One race to go … and it’s on a Saturday at that! Welcome to Racerhead, coming to you from the media center at the last round of the 2008 AMA Toyota Motocross Championship. We’re at Steel City Raceway, the weather is holding up, and history could be repeated if James Stewart can get through the weekend unscathed.

This is your last chance to get the Racer X national stickers!

Going 24-0 used to be considered impossible, but then Ricky Carmichael did it not once, but twice. Now Stewart, in what will be his last AMA Motocross race for the foreseeable future on a Kawasaki, just needs to keep it rolling to join RC in the record books. He could also clinch the Monster Energy Triple Crown of Motocross, which means a clean sweep of High Point, Red Bud, and Steel City, and that comes with an additional $50,000 bonus check. (And Ryan Villopoto is right on the verge of doing likewise in the 250F class, which is something no one has ever done in that division.)

Stewart was supposed to have a last-minute challenge from Chad Reed, newly of the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki team, but that didn’t pan out (more on that later).

Another MIA rider—2007 AMA Motocross Champion Grant Langston—did show up, but unfortunately, not to race. Langston is still trying to work through his issues with his eyesight, which cost him the chance to even race once out here with that red #1 plate. After last year’s amazing, last-minute sprint for the title, the South African native has had a year here he’d rather forget, and we wanted to include him in at least a ceremonial passing-of-the-plate with Stewart, so MX Sports invited the Yamaha factory rider to come join us at Steel City for the last outdoor race of the series. It should be mentioned that it was Jody Weisel, the longtime editor of Motocross Action, who suggested the idea and the invite, and Langston was really thrilled to be have a chance to participate in the series he won last year. We will have Grant on the Racer X Motocross Show on Motocross.com tomorrow afternoon, beginning at about 12:45 p.m., along with another Yamaha that’s been missing in action. You don’t want to miss tomorrow’s webcast!

Marc de Reuver photo: Steve Cox

Speaking of visitors, everyone in American motocross should give it up for Marc De Reuver. He made quite a splash last weekend when he came across the ocean for the Southwick—paying for it almost completely on his own—to race in the sand with everyone on the AMA circuit. He held his own too, coming from around tenth off the start of the first moto—our own Steve Cox may have overcooked it with that “25^th in the first turn” comment, but it was still impressive—to a solid third behind the long-gone Stewart, and an inspired Andrew Short.

Short took the dubious “I can beat any American in the sand” comment (that Marc stressed several times was not his own) and taped it up to the wall of the Honda truck. But Marc is a pretty cool guy, and once the two spoke and hung out a little, Shorty was impressed with Marc. So was Honda Red Bull Racing team manager Erik Kehoe. “He’s a great guy and has a great personality,” said Kehoe of de Reuver. “He seems to be having a good time with it.”

When de Reuver was sitting in the Honda rig, explaining that he could not figure out how Stewart was four seconds a lap faster in the second practice, Shorty shrugged and said, “Get used to it!”

De Reuver had a big smile on his face when he stepped up on the box after the first moto. He was the first Dutchman to score a podium moto on the AMA circuit since Pierre Karsmakers came here in the 1970s. I know Marc likes motocross history, so here’s another piece: His ride marked the first time in AMA Motocross history that someone got on the box wearing #154.

Steel City is ready for AMA Motocross photo: Kevin Golier

Forget about how he did in the second moto—after another so-so start and a spill, he pulled off, ending his working vacation early—and went back to the rig, then back to Europe. What he did transcended all of the bullshit that has plagued international motocross since the last Motocross of Nations, and he’s a reminder of what racing is all about: Challenging yourself wherever the challenges lie.

De Reuver wasn’t the only Europe-based rider at Southwick. Former Yamaha of Troy rider Zach Osborne was also there, with help from his British-based team, which is owned by Steve Dixon. Zach is a revver, and he ran out of gas at the end of the first moto with a full three laps to go.

The team borrowed a bigger tank from Gibbs Racing for the second moto, and Zach looked pretty good out there. But then after the race the AMA realized that he was riding an ’09 Yamaha YZ450F, which his father bought at a dealership in Virginia. The ’09 has yet to be homologated, which makes it illegal. Dixon had no idea, nor did Mr. Osborne, and it was regrettable that he had to be deleted from the results. Kind of like being DQ’d for a clerical error. Dixon brought up that Langston rode an ’08 Yamaha in the last three rounds of the ’07 series, but that was only after Yamaha made sure they had at least 400 units in the country and on the dealership floors. They may have already accomplished that this year, but because the paperwork had not been filed, the bike was not legal.

Here’s a get-well-soon shout-out to Eric Sorby, who bruised his kidney and spleen in a crash down at the Joe Gibbs Racing MX facility and just got of the hospital on Tuesday, where he spent four days in emergency ward! Fortunately, he did not need surgery, but it was still very painful. Sorby hoped to ride one the last three rounds as a replacement for his team, but he ended up in the trauma center instead.

Here's some of the changes at Steel City photo: Kevin Golier

“Last Thursday I went to practice some MX with my trainer Tim, and at the end of the day I went into a small turn corner in first gear and I crashed really slow. At the moment my back was a little sore, but few hours later I got this weird pain in my stomach. I went to the restroom and my urine was only blood. The JGR doctor told me to go at the emergency room right away, and after the CAT scan result came out, my kidney and my spleen were bruised and my spleen was bleeding. I spent four days in emergency care, but thank God they didn’t have to remove my spleen! Also thanks to my girlfriend Katie who spent every minute at the hospital with me and also all my team to be there to make sure I was okay, so thanks to all the JGR family!”

Speaking of replacement riders, Jimmy Albertson is finally here and ready to use his opportunity to ride for the Honda Red Bull Racing team. When he showed up this morning, the frustration and agony of missing the last two races gone from his face, he was almost glowing. Here’s hoping he has a great weekend and enjoys the chance of a lifetime….

I asked Mitch Payton about the recent trend of bringing in these replacements, and he said he liked it and has even had to do it himself at times. “One year we had all four riders hurt by the end of the year that we had Brian Deegan race for us,” says Payton, of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team. “We felt like we were taking money from sponsors, and we didn’t want to not put a team up there and then have them call and say, ‘Dude, you jacked us!’ Most of the money is spent up front, with the truck and the riders and the mechanics, staff, parts, everything. It’s just going to go to waste, and so it’s better to give someone a chance.

“But they need to come to you clean, without any contractual deals hanging on to them, and in most cases it works pretty well,” added Mitch. That’s how Branden Jesseman ended up there after a preseason test, along with French import Ben Coisy, who would in turn take the seat of Ben Townley’s idle Honda CRF250 in the East Region.

Start at night photo: Kevin Golier

Tucker Hibbert is back on the gas here at Steel City after watching Southwick, where bad luck kept him from qualifying. “Tucker originally didn’t plan on riding this week but after not qualifying, he needs to,” his wife, Mandi, told me earlier this week. “He broke his front wheel right before the green flag in the first practice and couldn’t get it fixed in time to get a lap recorded. The second practice was so much slower. Bummer deal. Especially, after his 12^th-place finish at Millville. I believe it was the first time in five years that he hasn’t qualified. Like it is for any rider, it was crushing to watch the race. He is fired up and focused on a top-ten finish at Steel City.”

Finally, before I get back out on the track and turn this over to the gang, John Dowd deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He’s been a badass ever since he rolled out to Southwick for his first race on an ’87 CR500 or something, and he showed up this weekend and finished fifth—FIFTH—in the second moto at Southwick, which is the roughest track on the circuit. Dowd turned 42 a couple of weeks ago. As a fellow rider of a certain age—or just anyone of that age—that is downright impressive. He’s the fastest 42-year-old motocross rider in history, just as he was the fastest 41-year-old, and the fastest 40-year-old, and before that 39…

Okay, practice is starting, here’s Bad Billy….

Thanks, DC. First of all, the track here at Steel City looks phenomenal. A lot of new changes have been implemented, and the notorious “tabletop” section has been replaced by whoops, which appears to be a fun section for the riders.

Here’s something from Racer X Canada’s Danny Brault:

Last Friday was a dark day for Canadian motocross as it lost its best media group, Racer X Canada. Read the full press release here. It was one of the toughest decisions the leaders of the magazine/website had to make, but considering the lack of industry support and “roadblocks” placed in front of us, we had no other options. Sometimes you have to push passion aside and put your business hat on.

Jason Weigandt and Andy Bowyer hosting The Racer X Motocross Show at Steel City today. Notice Chad Reed's bike... photo: Kevin Golier

We’ve been receiving tons of emails and phone calls from loyal readers and supporters, and it sure does make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, knowing that we left such a great impression. Check out last week’s final Frid’Eh Update to read some of our favourite memories from the last five years as Team RXC.

Fortunately, thanks to DC, Bryan Stealey and everyone down in WV, Canadian MX and our racers will still see coverage in Racer X Illustrated and online right here at racerxill.com. If you don’t believe me, just go pick up the latest issue of Racer X that features an eight-page “state of the union” story on the Canadian Nationals or click here for a Between the Motos with Jeremy Medaglia by Brett Dailey.

Medaglia joined Yamaha of Troy last weekend in Southwick for his second ever AMA national and made us proud with two top-five starts and a 15th in moto one. (He was DQ’d in moto two for outside assistance.) Unfortunately, his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity also cost Jeremy his Suzuki factory ride in Canada. Nonetheless, “Jer Bear” returned to SoCal this week to train with Ryan Hughes and become a little more familiar with his YZ250F before racing the final AMA round at Steel City this Saturday. It will be interesting to see if YoT keeps Jeremy past this weekend, or if another Canadian team picks him up. Who will he race for at the Montreal SX on September 20? Hmm….

His older brother, Tyler, who finished third overall in the Canadian MX1 (450) series, raced the `Wick as well, finishing 23-17. I spoke with Tyler this week and he admitted that he wasn’t prepared. “After those two hard crashes at the final two Canadian races, I haven’t been riding or training as much as I normally do,” said TM. “I wasn’t hydrated and we didn’t have enough supplies.”

The Suzuki OTSFF rider was back on the bike this week, fortunately, and is looking to make a dent in the Motocross class. He believes he can run top-five so we’ll see what happens when the gate drops. Newly crowned Canadian MX1 champ Colton Facciotti is set to race Steel City as well. The Team Toyota Yamaha/BlackfootDirect.com/Fox Racing rider is bringing along his race bike, mechanic, and mentor, Jean-Sébastien Roy. Facciotti raced an AMA national back in `06 at Washougal, finishing around 20th on a beat-up KX450F. Go, Canada!

BTW, don’t forget to tune into the final Racer X Canada/Destroyer Films Moto Show from Walton, Ontario. Brett Lee and Ryan Gauld helped out with hosting duties and we caught up with Facciotti and MX2 champ Eric Nye for their final words on the season. The www.racerxcanada.com website will remain as is for a little longer so take it in while you can!

From Steve Cox:

Looks like we got lucky at Southwick this year. Usually, the race is held in late May or early June, and it has been extremely hot there in the past. However, this year, even though it took place in August, the weather was pretty mild. Not that Marc de Reuver thought so. He thought it was really hot. I guess weather is relative. Minnesota in January is probably hot to an Eskimo.

Some people have come down on de Reuver for his claims in an interview on another website that he would be able to beat every rider in at Southwick except for Stewart. However, he made it very clear at Southwick that he never said what he was credited as saying. I’ve known him for a few years now, and he’s always struck me as an honest and straightforward guy, so I believe him. However, he still posted the second-fastest times both days in practice, and he had a great ride in the first moto from about 10th in the second turn to third in only a few laps. He talked a lot about it in his Monday Conversation after the race, but suffice it to say that he was physically out of gas after the first moto – maybe even the first half of the first moto. Still, you’ve got to give the guy credit. He crossed an ocean only a few days before the event and grabbed a podium finish in an AMA National moto against competition he’s largely never seen and on a track that is nothing like what they normally race in Europe.

During the second 450cc moto at Southwick, there was a bit of a flagging incident. A lot happened really fast, but I caught most of it. What happened was, Shaun Skinner went down over the log jump – one of the track’s only blind jumps – and ended up picking up his bike on the far left side of the track. There were two flaggers on top of the jump – one on each side of the track – and the one on the right side of the track was trying to get the one on the left side of the track to motion for the riders to move to the right side of the track.

However, as the flagger on the right side of the track was motioning with his palms toward himself, the flagger on the left side of the track started mimicking him. I’m not sure if the flagger on the left was still doing this as James Stewart came up, but Skinner was in Stewart’s line anyway, and the flagger certainly wasn’t being clear about the immediate danger in front of him. Stewart jumped off of the jump, and headed straight for Skinner. Somehow, Stewart defied the laws of physics and forced his bike sideways when he was already in the air and landed half on and half off the track, then missed Skinner by going off the track. It was a brilliant save, and you have to think that if it happened any other year, Stewart would’ve crashed and maybe hurt himself. But sometimes, things just go your way. This whole season has gone Stewart’s way.

Mike Fisher with the yellow flag photo: Steve Cox

After the incident, Monster Energy Kawasaki team manager Mike Fisher hustled over to the flagger’s station and relieved him of his duty for a couple minutes, demonstrating to the flagger the type of urgency he probably should’ve been showing.

In the press conference after the race, Stewart said he was mainly confused because of the number of flags that were out. He said that there was a tendency by the flaggers to flag at a spot, then the flaggers down track would put their flags out, etc., until there were flags out for so long that, as a racer, they had no idea where the actual problem area was.

In case anyone has been wondering what Ludo Boinnard, formerly of One Industries, is up to, he sent an email over detailing the nomination process for an upcoming MIP award ceremony. The text is as follows:

CONNECT Call for Nominations for the 2008 Most Innovative New Product Awards

CONNECT is now accepting nominations for the 21st annual Most Innovative New Product “MIP” Awards and I’d like to invite you to nominate your company’s new product for an opportunity to compete for this prestigious award. The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, August 29.

The MIP Awards are San Diego’s “Oscars” for local technology innovation. The 2008 program will honor new products in the following categories:

Action and Sport Technologies
Aerospace and Security Technologies
Clean Technology
Hardware and General Technology
Life Science – Diagnostics and Research Tools
Life Science – Medical Products
Software and IT
Wireless Communications

To be eligible, your product:
- must have been developed in San Diego
- must have been first introduced between September 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008, and
- must have generated revenue from sales

The 2008 winners will be announced at the MIP Awards luncheon on December 12, 2008. This exclusive business event is attended by over 800 members of the San Diego business community and generates valuable community recognition, media coverage and product exposure for MIP finalists and winners. I encourage you to submit your nomination today!

To submit your nomination online, go to: http://www.connect.org/programs/most-innovative-products-award/events/. Please contact Nancy van Dillen at nvandillen@connect.org with questions about the 2008 MIP Awards.

So if you have any cool, new products developed in San Diego, or know someone who does, maybe you can win yourself an award.

Josh Grant photo: Steve Cox

In what is likely to be his penultimate race with the GEICO Powersports Honda team, Josh Grant looked like he was going to be a threat to win at Southwick, but after setting the fastest practice times on both days, he went down on the second day and severely bruised his hip, knocking him out of the race. He was sent to a local hospital for further diagnosis, as it was thought there may have been more damage done, but it was just a really, really, really bad bruise. But he’s back racing this weekend at Steel City, hoping to finish off his time with the Factory Connection squad with a good ride. He will be with Gibbs Racing MX Toyota/Yamaha next year.

From Ping:

I was chitty-chatting with Mitch Payton this week and I got his take on a few things involving his team and the sport in general. The first thing that came up was Marc de Reuver last weekend at Southwick. I kind of had a bad taste in my mouth about the Dutchman after reading that he “would be able to beat everyone here in the US except Stewart.” In fact, I had a nice long rant worked up in my head about what a pompous ass he was and that he should keep his big sand-catcher shut the next time he comes over here and races so that he doesn’t have to savor the delicious taste of foot on the long plane flight back to Europe.

But then Mitch told me that Marc denied making that statement and said that some journalist twisted what he said in an interview. According to Mitch, Marc was also struggling with the heat and humidity here. In fact, his quote of de Reuver was, “Every time I take a breath it feels like a dragon is breathing fire into my mouth.”

I guess they don’t have a lot of humidity in Holland. The factory Honda he rode here is much faster and louder than what he is used to at home as well. He told Payton that his ears were still ringing and his arms were tired from holding on to the bike. Actually, Marc, that might have been the massive sand bumps that did that to your arms, but I understand.

Austin Stroupe was all set to ride Millville, according to his boss, but he crashed and broke a couple of ribs. That is what has been keeping him off the bike for the last two weeks. One of the new guys on the team, Christophe Pourcel, is back up to speed and should be stateside before long to start getting used to his new surroundings. He is apparently healed up from his injuries and back to 100%. If that is indeed true, Christophe will be an instant title contender in supercross this year. The few rounds that he did here in 2007 were impressive and his win in Phoenix that year was no fluke.

Kawasaki introduced the brand-new KX250F to the media this week and the bike has a startling list of changes for 2009. According to Kawasaki’s media relations manager, this is the biggest change they have made to the bike since its inception. We had Jet Ski ace/Thor rep/vet intermediate rider Victor Sheldon ride the bike and give us his impression of the new machine.

Rynoland photo: Ping

The intro was at Ryan Hughes’ new “Rynoland” facility in Anza, and it was even better than I expected. The track features plenty of elevation change, soft, sandy soil and jumps that were safe but really fun. It was a little tough to keep enough water on it when the temp was above the 100 degree mark, but it is a great facility. Now you can train with Ryno, ride with Ryno, eat with Ryno, hang out with Ryno and be like Ryno … Ryno, Ryno, Ryno. Did I say Ryno? Ryno.

Keep an eye out for our first impression of the bike right here at Racer X Online.

2009 Kawasaki KX250F photo: Ping

photo: Ping

What’s going on with supercross? I’ve been hearing rumors that Live Nation has sold supercross to another entity and it is not DMG. I don’t know what that means for the sport, but I will do my best to find out more about it.

Last weekend’s XTRM/AMA Supermoto round in Shawano, WI, saw HMC KTM rider Troy Herfoss take control of the series. Herfoss, a flat track champion from Australia, has been on fire this season. In fact, he has two wins in a row and his teammate Chris Fillmore followed him in to take the second spot on the podium in Wisconsin. Completing the top three was Yamaha rider Mark Burkhart. Both Herfoss and Fillmore have been moonlighting as road racers and have tons of potential in that discipline as well. For now, Herfoss leads the series, followed by Burkhart and Fillmore. The next round of the series will be in Salt Lake City on September 7.

If you haven’t caught the XTRM AMA Supermoto series on television yet, you can watch the opening round on the internet right now! Click here to watch the opener.

There is a very cool motocross school that will be getting underway soon that is a collaboration between Kurt Henrickson and Zoo Ministries, a Christian organization that focuses on action sports. Kurt has been involved in the sport for years and has worked with some of today’s top riders. Zoo Ministries is focused on sharing the message of the Bible with young riders that aren’t familiar with it. Riders can choose between a one or two-day school and dinner will be provided, along with worship and a Bible message at the end of each day. Go to the Zoo Ministries website on the flier to register or for more details.

Click to enlarge

If you didn’t catch our Bud Light spoof commercial during this week’s Racer X Motocross Show, then you definitely need to click this link and watch it. Just hearing Roger DeCoster say “Dude” is worth the price of admission.

From Wallenberg:

The annual Parts Unlimited NVP show was held last week at corporate headquarters in Janesville, WI and in nearby Madison. Reps, dealers, and team riders were in attendance to meet, greet, and educate everyone on their new lines for 2009. For an inside peek at the people and products, click here.

Here’s an interview and some nice footage from the AHRMA National held at the Chehalis track a few weeks ago. There is a start sequence with John DeSoto, #4 on a CZ.

Old-school motocross fans will enjoy this. Scott Wallenberg posted a video taken from his family’s Super 8 film archives of the 1971 Trans-AMA event held at St. Peters, MO. This video features classic footage of all the great Europeans of the era including Roger DeCoster, Joel Robert, Heikki Mikkola, Thorleif Hansen plus American riders Mark Blackwell, John DeSoto, Brad Lackey and a young Gary Semics posing as Dale Burton #33 doing some classic cross-ups on a CZ. Click here for the YouTube page.

This week’s winner of Motocross.com’s FMF Pick the Podium is Guilherme Santos (aka BrasilianFMXFider).

This just in. DMXS Radio's Kevin Kelly just told us about this new event he's been working on with Red Bull. It's called the Red Bull Metallicross, and instead of me rambling about it, check out the website.

Finally, we received some emails from people wanting to put the latest Racer X Motocross Show commercial on their MySpace profiles and YouTube favorites. So, here you go.

That’s it for Racerhead. We’re going to go check out practice. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you at the races.