A Tale of Two Seasons
Second-half surges propelled Grant Langston and Ryan Villopoto to the 2007 AMA Toyota Motocross Championships
By Jason Weigandt, Racer X Illistrated

Motocross racing seems to encourage inconsistent results. Rough and rugged tracks, varied obstacle, mechanical troubles, and stiff competition will overcome even the most talented and well-prepared athletes. To truly test a rider’s consistency, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship incorporates a two-moto format each race day, which means a rider must get everything right twice to win the day’s overall. Winning once is difficult; winning consistently is the toughest task of all.

Any of the contenders for the 2007 AMA Toyota Motocross Championship learned that lesson. Plenty of riders showed the talent, speed, fitness, and toughness to win races, and possibly even a title, but only two were able to mount a rally during crunch time. Looking back to the halfway mark of the tour, Yamaha’s Grant Langston and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto may not have been the title favorites. But by the end, they were the last men standing in their respective divisions. They struggled at times but surged when it counted, and in AMA Toyota Motocross, the second race always holds more weight than the first.

The wild, unpredictable battle during the summer of 2007 will not soon be forgotten by fans. The final results don’t even indicate just how amazing the title chases really became. They don’t describe the amazing battles between James Stewart and soon-to-retire Ricky Carmichael during the first half of the season, or the impact of Carmichael’s final race (and win) in Minnesota, or the unprecedented four-rider struggle for the 450cc championship, or the controversial moments in the Lites class between Villopoto and Jason Lawrence, or all of the other unforgettable moments that made the ‘07 season one for the ages.

What Was Supposed to Be

There’s no doubt whatsoever that Ricky Carmichael is the greatest rider to ever swing a leg over a dirt bike. Before the season began, the Makita Suzuki rider announced that he would only ride a limited schedule in 2007 and not pursue the championship. A shocking move, yes, but RC had done the same thing earlier in the year during the AMA Supercross Series, and the transition to a new champion went smoothly. Monster Kawasaki’s James Stewart had been expected to take Carmichael’s crown at some point, and he did so during the indoor tour.

Two things went wrong for Stewart in his quest for the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship. First, the ten-time series champion Carmichael proved much feistier than the average retiree. In fact, he was tougher than ever. Stewart won the first moto of the year at Hangtown, outside of Sacramento, California, but then Carmichael rebounded to win moto two and the overall. Then he won again at High Point in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, then again at Motocross 338 (Southwick, Massachusetts), and again at Budds Creek, Maryland. Each battle was epic, yet each ended the same.

That left Carmichael undefeated going into the fifth round, at Red Bud in Buchanan, Michigan, over July Fourth weekend—Carmichael’s last race before taking a break, with plans to return for one more race in August. Not wanting to come up short in his last chance to beat his rival, Stewart engaged Carmichael in one last duel, only to crash while leading with less than two laps to go. RC came out on top, having swept the first five rounds of racing and then did as he said he would—he parked his motorcycle and jumped in a stock car to start a whole new racing career.

With Carmichael gone, Stewart had an open path to wins in the second half of the series. But he crashed hard into the dirt during practice at Unadilla in New York, knocking him out of competition for the day. For the first time in ages, someone other than Carmichael or Stewart was going to win a national. Even more amazing, Carmichael would still hold the series points lead a week after he stopped racing!

What Wasn’t Supposed to Happen

While no one was surprised to see Stewart and Carmichael battling at the front of the AMA Motocross pack, the Motocross Lites division boasted a much deeper field. Villopoto was back as the defending champion, but his teammate on the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki squad, New Zealand import Ben Townley, came into the series with Grand Prix credentials and the Supercross Lites East Region title under his belt. But the spotlight on that battle had nothing on the fireworks emerging from the Boost Mobile Yamaha of Troy camp. Wild child Jason Lawrence spent time cutting Villopoto off in the very first practice session of the season at Hangtown, and their battle concluded with a fist fight on the track!

Early on, Lawrence proved game for the battle against the Kawasaki tandem, as did Factory Connection Honda’s Josh Grant, who scored the win at round two of the series at High Point. Makita Suzuki rookie Ryan Dungey was in the hunt as well, though he couldn’t quite find the winner’s circle.

Before long, though, Townley started getting the better of everyone. The former world champ proved strongest in the second motos at each of the first three rounds, and rumors swirled that his physical endurance was getting into Villopoto’s head. Combine that with the ever-present threat of Lawrence, and the champion was on the ropes.

But Villopoto bounced back with an unbelievable ride in Maryland, and then Townley came down with a mysterious illness in Michigan that nearly derailed his season. Villopoto had the momentum again until round six, as Unadilla again marked a turning point when Villopoto crashed in the first moto and broke his radiator. He failed to finish, and Townley took the points lead back.

What Happened

In the 450 class, after Stewart hit the deck at Unadilla, the second half of the series took on a whole new atmosphere. At the first five races, a different rider had occupied the third-place spot at each round. That set up a five-rider shootout for the Unadilla race win, and after two unpredictable motos, veteran Kevin Windham emerged on top. Stewart returned battered and bruised for the high-altitude Thunder Valley round in Colorado. The action was just as intense, but late in the second moto, Stewart dug the deepest and beat an exhausted pack for the overall win.

At the next round in Washougal, Washington, Stewart won the first moto and mounted a come-from-behind charge to get third in moto two. That 1-3 score would have given him the overall victory until he hit a rock with two laps to go, caught his left leg awkwardly, and dislocated his knee. Stewart ended up on the sidelines again as his teammate and veteran contender Tim Ferry scored the victory. With Carmichael making just one more appearance and Stewart out for the season, the championship was truly up for grabs.

Carmichael returned to Millville, Minnesota, for his final appearance, and he won both motos by enormous margins. The fans chanted, cheered, and praised “The GOAT” (Greatest of All Time). The competition, though, had to focus beyond him. Once he was gone, they would have races to win and a championship to grab.

The Rally

By the second half of the tour, Villopoto and Townley had pulled away from the rest of the Lites pack and engaged in a private duel for the championship. In Minnesota, Townley stalked Villopoto early in the moto, and Villopoto actually pulled over and let him take the lead and the victory. The move puzzled everyone, especially when Villopoto returned to beat Townley straight-up in the second moto, which had previously been his Achilles’ heel. Whatever changed there changed for good, because after that race, Villopoto established a small speed and endurance advantage over Townley that allowed him to pull away in the championship.

Meanwhile, the AMA Motocross class began to tighten. Championship pressure that didn’t exist before was now grinding away at the field—Ferry and Langston, plus Team Honda’s Andrew Short and KTM rider Mike Alessi. Some stepped up and others struggled. Ferry led the active field in points for a time, but he struggled with his starts and couldn’t work his Washougal magic again. His fellow veteran Kevin Windham was inconsistent, while Short couldn’t find the right balance of aggression and endurance in his first season on a 450. Alessi struggled in the first half of the season but proved strong in the second half. All the contenders had their moments of brilliance, which made for a frantic final four races of the season. Never before in the history of the sport had so many riders had such a great opportunity for a championship late in the season.

When the pack started looking for answers, Langston dug into his memory banks: the South African had built a reputation for winning titles with clutch performances. He had won world, national, and regional titles through focused, determined surges when the pressure was on, and he used that experience to engineer a drive for the 2007 AMA Toyota Motocross Championship just when the pressure was at its greatest. At one point in the series, Langston sat sixth in points. He didn’t win his a moto until Washougal late in the summer, then took second behind Carmichael in Minnesota, then took the overall wins in thrilling battles in both Pennsylvania and Texas. By the time the pack rolled into the finale in San Bernardino, California, Langston had a firm grasp on the crown.

By then, so did Villopoto. He cemented his second straight Lites MX title with a solid championship drive, relenting to Townley only in the last moto at Glen Helen, when he simply needed to take the checkered flag to hold on to the #1 plate.

For both 2007 AMA Toyota Motocross Champions, the championship boiled down to getting stronger in the second half of the year, when most riders are starting to buckle under the grind of racing, testing, and training every weekend since January. The real winners? The thousands of fans who lined the fence each weekend, waiting to see who would emerge as the outright series champions. For them, it was a summer to remember.