Well i hope you all are making it threw the big heat wave!!! I am up here in God's country in Mammoth having a blast racing and hangin with some of my ams. I don't know if you caught the Live NBC Mountain Dew Tour action with DVS FMX Blake Bilko Williams taking home 1st place with some pretty crazy stuff. I CAN'T WAIT FOR X-GAMES with BILKO!!! My man Ryan wrote this blog check it!!!


The Comeback Kid
June 22, 2008, 4:24 PM
Wow, chalk up the first round of the 2008 Dew Tour in Baltimore, Maryland as an event where one of the greatest comebacks of all-time has taken place. Last year, at the very same event, Australian Blake "Bilko" Williams was sitting safely in second place when he decided to throw just one more ruler flip for the crowd—getting a bit squirrely off the lip, causing him to crash and liquefy his leg. One year later after encountering numerous surgeries, trials and tribulations, Bilko came back to Baltimore to ride in the same event that nearly snatched away his career. His goal was to simply finish the event in one piece, preferably in ranking in the top five—what he accomplished was much more. Bilko nailed out an amazing first run in the finals, scoring a 90.33. As the rest of the field completed their second runs, it came down to past three-time Dew Tour champion Nate Adams to knock Bilko off the podium. But, in the end, Adams was one point shy of taking home top honors in Baltimore, handing the first win of the tour to Bilko.


Chris Tedesco
Last year's Baltimore Dew Tour ended on a more somber note for Blake "Bilko" Williams.

Since I'm in Los Angeles, I watched the FMX finals on NBC just like the rest of the country and I have got to admit, I was screaming and cheering on my couch like a crazed Lakers fan. I think that everyone rode amazing, but to see Bilko put everything on the line and walk away with a win like he did—well, it nearly made me teary eyed! Congrats to you my man! I'll be heading out to the Inland Empire tomorrow, so I'm hoping that Bilko will be chilling at Nate Adams house so I can get an interview with that little bugga. Stay tuned.

FMX Finals
1st—Williams, Blake—90.33
2nd—Adams, Nate—89.33
3rd—Rebeaud, Mathieu—89
4th—Pagčs, Thomas—86.83
5th—McNeil, Jim—86.67
6th—Jones, Adam—85.77
7th—Lusk, Jeremy—84.67
8th—Maddison, Robbie—83.73
9th—Danielson, Nixey—83.5
10th—Mason, Mike—82.97

HEY GUYS!!!

MAN sorry i have not bloged lately but the blogger has been down. Anyways alot has happened in a month I went to Windhams for 7 days took a break in the MX and let me tell you he is bummed he is not out there. Kev was telling me this is his first summer off in 19 years can you believe that!!! Anyways I hope to see you all in Mammoth because that is were I will be for the next 14 days!!! If you are there come by Big Red and let me cut your hair for a free pair of shoes!!!!


Take it easy, Dano

2008 AMA Outdoor Motocross Nationals - Hangtown
Posted: Jun 1, 2008

AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF Hangtown-Sacramento, CA
Round 2 of 12-June 1, 2008

The AMA Motocross series headed north this weekend to Sacramento, where the Dirt Diggers North Motorcycle Club hosted the 40th annual Hangtown MX Classic under picture-perfect, sunny skies. The Motocross class turned out to be another James Stewart romp, as Stewart took off early in both motos to continue his thus-far flawless outdoor season with another 1-1. In the Lites class, Ryan Villopoto easily handled the competition, brining his moto win streak to three.


MOTOCROSS LITES MOTO ONE
When the gate dropped on the opening MX Lites moto, Villopoto took immediate control and led Austin Stroupe, Ryan Dungey and the rest. Trey Canard went down on lap one and was near the back of the pack upon the completion of lap one. Six seconds ahead by the third lap, it was obvious that RV was on a mission. Stroupe looked solid in second, ahead of Dungey and his Rockstar Makita teammate Nico Izzi in fourth. Fifth through ninth at five laps down wasBrett Metcalfe, Branden Jesseman, Broc Tickle and Jake Weimer. By mid-moto, Villopoto had stretched his lead to a commanding 13 seconds over Dungey, who in turn enjoyed a four-second lead on Stroupe. Behind the lead trip came Metcalfe, Izzi and Jesseman. Jason Lawrence was next, but the YoT rider didn't look as tangy as he did in the first moto of the season at Glen Helen. Still, Lawrence moved forward, displacing Jesseman and Izzi, who appeared to be fading badly. At the finish it was a long-gone Villopoto over Dungey, Stroupe, Metcalfe and Lawrence.

MOTOCROSS MOTO ONE
No one was surprised when the number-seven Kawasaki of Stewart rocketed out into the lead with a massive holeshot. Behind the fast-vanishing Stewart came Davi Milsaps, Steve Boniface, Ivan Tedesco, New Zealander Cody Cooper and Tim Ferry. About seven seconds further back, Sean Hamblin led factory riders Michael Byrne, Ben Townley and Andrew Short aboard his Tuf Powersports Yamaha. Tedesco forced his way past Boniface just past the mechanic's area at the start of lap five and took control of third. Once passed by Hot Sauce, Boniface immediately dropped off the lead pack's pace and was also passed by Ferry and Cooper. At the halfway point, Stewart enjoyed a 17-second lead over Millsaps, who found himself being challenged by a hard-charging Ferry. Behind them, Cooper had found his way past Tedesco and into fourth. Boniface still held down sixth, but Townley and Hamblin were closing rapidly. As the race wound down, Ferry muscled past Millsaps and took control of the runner-up position. Millsaps began to lose touch with Ferry soon after surrendering the position, and began to come under fire from Cooper on his Suzuki City RM-Z450. Cooper passed Millsaps and moved into podium position, but a spill in the mechanic's corner on that same lap saw his chances for podium pie dashed. With Cooper down, Millsaps re-assumed third, but Tedesco was charging hard and began to hound his Red Bull Honda teammate. Millsaps seem to catch a second wind and try as he might, Tedesco was unable to move past. Boniface held solid control of fifth, ahead of Jeff Alessi, Townley and Cooper as the white flag came out. At the checkers, the order remained the same, with Stewart winning his third-consecutive moto.

LITES MOTO TWO
Just as he did the moto prior, Ryan Villopoto jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in the second Lites outing. Said eventual runner-up in the moto, Jason Lawrence, following the race, "I just need to go faster." That pretty much sums up RV's speed; in fact, his second-moto lap times were only a second off of Stewart's, and better than those of the rest of the MX class! Behind Villopoto and J-Law was, at times, a three-way battle between Dungey, Stroupe, and Metcalfe. After a while, Dungey began to distance himself from the pair of Monster/Pro Circuit riders, leaving the two to scrap it out for fourth. Stroupe got the spot, relegating fifth to Metcalfe. Trey Canard followed in sixth after another incredible charge through the pack, from outside the top-ten.

Motocross Lites Overall Results:
1. Ryan Villopoto 1-1
2. Ryan Dungey 2-3
3. Jason Lawrence 5-2
4. Austin Stroupe 3-4
5. Brett Metcalfe 4-5
6. Trey Canard 11-6
7. Jake Weimer 7-10
8. Branden Jesseman 6-12
9. Ryan Sipes 12-7
10. Dan Reardon 15-8
11. Matt Goerke 14-9
12. Kyle Cunningham 10-13
13. Broc Tickle 9-14
14. Kyle Chisholm 18-11
15. Nico Izzi 8-38
16. Justin Brayton 17-16
17. Jake Moss 19-15
18. Thomas Hahn 13-34
19. Wil Hahn 16-35
20. Sean Borkenhagen 22-17

Motocross Lites Overall Points:
1. Ryan Villopoto – 91
2. Ryan Dungey – 82
3. Austin Stroupe – 80
4. Jason Lawrence – 79
5. Brett Metcalfe – 72
6. Jake Weimer – 53
7. Trey Canard – 47
8. Kyle Cunningham – 40
9. Branden Jesseman – 36
10. Broc Tickle – 32
11. Dan Reardon – 29
12. Matt Lemoine – 27
13. Ryan Sipes – 27
14. Matt Goerke – 27
15. Nico Izzi – 26
16. Thomas Hahn – 23
17. Kyle Chisholm – 21
18. Jake Moss – 19
19. Justin Brayton – 19
20. Andrew McFarlane – 16


MOTOCROSS MOTO TWO
No James Stewart holeshot this moto; in the second race Davi "Big Treat" Millsaps manhandled his Red Bull Honda CRF450R to the front of the pack around turn one, while Bubba was just out of striking distance in fourth. Between the pair sat Millsaps' teammates Ivan Tedesco and Andrew Short in second and third, respectively. It didn't take James long to make his move on all three Red Riders, and by the end of lap one he was already beginning to check out from the field, so the race soon became for second place honors (though Millsaps did pass Stewart once, momentarily).
Way behind all of the action and mired in mid-pack was Tim Ferry, but by the end of the moto Red Dog would eventually crawl his way up to second after an amazing charge from behind. Tedesco followed him to the checkers in third, while Mike Alessi overcame a bad first moto to deliver a solid fourth in moto number two. Davi was fifth, and for the second moto in a row, privateer rider Steve Boniface was sixth, giving him fifth overall.

Motocross Class Overall Results:
1. James Stewart 1-1
2. Tim Ferry 2-2
3. Ivan Tedesco 4-3
4. David Millsaps 3-5
5. Steve Boniface 6-6
6. Ben Townley 8-7
7. Mike Alessi 16-4
8. Michael Byrne 9-10
9. Josh Hill 11-9
10. Andrew Short 14-8
11. Jeff Alessi 7-15
12. Nick Wey 10-14
13. Cody Cooper 13-12
14. Sean Collier 5-21
15. Ryan Clark 37-11
16. Chris Blose 17-16
17. Sean Hamblin 15-18
18. Charles Summey 12-35
19. Juss Laansoo 38-13
20. Michael Blose 32-17


Motocross Overall Points:
1. James Stewart – 100
2. Tim Ferry – 80
3. David Millsaps – 76
4. Ivan Tedesco – 68
5. Mike Alessi – 67
6. Steve Boniface – 49
7. Michael Byrne – 49
8. Ben Townley – 42
9. Jeff Alessi – 40
10. Nick Wey – 40
11. Cody Cooper – 39
12. Andrew Short – 36
13. Sean Hamblin – 35
14. Josh Hill – 28
15. Antonio Balbi – 20
16. Sean Collier – 16
17. Charles Summey – 16
18. Bobby Bonds – 13

Well here it is, a nice two weeks to be home! BOY Did that feel great! But we have Round #1 at GH this weekend looking forward to doing that. Man, I sure wish K-Dub was riding the Natty's this year! He will for sure be missed. Also I am proud to say that one of my best friends is making his debut this weekend. I don't want to say who yet because I don't want him to have any extra pressure! But if you see me at GH ask me then and I will tell you. Until Monday Have a KILLER week!!!

P.S. Get ready for Moto Bowl!!!

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The final round of the 2008 AMA Supercross Championship marked the debut of the Factory Connection team’s new title sponsor – GEICO Powersports – and the finale also held championship implications for the newly named GEICO Powersports Honda team, as 450cc rider Kevin Windham hoped to overtake his championship rival Chad Reed in the final tally with a last-race push.

It started out well for Windham, as he beat Reed in their Heat race.

“I was on cloud nine,” Windham said. “I had a weak practice, and I was a little concerned, and to be able to achieve that in the Heat was a good feeling – to hold him off. But in the main, it didn’t go that way, and it kind of made it that much harder to believe that I had a good shot at winning – and I did.”

Windham started near the front in the main event before passing Davi Millsaps for the lead. However, Reed found his way into second before too long, and soon Windham was under pressure.

“I had a couple times when I lost it – I dropped the front end [in the whoops], and I was lucky I kept it on two wheels,” Windham said. “And on the jump-on, jump-off right before the finish line, my rear wheel slid out of the rut, I lost all my drive, and I doinked my front end going up to the finish line, so there were a couple of those mistakes that really helped Chad close the gap, and once he got by me, it was tough. It’s been a great season, and I’ve got to look at that, but in this moment, it’s pretty bad.”

“Obviously, I wanted to win out the season,” Windham continued. “That would’ve been a great streak for me. It would’ve been three [in a row], and it would’ve matched my all-time wins in a season at five. I don’t want to look back on the season and think about what I could’ve done different. I think that’s life, and a lot of us would do things different if we knew how things would turn out when we were originally doing stuff. My consistency this season was second to none. I’m the only guy who finished in the top five at every race, so I’d have loved to have gotten nothing but thirds, seconds and firsts – that would’ve been great – but it just wasn’t in the cards. To have the consistency I had this year was great, but it’s tough tonight.”

Windham finished second on the evening and in the championship, and he is the only rider this year that never finished outside the top five a single time. The final tally is four wins and eight additional podium finishes. Not too bad for a guy who many considered to be “old and washed up” at this time last year.

“I think that I’m going to go home right now and have some umbrella drinks and cruise around in my pontoon boat,” Windham said. “I haven’t been off a summer in my life since I was six, and I’m 30 now. I’m really fired up to go to the beach. I think that who I am is going to come out, and in probably a month, the wife’s going to be running me out of the house. ‘Go do something. Go ride.’ And that’s probably what’s going to happen. We’re trying to put some things together for outdoors this summer, and for four-wheel stuff. I want to stay true to the plan coming into 2008, which was to make sure that I had the momentum and the drive to get me through 17 rounds. I achieved that, and I don’t want to have an off-season that’s going to take that away from 2009. I really believe that was the key to my success this year.”

Eastern Regional Lites SX Champ Trey Canard got to debut the number-one plate inside Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas for his first-ever Dave Coombs Sr. Lites East/West Shootout, where the top 20 riders from both coasts merge for one final winner-take-all race.

Canard started and finished in third behind Ryan Dungey and Ryan Villopoto.

“Going into it, I had heard it was a gnarly race, and the track was always gnarly and the whoops were always gnarly, and it was good to go up against those guys,” Canard said. “It was a fun race. I got kind of smoked, but that’s okay, I’m safe and ready to go for the outdoors. I’m not going to worry about it too much.”

Of course, the odds in Vegas weren’t with the champions at the Shootout, as the last time a champion from one of the coasts won the Shootout, it was James Stewart in 2004, and previous to that, it was last century.

“I can see why it happens like that,” Canard said. “It’s hard to win a championship, and then go race for nothing. I don’t want to say it’s hard to focus, but it’s kind of hard not to be in a celebration mood. It’s something you’ve worked for your whole life, and once you achieve it, it’s hard to just forget about it and move on to the next race. I think that’s part of the reason, because when you win a championship, and then you have to race two weeks later, it’s almost impossible to forget what just happened, and it’s hard to just let it go and just get your head into the next race. But I’m glad I came out of there with a third, and now we can move onto the outdoors, and it’ll be good.”

Sunday night following the race, Canard was awarded his championship trophy at the Supercross Banquet, and he had to give a speech in front of hundreds of people.

“I was more nervous then than I have been on the line before!” Canard said. “It’s one of your fears, and you’ve got to stand there and say the right things, and the spotlight’s on you and you can’t see anything, and you’re just trying to not say anything stupid. It was a cool experience, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it.”

Canard’s teammate Dan Reardon had a tough go of it in qualifying, as he ended up with the last gate pick in the main event from the last qualifying position in the LCQ.

“This was my last opportunity to do good in supercross this year, so there were high expectations on this race, and things weren’t going good,” Reardon said. “People kept telling me how hard-packed the track got, and then it was all muddy in practice, and I was like, ‘Are you sure?’ But then, by race time, it was all blue-grooved and hard-packed. There were a couple of new things to me, but it was exciting for sure. The night wasn’t going as planned. In the Heat, a guy weeded himself up in the whoops in front of me, and I had nowhere to go, so I went nearly over the bars and had to go to the LCQ. Then, I wasn’t in a qualifying position to start off with there and ended up fourth – the last qualifying spot, which gave me the last pick on the gate.”

Even with the last pick, he got a decent start, and that set the main event off well, where he eventually finished fourth, right behind Canard.

“In the main, the gate was really terrible, and we had to do some landscaping to make it something half-decent,” Reardon said. “But I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose here, so I’m just going to go out there, and if I can pull a good start from here, then so be it, but I’m expecting not to pull a great start, so anything better than that is a bonus.’ I just did what I knew how to do, and I almost got the holeshot from that gate. I just barely missed out on that podium three or four times this year, and I did it again in Vegas. It’s been good, but it was still exciting. The Lites class has some quality riders, so it was fun to be amongst them.”

This marks the end of former Australian SX champ Reardon’s rookie AMA Supercross Season.

“I definitely gained a lot of experience this year,” Reardon said. “I did think I would do a little better, but it’s hard to know what you’re up against from just watching it on TV. It’s going to be good for next year, and I feel well-learned, and I feel like I can take what happened this year into account when training and preparing for next year.”

The other two Lites riders had a tough go of it, as Jake Weimer, in his first race back after breaking his collarbone, failed to qualify for the main event after a couple of crashes in his qualifiers, and Josh Grant was knocked out of the race, literally, when he was KO’d in a scary practice crash. Neither suffered lasting injuries, though.

Now, the GEICO Powersports Honda team is testing in earnest for the AMA National Motocross Championship opener on May 25 at Glen Helen Raceway, where Eastern Regional Lites Champion Trey Canard, and his Lites teammates Josh Grant, Jake Weimer and Dan Reardon will all tackle the AMA National Lites Motocross Championship.

Team Sponsors: GEICO Powersports, Honda, Planet Fitness, No Fear Energy, AMSOIL, Factory Connection, Torco Racing Fuels, No Fear, Shoei, Gaerne, Spy, DVS, Cycra, Dunlop, EK, Ferodo, Hinson, Ogio, One Industries, Pro Circuit, Renthal, Showa, TAG, Twin Air, and Works Connection.

Las Vegas East/West Shootout Lites Main:
1. Ryan Dungey Suz
2. Ryan Villopoto Kaw
3. Trey Canard GEICO Powersports Honda
4. Dan Reardon GEICO Powersports Honda
5. Ryan Morais Yam
6. Justin Brayton KTM
7. Brett Metcalfe Kaw
8. Kyle Chisholm Kaw
9. Broc Hepler Yam
10. Austin Stroupe Kaw

AMA Western Lites Final Points Standings:
1. Jason Lawrence (157/3 wins)
2. Ryan Dungey (154/3 wins)
3. Austin Stroupe (131/1 win)
4. Brett Metcalfe (126)
5. Tommy Hahn (117)
6. Justin Brayton (100)
7. Dan Reardon (95)
8. Broc Hepler (79)
9. Wil Hahn (73)
10. Bobby Kiniry (72)
15. Jake Weimer (55/1 win)

AMA Eastern Lites Final Points Standings:
1. Trey Canard (147/4 wins)
2. Ryan Villopoto (137/3 wins)
3. Nico Izzi (99)
4. Branden Jesseman (94)
5. Josh Grant (91)
6. Tyler Bowers (86)
7. Ryan Morais (84)
8. Ryan Sipes (84)
9. Martin Davalos (73)
10. Billy Payne (71)

Las Vegas 450cc Main:
1. Chad Reed Yam
2. Kevin Windham GEICO Powersports Honda
3. Andrew Short Hon
4. Josh Hill Yam
5. Davi Millsaps Hon
6. Nick Wey KTM
7. Charles Summey Yam
8. Travis Preston Kaw
9. Timmy Ferry Kaw
10. David Vuillemin Suz

AMA Supercross Final Points Standings:
1. Chad Reed (365/9 wins)
2. Kevin Windham (352/4 wins)
3. Andrew Short (281)
4. Davi Millsaps (278/2 wins)
5. Josh Hill (228/1 win)
6. Timmy Ferry (218)
7. Nathan Ramsey (173)
8. David Vuillemin (169)
9. Nick Wey (159)
10. Paul Carpenter (145)