The Spring Creek Motocross National presented by Honda was home to the crowning of two champions this weekend – neither of which rode a Honda. Monster Energy/Kawasaki's James Stewart and Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto both earned their respective Motocross and Motocross Lites AMA #1 plates as 20,000+ fans witnessed the action.

Motocross Class:

When Stewart pulled a massive holeshot after the gate dropped for moto one, the historians had already started filling in the blanks of the moto history books to include Stewart as the 2008 MX Champ. It was a safe move, as Stewart dominated the field (even more so than usual) while Honda Red Bull Racing's Andrew Short put in a very strong ride for second in the moto – clearly the second fastest and hardest-charging rider on the track. Short had been fast all weekend, filling in the gap between Stewart and the rest of the field that Mike Alessi had been doing prior to his injury several weeks ago at Buchanan, Michigan. Nearly as impressive behind the leaders was Ferry, who'd spent the moto working up through the pack to settle into a comfortable 3rd just ahead of Factory Yamaha's Josh Hill, who'd been on his own tear through the pack. Hill moved up past early front-runner Matt Goerke on his MDK/KTM, privateer Jeff Alessi, Honda Red Bull's returning star Ivan Tedesco (who'd started up front behind Stewart and in front of Short), Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Michael Byrne and returning teammate Broc Hepler before ending up 4th. After Stewart clinched the title, everything was put on hold while the #1 plate presentation was underway, which saw a throng of fans storm the start straight to witness the ceremony.

For the second moto, Stewart showed his appreciation to the fans by absolutely decimating the field. After following Jeff Alessi through turn one, the new champ (complete with #1 on his back and "08 MX Champ" on his butt, proceeded to put a gap on the field that hadn't been seen since the RC-era. After completing a perfect race and never relenting, Stewart had put 1:06 on runner-up Michael Byrne by the time the checkers flew. This was an unusual move for Stewart, since he normally puts it on cruise control while out front and limits the humiliation of his competition by keeping the gap to 20-30 seconds over the field (just long enough to recover from a tip-over without losing any spots). This day, Stewart said he kept the hammer down "for the fans", and they seemed to appreciate it, as James soaked in the adoration of the fans after winning his first moto as the new Motocross-class Champion.

Moto One:

1. James Stewart (Kaw)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Tim Ferry (Kaw)
4. Josh Hill (Yam)
5. Broc Hepler (Yam)
6. Michael Byrne (Suz)
7. Ivan Tedesco (Hon)
8. Jeff Alessi (Hon)
9. Matt Goerke (KTM)
10. Nick Wey (KTM)
11. Antonio Balbi (Hon)
12. Shaun Skinner (Hon)
13. Josh Summey (Yam)
14. Sean Hamblin (Yam)
15. Cole Siebler (Hon)
16. Gavin Gracyk (Yam)
17. Jase Lewis (Hon)
18. Kyle Lewis (Hon)
19. Cody Cooper (Suz)
20. Jason Thomas (Hon)

Moto Two:

1. James Stewart (Kaw)
2. Michael Byrne (Suz)
3. Cody Cooper (Suz)
4. Nick Wey (KTM)
5. Andrew Short (Hon)
6. Jeff Alessi (Hon)
7. Matt Goerke (KTM)
8. Gavin Gracyk (Yam)
9. Tyler Wharton (Hon)
10. Josh Summey (Yam)
11. Broc Hepler (Yam)
12. Tim Ferry (Kaw)
13. Jason Thomas (Hon)
14. Sean Hamblin (Yam)
15. Ben Lamay (Yam)
16. Ivan Tedesco (Hon)
17. Sean Collier (Kaw)
18. Matt Boni (Hon)
19. Michael Willard (Yam)
20. Kevin Rookstool (Hon)

Overall:

1. James Stewart (Kaw)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Michael Byrne (Suz)
4. Nick Wey (KTM)
5. Tim Ferry (Kaw)
6. Jeff Alessi (Hon)
7. Matt Goerke (KTM)
8. Broc Hepler (Yam)
9. Cody Cooper (Suz)
10. Josh Summey (Yam)

AMA Toyota Motocross Championship Points Standings (After 10 of 12 rounds):

1. James Stewart (500/10 wins*)
2. Tim Ferry (334)
3. Andrew Short (328)
4. Michael Byrne (317)
5. Cody Cooper (230)
6. Nick Wey (228)
7. Mike Alessi (221)
8. Jeff Alessi (151)
9. Davi Millsaps (203)
10. Josh Hill (188)

*=clinched title

Motocross Lites Class

There was plenty to pay attention to at Spring Creek's Lites racing. First of all, there was the escalating rivalry between hometown boy Ryan Dungey and defending champ Ryan Villopoto. Next, there was the imminent crowning of the 2008 championship title to be presented if Villopoto could hold it together enough to gain sufficient points on Dungey. And finally, there was the influx of rookies to the class that were making their debut at Millville – several top amateurs who's expected impact was all over the scoreboard depending on whom you asked. The first moto was somewhat of a bore, as Villopoto checked-out immediately with Dungey in tow, followed distantly by Josh Grant. Most in attendance expected the Minnesotan to pick up the pace enough to push RV1, but it was not to be. In a case of "you can only go so fast" at a certain track, Villopoto seemed to be on that ragged edge and Dungey was unable to make a push for the win. The two put a massive gap on Grant back in third, who ultimately was pushed hard the final couple of laps by Monster/Pro Circuit's Brett Metcalfe, but was able to hold him off. The rookies didn't do too badly, but nobody stood out – except for Blake Wharton. The freshman on the Geico/Honda squad forced his way forward from a back of the pack start to end up 10th by the checkers. This was a few sports ahead of many pundits' choice for a top finish – Xtreme Team Green's PJ Larsen – who ended up 16th. Moto two was everything but predictable, though, as MDK/KTM's Martin Davalos ripped a killer holeshot that lasted all of ½ lap before Villopoto made his way around with Dungey and Jake Weimer in tow. Then it happened: RV1 made a mistake! That's right, he lost the front-end and landed face-down on a tricky off-camber downhill turn and was forced to watch the entire pack tear by before he got to his bike and got it going again – in 38th position. Meanwhile, Dungey put the hammer down and – with rookie Blake Wharton a scant few seconds back – gapped the rest of the field and rode away to the win. The fun part was watching the visor-less Villopoto carve through the field with the precision of... a weed-whacker through cold butter to make his way to SECOND place by the finish. You read that right – RV went from 1st to 38th to 2nd – guess who won the RC Hard Charger award? Well if it didn't go to Villopoto, it'd go to his teammate Metcalfe, who ended up 3rd after getting past Wharton, Weimer, Izzi and Brayton with relative ease on his move to the front. Obviously Blake Wharton was the subject of most of the rookie talk, while Larsen and his teammate Hunter Hewitt both also cracked the top 20 but who's performances were vastly overshadowed by Wharton. Afterwards, Villopoto was awarded his 3rd Lites championship in as many tries and hinted at riding Steel City on a KX125, a la Ricky Carmichael circa 2002.

Moto One:

1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
2. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
3. Josh Grant (Hon)
4. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw)
5. Kyle Cunningham (Hon)
6. Broc Tickle (Yam)
7. Jake Weimer (Hon)
8. Wil Hahn (Yam)
9. Andrew McFarlane (Kaw)
10. Blake Wharton (Hon)
11. Dan Reardon (Hon)
12. Justin Brayton (KTM)
13. Robert Kiniry (Hon)
14. Phil Nicoletti (Kaw)
15. Tucker Hibbert (Yam)
16. PJ Larsen (Kaw)
17. Nico Izzi (Suz)
18. Martin Davalos (KTM)
19. Shane Sewell (Suz)
20. Tye Hames (Suz)

Moto Two:

1. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
2. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
3. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw)
4. Blake Wharton (Hon)
5. Jake Weimer (Hon)
6. Nico Izzi (Suz)
7. Justin Brayton (KTM)
8. Jake Moss (Yam)
9. Andrew McFarlane (Kaw)
10. Wil Hahn (Yam)
11. Kyle Cunningham (Hon)
12. Tucker HIbbert (Yam)
13. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)
14. Alex Martin (Hon)
15. PJ Larsen (Kaw)
16. Ryan Sipes (KTM)
17. Phil Nicoletti (Kaw)
18. Hunter Hewitt (Kaw)
19. Shane Sewell (Suz)
20. Willy Browning (Suz)

Overall:

1. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
2. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
3. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw)
4. Jake Weimer (Hon)
5. Blake Wharton (Hon)
6. Kyle Cunningham (Hon)
7. Andrew McFarlane (Kaw)
8. Wil Hahn (Yam)
9. Justin Brayton (KTM)
10. Josh Grant (Hon)

AMA Toyota Motocross Lites Championships (After 10 of 12 rounds):

1. Ryan Villopoto (485/7 wins*)
2. Ryan Dungey (376/2 wins)
3. Brett Metcalfe (305)
4. Jake Weimer (259)
5. Nico Izzi (230)
6. Ryan Sipes (192)
7. Kyle Cunningham (174)
8. Josh Grant (173)
9. Trey Canard (173)
10. Andrew McFarlane (156)

*=clinched championship