As it stands now, this is the last time we'll see The Wastelands on the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals schedule.

By Danny Brault
Photos by James Lissimore

Vancouver Island received a heartfelt goodbye from the series in the form of four awesome motos at The Wastelands on Sunday. While the track itself has always had mixed reactions from riders, it does have a rich 12 year history with the CMRC Nationals and many, many moto memories. There was Blair Morgan's four moto sweep at the inaugural event in 1997; in 2001 we saw the first ever big rig pull into the pits, courtesy of Dave Gowland and his FedEx Yamaha team with Doug Dubach; Dusty Klatt's breakthrough ride came here in 2004 when he swept the MX2 class on his Blackfoot Honda; and then there are the local heroes like Courtenay's Darcy Lange and Campbell River's Andrew Belin who have shined in front of their loyal fans. Let's take a look at the memories that were made on The Wastelands in 2008!

Dusty Klatt is back! The Monster Energy Cernic's Kawasaki rider was showing more aggression than we've seen all year and was determined to get on top of the box. Klatt accomplished that in moto one after grabbing the holeshot, and he was leading the second moto over Colton Facciotti before sliding out on lap one. When he finally remounted and got his bike running, Klatt was way, way back, but he put his head down and charged all the way up to seventh. He's still third in points and only 10 back of leader, Tyler Medaglia.

Colton Facciotti's moto win streak came to an end in Nanaimo. Facciotti didn't have a great start in moto one, but worked his way into second by the halfway mark. Unfortunately, he fell down twice but still hung on for fourth. Facciotti took advantage of Klatt's mistake in the second moto and ran away with the win. His 4-1 was good enough for the overall and he's now only one point behind Medaglia in the series.

Simon Homans was strong once again on the hard Nanaimo shale. The Yamaha rider lost his front brake in the first moto but still finished seventh. He nearly had the holeshot in the final moto, but slid out and fell back to sixth. He poured it on, however, and worked his way up to third for fifth overall. Homans is now tied for sixth in points with Northrop.

Go Blair Go! The Prince Albert, SK rider was trying hard to relive his moto sweep from `97 but came up a tad short, finishing 2-4 for third overall. Morgan is fourth in points, 20 back of Klatt.  

Privateer Drew Clegg had a good day going 9-11 for tenth overall. Clegg was all over Jeff Gibson in the first moto, nearly going off the track at some points trying to get around the Cernic's rider. Clegg will no doubt have a legion of fans backing him this weekend at his local national in Edmonton.

Suzuki/OTSFF/Rockstar's Tyler Medaglia had his first off-weekend of the series. In fact, it was the first round that TM hasn't finished on the podium. I asked Medaglia what was up, but he didn't really have an answer. I do know his arm is still sore from his Red Bud crash a week ago so that may have slowed him down.  

Washington's Kevin Urquhart tied his best result yet with an eighth in the second MX1 moto. The Honda rider rode strong, holding off "The Dozer" Kyle Keast in the final laps.

Your MX1 podium: Jeff Northrop, Colton Facciotti and Blair Morgan. 

Kyle Beaton (22) and Aron Harvey (776) were surely the two fastest MX2 riders in Nanaimo. Moto one saw Harvey reel off his first moto win over Beets ... 

... and the Yamaha riders were going back and forth until Beaton's bike died. It was a heartbreaking moment that saw Beets fall to the ground in tears and his mechanic, Mike Smith, took it pretty hard as well. Don't worry guys, sometimes that crap happens but we still have four rounds and eight motos to go!

Beaton had to be proud of his little buddy, Spencer Knowles, who scored his first ever national points with an eighth in the first moto. Good job, Spenny! 

Beaton's Clearbrook Yamaha teammate, Shane Wiebe, also had a breakthrough weekend, scoring his best ever national finish with a sixth in moto one. Unfortunately, he too suffered some troubles in the final moto, leading to a DNF. 

Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki's Brock Hoyer continued his roll in Nanaimo, finishing  14-7 for ninth overall.  

Hoyer's teammate, Teddy Maier,  returned to the series after missing Regina due to an ankle injury. Maier took third overall with a 4-3 and sits fifth in the points.

After his bike quit in moto one, Suzuki's Jeremy Medaglia showed some heart in the second moto, coming from behind with a broken front brake line to finish 13th. This kid definitely has the speed to win, he just needs to get a break (pardon the pun).  

PerformX Racing's Kyle McGlynn showed determination and heart, too, racing through the pack in both motos to finish 10-12 for 11th overall. He's another Northern Alberta boy who has to be looking forward to racing in front of his family and friends in Edmonton this weekend.

Your MX2 podium: Eric Nye (who finished 3-2 for second overall and maintains a 30-point lead over Harvey in the series), Aron Harvey and Tedd Maier. See you in Edmonton!