Red Bud is a special place. The vibe is different here, and the track is, well, just better, for lack of a 'better' word, than anyplace else. So are the facilities, the area, the environment, the everything. Plus, it's always held on 4th of July weekend, which just makes the whole thing over-the-top and quite frankly, the best event on the circuit. That is really saying something considering all of the history and brilliance of so many of the other races that make up the Lucas Oils AMA Motocross Championships. If it sounds like we're gushing, we are, because even after a day full of sketchy weather and heavily overcast skies (not to mention mediocre racing), we're still amazed by the whole experience. Yes, it's that good.



Enough of the gushing and more about the specifics. The track surface was perfect ' " not over-watered, not dusty, but just right. The soil is generally pretty much sandy, and the layout of the track includes a few really big hits (such as the ubiquitous LaRocco's Leap) that fit really well into the flow of the track, and all of which are friendly if under or over-jumped. The whoop section, which has become quite famous as the second longest and most challenging in the series next to Millville's, was cut down quite a bit this year, and a bit faster run-up than in year's past. The overall flow was altered a little bit too, but nothing too major, and the Ritchies even managed to retain a couple of tricky off-camber sections too, which always makes for some good fun. Another cool thing, as mentioned earlier, was that this whole thing took place on Independence Day, which means fireworks, red-white-and-blue, and drunks. But things were cool all weekend, with festivities starting Wednesday with amateur practice prior to two days of amateur racing before the big show on Saturday, and more amateur stuff on Sunday. That, folks, is a genuine American Motocross Festival in every sense of the word. Oh yea, and the racing Saturday was broadcast LIVE on NBC (!) on the Fourth of July in the middle of the after-freakin'-noon. A special weekend? You bet it was. Oh there we go gushing again...

Now down to the racing, and how about that Josh Grant? The Riverside Kid and his gangsta style was the dominant force on the weekend, there's no doubt about it. Grant ran away with both timed qualifying sessions before nearly running away with both motos. Going 2-1 on the day, Josh said several times in the press conference that he just felt like he really jibed with the track, and the whole day just went perfectly for him. His teammate Cody Cooper also had a really solid day, passing and putting time on last week's double moto winner Ivan Tedesco in the first moto before falling over and ending up 6th. Moto 2 was better though, as he steadily moved forward through the pack for a 5th just behind Shorty and ahead of Dietrich. The JGR team, including Coy Gibbs, were trackside screaming like maniacs for their riders and were understandably ecstatic about the day's results afterwards.

After starting up front in the first 450 moto, Chad Reed looked to be feeling and riding much better than he had in Colorado just a week prior. He snaked his way through the first few turns just a hair faster than Short did, but managed to lose the lead somewhere on that first lap and ended up following the Red Bull Honda rider around for half of the moto before finally making it past. Once he did, it really looked to take the wind out of Short's sails, as Josh Grant made it by too and they both put time on him immediately. Had it not been for he and Reed pushing the pace and pulling a gap early in the race, he probably would've lost another spot to his teammate Tedesco before it was all said and done. Speaking of Honda teammates, Davi Millsaps is expected to make his return at the next round ' " Millville ' " which should be a tough one, as that's always a rough track to come back on.

Coming out of the woodwork and proving the rumor mongers right, it was none other than Jason Lawrence who decided to make an appearance at RedBud. The track was probably a good choice for him, since the surface and speed is similar to that of a track he's raced on (and dominated on) his whole life ' " Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. After healing from a prior injury (?), pre-race rumors were that his bike had gone through tech inspection and that he was signed up to ride. A couple of privateers parked next to his rig in the pits reported to us that he did indeed seem to keep his head inside of his motor coach for at least most of the evening and, right when they told us that, the man himself came walking out of the rig all dressed and ready to ride. He certainly did impress, too, busting out The Leap early in his first practice (he was in the B group, so was among the first bikes on the track) and proceeded to set the second fastest laptime of the morning behind Josh Grant. That's pretty impressive coming from the B practice, when the track is less ideal and the riders surrounding him are usually several seconds per lap slower. Jason went out in the first moto and the bets were going around wildly about how he'd end up: First? Last? DNF? Eventually, we decided that he would DNF and make it roughly four laps, and that's just about what happened. He rode well up until then though, dicing within the top 5 a bit before his bike just seemed to quit. We never heard why or what happened, but sure enough, Lawrence showed up on the line for moto 2 and got a mid-pack start, moving forward to just inside the top 10 before it was all said and done. But he did it: He finished an outdoor moto, and he did a respectable job of keeping a solid pace to the end although it was no doubt beneath his and many other's expectations. Credit must also be given for that blistering fast lap in the slow practice to end up 2nd. Good job, Jason ' " keep it up!



Tyler Bowers of the MotoConcepts privateer squad put in another remarkable ride. This makes two weeks in a row that Bowers has received the Top Privateer award after making steady progress on an admittedly pretty poor start to the season. He does seem to be picking up his pace, running inside the top 10 with relative ease and keeping riders the caliber of Michael Byrne in sight for the entire moto both times out. TyBo's a big, strong kid (still only 17 or 18 yrs. old) and has a picture-perfect style that is fun to watch. He'll continue to improve as his confidence grows, so look for a top 5 out of him before the season's over.

The dueling between Bowers and Byrne was just one of several good races going on within the pack, adding more interest to the 450 class ' " if you're willing to pay attention to riders beyond the top 5. Justin Brayton and Jimmy Albertson were going at it for quite a while in moto one before Brayton dropped the axe on him in the same corner that Reed did it to Short. Unfortunately for Brayton, he then fell over and had to get his charge going all over again. Tommy Hahn and Ricky Dietrich seem to find themselves a lot too, which is pretty ironic considering that many feel Hahn should've ended up with the ride that Dietrich received from Kawasaki, and which his podium finish in Lakewood seemed to validate. Unfortunately, Hahn went down in a heap during the first moto and seems to have broken a wrist or arm, but that hadn't been verified at the time of this writing. He did DNF the moto and DNS the 2nd, so that's probably not a good thing. But again, looking into the top 15 or so, you have a freight train of riders such as Hahn, Dietrich, Byrne, Bowers, Albertson, Wey, Brayton, Ferry, Jeff Alessi and... Kyle Regal. Who? #475 on a Honda, Kyle Regal is a former Suzuki Sports amateur star who made the jump to Hondas and the pro class after Suzuki pulled the program out from under him. Regal put in a couple of solid rides as an AMA Pro beginning at Freestone, but here at Red Bud he looked to be coming into his own. He was 12th in the first moto before his bike gave up on him, but more importantly he looked to be on 'the pace' of the fast guys. He should continue to improve too, although that list of riders we just mentioned will be tough to crack out of and move forward in.

On the subject of injuries, Red Bud also laid claim to Josh Hill. Hill's been suffering like a stuck pig lately, it would seem, and as one of the guys who seems to enjoy riding the most and clearly is one of the most gifted riders on the track, he just can't put it together. Word is that his back is messed-up, for lack of a better explanation, and that the header he took in the Red Bud whoops early in moto one didn't help the issue any. He DNF and DNS this time out, and his future with Yamaha (and of the factory team in general) is uncertain. The team was packed up and ready to pull out soon thereafter, which of course makes perfect sense since they no longer had a bike on the track to support with Hepler apparently planning to sit out the rest of the season due to a concussion he sustained at the Vegas SX back in May. On the subject of Hepler, and more specifically Hepler's factory YZ, we spotted a set of trick carbon fiber Tag bars on his 450 in the pits. Carbon fiber has been used for handlebars on mountain bikes for well over a decade, so it was only a matter of time before it was to the point it could be utilized on a motocross bike. They should be very light and 'tunable' for shock damping as well, so stay tuned on that development.



The 250 class once again proved pretty interesting while continuing to be almost unbelievably predictable, too. Ryan Dungey and points leader Christophe Pourcel managed to mirror each other's moto scores for about the 50th time this season. What's really remarkable about that is that these two riders almost never cross paths during a moto ' " when one is way out front, the other's mired in the pack, and vice versa. It makes for some anti-climactic motos when the top two in points and odds-on favorites for the title never actually get to dice it up, but it also helps a lot to build the anticipation for the inevitable battle of the titans does occur. Let's hope it happens sooner rather than later!

Jake Weimer switched roles this weekend, and instead of following Pourcel around closely in moto one like he did in Lakewood, this time he was matching the pace of first moto winner Ryan Dungey. The two dropped the hammer on the pack and, along with Brett Metcalfe and eventually Justin Barcia, were the clear-cut fast guys of the moto. Metcalfe really seemed to be impressive, as he was literally just a small mistake per lap off of the pace of those two, and had it not been for an absolutely feverish ride by the rookie Barcia, he'd have ended up on the podium with ease. Equally impressive was Tommy Searle, which is nothing new because we've said that a few times this year already. The young Brit is on the gas, that's for sure, and is grabbing his run in the States by the horns in one of the most stacked 250/Lites classes in many years. Were it not for ringers like Dungey and Pourcel (both of whom will move up to 450s next year), Searle would be a threat for the title. As it stands, he's a threat for the podium, and this weekend in Michigan he managed to do just that via 5-2 finishes. That's right ' " Searle got SECOND in moto two, beaten only by Pourcel while finishing cleanly ahead of Metcalfe and Weimer ' " that's impressive! Great job, Tommy.

On the flip side of the invading GP guys coin, Tyla Rattray banged up his wrist pretty good in the 2nd moto. He swapped hard on the 2nd lap of moto 2 right in front of us and looked stunned while he tried to remember that there were about 30 guys coming toward him at a high rate of speed as he sat in the fast line. He did get up, and holding his wrist walked to the side of the track. The latest word is that he may be able to make the last few rounds, so keep your hopes up for the current FIM MX2 World Champ ' " he's a good guy and adds a lot of international flair to the awesomeness that is the AMA 250 Motocross class this season.



Awesomeness, international flair, and, well, awesome are all effective ways to describe Christophe Pourcel, too. The red-plated points leader put on another display of incredible riding at RedBud, although his first moto charge didn't take him quite as far forward as he would've liked. Pourcel went down in a heap in the first moto's first turn, starting roughly dead last and getting to mid-pack by lap two. Then he fell again. He did end up 8th by the end though ' " sans visor ' " and was awesome to watch picking off riders left and right for the entire moto. The 2nd moto was a different story, as he hounded holeshot specialist Martin Davalos for several laps before getting by and walking away for the win. He also won the press conference battles too, as he dropped a couple of bombshells in his modest yet confident tone, indicating that he was A) not going to ride the MXoN for the French team and B) That he planned to race a 450 next season. So there.



Finally, we want to get a shout out to a friend of Motocross.com and also a pro rider who actually shot some of the photos for our John Penton GNCC coverage ' " Willy Browning. WB156 scored a couple of points in moto one of the 250 class aboard his totally privateer CRF250R. Willy went 'round the outside' on the start to put himself mid-pack, and stayed there for the entire race to end up 19th. He backed it up in moto two running 18th or 19th most of the race before Vince Friese assisted in providing Willy B. with a soil sample, knocking him back a few spots and out of the points. Look for Willy to score some more points next round in Millville, one of his favorite tracks.

That's about it for us this time around. Sitting mountainside here in Durango, Colorado, it's time to enjoy the upcoming off weekend before heading up to Spring Creek MX in Millville, Minnesota for Round 7 of the Lucas Oils AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Be sure to check back for practice photos, race report photo essay and the mid-week wrap-up right here at Motocross.com