29 – Thunder Valley MX Lakewood, CO
Round 4 – July 26/27 – Washougal MX Washougal, WA
Round 5 – August 23/24 – MX 338 Southwick, MA
Round 6 – August 30/31 – Steel City Raceway Delmont, PA
Saturdays – WMA Practice – 12:30pm, WMA Pro Moto One – 4:05pm
Sundays – WMA Pro Autographs – 12:00pm – 1:00pm, WMA Pro Moto Two – 2:40pm
A New Award for 2008: Ricky Carmichael Hard-Charger Award
The RC Hard-Charger Award will be given to the rider who passes the most competitors at each round, as counted by the AMA officials’ score sheets from one of the four motos on the day. Each winning rider will receive a $250 check from the NPG and a special award, an acrylic stand-up piece designed by Winner’s Choice Awards that will be personalized each week with recipient’s name, event and date.
“I am truly honored that an award like this will be handed out each week in my honor,” said Carmichael, who won a remarkable 10 consecutive AMA Motocross Championships. “I have a lot of great fans and memories from all of the racetracks on the circuit, and I am thankful that this award will help me stay connected with both the fans and the series.”
We’ll see you at the races!
Photo Gallery: Ben Townley and Ryan Villopoto on the Glen Helen podium, Villopoto leading the pack, Grant Langston after clinching the 2007 AMA Motocross Series Championship, Mike Alessi 800, Trey Canard, Ryan Dungey 62, Tim Ferry 15, headshot of Grant Langston, Grant Langston 8, Jason Lawrence 338, Davi Millsaps 118, Andrew Short 29, James Stewart 7, headshot of Austin Stroupe, Ryan Villopoto 1, headshot of Ryan Villopoto, Kevin Windham 14, and Trey Canard 48.
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