The Washougal AMA National was an eventful one. While Monster Energy Kawasaki's James Stewart managed to keep his streak alive at the track that knocked him out of the championship last year, we saw a new winner in the Lites class, and a contender knocked out of the championship chase. The first Lites moto gets underway with Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey (28), Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto (1), Geico Powersports Honda's Trey Canard (48) and MDK KTM's Ryan Sipes (57) throwing elbows off of the line.But it was actually Canard's teammate Josh Grant who got the holeshot and led the initial five laps of the race while Dungey and Villopoto gave chase.
Unable to make the pass on Grant, Dungey (28) fell into the clutches of Villopoto.
Villopoto (1) passed Dungey and Grant in consecutive laps to take the lead, while Dungey passed Grant for second shortly thereafter.
Villopoto's teammate Brett Metcalfe (123) fought off Sipes (57) for fourth.
Villopoto took his sixteenth consecutive moto win at his home event in front of Dungey, Grant, Metcalfe and Sipes.
Cody Cooper (902) grabbed the holeshot at the start of the first 450cc moto.
Cooper quickly made way for Stewart (7) who went on to win his seventeenth moto in a row.
Honda Red Bull Racing's Andrew Short fought his way by Cooper to finish second.
Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Michael Byrne also worked his way past Cooper to finish third. Cooper was fourth.
Yamaha's Josh Hill - another local boy - was fifth.
The first Lites moto saw Geico Powersports Honda's Trey Canard grab the holeshot after a first moto that saw him coming from dead last to 21st.
Dungey fought his way up to second in the early going.
Villopoto was mired in the pack but quickly chased down Dungey and Canard out front to sit third after four laps.
Canard (48), Dungey (28) and Villopoto (1) formed a three-rider battle out front for about half of the race before both Dungey and Villopoto zapped Canard. Canard ended up going down on the last lap while running third when a lapper reportedly attempted to move out of his way only to move directly into his path and cause him to go down in a heap. Canard suffered a broken left femur in the fall and is out for the season.
Dungey fought off Villopoto for the final seven laps of the second moto. Going into the final lap, Villopoto took a rock to the goggles from Dungey, and the impact splattered Villopoto's sweat all over the lens, resulting in poor vision, and Dungey went on to win the race and the first overall of his career.
Dungey celebrates his first AMA National win with a 2-1 score.
Cooper (bottom of the frame) again grabbed the holeshot to start the second moto, and he quickly gave way to Short (29) and then Stewart (7).
Stewart snatched the lead from Short and took off.
Short again hung on for second in the moto, and overall.
Byrne again found his way past Cooper for third.
Cooper was fourth in both motos.
Stewart celebrates his 18th win out of 18 motos run thus far. Stewart's 1-1 defeated Short's 2-2, Byrne's 3-3, Coopers 4-4 and Hill's 5-5.
The 450cc podium finishers celebrate on the podium.
Now, the AMA National regulars take two well-earned weekends off after five straight weeks of battle. The series will resume at Millville on August 17.
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