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Team AMSOIL Impresses at Red Bud With the WMA on hiatus until Washougal, the GEICO Powersports/AMSOIL/Honda squad rolled into Red Bud with three strong 250cc contenders, and they mixed it up at the front of the pack all day long.
Aussie Brett Metcalfe is getting stronger every round, and after the Colorado event, he said he was really looking forward to challenging for the win. At RedBud,  he got that opportunity. In the first moto, he ran third early and was challenging the leaders, but arm-pump set in, and he began to fall back, eventually getting passed on the last lap by his teammate Justin Barcia, and finished fourth.
In moto two, "Metty" made some changes to his bike to try and fix his arm-pump, and it helped him maintain a fast pace for the whole moto.
“For the second moto, we changed my bike setup quite a bit, and as soon as I got out there, it felt really good,” Metcalfe said. “I got a good start and worked my way up into third, and that was it. I kept charging the whole moto and felt really strong the whole moto, and I was slowly creeping up on Searle for second, but I couldn’t bridge the gap fast enough. I went 4-3, and it was a good day, but I still think I can do better, and I want to do better.”
With the final results, the difference between first and fourth, where Metcalfe finished overall, was just the spot he lost in moto one. Had Metcalfe finished third in moto one, he would’ve won the overall.
“That’s how crazy that was,” Metcalfe said.
His teammate Justin Barcia came from way back in the first moto to challenge Metcalfe for third, eventually passing him on the last lap over LaRocco’s Leap.
“You know, it was a mess in the first turn, and I got bumped around a little bit, and my thumb got  smashed... I thought I broke it,” Barcia said. “But I just forgot about everything and tried to ride my butt off. But I came through the pack really hard in the first moto and made a last-lap pass on my teammate Brett Metcalfe over LaRocco’s Leap. I wanted to get on the podium, and it was the last lap, and I was pushing really hard the whole moto until I finally got up to the position where I was on the podium. I was excited about that.”
Unfortunately, moto two’s start was even worse for Barcia.
“I got two bad starts this weekend,” Barcia said. “I just had bad starts. I was off my game a little bit off the start. I really wanted to get on the podium in both motos, but I got the worst start ever. I was probably last, and there were a few fast guys up front who checked out. I got up to a position at the end of the moto where there was no one around me. I kept pushing, but the guys in front had a good pace and I couldn’t do any better than seventh in that moto.”
Barcia ended up sixth overall in the competitive 250 class.
 And finally, Blake Wharton was fast all day at RedBud, but ran into some problems, starting with getting tangled up in the first-turn mess that Barcia narrowly avoided. As Wharton worked his way forward, he fell in a turn and was unable to start his bike, and that was the moto for him. But in moto two, things were a lot better. He started somewhat poorly, but caught up to seventh before a couple falls cost him.
From here, the AMSOIL sponsored team has a weekend off before heading to Millville, Minn., for round seven of the series at Spring Creek MX. |
Kevin Windham To Race Summer X Games, U.S. Open
Windham, who finished second overall in the 2008 Supercross series, has been invited to take p art in two events at this summer's X Games. Windham is on the list of competitors for Moto X Step Up on July 30 and the Moto X Super X race on Saturday, August 1.
K-Dub has also committed to racing at this year's Rock Star Energy Drink U.S. Open inside Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena on October 9-11. Windham has enjoyed success at the event in the past, placing as high as second in 2000 and 2005. In his five appearances at the U.S. Open, Windham has finished no lower than seventh.
“The U.S. Open is a fun weekend for the riders and fans,” said Windham. “The MGM Grand Garden Arena provides a great atmosphere for a race. It’s like you come to a party and a race breaks out. This fall is going to be exciting because I will race the US Open the first part of October and my wife, Dottie, and I are expecting our fourth child at the end of the month.”
Windham joins defending AMA Supercross class champion James Stewart, who recently announced he will compete at this year’s event, on the starting gate. Tickets for the 2009 Rockstar Energy Drink U.S. Open are available at Ticketmaster locations. |
Pegram Readies For Laguna Seca, Nabs Two Cover Shots Pegram The Defender
As the global racing community descends on California’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Ducati’s AMA star prepares to defend his recent Superbike victory.
 This coming weekend marks the seventh round of the AMA Pro Racing American Superbike Championship; held in conjunction with the United States Grand Prix. Ducati Corse’s MotoGP squad has flown over to participate in the World Championship event, enabling the AMSOIL sponsored Larry Pegram to shine in front of the 1098 R’s Bolognese fabricators.
The last race, held in Elkhart Lake, Wis., was an epic duel. When the dust settled, Pegram and the Ducati 1098 R beat Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, only the second time anyone has done so this year. The Foremost/Ducati/AMSOIL squad has had a few weeks off to refresh their 1098 R’s, and Pegram is looking forward to a good performance at Ducati North America’s second “home” track.
“The win at Road America has really boosted my own and the team’s confidence. We are hungry to win more races and I hope the streak continues at Laguna Seca,” commented Pegram. “Massimo Capanna and his crew have been busy preparing for weeks now, and I’m ready to race.”
The AMA Superbike race will take place Sunday at 4:15, following Saturday qualifying at 1:00. The Daytona SuperBike class presented by AMSOIL will also race at Laguna Seca this weekend. AMSOIL is the Official Oil of AMA Pro Road Racing.
Cover Boy
With Pegram's recent win at Road America, he and his Foremost Insurance/AMSOIL/Ducati have been gaining a lot of media coverage, including the front cover on the industries top magazines, Cycle News and Road Racer X. Here are those cover shots:
Television Coverage
The AMA Pro Road Racing at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca on July 3-5th will be the first races to air on SPEED in a new, same-weekend programming format that was announced last month. SPEED's decision to return to same-day or same-weekend coverage of AMA Pro Road Racing has been welcome news for series competitors, promoters and, most importantly, motorcycle road racing fans.
 After a brief experiment in the first half of the year with the Saturday evening studio program AMA Pro Prime Time, SPEED is returning to same-weekend coverage of AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited and AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL racing beginning with the action from Laguna Seca this weekend. The AMA Pro Road Racing action can be seen Sunday, July 5 at 9 p.m. PT (late Sunday/early Monday, July 6 at Midnight ET). T
"Plain and simple, this move was a reaction to the fans," said Rick Miner, SPEED Senior Vice President of Production & Network Operations. "Naturally, they wanted to see the races as close to real time as possible. As the longtime television destination for motorcycle racing in North America, we will continue to work very hard with AMA Pro Road Racing and other sanctioning bodies at all levels to move through the current economic challenges in a collective effort to deliver great racing to the fans." |
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