Ryan Villopoto was back on form at High Point. He was fastest qualifier right out of the box.
And then he grabbed the lead soon after the start of moto one, and went off and won it. He finished second in moto two for the overall win.
Chad Reed fought through pain in moto one to finish fifth, but won moto two in the mud and muck, without goggles.
They're dirty girls...
Reed's pain in the first moto came from a rock kicked up by Jake Weimer hitting him in a formerly injured clavicle, making his left arm go partially numb.
Of course, taking off his roost deflector after the parade lap probably didn't help matters...
Ryan Dungey waves for the AMA to hold the start while his mechanic Mike Gosselaar tries to rip off some duct tape I assume to hold his helmet visor in place. The visor ended up standing up on his helmet for most of the moto.
Blake Baggett celebrates the win in moto one, coming from behind, high-fiving his mechanic, Shawn Irwin.
Baggett then pulled away in moto two, but just after this shot was taken...
...he ended up on his head, making his helmet visor go funky, too.
Baggett got up in second, funny visor and all, and chased teammate and training partner Tyla Rattray down for the moto win. He ended up 1-1 on the day.
Baggett was sporting a nice fat lip on the podium from his crash while leading moto two.
Tyla Rattray scored second overall but, more importantly, took over the series points leader from teammate Dean Wilson.
Rattray is among the bigger guys in the 250cc class, but he still snatched the holeshot in moto two.
Dean Wilson was all set to do damage in the second moto, taking the early lead, only to fall and force himself to come from behind again. He lost the points lead, but he's still very much in the hunt.
Eli Tomac grabbed third overall on the day.
Here, Tomac (19) works his way by teammate Justin Barcia in the first moto. Barcia had a tough day at High Point.
Ryan Sipes was running second in the first 250cc moto until just a few laps to go, when he went down hard. He dropped out for the day.
Ryan Dungey had a consistent 2-3 day for second overall.
Most didn't expect him back already, but Mike Alessi showed up anyway. He finished third in the first moto but was docked a spot for jumping the start and was credited with fourth place. Then he led moto two for a while before crashing and handing the lead to Reed.
Davi Millsaps (18) is having a bit of a standout year in the 450 class outdoors. It continued at High Point with a credited third place in the first moto.
Millsaps struggled a bit with a bad start and tough line choices in the second moto, but is still in the thick of it.
Darryn Durham grabbed the holeshot to start the first 250 moto, but it seemed nerves got the best of him late in the race, as he faded from first to fourth in the final four laps.
PJ Larsen returned to action at High Point, but his wrist is reportedly not quite up to full racing shape just yet.
Brett Metcalfe has shown the speed and consistency most had hoped of him coming into the season so far this year.
Despite the crazy conditions in the second moto, Metcalfe was strong all day, even if his results didn't quite live up to his high standards.
Justin Barcia's cool opposite whip over the big double at the bottom of the hill. He's traveling in the direction he's looking.
Broc Tickle went 10-4 for an astonishing fifth overall. His results are picking up race by race.
Hello, Rockstar Girl...
While a 10-4 was good for fifth in the 250 class, Kevin Windham's 6-5 was only good for sixth overall. It's still up in the air whether or not he'll be at Budds Creek, but he likes that track, so speculation says he'll be there.

For this edition of "What Really Happened" I'm going to concentrate on two major points: First, the Kevin Windham/James Stewart battle; and second, the Tomac/Tickle battle.
James Stewart (7) had his hands full with Kevin Windham in Las Vegas before he went down. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

Let's start in the Lites class. The Lites East was pretty much handled by the time we got to Vegas. Justin Barcia had finished no worse than second all year and needed only 15th to win the title. But in the Lites West? Because Eli Tomac had two wins to Broc Tickle's one win, but trailed Tickle by two points, it meant that if they were both in the top five (which was expected), whichever guy beat the other would be the champ.

And the Lites West main lived up to expectations, and then some. Barcia's GEICO Powersports Honda teammate Tomac ended up being forced to duke it out with four guys, all of whom were on Tickle's side. One of the four was Tickle himself, and then there was Josh Hansen (Tickle's teammate), and Kyle Cunningham and Cole Seely, who are both friends of Tickle's.
Broc Tickle's friends Cole Seely (36) and Kyle Cunningham (35) congratulate him on his championship after the main event. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

Still, neither Tickle nor Tomac folded under the pressure. They both pushed hard during the race and rode as smart as they could, but even when no one folds, someone has to lose. Tomac fought hard, but ultimately an untimely tangle with Cunningham allowed Tickle, in the right place at the right time, to squeeze by them both late in the main to take second, while Tomac got fourth. Tickle got the title.

But really the big point here is that neither of them folded under the pressure. This is big for both of them. Tomac had a lot of trouble with pressure (and effects of heat stroke from the Texas National) last year during the nationals, but that looks like it's not much of a problem anymore for him. He's going to be tough to beat outdoors.
Eli Tomac (19) was in packs like this throughout the main event and came up just short at the finish. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

And Tickle in the past has always had trouble with pressure, because he puts so much pressure on himself to succeed. But over the last couple of years, he has gotten a handle on that, starting with pulling off his first win in Seattle last year. He has never lacked outward confidence, but I'm pretty sure Yoda said something about self-doubt that was smart, and I listen to him.

With that kind of confidence, those two are about to become threats wherever they race, and in whichever class.

And on to the 450cc main: Kevin Windham is a bad dude. He's 33 years old and still hauls. But he has hit the deck way too many times this year for a guy of that age; 33 is like 150 in MX years. He's fragile. But the tough part is when it's not your fault, and this is the second time in three years that he has run into a downed James Stewart in the whoops. Remember Anaheim 1 in 2009? Stewart pushed his bike right in front of K-Dub as he was skimming the whoops. This time, Stewart just went over the bars right in front of K-Dub. You can't change direction in the whoops (on purpose, and without crashing) very well. And stopping is even harder.
Only one way to stop in the middle of the whoops: going over the bars. K-Dub demonstrates. (Out of picture, James Stewart's downed Yamaha.) (Photo: CoxMX.com)

If not for the fall, though, I think one of those two would've won the main, and honestly I think it would've been Windham. His bike setup is better (even though he joked at the banquet that his setup for skimming Yamahas isn't so good) and he was making up tons of time through the back sweeper. And besides, K-Dub is the personification of throttle control. After following Stewart over the quad after the track's big triple, Windham also showed that he had enough fire in him to match Stewart "trick for trick" so to speak.

So, although Windham only has one podium finish this year, I think Vegas was the second "one that got away" for him this year, with the other being Houston. Come back next year, you old man. (Yes, I just turned 34.)
Windham (14) and Stewart (7) going at it in the Vegas main event. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

GEICO Powersports Honda's Kevin Windham is the elder statesman of the AMA Supercross Championship. And by "statesman", we mean it. He's a great representative of the personality and genuine nature of the sport of motocross. And by "elder", we mean that, too. He's 33, and he just landed on the box in Seattle, finishing second to James Stewart in the main event. We caught up with him after the main event.

Motocross.com: You were fast all day, obviously, and everybody knows when tracks get super technical that...
Kevin Windham: I piss excellence. [Laughs]

[Laughs] Well, knowing the conditions, and winning here last year, does that help you coming in to a race like this?
It certainly doesn't hurt. I tell you what, Seattle has been good to me for so many years, all the way back to the King Dome. It's always a technical, rough, rutty track and I think that I have a lot of confidence in myself in hitting the same line over and over again. And I knew that that would be a key to success. Unfortunately, the 7 [James Stewart] did a little better than us. You know, I thought that with all that championship stuff going on that there was just going to be mad chaos, which I'm sure there was a little bit, but we were able to keep it on two wheels and come away with a damned fine ride. And to be honest with you, with where I've been this year, it feels like a win, really, you know? It just don't pay quite as good... The trophy's not quite as pretty, but, you know...

Well, it seemed like you had gained a little bit on Chad Reed and then kind of lost it again. What was going?
Pretty much. He must have made some bobbles. He had gotten far enough away that I couldn't see what he was doing as far as mistakes and whatnot, but I know I got close to him and then I got balled up with a couple lappers. I actually didn't jump the triple, I think one, maybe even two laps. But, you know, they were pretty rutty and he got back away from me and then he laid it down for me and kind of gave it to me. But I felt like we were in good position either way.
Kevin Windham would've won Houston early this year, but crashed hard instead. Through all the bumps and bruises, he has kept going, and he landed second place in Seattle. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

But you had to come through a lot of dudes that he didn't have to come through. He was up front right away.
Yeah... Well, me and [Mike] Alessi... Man, Alessi was ripping there at the beginning of that race.

Yeah, you were stuck behind him for a while.
We were kind of going back and forth which allowed the guys in front to get further away than I wanted.

What about winning the heat race? Have you done that this year?
It was cool. [Laughs]

It was cool?
Yeah. No, you know, any time you win, man. Just being able to get up on that box.

But it's not like you weren't fighting with some of the top dudes because you were...
Oh, our heat was loaded; we had [Ryan] Dungey and...

And Ryan Villopoto.
Yeah, and Villopoto in there. Yeah, I was excited. I mean, any time I can get up there and thank my guys is good, because the GEICO Powersports Honda guys, and MSR and DVS and Shoei and Spy and Gaerne and Dunlop Tires, Pro Circuit, Planet Fitness - all those guys - they've just been working so hard. Just because we don't get up there and win doesn't mean that they're not working hard. So, I'm just really excited to be able to do it for them.
Windham is talking to Team Honda about filling in for the outdoors. Actually, rumor has it he's out testing today. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

Team Honda manager Erik Kehoe said you guys were talking about possibly having you fill in for the first couple of nationals again this year because they don't have any guys healthy...
Well, we'll see. Honestly, doing it last year and doing the Australia rounds and then coming back to this, you know, I'm really starting to feel like I need a little bit of R and R.

Well, you're really old now. You're 33 years old. You're my age, actually.
I am. It is a big deal to do the Outdoor Nationals. It's a tough deal to go onto that. It's just a tough deal to be able to try to keep going and get my body in shape.

But it's only two races.
I don't know if I'm interested in doing it only for two. It's kind of like one of those things where you either want to be in it or not.

Oh, because you have to train and do all that stuff anyway, right?
Yeah, like once you're in shape it's like, what do you do? Might as well keep going.

[Windham throws his baseball cap and gloves to the screaming crowd.]
So, you just gave away your gloves and your hat. That never happens with me and my job. Nobody ever asks me for my stuff. Like, "Can I have your clothes?"
Have you tried to throw a camera up there?

No, I haven't...
Throw up your camera; they'll start yelling at you. You're just not throwing the right stuff; that's why they're not yelling.

So, it sounds like you're saying that chances are pretty good after Vegas we're just going to see you out at the lake riding around on your boat?
It's tough to tell right now, but we're putting some thought into it. You know, any time the gate drops and you're not behind it you feel like you're missing out on a huge part of who you are and what you want to be, but reality is I got to be able to do it well and I don't know if I can do it right now. I really don't. I mean, it's not a question of desire it's just almost a physical issue at this point.

Age has worn you down...
It's a son of a bitch, I'll be honest with you. People talk about golden years but I'm not finding a whole bunch golden about them right now, you know? It's tough to be in these shoes and to want to do things and really feel like you're physically not able to, or you try to go as fast as the fast guys in supercross and people are crashing. You don't want to do that anymore. I had a DNF in three of the first seven rounds. I mean, I don't want to get all negative, but it's just like after a while you realize that your golden years aren't so golden...

GEICO Powersports Honda's Kevin Windham is quite literally a legend in American Motocross for his amazing bike-handling skills, his technical prowess, the fact that he's still doing it at 33, and maybe most of all, his personality. Fans love the guy. Media loves the guy. Ultimately, it's because he's just a real, regular person, and people can identify with that. Lately, though, he's been crashing a lot more than is characteristic for him, the latest of which was a nasty crash in a rhythm section in St. Louis that resulted in some injured "nether regions". We caught up with him after the race up in the hauler to see how he was doing.

Motocross.com: I heard you tore your nut sack or something.
Kevin Windham: Close. [Smiles] It's bigger than it's ever been before. It's so big that I'm going to... While it's swollen, I'm going to go ahead and change in front of everybody, if that's cool, while we're doing this interview.

[His wife, Dottie, walks in.] Are you excited, Dottie?
Doctor told me I should soak it in cider twice daily.

Cider? Oh, I get it.
Twice daily... [Laughs]

You're too old to be crashing this much. What's the story, dude?
Dude, tell me about it. These are supposed to be my glory days - my golden years - and I'm busting my ass all the time.

It seems like almost every race you're hitting the dirt.
It's tough, man. I'm not in it for this. You know, and worse than that, it doesn't even appear that I have a real chance at cracking the top five [in the championship]. So, that makes it even worse. Like, you're supposed to be busting your butt whenever you're going for the win...

[Justin Barcia butts in: Dude, didn't you get 6th tonight?]
Yeah...

[Barcia again: It's almost top five.]
It's almost...
Kevin Windham still goes fast, but the fans appreciate his showmanship even more than his speed. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

So, what happened? Did you, you know, whack your wiener or what?
Yeah, dude, coming off the face, I just hesitated. The bike didn't hesitate; I hung because it was ruts and...

Like, it grabbed the foot pegs or something?
It just kind of stopped the momentum and over the bars I went. It was a pretty gnarly crash. I got lucky. I actually got off at the right time, if there is such a thing.

At the right time so you only injured your crotch?!
Yeah, well, you know, it will live to fight another day I'm sure. So, we'll be okay.

There was no amputation or nothing so you're good...
No, no... It's still all together. No stitches required. Although, I thought there were going to be, but I'm good, dude.

What did you actually hang your junk on? What was it on the bike?
You know, you kind of lose track, but I would think it was probably the gas cap.
Windham sported a GoPro during opening ceremonies for the first time. Look for a video online. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

What a bummer. So, when you walk the track before the night show, how do you spot those transfers and stuff that you're pulling during opening ceremonies?
That's my claim to fame now, so it's pretty much all I look for anymore. I spend the whole track walk looking for potential crosses.

You don't care about racing lines?
No, man. The good lines are going to come. You just have to watch where all the fast guys go. That's all you have to do. So, it doesn't take long. I kind of know what to look for now. It's kind of something... You know, today they put on a GoPro for the first time. I'm sure it's going to be on the internet here this week, but it actually blew my mind. I mean, I do it every weekend, right? But it's like, seeing it from that vantage point, I think a lot of people are going to enjoy that view. It's dark, man, and the spot lights make it worse, if anything. It'll be cool to see.

One race ago, defending champ Ryan Dungey of the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki team finished last and scored only on point because of a derailed chain - which Trey Canard is taking responsibility for. Canard says a few turns before the derailed chain, he hit Dungey's bike in the left rear.
Ryan Dungey (1) and Trey Canard (41) get off the gate in their heat race. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

Still, Dungey seemed to be out of the title, 38 points behind points leader James Stewart. One race later, he's only 22 points behind Stewart, and 31 behind new points leader Ryan Villopoto.

So, while he still has a long way to go, this sequence of events should be enough for anyone to realize that absolutely nobody in the top five in points is "out of" this championship. Anything can and will happen. Just like it did in Houston, and at Anaheim 2 before that.

That being said, Dungey was within a hair of being three points closer to Stewart and Villopoto, as on the last lap, he got to the inside of Canard heading up to the checkered flag, and Canard smartly squeezed Dungey off to take his first-ever 450cc SX win.

Canard Is A Streaker

The danger now is that Canard has put together one race (with a lot of help, admittedly), after his two worst finishes of the season. He was very upset during the week, just like he was last year during the AMA Nationals after the Colorado National. Remember what happened next?

He won RedBud - his first ever - and then a handful more on his way to the title.

And remember last year when Canard was just messing around in the 450cc class on Andrew Short's factory Honda? One podium, and then he started streaking - to five in a row before moving back down to the Lites class. This is a guy who, when he gets hot, is hard to stop. Of course, he wasn't racing against Stewart, Reed, Villopoto and Dungey outdoors last year (although he was racing against the latter two indoors). It's not quite the same, but they'd better watch out regardless. Trey Canard is no joke once he starts a snowball rolling.

Patience Is Key

Another thing that we should pay attention to is that James Stewart was not the normal, patient Stewart at Houston that he has been most of the rest of this year. I don't think it's because he was afraid of losing points. I think what happened is he had such a dominant race at Anaheim 2 last weekend that he simply believed he was "on" and could do just about anything he wanted. And it bit him early in the main when he jumped into Jason Thomas in the track's main rhythm section. The result was a damaged front brake that was causing his front wheel to stop spinning in the air, and for JT Money, it was the end of his night. JT has a torn ACL, so he'll be out a while.
James Stewart had a lapse of judgment in the main event. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

A lot of this carnage could've been avoided if the track were more rider-friendly, or racing-friendly. The first turn was very reminiscent of the one in Dallas last year that claimed well over half of the Lites main-event field, and it claimed a big chunk of both fields at the start of both mains this weekend. And the dirt was very, very dry and very, very slick.

Windham's Woes

You know dirt is slick when the king of throttle control - Kevin Windham - wads it up because he spun too much in a rhythm section. And that's what happened with K-Dub. When I saw him after the race, he looked beat up, and he was a bit high on pain meds, so he was loopy. But he came up short on a jump from the top of one table to the next, and when he landed, he got hard on the gas to still get over the next jump after the table, and just spun. The bike went sideways, he was tossed off, and the bike drilled him.

This was Kevin Windham's race to win, and he would've 99 out of 100 other times. He was checked out, and even though Canard was eating into his lead, I don't think he would've caught K-Dub. Not on this night. It was the halfway point when he went down and Canard wasn't making up enough time. And Windham normally rules on surfaces like that, once he has a lead. For Windham, this was the one that got away, but you still have to be impressed by him. It's the closest race to his house, and he was flat-out going to win it until it all went wrong.

He has nothing broken, and he should be back for San Diego, which could end up being a mud race. And Windham easily could take back the one that got away next weekend, if he's healthy enough to take part.

KTMs Are Getting There

It could be that the tighter tracks helped the KTM 350s to be competitive, as all three were in the top 10. However, contrary to reports, the fifth place by Andrew Short was not KTM's best-ever finish in the class. I don't know what is KTM's best finish, but I do know that none other than Mike Fisher - current Monster Energy Kawasaki team manager - finished fourth place two or more times in 1991 on a white-and-teal KTM 250.
Andrew Short (29) leads Trey Canard (41) in their heat race. Short scored a best-ever fifth-place for the KTM 350 SX/F. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

Riding Dirty

Dean Wilson got arm-pump in the main event, and I don't know if he would admit it, but I think he got arm-pump because he was battling with Justin Barcia. And I'm not saying he got arm-pump because he was battling with someone, and that person happened to be Justin Barcia. To be clear, I'm saying I think he got arm-pump because he was battling specifically with Justin Barcia, who looks like he should be chasing ghosts with his dog, Scooby.
Justin Barcia (right) and Dean Wilson (left) talk things over after the main event. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

The two raced a lot as amateurs, and Barcia is known to clean people out at times. This may be a time when Barcia's reputation is starting to serve him well, rather than hurt him. Last year, racers were taking shots at him all the time because of his earned reputation for ramming guys who were in his way. But I always figured that if he weathered the storm, so to speak, the reputation could work in his favor, like it used to work for Bob Hannah, Ricky Johnson, and even Ricky Carmichael.

I think it's starting to.

But I would be remiss not to point out that Wilson hasn't been riding that long since returning to action from his separated shoulder, so that is most definitely a factor as well.

Baggett's Blues

I talked to Blake Baggett after the race, and he was flat-out pissed off that he got third. Don't you love that? He said, "I didn't work my butt off all off-season to come out here and get third." He was disgusted with himself. Watch out for this guy. He was fast all day, but starts and falls cost him. Knock those out, and he's going to be gnarly.
Blake Baggett has a winning attitude. But he benefited big-time by a Ryan Sipes takeout move on Blake Wharton late in the main. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

Sipes' Slam

Baggett did benefit from a serious bonehead move by Ryan Sipes, though. Sipes was fourth, pressuring Blake Wharton for third with two laps to go. Wharton does ride a pretty wide bike sometimes, but Sipes picked the absolute worst part of the track to try and make a pass, diving to the inside of Wharton before the track's most difficult triple, where there was no traction, and taking them both off the track and down. There was simply no way Sipes was going to complete the pass right there, but he went for it anyway. In the end, Sipes ended up fourth anyway, so he gained nothing, while Wharton ended up sixth. And he also gifted four points to Baggett, who absolutely will be a factor in this championship. If Sipes wants a shot at the title, he did damage to it at round one.