Intern Report: Las Vegas Supercross

By: Motocross.com

Posted: 05/05/09

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Words and Photos by: Kristen Beat

During the track walk riders looked upon the Vegas soil with a sense of anticipation. The track boasted a well designed contour motivating riders to navigate alternative lines which made for some of the best racing seen this season. Trey Canard reported a favorable track condition "The track is really good for Vegas, it's staying tacky and I really can't complain." During the rider's meeting AMA covered all bases, particularly by addressing the Chisholm/Reed conflict by stating, "As far as the racing goes, we will ensure what happened last week will not occur again and we are hoping to see some great racing tonight."

As the sun set on the Vegas horizon, a competitive air arose. The pits became flooded with echoes of excitement and rivalry.  Throughout the day qualifying Stewart put down some fast lap times, joining him was none other than A1 victor, Josh Grant who has had a roller coaster of a season and was expected to possibly throw down a wild card win in the main event. Another wild card came in the form of Ryan Villopotto. He easily adjusted to the track and proved to be stronger than ever.  In the Lites class, Dungey put down a fast qualifying time which challenged Christophe Pourcel to step up his East Coast game. Both Lites champions hoped to grab the win.

With the drop of the gate fans were on their feet cheering for their favorite Lites rider. In heat one Dungey took an early lead and maintained his position throughout the race. Following him were Trey Canard, Jake Weimer and Justin Brayton.

In heat two Austin Stroupe made the checker with Pourcel and Tickle behind. The premier Supercross class heats confirmed what fans and riders alike had already known. The winner of the championship would only be determined by the main event, and the winner of the Las Vegas event was just about as predictable as the roulette wheel.

Prior to the main event, discussion surrounded whether or not Stewart would be able to grasp the coveted number one plate from Reed. It is evident that under pressure Stewart has the tendency to ride over his head, which could leave the door open for Reed to claim the championship spot given a major mishap on the behalf of Stewart. Reed on the other hand, has exhibited an often too conservative riding style.

The Lites class victory went to Christophe Pourcel on the Monster Energy Kawasaki. Surprisingly the leader for most of the race had been Trey Canard, who had held a 3 second lead on Pourcel. Canard fell behind after struggling with some lappers in the final laps of the race.

Trey seemed slightly disappointed with his performance, "I am a little bummed, I've gotten better and better with each race, so hopefully it just keeps getting better. Again I'm bummed, but I'm healthy."

Ryan Dungey had a lot to say post-race, "I feel good and bad. I think the good part is we rode solid I definitely have my work cut out for me, getting the start I did wasn't the greatest. At the same time it was a good race, I think we dug deep and came a little shy of the win. The bad part is the Toyota truck would have been nice, but I'm not going to get greedy. I think it gave the fans a show if anything, lets just keep moving forward. I've been looking forward to outdoors for a while now, just trying to carry that momentum over into the first round and winning every race from here on out. There's a lot of new faces and that's always interesting not just for me but for the fans. It's going to be a fight but after tonight we are ready to go at it and may the better man win."

Soon it was time for the big bikes to hit the track, the moment everyone had been waiting for. With no hesitation the riders were off and leading the pack into the first corner was the holeshot kid, Mike Alessi. Close behind was Stewart and Villopoto and further back in the pack was Chad Reed. Few words could describe the race, although the G.O.A.T. Ricky Carmichael made an attempt, "The supercross race was really weird, it was a really weird race. It was just different. I mean it was a great race and it was definitely fun to watch."

Throughout the race Villopoto battled with Stewart to eventually take and hold the lead. Villopoto created a major gap between himself and the rest of the pack, where Stewart and Reed later battled. Stewart made a few mistakes which almost cost him the win but he held his composure long enough to stay on the bike and take home the title. After the race Villopoto explained, "It was a good race I had a good qualifier a good main, rode twenty clean laps. I made the pass on James when he made a mistake and I just tried to pull away a little bit. I am ready for outdoors and I think I'll have a good shot at winning for sure."