Millville started out muddy. Really muddy. Storms that blew in Friday night and Saturday night wreaked havoc on John Martin’s racetrack and left the poor guys that were first out each time struggling to get around.

The first practice, 3 p.m., last Saturday afternoon photo: Carl Stone

But while Martin may be an old-school mudder himself—he was a factory Can-Am off-roader for years—he also knows what a good motocross track means for the riders, the teams and the fans. He put his crew to work, got the water off the track and turned Spring Creek into a superb track for last Sunday’s ninth round of the 2007 AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF.

In other words, what you saw on Speed TV’s same-day coverage (and Racer X/Motocross.com’s live internet coverage) was a far cry from what the riders saw early Sunday morning (let alone Saturday!).

As expected, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto and Ben Townley went 1-2 in the Lites class, though the addition of Brett Metcalfe to the podium made for a rare sweep of the box by one brand. More on that later.

Three nations represented on the Millville box, but one team photo: Carl Stone

In the 450 class, Ricky Carmichael rode off into the sunset—again—with an absolute manhandling of the 39 other guys out there with him. Carmichael was just on his A game, and if that’s really the last time we ever see him on an AMA motocross track, he left us with a simple reminder: He is the best there ever was, and likely the best there will ever be at motocross.

Of course, RC’s job was made a little easier by the problems that have haunted James Stewart all summer long. Stewart had to relinquish the points lead in the AMA Motocross class when he scratched from Millville with that dislocated knee from the second moto at Washougal. Is his season over? I really hope it isn’t, because not only does he still have a shot at this championship, a lot of fans are hoping to see him at the 2007 Motocross of Nations at Budds Creek. Regardless, here’s a get-well-soon, James, from everyone at Racer X.

This man is superbad! photo: Carl Stone

Behind Carmichael, it was a free-for-all. While Kawasaki’s Tim Ferry could not buy a good start—not once in three tries!—and Honda’s Andrew Short struggled to keep moving forward at the end, Yamaha’s Grant Langston and KTM’s Mike Alessi continued to chip away at the points. There are now six guys (including RC and Stewart) within 21 points of one another!

AMA Motocross Standings
1.) Tim Ferry 311
2.) Andrew Short  311
3.) Grant Langston 300
4.) Mike Alessi  292
5.) Ricky Carmichael 291
6.) James Stewart 290

Wow, those last three names on that list reminded me of how much different things are in the Alessi camp now. A year ago, the headline on Alessi Weekly would have likely said “mike’s a head of Rc and James by 1 point!!! ;-)” even if those guys had missed a bunch of motos. But this week it was a huge nod to Ricky himself and a salute to the GOAT. I think the family is really starting to get it all figured out.

Mike picked up another podium at Millville photo: Carl Stone

The other man coming on strong is Langston, who would tell anyone who was listening that his Yamaha did not turn well and that as soon as he got his hands on the ’08 YZ450F, things would be a lot different.

Well, he’s got the bike, and he’s right! A lot of people are now pointing at the championship-savvy Langston—he’s won a bunch of them in the 125/Lites/MX2 class—as the man in the driver’s seat as the series takes a week off before going into the stretch run. With RC parking it, his 2-2 was almost as good as a 1-1 and boosted him to within 11 points of the shared lead.

Who do you think is going to win this championship? That’s the question for this week’s Troy Lee Designs/Racer X Online Poll. Vote for your guy right here.

Is Grant Langston going to win this thing? photo: Carl Stone

Funny thing about Langston: He has yet to win an overall this year, but he still has three chances. But look back to 2003: Langston won the AMA 125 National MX Championship without winning a single race. It can happen—and it could happen for Short and Alessi too!

The man Langston beat for that ’03 title, Ryan Hughes, found out a little bit about the power of the internet. He flew to Delaware yesterday to do some filming for MTV’s Made show that involved teaching a couple of girls how to ride dirt bikes. But when he got there, he realized that the bike the network had lined up for him was not what he expected. So he called here to get Jeff Cernic’s number, just in case the East Coast overlord of amateur motocross might have one of Travis Pastrana’s bikes handy.

At the same time, he called Racer X and asked us to put the word out. Within an hour of my post on Mototalk, Hughes had three different offers from fellow RM-Z450 riders in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Not sure which one he settled on, but I’m sure that the loaner will be getting some sweet gear from El Ryno.

Ryan Villopoto turned the tables on his friendly rival at Millville photo: Carl Stone

As far as the 250F class goes, that’s a two-horse race—and they’re on the same horse! Ryan Villopoto turned the tables on Ben Townley by taking the second-moto win this time and the overall, and the two kept their championship duel to a two-point cushion—virtually a draw! Of the three tracks left, Villopoto has not won Steel City in his previous two visits, while Townley has never been. As far as Texas goes, no one has been on that track. But at Glen Helen, RV1 is very, very fast.

What does all that mean? That Townley may want to be six points ahead of #1 by the time he gets to the final round, because Ryan will be tough to beat there, and Ben would likely win on a tie in final points, based on most overall wins. This one is truly going down to the wire!

Team Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey was hoping for a huge weekend at his hometown race—and what was basically his one-year anniversary since turning pro. But he crashed in the whoops, DNF’d the first moto, and struggled after a crash in the second. Regardless, you can’t knock the smile off this kid’s face, and after the race he was throwing the football around behind the Suzuki truck with his little brother and a cousin and a couple of moto-journalists. He also had one of the coolest butt patches we’ve ever seen, courtesy of Big E. and the gang at Answer.

#62’s nod to the late, great Donny Schmit photo: Carl Stone

For more on Millville, plus a Steel City preview, make sure you check out the Racer X Motocross Show on Motocross.com, which Wes Williams should have posted tomorrow afternoon on Motocross.com

Carl Stone, who sent us a lot of the pics here on Racerhead, sent along a note about the mud on Saturday. He was impressed that even as bad as it was, and with James Stewart not there, Ricky Carmichael would go out and take his muddy licks like everyone else.… Well, everyone but Tim Ferry and Mike Alessi. And Kevin Windham. And…

“Did RC need to go out and practice in that muck?” wrote CStone. “Of course not. It was going to be his last race before retirement and his main competitor was out. But RC just did what he always did—rode practice anyways. And the next day did what he always seemed to do—win. When the checkered flag waved late on Sunday afternoon it was the end of an era.”

Carl also told us, “After the Lites podium and the champagne was about to pop, Mitch Payton’s wife jumped out of the mule and tried to get away, but Townley grabbed her and pushed her back next to Mitch, where he and his teammates proceeded to give them a bubbly shower!”

She tried to run, but she couldn’t hide photo: Carl Stone <