COLUMBUS – Honda's Kevin Windham, of Centreville, Ms., picked up his first win in over two years at the Monster Energy Nice N Easy Pro Nationals Presented by Renegade Haulers, round six of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship Presented by FMF. Kawasaki's Ben Townley, of Tallahassee, Fla., was the winner in AMA Motocross Lites action at the Unadilla Valley Sports Center.
Windham opened the day with a win in the first moto and followed it up with a strong ride to a third place finish, earning him the overall victory, the 28th of his career. Kawasaki's Timmy Ferry, of Largo, Fla., earned second place overall (5-1) with a come-from-behind win in moto two to finish second ahead of Honda's Andrew Short (6-2), of Smithville, Texas.
"I've been known through my career to have a lot of throttle control, which you need at this track," said Windham. "I come into some of these hard-packed tracks with added confidence. I was riding behind Andrew (Short) and we were kind of closing in, but toward the end I kind of broke out the calculator and started doing the math and knew I could get the win.”
The day got off to a poor start for Kawasaki's James Stewart, who crashed in the morning's first practice, and was forced to sit out the remainder of the day. Stewart, of Haines City, Fla., will be evaluated by his doctor this week and his status is uncertain for next week's race.
Townley was put to the test in the second moto as the likeable New Zealand transplant needed to fight back to moto earn the overall victory. After an early-race crash, Townley set his sights on the Suzuki of Ryan Dungey, who was in second and in position for his first-ever overall win.
Townley worked his way through the field and pushed up to finish third, and combined with his first moto win, walked away with his third overall win of the season. Dungey, of Belle Plaine, Minn., was third with a 2-2 moto finish, while Yamaha's Jason Lawrence, of Carlsbad, Calif., was third (4-4).
The AMA Toyota Motocross Championship Presented by FMF heads west next weekend to Lakewood, Colo., for the Toyota Trucks Pro Motocross Nationals Presented by Division 7 on July 21-22.
Pro Motocross Results
(Name, hometown, sponsor, moto finish by heat)
1. Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda, 1-3
2. Timmy Ferry, Largo, Fla., Kawasaki, 5-1
3. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 6-2
4. Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM, 2-6
5. Ivan Tedesco, Montgomery, Texas, Suzuki, 4-5
6. Davi Millsaps, Cairo, Ga., Honda, 7-4
7. Grant Langston, Clermont, Fla., Yamaha, 3-10
8. David Vuillemin, Murrieta, Calif., Honda, 10-7
9. Gavin Gracyk, Blissfield, Ohio, Honda, 9-8
10. Josh Summey, Stanley, N.C., Honda, 11-9
Motocross Class Point Standings
1. Ricky Carmichael, Tallahassee, Fla., Suzuki, 241
2. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Kawasaki, 225
3. Timmy Ferry, Largo, Fla., Kawasaki, 204
4. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 197
5. Grant Langston, Clermont, Fla., Yamaha, 190
6. Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM, 184
7. Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda, 177
8. David Vuillemin, Murrieta, Calif., Honda, 135
9. Davi Millsaps, Cairo, Ga., Honda, 134
10. Michael Byrne, Menifee, Calif., Suzuki, 113
Motocross Lites (Moto Finish)
1. Ben Townley, Tallahassee, Fla., Kawasaki, 1-3
2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki, 2-2
3. Jason Lawrence, Murrieta, Ga., Yamaha, 4-4
4. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Honda, 6-5
5. Andrew McFarlane, Newport Beach, Calif., Suzuki, 9-7
6. Broc Hepler, Kittanning, Pa., Yamaha, 3-15
7. Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki, 37-1
8. Robert Kiniry, Lafayette, N.Y., Kawasaki, 11-9
9. Robert Goerke, Lake Helen, Fla., Yamaha, 13-8
10. Jake Weimer, Rupert, Id., Honda, 7-14