Race Report: Salt Lake City 2011

The last time we visited Salt Lake City, things weren’t nearly as tense as it was this time around. In 2010, Ryan Dungey had already wrapped up the 450 crown, and Jake Weimer clinched his Lites West title while we were there at Rice-Eccles Stadium. But add in a much more competitive series for the 450 class in 2011, plus the format change where both the Lites East and West riders will race their last race in Las Vegas, and this one had the feel of a championship pressure-cooker in both classes. The questions were, who would snap? And who would seize the opportunity to step up and prove their championship potential?

Among the big-bore class, there were four riders (Ryan Villopoto, Chad Reed, Ryan Dungey, and James Stewart) all within nine points. In the 250s, it was a trio of racers (Broc Tickle, Josh Hansen, and Eli Tomac) all within seven points.

Supercross Main

Both Chad Reed (TwoTwo Motorsports Bel Ray Racing), and James Stewart (San Manuel Red Bull Yamaha) had scored heat race wins, and Stewart had also set the fastest time in practice…and it was Stewart who grabbed the holeshot, just edging out Justin Brayton (Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX), Reed, and Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Kawasaki). Reed and got by Brayton on the first lap to move into second, and both Villopoto and Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Energy Suzuki) got by the Yamaha rider a lap later. That put the top four in the title chase at the front of the pack.

That’s how they stayed until lap seven, when Villopoto got by Reed for second. It was a lap later that Stewart lost the front end in a 180-degree left-hander, and Villopoto moved to the front. Stewart remounted quickly, but while charging the whoops in the following section, he dropped the front end and went over the bars, seriously twisting up the front end on his Yamaha. The best he could manage after that was tenth, which pretty much stuck a fork in his championship hopes.

While Reed closed on Villopoto in the closing stages of the main event, he could never get close enough to threaten a pass, and Villopoto grabbed his sixth win of the season while also extending his points lead heading into the finals from six to nine. That means he’ll need to finish fifth or better, regardless what anyone else does, to score the 2011 Monster Energy Supercross crown.

Dungey came home third, followed by Andrew Short (Red Bull KTM), who matched his best finish of the season with a fourth, and also gave himself a bit of breathing room over his closest pursuer in the points chase, Kevin Windham (GEICO Honda), who was sixth. Davi Millsaps (Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX) was fifth, and Jake Weimer (Monster Energy Kawasaki) scored a seventh in his first race of the season.

Following the race, Villopoto explained his strategy heading into the night, saying, “In my mind, I wanted to get a win for sure so I could go into Vegas not having to win or finish in a certain spot. It definitely makes it nice to know that fifth or better will do it, but we’re out there to win races, and the ultimate goal is to win a championship.”

As far as the main in Salt Lake City, he said, “I had a great start, but Stew came in on the outside of me and I kind of slid into the side of him a little bit. But I was able to get around Brayton pretty quick and I knew that Chad was right in front of me. I knew that I couldn’t get into his pace, so I knew that I had to put a push in and get around him. Once I did that, obviously James knew that I got into second by hearing the crowd, and I’m sure it was on his pit board. Once I got into second he was right there. He was pretty close. Then he just slid out.”

“The track was technical and slippery and just hard to get your bike to stick. I got around him, but he got up really quick. As I was going up to the finish line, I saw him go over the bars again. So I knew that I didn’t have to worry about him, just Chad.”

As for Reed, he said, “I’m disappointed because I was inconsistent in the main, and I wasn’t quite as aggressive, and I need to be a little more aggressive and get out front and go for it. I honestly felt I was good enough to win, and just made too many mistakes in the whoops and I was kind of searching. I just needed to pick a line and commit to it. “

When we suggested to him that the whoops looked less like normal whoops and more like another rhythm section, he said, “Yeah, but man, when I got through them the way that I know how to ride whoops, then they were easy. I just murdered the things.” He paused, and continued, “You wish that you could share that feeling with somebody so that they could understand it. Like when you get ‘em right, and they’re as gnarly as that, it’s like you can just stand there and look around. It’s just that easy. But to tell your brain to communicate with the right wrist to just pin it and commit to them like that, when they’re pretty brutal, it’s tough.”

As for the title chase, he commented, “Even at my age you’re living and learning, and I’m just disappointed that I gave up three points when I felt that tonight was the night to narrow it down to three. Toward the end we closed up a lot. He started making a couple of mistakes and I started to nail the whoops. I was doing everything I could.”

How about his plan for next week? “Win the race, and let the cards fall the way they are. I’m disappointed in the way I rode, but looking at it, Ryan rode a really good strong race, and when you want to be champion, you’ve got to do that, you know? Hats off to him. He has to finish outside the top five, and I have to win, so I think it’s a longshot. Basically we’ll try just like all season long.” He chuckled and added, “Hopefully Vegas will maybe be a little exciting. We’ll try and do everything we can, but I think it’s a longshot.”

Villopoto now has a nine-point lead over Reed, with Dungey three points behind him in the chase for the runner-up spot, and there are 20 laps remaining next weekend in Las Vegas to settle it.

Lites Main

The start of the Lites main event featured the top three in points, but in reverse order. Eli Tomac (GEICO Honda) had the jump on the pack, followed by Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammates Josh Hansen and Broc Tickle. That lasted exactly one lap, until Hansen tried to muscle his way by Eli. Unfortunately, that proved to be a bad move for Josh, as he hit the deck and dropped to last while trying to restart his bike, which put a serious dent in his championship hopes.

Eli comfortably led the rest of the main, giving him his second win of the season. But the big race was behind him, as Ken Roczen (Red Bull KTM), and Broc Tickle battled over second and third positions. Tickle had the early advantage, but Roczen took over the runner-up spot on lap seven. Tickle gave it one more good charge, and almost pulled alongside Roczen, but the German rookie held onto the second spot, and Broc had to settle for third.

Just in case you think they were racing by themselves, there was another pair of hungry riders right behind them, making it a foursome as they headed for the checkers. Cole Seely (Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda) and Kyle Cunningham (DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha) nailed down fourth and fifth, and were followed in by Tyla Rattray (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), and Rockstar Energy Suzuki teammates Ryan Morais and Martin Davalos. Rounding out the top ten were Travis Baker (Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda), and Ben Evans (Truth/MB1/Kawasaki).

With Tomac’s win, and Broc Tickle’s third, Tomac now moves within two points of Tickle for the championship lead, giving them a winner takes all scenario between the two of them for next week.

Results

2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross

Salt Lake City, UT

Supercross Lites Heat 1

1. Ryan Morais

2. Ken Roczen

3. Eli Tomac

4. Josh Hansen

5. Nick Paluzzi

6. Tyla Rattray

7. Ben Evans

8. Landen Powell

9. Donald Vawser

Supercross Lites Heat 2

1. Cole Seely

2. Kyle Cunningham

3. Broc Tickle

4. Martin Davalos

5. Travis Baker

6. Bruce Rutherford

7. Topher Ingalls

8. Casey Hinson

9. Jake Canada

Supercross Heat 1

1. Chad Reed

2. Kevin Windham

3. Ryan Villopoto

4. Jake Weimer

5. Kyle Regal

6. Justin Brayton

7. Tommy Hahn

8. Michael Byrne

9. Ben LaMay

Supercross Heat 2

1. James Stewart

2. Ryan Dungey

3. Davi Millsaps

4. Andrew Short

5. Nick Wey

6. Mike Alessi

7. Robert Kiniry

8. Jason Thomas

9. Chris Blose

Supercross Lites LCQ

1. Tommy Weeck

2. Tevin Tapia

Supercross LCQ

1. Tyler Bowers

2. Cole Siebler

Supercross Lites Main Event

1. Eli Tomac (Honda)

2. Ken Roczen (KTM)

3. Broc Tickle (Kawasaki)

4. Cole Seely (Honda)

5. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha)

6. Tyla Rattray (Kawasaki)

7. Ryan Morais (Suzuki)

8. Martin Davalos (Suzuki)

9. Travis Baker (Honda)

10. Ben Evans (Kawasaki)

11. Tommy Weeck (Honda)

12. Jake Canada (Kawasaki)

13. Josh Hansen (Kawasaki)

14. Topher Ingalls (Honda)

15. Bruce Rutherford (Kawasaki)

16. Casey Hinson (KTM)

17. Donald Vawser (Kawasaki)

18. Landen Powell (Honda)

19. Tevin Tapia (KTM)

20. Nick Paluzzi (Yamaha)

Supercross Main Event

1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)

2. Chad Reed (Honda)

3. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)

4. Andrew Short (KTM)

5. Davi Millsaps (Yamaha)

6. Kevin Windham (Honda)

7. Jake Weimer (Kawasaki)

8. Tommy Hahn (Yamaha)

9. Justin Brayton (Yamaha)

10. James Stewart (Yamaha)

11. Nick Wey (Yamaha)

12. Kyle Regal (Yamaha)

13. Michael Byrne (Suzuki)

14. Chris Blose (Kawasaki)

15. Tyler Bowers (Kawasaki)

16. Jason Thomas (Suzuki)

17. Robert Kiniry (Kawasaki)

18. Cole Siebler (Kawasaki)

19. Ben LaMay (Yamaha)

20. Mike Alessi (KTM)

Supercross Lites West Point Standings

1. Broc Tickle 165

2. Eli Tomac 163

3. Josh Hansen 151

4. Cole Seely 131

5. Ryan Morais 124

6. Tyla Rattray 111

7. Ken Roczen 105

8. Kyle Cunningham 105

9. Martin Davalos 95

10. Ben Evans 68

Supercross Point Standings

1. Ryan Villopoto 318

2. Chad Reed 309

3. Ryan Dungey 306

4. James Stewart 295

5. Trey Canard 255

6. Andrew Short 214

7. Kevin Windham 202

8. Davi Millsaps 172

9. Justin Brayton 153

10. Nick Wey 139