Hangtown '06: Role Reversal

Ah, what a race to miss! This year's running of the Honda-sponsored Hangtown Classic, the first round of the Toyota-sponsored National Motocross championships, would have been my third consecutive Hangtown had a last minute snag not altered my travel plans. So instead of standing in the rain with 20,000 other MX nuts, I sat at my buddy's kitchen table and, along with untold thousands of internet-savvy motocross aficionados, listened with rapt attention as the webcast announcers bellowed the action.

Turns out it was a great race! For details, check out this fantastic race report over at Transworld Motocross Online.

For the Cliff's Notes version, though, you've come to the right place. In a nutshell, James Stewart and Rick Carmichael served notice to the MX world that the battle begun in the 2006 Amp'd Supercross series was in fact NOT over... not by any stretch of the imagination. After a two week lull in violence, combat has fully resumed, and motocross fans across the world have reason to celebrate.

Remember the last round of the supercross season? How all James could do was win the Vegas event and hope something happened to his rivals? Well that role was taken over by Carmichael at Hangtown in the second moto. Finishing third after an astonishing come-from-WAY-friggin'-back in the first moto, Carmichael needed Chad Reed to pass James for second place in the final moto. And just like in Vegas, it simply wasn't gonna happen. Yes, Rick ran the table in moto two, grabbing the holeshot and checking out to a ridiculously huge lead, but Stewart patiently rode him in second, assured of the overall victory (and the championship points lead) because of his last-lap pass on Reed in the first moto for the win. And while Superbad Chad rode extremely well, he had to be feeling a little low after being chased down in the first moto by the dynamic duo from Florida.

The other role reversal was the simultaneous ending and beginning of streaks. By winning the Hangtown National, James Stewart ended his National LOSING streak, which effectively spanned his entire 2005 season. And at the same time, Stewart ended Carmichael's National Overall Win streak, an unbelievable string of 27 wins.

So congratulations to Stewart and Team Kawasaki for their inaugural 450F class wins at the Hangtown Motocross Classic! And here's to another incredibly exciting championship series!