Monster Energy Supercross: St. Louis 2010 2

After the big swing in points last week in the AMA Monster Energy Supercross title chase between Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) and Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Kawasaki), where Villopoto cut Dungey’s lead nearly in half, if you had the feeling that this was going to be a pivotal week, you’d have been right. Coming into the race, Dungey was a mere 12 points ahead in the hunt for the series championship. But things got a whole lot brighter for him by the end of the night.

Ryan Dungey got an amazing start in the main event, just when he needed it most. Click any image for a larger version.

On the line for the main event, Dungey was sandwiched between the Monster Energy Kawasaki duo of Chad Reed and Ryan Villopoto, and there were some very nervous clutch hands among the riders. Someone on the gate twitched, and it nearly threw off the title contenders, but Dungey got an amazing start, with nearly half a bike-length lead just feet out of the gate. But it was Nick Wey (Babbitt’s/TiLube/MSR/Kawasaki) who got to the Spike TV holeshot stripe first (again), collecting the $1,500 check. He also led for a lap before Dungey got by, and you could tell that the Suzuki rider was in a hurry to get to the front and try to get away, and the later noted that he didn’t know where Villopoto was. He’d started fifth and was rapidly moving forward.

Villopoto was making time on Dungey, and when they ran into lappers on lap nine, Villopoto took the opportunity to dive inside Dungey. The two collided, went down, and then the race was on to see who could remount first. But that’s where it got interesting, Villopoto’s bike was pretty much flat in the corner, while Dungey’s was aimed downhill off the berm, but into Villopoto’s bike. The two seemed to wrestle forever trying to get the bikes untangled, and once they did, it was Villopoto who jumped out front. But in the meantime, Andrew Short (Honda Red Bull Racing) and Kevin Windham (GEICO Powersports Honda) and both caught up to the lead duo, and Dungey actually dropped to third for a lap before getting around Short, and Windham made his way around into third…and that’s when the complexion of the title chase rapidly changed.

After tangling with Ryan Dungey and both of them going down, Ryan Villopoto moved out into the lead. Unfortunately, he crashed a few laps later.

Villopoto was out front by himself, when he suddenly came up short on the end of a rhythm lane. This particular straight was a double-double-triple combo, with a large jump at the end of the triple section. But something happened on the takeoff, and Villopoto, knowing that he was going to come up way short, hit the eject button. The crash was rather horrible to watch, and it became apparent pretty quickly that it wasn’t something he was going to get up and walk away from. The post-race diagnosis? A broken tibia/fibula, and impending surgery.

Unfortunately Ivan Tedesco (Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha) crashed on the same section that Ryan Villopoto went down on while running in fourth spot, with only a handful of laps to go, and he also received some injuries, though it was rumored that his involved a punctured lung.

With Villopoto down and out of the race, it was back in Dungey’s hands…though Kevin Windham was making a charge and looking like he might try to snatch a win from Dungey. But a bobble by Windham gave Dungey some breathing room, and he took his fifth win of the season. He was followed by K-Dub, who nailed down the runner-up spot for the second consecutive week, and Andrew Short, who looked really good in his second race back after returning from a broken ankle.

Ryan Dungey scored his fifth win, Kevin Windham got his second consecutive runner-up spot, and Andrew Short returned to the podium for the first time since early in the season after an ankle injury.

Who else filled out the top ten? Nick Wey scored his best result of the season, and was followed by Chad Reed. (Reed had apparently complained about that jump combo where Ryan Villopoto and Ivan Tedesco got hurt after he scored a heat race win. He’d also suggested removing a quad jump on the track in Houston last week.)

Justin Brayton was sixth, just ahead of his JGRMX Toyota/Muscle Milk/Yamaha teammate Michael Byrne, and both are still hunting for that elusive first podium of the year. The final trio in the top ten were Kyle Chisholm (MotoConcepts Yamaha), who had a bar-banging duel with Matt Boni (Rockstar/Hart & Huntington)…and Boni lost. Davi Millsaps had a rough night after making it to the main in the LCQ (after two heat race crashes), and Tommy Hahn (Rockstar Energy Suzuki) was tenth.

This has been a great season so far, and it wasn’t supposed to end this soon. If Dungey has more than a 75-point lead after next weekend in Seattle (and it’s currently at 77 points), he’ll be crowned the 2010 AMA Monster Energy Supercross Champion…a full two races early.

Supercross Lites

Justin Barcia (GEICO Powersports Honda) put a serious beat-down on the rest of the Supercross Lites East crowd, leading by as much as 20 second during the main event. Dean Wilson (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) was second, but it wasn’t easy. A bobble on lap three dropped him to fourth, and he had to work his way to back to the head of the pack that was chasing Barcia. He got some help along the way when Ryan Sipes (MotoConcepts Yamaha) went down, and he worked his way past Brett Metcalfe with a handful of laps left to go in the main event.

Justin Barcia got the holeshot, and from there it was see-ya...

Wilson’s Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammate, Christophe Pourcel had clinched the 2010 Lites East title last weekend in Houston, and ran a rather leisurely main event…though we’re not sure that was his intention. He got high-centered on a Tuff Block on the first lap, and struggled to get unstuck. He was already a lap down on lap two, and was never a factor, finishing in 20th spot, after dropping out on lap five.

Dean Wilson grabbed a second-place finish in his return to the podium.

Martin Davalos (DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha) matched his season-best by finishing fourth, and he was followed by Blake Baggett (Rockstar Energy Suzuki). Kyle Cunningham (Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha) finished in sixth despite an early run-in with Suzuki City / Nitro Circus’ Steven Clarke that left both riders on the ground, and Cunningham in 14th. Michael Willard gave the Honda of Troy guys something to cheer about with his seventh, and Matt Lemoine (Suzuki City / Nitro Circus) was eighth. Clarke remounted for ninth, and Kyle Keylon (BTOSports.com/BBMX/Palmetto Suzuki) rounded out the top ten.

Steven Clarke and Kyle Cunningham duking it out over some real estate.

Next week? Ah, glad you asked. The Monster Energy Supercross series resumes the West Lites series in Seattle next week (remember those guys?), and unless something goes really wrong, Ryan Dungey could wrap up the Supercross title. We’ll be there to see what happens. In the meantime you can check out the Photo Blast in the Photo section. We'll add some more captions to them after we get home from St. Louis.

Results

2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross

St. Louis, MO

Supercross Lites Heat 1
1. Brett Metcalfe

2. Dean Wilson

3. Christophe Pourcel

4. Matt Lemoine

5. Steven Clarke

6. Michael Willard

7. Vince Friese

8. Sean Lipanovich

9. Jason Hussey

Supercross Lites Heat 2
1. Martin Davalos

2. Ryan Sipes

3. Justin Barcia

4. Blake Baggett

5. Kyle Keylon

6. James DeCotis

7. Tevin Tapia

8. Les Smith

9. Adam Chatfield

Supercross Heat 1
1. Chad Reed

2. Ryan Dungey

3. Andrew Short

4. Michael Byrne

5. Kyle Chisholm

6. Matt Boni

7. Jeff Gibson

8. Manuel Rivas

9. Jason Thomas

Supercross Heat 2
1. Justin Brayton

2. Ryan Villopoto

3. Kevin Windham

4. Nick Wey

5. Tommy Hahn

6. Ivan Tedesco

7. Justin Keeney

8. Jason Lawrence

9. Josh Hill

Supercross Lites LCQ
1. Kyle Cunningham

2. Levi Kilbarger

Supercross LCQ
1. Davi Millsaps

2. Chris Blose

Supercross Lites Main Event
1. Justin Barcia (Honda)

2. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki)

3. Brett Metcalfe (Honda)

4. Martin Davalos (Yamaha)

5. Blake Baggett (Suzuki)

6. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha)

7. Michael Willard (Honda)

8. Matt Lemoine (Suzuki)

9. Steven Clarke (Suzuki)

10. Kyle Keylon (Suzuki)

11. Vince Friese (Yamaha)

12. Adam Chatfield (Kawasaki)

13. James DeCotis (Honda)

14. Jason Hussey (Kawasaki)

15. Les Smith (Yamaha)

16. Tevin Tapia (KTM)

17. Sean Lipanovich (Honda)

18. Levi Kilbarger (Honda)

19. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha)

20. Christophe Pourcel (Kawasaki)

Supercross Main Event
1. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)

2. Kevin Windham (Honda)

3. Andrew Short (Honda)

4. Nick Wey (Kawasaki)

5. Chad Reed (Kawasaki)

6. Justin Brayton (Yamaha)

7. Michael Byrne (Yamaha)

8. Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha)

9. Davi Millsaps (Honda)

10. Tommy Hahn (Suzuki)

11. Jason Lawrence (Yamaha)

12. Justin Keeney (Kawasaki)

13. Josh Hill (Yamaha)

14. Chris Blose (Honda)

15. Matt Boni (Honda)

16. Jason Thomas (Suzuki)

17. Ivan Tedesco (Yamaha)

18. Manuel Rivas (Kawasaki)

19. Jeff Gibson (Yamaha)

20. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)

Supercross Lites East Final Point Standings
1. Christophe Pourcel 160

2. Justin Barcia147

3. Brett Metcalfe 133

4. Austin Stroupe 126

5. Blake Baggett 118

6. Dean Wilson 105

7. Ryan Sipes 93

8. Kyle Cunningham 84

9. Martin Davalos 83

10. Michael Willard 66

11. Matt Lemoine 61

12. James DeCotis 59

13. Troy Adams 58

14. Vince Friese 54

15. Adam Chatfield 47

Supercross Point Standings
1. Ryan Dungey 302

2. Ryan Villopoto 266

3. Josh Hill 225

4. Kevin Windham 223

5. Davi Millsaps 215

6. Justin Brayton 191

7. Ivan Tedesco 183

8. Nick Wey 159

9. Tommy Hahn 139

10. Kyle Chisholm 136

11. Michael Byrne 131

12. Trey Canard 103

13. Andrew Short 102

14. Chris Blose 95

15. Jason Thomas 69