1
Horsepower Hill is ready.
The Ski Jump is ready.
The Whoops section is ready.
(It’s fun describing Washougal MX Park.)
Yep, it’s about time for the Peterson Cat Washougal National, the eighth round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships.
Washington resident Ryan Villopoto is cruising in the season-long points race, having won 11 of the 14 motos this season. He has 333 points, a 42-point lead over Ryan Dungey.
Yet, Villopoto has never won at Washougal.
Dungey, meanwhile, is set to return to a place he practically owns. The Minnesota native and defending series champion has won in Washougal five years running — the last three in the 450 class and the first two in the 250 classification.
Villopoto, Dungey, Justin Barcia, Trey Canard and James Stewart Jr. round out the top five in the 450 class this season. Stewart is a five-time winner at Washougal. Barcia and Canard each have won 250 races in Clark County.
Meanwhile, the 250 points race this season is too close to call. Ken Roczen has 312 points and Eli Tomac is second at 305.
This will be the 33rd national at Washougal. The pros race Saturday, while there are more than 800 signed up for Amateur Days on Thursday and Friday.
For tickets, which vary in price, go to the park’s website at washougalmxpk.com and click the link to the Washougal National.
2
Apparently the Oakland Raiders have plans for a new stadium that will seat only about 50,000 fans.
That would make it the smallest venue in the NFL.
The fools will joke that the Raiders don’t need a big stadium because their fan base is shrinking after all the losing. The educated will say that the Raiders have sold out most of their games in recent years, despite the record.
Regardless, we should praise any franchise that is thinking about the fans. We’d much rather watch a game in a stadium for 50,000 or 60,000 people than in a 90,000-seat behemoth. It makes for a better game-day experience if every seat in the house is a good one.
It also helps that fewer games will be blacked out by the Raiders failing to sellout.
3
Not sure if it is sexist or just weird. But ESPN’s bottom line the other day reported that Danica Patrick caused a crash, then noted that one of the cars she wrecked was driven by her “boyfriend.”
Yes, it said “boyfriend.” Guess that’s better than “lover” or “flame.”
Patrick is dating fellow driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
However, when they are on the track, they are competitors.
If Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon crash, the bottom line does not say “best friends for life” or “longtime pals” or “bosom buddies.”
Let’s just stick with names, please.
