Let’s start at the beginning…
As you might already know from looking at my photo galleries, I went to round 5 of the 2009 motocross series in Lakewood, Colorado (also known as “Thunder Valley”). It was my very first time there, as I never had the chance to race on this track and retired before I could, so I was pretty excited. A brand new track I’ve never seen or been to before…it’s almost like getting a new girlfriend, you get butterflies in your stomach and you can’t wait to explore all these new areas (although being married to the best women in the world beats that any day)!
Alessi patiently waiting for second practice to start.
Anyways, I knew Mike Alessi was going to try and race this round, only a few weeks (2 I think?) after his knee surgery, and I was looking forward to see how Mike would hold up, hoping for the best of course. I got to tell you, that kid is really tough, or he’s really good at hiding his pain! I got to talk to Mike and he seemed in pretty good spirits, his knee was bothering him but he wasn’t letting it get to him. After seeing him in practice, I knew it was going to be an hard day for Mike. Hi knee was really getting in the way and his riding style was very different, since he had to compensate so much on his good leg. He looked very uncomfortable but he wasn’t there to win, he was there to score as many points as possible. At least that’s the advice I gave him, and I got the feeling we were both on the same page, although I could see it was killing him inside to not be able to go as fast as he knows he can go.
Time for the action to start…
The gate dropped for the first 450 moto and Mike got a great start, as usual. He was quickly fading back though due to his lack of speed but was still in the top 10 about half way through the first lap. That’s when things got ugly…Josh Grant was right behind Mike and we all know what happened next. Grant deliberately took Alessi out (some will debate that this was just a “racing incident”, but I know better), and sent him crashing on the ground hard. I guess there’s always been bad blood between these 2, but I was still very surprised to see Grant pull this B.S on an already injured rider (then again some will say that Alessi should not have been on the track to begin with, but that doesn’t justify what happened imo).
Mike Alessi talks to reporters after first practice.
When I noticed that Mike had gone down (I didn’t see the crash live, just on TV afterward), and was going back to the truck, I immediately followed (I was actually tasked to focus on Mike all weekend) to snap a few shots and find out if he was ok. Mike was in a lot of pain, he could barely walk. His girlfriend soon arrived at the truck and helped him get his boots and clothes off, and quickly checked his knee to see if it was still ok (see photo). Mike’s knee didn’t look ok at all, it was twice as swollen as before the crash…I advised Mike to go straight to the Asterisk truck to get x-rays, to make sure his bones were still in 1 piece (he was wondering if he should do the second moto). I then went back to the track to finish shooting the race.
And here’s what happened…
When the first 450cc moto was over, I walked to the Asterisk truck to try and get an update on Mike’s condition. It didn’t look good, as I was told to exit the truck right away and saw a bunch of grim faces before doing so. After waiting outside for a few minutes, I notice Tony Alessi exiting the Asterisk truck, looking real mad…Josh Grant’s team, Joe Gibbs Racing, was sitting 100 feet right in front of the Asterisk semi, and Tony was walking straight towards it! I grabbed my camera thinking sh!t is gonna get ugly, especially since AMA officials were already there talking to J-Bone (Joe Gibbs Racing team manager) about the incident, and Josh Grant was sitting outside on the back of the semi, talking with his mechanic.
I remember thinking “oh crap, this is gonna get ugly”! As I’m getting my camera ready, I look at Tony walking right by me, and he suddenly stops. He then did what I think I couldn’t have done if roles were reversed…he closed his eyes, looked up, took a deep breath, looked back down and re-opened his eyes, turned around and quietly went back inside the Asterix semi!
I’ll let that sink in for a minute or two…
Did that sink in? Are you thinking straight again? Yes, Tony Alessi kept his cool and came out on top if you ask me. It took a lot of control for him to do that, and I respect him more for it. Sorry it took me so long to get to the main focus of this story, but wasn’t it worth it?
Here’s a few more images of Mike Alessi from Lakewood below. Peace!
Now that's a swollen knee...this is after the crash, when Mike went back to the truck.
Mike's knee was hurting him a lot...
Getting ready for moto 1...
Mike is getting ready for the second practice session, in his own RV.
Mike's knee felt pretty good after the 2nd practice.
Mike tried to put in some strong laps during practice, but you could clearly see how much his knee was affecting him.
The AMA talks to Joe Gibbs Racing team manager Jeremy Albrecht about the "incident" between Grant and Alessi in moto 1.
Mike walking towards his bike to go out in practice.
