Race Report: Jacksonville 2011

Race Report: Jacksonville 2011

Say what you want about the myth that weird things happen on full moons, after a night of Monster Energy Supercross like we saw in Jacksonville, we'd be hard-pressed to argue. Of course, it might also have had something to do with that right-handed first turn...

During the Lites LCQ, the two riders who just about everyone would have expected to make the main, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Blake Baggett, and Rockstar Energy Suzuki's Jason Anderson, both went down in the first turn, leaving them on the sidelines for the main event.

Then in the Supercross LCQ, the top two riders, including series points leader, Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Kawasaki), and Justin Brayton (Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX), both went down in a first-turn mishap that left them out of action, and reduced Ryan's points lead to seven at the end of the night. And we hadn't even dropped the gate on the two main events...

450 Main Event

With Ryan Villopoto sidelined for the main event, we expect there were some riders licking their chops at the prospect of making the maximum opportunity to cut into his 26-point lead. When the gate dropped, it was Mike Alessi (Red Bull KTM) grabbing his second holeshot of the night on his KTM 350, but there was some big action happening behind him.

James Stewart (San Manuel Red Bull Yamaha) was smoking fast during qualifying and he's also easily won his heat, but it looked like he wheelied a couple times after the gate dropped, which left him back in the pack a bit. The full moon weirdness continued when he got collected in a first turn crash that left him in serious pain and unable to continue, and he was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Meanwhile, up front, Trey Canard (American Honda Racing) and Chad Reed (TwoTwo Motorsports Bel Ray Racing) quickly got around Alessi, and began laying down some fast laps. Reed seemed content to pace Canard until they got to the lapped riders, and he put in a push, which combined with Canard struggling a bit in the whoops, had Reed closing rapidly. With just a few laps to go, Reed made his move and went by Canard, but as usual, Canard quickly countered, and moved back to the front, this time for good. While Reed said afterward that he felt much better than he had at Indy, he still wasn't 100 percent, and he opted to settle for second behind Canard.

Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Energy Suzuki) had spent pretty much the entire main behind the lead duo, and he grabbed the final podium spot. Kevin Windham (GEICO Powersports Honda) had come from 11th, all the way to fourth at the end, passing whole team like Hart & Huntington and Red Bull KTM along the way, and individuals like Cole Seely and Austin Stroupe, as well as Davi Millsaps, who'd crashed out.

Positions five through ten included Andrew Short (Red Bull KTM), Ivan Tedesco (Hart & Huntington / Dodge / Kawasaki), Mike Alessi, Austin Stroupe and Nick Wey (Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha), and Chris Blose (Hart & Huntington / Dodge / Kawasaki).

The points are now a whole lot tighter at the top, with Villopoto on top, but with only seven points between himself and Chad Reed. Ryan Dungey has moved to third, 11 points back of Reed. As for Stewart, after his DNF, he's in fourth spot, another four points behind Dungey, and with his status for the season up in the air.

Yep, we told you this was a weird one.

250 Main Event

After an off-track excursion that set him back a few spots, Justin Barcia (GEICO Powersports Honda) went to the gate about 15th or so, and about two-thirds of the way towards the outside. No matter, he ripped a nice holeshot, and went wire-to-wire for the win. That also boosted his series points lead to 17, heading into Toronto next weekend.

The battling that went on behind Barcia included some bar-to-bar action between his teammate, Blake Wharton, and Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Dean Wilson. Dean had worked his way into second, with Wharton in third...at least before crashed hard in the whoops and DNF'd. That left Wilson alone in second spot, and last week's winner, Ryan Sipes (DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha) in worked his way from fifth into third by lap three.

That locked up the podium spots, but Matt Lemoine (MotoExtreme Kawasaki) and PJ Larsen (JDR/J-Star/KTM) had to work their way by Darryn Durham (Eleven 10 Mods/Renegade Race Fuel) for fourth and fifth. Durham grabbed the sixth, and Les Smith and Taylor Futrell (both riding for Jimmy Weinert Racing) finished in seventh and eighth. Hunter Hewitt and Justin Sipes rounded out the top ten.

Next week we make our annual trip north of the border, to Toronto, Canada, to continue this wild season, but sans the full moon.

Results

2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross

Jacksonville, FL

Supercross Lites Heat 1

1. Dean Wilson

2. Matt Lemoine

3. PJ Larsen

4. Hunter Hewitt

5. Les Smith

6. Chris Gosselaar

7. Gannon Audette

8. Brad Ripple

9. Levi Kilbarger

Supercross Lites Heat 2

1. Blake Wharton

2. Darryn Durham

3. Ryan Sipes

4. Malcolm Stewart

5. Justin Barcia

6. Taylor Futrell

7. Kyle Keylon

8. Justin Sipes

9. Lance Vincent

Supercross Heat 1

1. Ryan Dungey

2. Trey Canard

3. Ivan Tedesco

4. Kevin Windham

5. Mike Alessi

6. Michael Byrne

7. Chris Blose

8. Weston Peick

9. Jarred Browne

Supercross Heat 2

1. James Stewart

2. Chad Reed

3. Andrew Short

4. Davi Millsaps

5. Austin Stroupe

6. Cole Seely

7. Nick Wey

8. Matt Goerke

9. Jason Thomas

Supercross Lites LCQ

1. AJ Catanzaro

2. Sean Lipanovich

Supercross LCQ

1. Fabien Izoird

2. Kyle Partridge

Supercross Lites Main Event

1. Justin Barcia (Honda)

2. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki)

3. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha)

4. Matt Lemoine (Kawasaki)

5. PJ Larsen (KTM)

6. Darryn Durham (Honda)

7. Les Smith (Honda)

8. Taylor Futrell (Honda)

9. Hunter Hewitt (Suzuki)

10. Justin Sipes (Kawasaki)

11. Lance Vincent (Honda)

12. AJ Catanzaro (Honda)

13. Kyle Keylon (Suzuki)

14. Sean Lipanovich (Suzuki)

15. Brad Ripple (Honda)

16. Levi Kilbarger (Honda)

17. Blake Wharton (Honda)

18. Chris Gosselaar (Suzuki)

19. Gannon Audette (Yamaha)

20. Malcolm Stewart (Suzuki)

Supercross Main Event

1. Trey Canard (Honda)

2. Chad Reed (Honda)

3. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)

4. Kevin Windham (Honda)

5. Andrew Short (KTM)

6. Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki)

7. Mike Alessi (KTM)

8. Austin Stroupe (Yamaha)

9. Nick Wey (Yamaha)

10. Chris Blose (Kawasaki)

11. Fabien Izoird (Kawasaki)

12. Michael Byrne (Suzuki)

13. Jason Thomas (Suzuki)

14. Jarred Browne (Yamaha)

15. Cole Seely (Honda)

16. Kyle Partridge (Honda)

17. Davi Millsaps (Yamaha)

18. James Stewart (Yamaha)

19. Matt Goerke (Kawasaki)

20. Weston Peick (Yamaha)

Supercross Lites East Point Standings

1. Justin Barcia 116

2. Ryan Sipes 99

3. Dean Wilson 97

4. Blake Baggett 85

5. Blake Wharton 69

6. Matt Lemoine 69

7. PJ Larsen 62

8. Malcolm Stewart 53

9. Jason Anderson 44

10. Lance Vincent 43

Supercross Point Standings

1. Ryan Villopoto 221

2. Chad Reed 214

3. Ryan Dungey 203

4. James Stewart 198

5. Trey Canard 194

6. Andrew Short 145

7. Justin Brayton 121

8. Kevin Windham 121

9. Davi Millsaps 118

10. Brett Metcalfe 107