AMA Toyota Motocross Championship - Dirt Rider Magazine

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (August 28, 2007) - Freestone County Raceway is set to host its veryfirst AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF event this Saturday and Sunday, Sept.1-2, at the newly-built national motocross circuit in Wortham, Texas, located an hour south of Dallas.The race at Freestone marks the return to Texas of AMA Motocross. The Lone Star State lasthosted an AMA national in 1988 in San Antonio. Freestone County Raceway has designed an allnew,purpose-built motocross facility that will see its AMA Pro race debut this weekend. Local Texasriders have already given the track a big thumbs up and say that it will be an exciting venue for bothracers and fans."We're very excited to be hosting our first national," said track owner Tony Miller. "We want togive fans a great experience and everything we've done leading up to the race was done with that inmind."The circuit is built on the grounds of a cattle ranch and an 1800s era homestead. The originalfarmhouse still stands on the property. Miller reports the track is 1.3-miles long and the surface is asandy loam with moderate elevation changes."Fans and TV will have great site lines at Freestone," said Steve Whitelock, AMA Director ofSupercross & Motocross. "The track runs up into the trees and they will have a large vendor's areaand ample parking areas for fans and the team rigs."The championship scenarios in both the AMA Motocross and Motocross Lites class couldn't bemore intense as the championship comes to Freestone.Yamaha's Grant Langston is coming off one of the best race weekends of his career. Lastweek in Delmont, Pa., Langston won his very first national in the premier class and as a result tookover the series points lead. Langston, a former world champion motocross racer from South Africa,leads Honda's Andrew Short by just two points. Monster Energy Kawasaki's Tim Ferry is only fourpoints out of the lead. Just 10 points separate the top four riders, with Red Bull KTM's Mike Alessi aclose fourth, so the championship picture could look very different after Freestone."Every year I give it all I've got," said Langston, who won the AMA Motocross LitesChampionship in 2003. "For some reason I always find myself in these crazy down to the wirechampionship battles. I think that's fun and that's what we strive for as racers. At the beginning of theyear I didn't think I'd be in this position, but once I smelled blood I thought `man I've got to go for it.'The new 2008 Yamaha has really helped me get confidence in my riding. Everything has beencoming together at the right time. It's going to come down to the end, but I don't buckle underpressure. Getting my first win in the 450 class has given me a big boost of confidencegoing into the last two races"Alessi has joined Langston in a late-season surge. He foresees a tremendous championshiprace in the final rounds."I think there will be three, if not four, riders going for the championship in the final moto of theseason," predicted Alessi. "It's going to be great for the fans, but the pressure is definitely on us in thefinal two rounds. I've been in this position before with the pressure and I've matured a lot over theyears."An overall victory in the Motocross Lites class at Steel City last week has given defendingchamp Ryan Villopoto the lead once again. The series has been a season-long duel betweenVillopoto and Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate Ben Townley. The team has been strong this yearand last weekend was a prime example. Monster Energy Kawasaki riders swept the top fourpositions, with Brett Metcalfe and rookie Austin Stroupe finishing third and fourth respectively.Villopoto comes to Freestone with a six-point lead over Townley. Both riders had to overcomeadversity last week in Pennsylvania where they both got caught up in a massive first-turn pileup in thefirst moto."We both had to come back from last and we made a great charge through the field," saidVillopoto, who earned his fourth overall victory of the season last week. "I was able to recover andsalvage some valuable points. Every point counts coming down to the end of the season."Texas fans will have local heroes to root for this Sunday. Both Andrew Short and Ivan Tedescohave adopted Texas as their home base. Lites class contender Tommy Hahn lives in Texas as doesfellow Lites competitor Kyle Cunningham.Live audio and pre and post-race video coverage can be found at www.motocross.com. Realtimetiming and scoring can be found at www.amamotocross.com.The AMA Motocross race from Freestone County Raceway will broadcast nationally onSPEED starting at 6:00 pm, Sunday, Sept. 9. The Lites class will air on Tuesday, Sept. 11, at 3:00pm.Tickets are available at area Yamaha dealers or by visiting the website www.freestonemx.com.WHAT: Monster Energy Freestone Motocross National, round 11 of the 12-round AMA ToyotaMotocross Championship presented by FMF.WHERE: Freestone County Raceway in Wortham, Texas., From I-45, exit #213 (FM 246).Turn right (west) for 6 miles on FM 246 to County Road 996. Turn left on County Road 996 for mile. Turn left on County Road 995, mile to facility.WHEN: Sept. 1-2, 2007SCHEDULE: Saturday - Pro timed qualifying, 1:00-4:35 pm., Lites Consolation Race 4:45 pm;Sunday - Pro Motocross Consolation Race 9:15 am. Qualifying 10:00 am. Opening Ceremonies beginat 12:30 pm with final events beginning at 1 pm.About AMA Racing
AMA Racing is the competition arm of the American Motorcyclist Association and is the leadingsanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its professional properties include theAmp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF,the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked FlatTrack Championship, the AMA Supermoto Championship and the AMA Pro ATV Championship. Inamateur and pro-am competition, AMA Racing sanctions over 4000 events in 24 different disciplinesand supports over 110 thousand active members. For more information about professional racing,visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access an on line Press Room atwww.amaproracing.com/pressroom. For amateur racing information visitwww.amadirectlink.com/amrace/amasports.asp.