Well that's it, the 2008 Nationals are over. Wrapping up this year back at the rejuvenated Steel City Raceway in Delmont, PA, it was a weekend of experiments, surprises and some fairly interesting racing. James Stewart managed to get his perfect 24-0 season and the extra $25K of Monster Triple Crown cash, while Ryan Villopoto not only didn't get the Monster cash as most expected, but he didn't even get on the podium! Let's review:

Motocross Class

James Stewart won both motos easily after getting around holeshot artist of the weekend Jimmy Albertson and his first (and hopefully not last) race as a factory Honda rider. Albee was a bit of a revelation this weekend, actually, as two solid starts put him up front early in both motos despite having questionable fitness thanks to a fairly severe shoulder injury sustained a few weeks ago. He managed to finish ahead of both his Red Bull Honda Racing teammates in the second moto, as the Albee/Shorty/Tedesco trio went 6-7-8, but were never a threat at the front of the pack.

Up front, Stewart's goal of realizing his perfect 24-0 season never seemed in question as he was able to quickly out-motor his teammate Tim Ferry and a rejuvenated Broc Hepler and cruise to a comfortable lead. But, according to James, that was the closest margin of victory he'd had yet this season and he rode noticeably on the edge, as Ferry and Hepler's battle put them on a pace that was quite similar to King James'. Part of the reason that was possible was no doubt due to an extremely smooth, fast and rut-less racing surface where flat-tracking into the cushion on the outside of turns seemed to be about the only way around. Both motos, Ferry hounded Hepler to finally get around after lengthy battles which resulted in some of the best racing of the season. Just behind them, and at times in front of or in the middle of, was Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Michael Byrne. Byrner's solid result put him squarely into 4th in the series points as well as 4th overall, via his 4-4.

The other points battle that had fans clamoring was between Short and Ferry, but it never materialized. Just 8 points down from the veteran Kawasaki racer going into the weekend, Shorty never looked to be anywhere near the pace and toughed it out for distant 5-7 moto finishes. In other interesting tidbits, MDK/KTM's Matt Goerke was once again looking awesome on the 450, but it failed to get him to the finish line in moto two, again. Bummer for Matt, who was running a very solid 5th past the halfway point when he (apparently) suffered a flat front tire. Also of note was JGR one-timers Ben Lamay and Sean Borkenhagen, who seemed to be enjoying their factory race bikes despite quite average results (Lamay went 15th overall while Borky was 27th).

Motocross Overall Results:

1) James Stewart (Kaw) 1-1
2) Tim Ferry (Kaw) 2-2
3) Broc Hepler (Yam) 3-3
4) Michael Byrne (Suz) 4-4
5) Andrew Short (Hon) 5-7
6) Jimmy Albertson (Hon) 7-6
7) Sean Hamblin (Yam) 6-9
8) Josh Hill (Yam) 11-5
9) Ivan Tedesco (Hon) 9-8
10) Matt Boni (Hon) 13-11
11) Nick Wey (KTM) 10-14
12) Paul Carpenter (Hon) 15-10
13) Jason Thomas (Hon) 16-12
14) Matt Goerke (KTM) 8-30
15) Ben Lamay (Yam) 17-15
16) Sean Collier (Yam) 12-23
17) Colton Facciotti (Yam) 28-13
18) Kevin Rookstool (Hon) 18-16
19) Travis Sewell (Suz) 14-36
20) Michael Willard (Yam) 25-17

Final Point Standings:

1) James Stewart (600/12 wins)
2) Tim Ferry (414)
3) Andrew Short (392)
4) Michael Byrne (377)
5) Cody Cooper (266)
6) Nick Wey (264)
7) Josh Hill (234)
8) Jeff Alessi (233)
9) Sean Hamblin (225)
10) Mike Alessi (221)

Motocross Lites Class

The Lites racing, on the other hand, was anything but predictable. From front to back, the finishing positions were a bit surprising throughout the day with new faces on (and off) the podium and the continued development of a gaggle of rookies. Matt Lemoine was the first to the top of the start hill for moto one, although Josh Grant quickly took his Geico Honda to the lead with Ryan Dungey glued to his rear fender. It was an impressive run up front for those two until Dungey made his way around and Grant's bike troubles forced a DNF. Meanwhile, Ryan Villopoto was moving up from a poor start and dicing his way to the front behind them. He made it quite a ways up there too, until he got up to Dungey's teammate Nico Izzi, that is. In a pass that would have put him into 5th, Izzi decided it was time to fight back for the position (he was flying all weekend), which resulted in Villopoto's shifter being severely bent, leaving him in 2nd gear on a track where 4th was probably a lot more appropriate. With that, RV2's chance at the $25K Monster Triple Crown Bonus went out the window, as he DNF'd the moto while Izzi went on to 5th behind Brett Metcalfe and an impressive Ryan Sipes.

Taking advantage of all the mayhem was Star Racing's Matt Lemoine, who'd been anywhere from 1st to 5th throughout the race, and ended up 2nd – a career best – by the line. Moto two was more of the same for Villopoto and Geico Hondas, as rookie Blake Wharton put his CRF across the holeshot line just as Grant did in moto one, and Villopoto hit the ground again, just as in moto one. Only this time, RV was down long enough that the entire pack went around him as he struggled to get up, putting him oh, maybe 30 seconds behind the 38th place rider (which happened to be Kyle Cunningham who fell on the start straight).

While Josh Grant was a non-factor in moto two for an unknown reason, his other teammate – Jake Weimer – just about made up for it as he came across the line with a solid 3rd for 3rd overall. The most impressive ride, besides that of Dungey who was absolutely hauling all alone out front, came from Izzi, who'd been moving up the entire moto to eventually get both Brett Metcalfe AND Weimer in the same corner to claim 2nd in the moto and 2nd overall. Villopoto was only able to make it up to 16th, no doubt due to having absolutely nothing to gain and everything to lose at this point of the year. Also notable were Motosport's Kyle Chisholm, who's 5th in moto two put him solidly into 8th for the year, and Star's Broc Tickle, who's 4th nearly equaled his teammates first moto ride. Rookie Steven Clarke also looked quite good and comfortable at break-neck pace, netting a 7th in moto two for 10th overall.

Motocross Lites Overall Results:

1) Ryan Dungey (Suz) 1-1
2) Nico Izzi (Suz) 5-2
3) Jake Weimer (Hon) 6-3
4) Bret Metcalfe (Kaw) 3-6
5) Broc Tickle (Yam) 9-4
6) Blake Wharton (Hon) 7-9
7) Matt Lemoine (Yam) 2-32
8) Phil Nicoletti (Kaw) 8-13
9) Kyle Chisholm (Kaw) 18-5
10) Steven Clarke (Suz) 16-7
11) Wil Hahn (Yam) 11-12
12) Daniel Reardon (Hon) 13-11
13) Jake Moss (Yam) 10-14
14) Ryan Sipes (KTM) 4-37
15) Justin Brayton (KTM) 6-11
16) Josh Grant (Hon) 37-8
17) PJ Larsen (Kaw) 17-15
18) Bobby Kiniry (Hon) 12-38
19) Kyle Cunningham (Kaw) 14-33
20) Ryan Villopoto (Kaw) 38-16

Final Point Standings:

1) Ryan Villopoto (540/8 wins)
2) Ryan Dungey (468/3 wins)
3) Bret Metcalfe (382)
4) Jake Weimer (321)
5) Nico Izzi (292)
6) Ryan Sipes (228)
7) Kyle Cunningham (198) 8) Kyle Chisholm (189)
9) Josh Grant (186)
10) Trey Canard (173)