2009 Monster Energy Supercross: Seattle

Ryan Villopoto.

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Click the following link for a 34-photo gallery of Supercross race action from Qwest Field in Seattle, WA.	You can also click the following link for a 37-photo gallery from Saturday's pre-race action in the pits, as well as timed qualifying.
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We were expecting plenty of action on Saturday night as the Monster Energy Supercross series resumed at Qwest Field in Seattle, and this round proved to be as exciting as we’d hoped…and far less predictable than expected. With a second-place finish by James Stewart (San Manuel / Yamaha / JSE), and a seventh-place finish by Chad Reed (Rockstar Makita Suzuki), Stewart went from having a five-point deficit in the series standings to having a four-point lead.

But equally big, this was the first race back for Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto, who’d missed a few rounds due to illness. Returning to action in his home state, he scored his first win in the 450 class, and became the fourth different rider this season to top the Supercross-class podium.

Seattle also marked a return to action after a long break for the Lites West riders, and their two-race sprint to the end of the season. Coming into the race, Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) had a two-point lead over Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer. Dungey also took a win in Seattle, and with Weimer’s fourth-place finish, Dungey extended his points lead heading into the final round of the Lites West series next weekend in Salt Lake City.

Ready for more details on the main event for each class? Here goes.

Ryan Dungey took the holeshot at the beginning of the Supercross Lites main event, with Jake Moss (Troy Lee Designs / Seaspan / PPG / Honda), and Ryan Morais (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) hot on his heels. Dungey went pretty much wire-to-wire for the 15 laps in the main, and the bulk of the racing was going on behind him. It took two laps for Ryan Morais to get by Jake Moss, which also allowed Trey Canard (Geico Powersports Honda) to come up and dice with Morais as well. In the meantime, Jake Weimer was working his way up through the back after a mid-pack start.

Ryan Dungey.

At the conclusion of the main, it was Dungey crossing the line first, followed by Morais and Canard, who’d had a fall that dropped him back from Morais. Weimer had managed to work his way up to fourth at the end, and while he’s still in second in the standings, he’s now nine points back of Dungey, and only five points ahead of Morias.

As for the Supercross class, Mike Alessi grabbed the holeshot at the beginning of the main event, with Ryan Villopoto in second spot. Reed and Stewart were both mired at the back of the pack, after contact with other riders, and heavy traffic. Both of them went to work to move their way to the front. At times, they were as many as eight positions apart, and Chad was only able to close that gap to five positions at the end.

The other battle that everyone was watching was between Alessi and Villopoto. Mike led for the first seven laps, until he lost the front tire at the end of a left/right section turn section leading to a set of whoops. Villopoto almost got caught up in the wreck, but squeaked by and held the lead through the rest of the main event. Stewart worked his way past Davi Millsaps (Honda Red Bull Racing) who’d ridden a steady race, and Chad Reed was able to make his way to seventh spot by the end of the main, though he didn’t look like his normal speedy self.

So was Saturday night a turning point in the Supercross title chase? We'd say so. It was the first race this season that you could point to as a weak point, with a resulting eight-point swing in the championship tally, and the first time since Anaheim 2 that he hasn’t had the points lead.

If James had continued to win races, with Chad finishing in second, they'd have gone into Vegas one point apart, and with Stewart holding a one-point lead. Now he's got a four-point lead, and a race left to try and add to that before the season finale in Las Vegas. But, as always, there's a reason they run all the races, and as we saw in Seattle, anything can happen. What will happen next week in Salt Lake City, and beyond? We can’t wait to find out.

Results

2009 Monster Energy Supercross

Qwest Field, Seattle, WA

Supercross Lites Heat 1
1. Ryan Morais

2. Jake Weimer

3. Dan Reardon

4. Ryan Sipes

5. Michael Hall

6. Jeff Alessi

7. Gray Davenport

8. Kyle Cunningham

9. Ryan Clark

Supercross Lites Heat 2
1. Jake Moss

2. Ryan Dungey

3. Jimmy Albertson

4. P. J. Larsen

5. Eric McCrummen

6. Trey Canard

7. Mike Horban

8. Alex Martin

9. Derek Costella

Supercross Heat 1
1. Ivan Tedesco

2. Chad Reed

3. Josh Grant

4. Davi Millsaps

5. Troy Adams

6. Heath Voss

7. Jason Thomas

8. Nick Wey

9. Kyle Chisholm

Supercross Heat 2
1. James Stewart

2. Ryan Villopoto

3. Kevin Windham

4. Mike Alessi

5. Matt Boni

6. Andrew Short

7. Tommy Hahn

8. Paul Carpenter

9. Tyler Bowers

Supercross Lites LCQ
1. Chris Blose

2. Sean Borkenhagen

Supercross LCQ
1. Billy Laninovich

2. Jake Marsack

Supercross Lites Main Event
1. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)

2. Ryan Morais (Kawasaki)

3. Trey Canard (Honda)

4. Jake Weimer (Kawasaki)

5. Jake Moss (Honda)

6. Jimmy Albertson (Honda)

7. Kyle Cunningham (Kawasaki)

8. Chris Blose (Honda)

9. Michael Hall (Yamaha)

10. Jeff Alessi (Honda)

11. P. J. Larsen (Kawasaki)

12. Sean Borkenhagen (Honda)

13. Dan Reardon (Honda)

14. Alex Martin (Honda)

15. Derek Costella (Honda)

16. Mike Horban (Yamaha)

17. Ryan Sipes (KTM)

18. Eric McCrummen (Honda)

19. Gray Davenport (Kawasaki)

20. Ryan Clark (Honda)

Supercross Main Event
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)

2. James Stewart (Yamaha)

3. Davi Millsaps (Honda)

4. Mike Alessi (Suzuki)

5. Andrew Short (Honda)

6. Josh Grant (Yamaha)

7. Chad Reed (Suzuki)

8. Paul Carpenter (Kawasaki)

9. Ivan Tedesco (Honda)

10. Kevin Windham (Honda)

11. Nick Wey (Yamaha)

12. Heath Voss (Honda)

13. Tommy Hahn (Kawasaki)

14. Matt Boni (Honda)

15. Jason Thomas (Honda)

16. Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha)

17. Tyler Bowers (Honda)

18. Jake Marsack (Honda)

19. Troy Adams (Honda)

20. Billy Laninovich (Kawasaki)

Supercross Lites West Point Standings
1. Ryan Dungey 150

2. Jake Weimer 151

3. Ryan Morais 146

4. Justin Brayton 103

5. Chris Blose 95

6. Ryan Sipes 89

7. Trey Canard 74

8. Dan Reardon 67

9. Jeff Alessi 62

10. P. J. Larsen 61

Supercross Point Standings
1. James Stewart 332

2. Chad Reed 329

3. Andrew Short 240

4. Josh Grant 208

5. Kevin Windham 204

6. Mike Alessi 203

7. Ivan Tedesco 199

8. Ryan Villopoto 190

9. Davi Millsaps 188

10. Josh Hill 146