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)