This weekend Budds Creek Motocross Park in Mechanicsville, Maryland will be the host of the 2007 Motocross of Nations. The Motocross of Nations is sometimes referred to as the Olympics of motocross.

This is the second time the event will be held in the United States. The first time was in 1988 in at Unadilla in New Berlin, New York.

The riders from the United States team will be the defending champions after winning the event in England last September.

The event will be held September 20-23 starting with amateur racing Friday and Saturday. The professional racers in the Motocross of Nations event will practice Saturday and race Sunday.

One of the major headlines heading into the event is the retiring of a motocross legend. The race is scheduled to be the last motocross race for American motocross racer Ricky Carmichael of Florida.

Nicknamed "The GOAT" standing for the ‘Greatest of All Time', Carmichael will race his last motocross race and try to help team USA win another title.

This summer Carmichael raced a limited schedule in the motocross nationals. Carmichael attended only 6 of the 12 races but won all of them, including the national held at Budds Creek.

One of the riders joining Ricky Carmichael for team U.S.A. is James Stewart, who is also from Florida. Stewart was leading the AMA Motocross National points before injuring his knee late in the series. Stewart took off the remainder of the series to be prepared for the Motocross of Nations.

The third rider of the U.S.A. team is Ryan Villopoto, who is from Washington. Villopoto just won the AMA Motocross Lites series.

Budds Creek Motocross Park facility has undergone many changes to accommodate the large crowds expected for the event.

Track owner and promoter Jonathan Beasley said, ‘‘We are expecting 40,000 to 50,000 people in attendance for the event."

Beasley and the track crew have cleared out the woods that contained the hare-scramble track and flattened the land to create a large parking field for camping vehicles. There has also been another large field built to accommodate more motorhome and car parking

The Budds Creek track is also being reconfigured. At the Motocross of Nations, the track will run in a counterclockwise direction. The old start hill at the race track will no longer be a section of the track as it will be seeded and used for spectators viewing the races.

The start for the races has been moved down into the center of the track "so that everybody can see the start," said Beasley.

The track crew has put in another tunnel for spectators to use in order to get to the inside of the track. They also moved the finish line down to a jump by the start to allow everybody to be able to see the winner take the checkered flag.

After the national at Budds Creek was held on Father's Day weekend Beasley imported lots of mulch into the track to give it a much rougher and more rutted track. By doing so, the track will demand the best conditioning out of the riders to ensure that the best riders will be able to distance themselves.

Tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be $75 for adults and $45 for kids ages 6 to 12. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday will be $65 for adults and $35 for kids ages 6 to 12. Tickets for Sunday will be $50 for adults and $25 for kids ages 6 to 12. Children under 5 are free.

For more information, visit www.buddscreek.com or call the Budds Creek Motocross Park office at 301-475-2000.