Race Report: Freestone National

Story and Photos By Brendan Lutes
Clear skies, high temperatures, and high humidity greeted riders at Freestone County Raceway for round two of the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships in Wortham, Texas. Last week the racing action in both classes was nothing short of incredible, and this week neither the 450 class nor 250 class disappointed.
In the 450 class, TwoTwo Motorsports/Honda’s Chad Reed took home a convincing win in the first moto, and backed it up with another victory in the second when series rival Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey ran out of gas while leading with one and a half laps remaining in the moto. The victory was Reed’s second overall in as many rounds this season and solidified him as the series points leader and red plate holder.
The Lites class saw a battle for the overall between Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammates Tyla Rattray and Dean Wilson. In the end, Rattray’s 2-1 score bested Wilson’s 1-3 score, giving him the overall. Wilson, however, took home the red plate and series points lead heading into round three in two weeks at High Point Raceway.

450 CLASS

MOTO 1:
When the gate dropped for the start of the first moto of the day, Troy Lee Designs/Honda’s young rookie Christian Craig grabbed the holeshot ahead of a hungry group of veteran riders. The opening laps saw Craig lead MotoConcepts/Yamaha’s Christophe Pourcel, TwoTwo Motorsports/Honda’s Chad Reed, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer, Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, and Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGR’s Davi Millsaps. For eight laps, Craig held the lead while the riders behind him jockeyed for position. After seven laps, Pourcel dropped out of the race, giving second to Reed and third to Dungey, shortly after that, both Reed and Dungey moved past Craig. After that, the race was on, as Reed did his best to put a sizeable gap on the defending champion. There were a few instances where it appeared that Dungey was going to catch Reed, but the Honda rider quickly re-opened the gap between the two. Behind the frontrunners, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto was making a valiant charge to the front following a horrible start, and by lap 11, he had worked his way up to fourth.
As the laps wound down, Reed found himself comfortably in the lead in front of Dungey, Villopoto, and Millsaps who had quietly remained at the front of the pack for the entire race. When the checkered flag flew, Reed took the win ahead of Dungey, Villopoto, and Millsaps.

1.    Chad Reed (Hon)
2.    Ryan Dungey (Suz)
3.    Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
4.    Davi Millsaps (Yam)
5.    Christian Craig (Hon)
6.    Jake Weimer (Kaw)
7.    Tommy Hahn (Yam)
8.    Ricky Dietrich (Yam)
9.    Brett Metcalfe (Suz)
10.    Nick Wey (Yam)

 

MOTO 2:
When the pack raced into the first turn Dungey stole away the holeshot and was followed closely by Reed, Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe, VMS/Yamaha’s Ricky Dietrich, and Millsaps. It only took a few laps, though, before Dungey and Reed began to open up a huge lead over third place. Shortly after, however, Reed made a mistake, going down when his front end tucked in some deep soil. He quickly remounted and remained in second. With that, the race was Dungey’s to lose, as his lead was nearly insurmountable. Behind Reed, Millsaps moved past Metcalfe and into third. Behind them, Ryan Villopoto held down fifth until going down just past the halfway mark. He remounted, however, and ultimately finished the race fifth.
As the laps ticked off, the running order up front remained the same until only two laps remained when Dungey’s bike ran out of gas. Dungey’s misfortune allowed Reed to move into first and take the overall victory for the day. Second in the moto and second overall went to Millsaps, while Metcalfe held on for third in the moto. Third overall went to Villopoto following his impressive charge after falling late in the moto.

1.    Chad Reed (Hon)
2.    Davi Millsaps (Yam)
3.    Brett Metcalfe (Suz)
4.    Ricky Dietrich (Yam)
5.    Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
6.    Andrew Short (KTM)
7.    Jake Weimer (Kaw)
8.    Christian Craig (Hon)
9.    Kevin Windham (Hon)
10.    Michael Byrne (Suz)

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