Race Report: St. Louis 2011

Last week we marveled that the points among the top five riders had tightened up after the Monster Energy Supercross round at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Guess what? It happened again in St. Louis.

Last week there were 21 points between the top five riders, and after Saturday night’s action at the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis, that margin is now down to 20. Here’s how it happened.

450 Main

Ivan Tedesco (Hart & Huntington/Dodge/Kawasaki) might be limping through to the end of the season with a torn ACL, but there’s nothing wrong with his starting skills. He holeshot both his heat race, and the main event. But with nearly every title contender up front at the start, it wasn’t long before he got shuffled back a bit. Ivan did lead a lap before James Stewart (San Manuel Red Bull Yamaha) took over the top spot. Then a lap later, both Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) and Chad Reed (TwoTwo Motorsports Bel Ray Racing) made their way by.

The top three positions remained the same until near the halfway point, but with series points leader Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Kawasaki) closing in on Reed, a Tuf Block got kicked out in front of the Aussie, which slowed his progress, and made it all the easier for Villopoto to move into the final podium spot…and that’s pretty much how they stayed until the finish. There was no crazy contact between riders (that we saw), no riders looking to brawl after the finish, and no jaw-dropping moments that left you with the feeling that you were watching a screenplay come to life, rather than a racing series. Maybe they’re saving that for next week in Seattle, where it’s sounding more and more likely that we’re in for a mud race that could really turn into a wild card event.

But on the podium it was a very emotional James Stewart who collected his first win since Anaheim II, and he said, “I didn’t care about anything else, I just wanted to win and show my team that I’m still here. I’m still trying and I still have it.”

Villopoto’s third was enough to extend his points lead to five over Dungey, who moved into second spot ahead of Reed, who is now eight behind the leader. Ryan said, “I was able to get around Chad once he made that mistake, and try to catch Ryan, but the track was really tough to do anything different on, or make a lot of time up, so we just kind of rode it out that way.”

Just missing the podium was a very disappointed Chad Reed, who managed to stay ahead of Canard, though that gap was closing. Kevin Windham (GEICO Powersports Honda) shook off the affects of a gnarly practice crash to end up sixth ahead of Davi Millsaps (Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX). Tedesco eventually landed in eighth spot, just ahead of Austin Stroupe (Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha), and Andrew Short (Red Bull KTM).

With Stewart’s win, that moved him back into fourth in the series standings, 16 points out of the lead, and ahead of American Honda Racing’s Trey Canard. Trey was the lone title contender that had a bad start, and he worked his way from 15th early on, to a strong fifth at the end.

250 Main

This race was the second-to-last round of the Lites East championship, with only the finals in Vegas to go. Justin Barcia (GEICO Powersports Honda) was the rider with the points lead coming into St. Louis, a 13-point gap over Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson.

When the gate dropped, it was Blake Baggett grabbing the holeshot, though it was less than a lap before Barcia made his way by and into the lead, with Ryan Sipes (DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha) hot on his tail. In fact, Sipes took over the lead on lap two, before Barcia snatched it back, and then stretched a gap over the Yamaha rider. The best battle after that was between Sipes and Baggett, who put on a clinic in very clean racing, going back and forth before Sipes eventually opened up a gap of his own.

Wilson settled for fourth, though he did force his way past GEICO Powersports Honda’s Blake Wharton for fourth spot. Wharton was fifth, and Gannon Audette (DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha) turned in the best ride of his rookie season with a sixth. Hunter Hewitt (One Industries/Xtreme/Suzuki), Lance Vincent (Rockwell/Honda of Houston), and the South of the Border/Jimmy Weinert Racing duo of Les Smith and Taylor Futrell rounded out the top ten.

When the points were tallied, Barcia had extended his lead over Wilson to 20, leaving him as the only rider left with a mathematical shot of overtaking him in Vegas. Afterward, when asked about the new format for the series finale, Barcia said, “I think it’s cool, I’ve been doing the same thing every weekend, so I’ll go there, and bust out some good timed practices, and go into the heat race…main event…whatever they want to call it, and just kill it. Get that championship.”

So next weekend we’ll head to Seattle, and resume the last two regular rounds of the Lites West series, while the East riders rest up and start their outdoor testing. Be sure to check back on Vital MX for full coverage.

Results

2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross

St. Louis, MO

Supercross Lites Heat 1

1. Blake Baggett

2. Blake Wharton

3. Darryn Durham

4. Tyler Bright

5. Jason Anderson

6. Kurtis Mccabe

7. Hunter Clements

8. Nicholas Myers

9. Levi Kilbarger

Supercross Lites Heat 2

1. Justin Barcia

2. Dean Wilson

3. Ryan Sipes

4. Gannon Audette

5. Hunter Hewitt

6. Lance Vincent

7. Les Smith

8. Brad Ripple

9. Justin Sipes

Supercross Heat 1

1. James Stewart

2. Ryan Villopoto

3. Ivan Tedesco

4. Kevin Windham

5. Chad Reed

6. Tommy Hahn

7. Weston Peick

8. Michael Byrne

9. Fabien Izoird

Supercross Heat 2

1. Ryan Dungey

2. Trey Canard

3. Davi Millsaps

4. Austin Stroupe

5. Andrew Short

6. Mike Alessi

7. Kyle Regal

8. Chris Blose

9. Tye Simmonds

Supercross Lites LCQ

1. Taylor Futrell

2. Matt Lemoine

Supercross LCQ

1. Nick Wey

2. Robert Kiniry

Supercross Lites Main Event

1. Justin Barcia (Honda)

2. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha)

3. Blake Baggett (Kawasaki)

4. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki)

5. Blake Wharton (Honda)

6. Gannon Audette (Yamaha)

7. Hunter Hewitt (Suzuki)

8. Lance Vincent (Honda)

9. Les Smith (Honda)

10. Taylor Futrell (Honda)

11. Darryn Durham (Honda)

12. Matt Lemoine (Kawasaki)

13. Brad Ripple (Honda)

14. Tyler Bright (Honda)

15. Levi Kilbarger (Honda)

16. Justin Sipes (Kawasaki)

17. Hunter Clements (Honda)

18. Kurtis Mccabe (Honda)

19. Nicholas Myers (Honda)

20. Jason Anderson (Suzuki)

Supercross Main Event

1. James Stewart (Yamaha)

2. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)

3. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)

4. Chad Reed (Honda)

5. Trey Canard (Honda)

6. Kevin Windham (Honda)

7. Davi Millsaps (Yamaha)

8. Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki)

9. Austin Stroupe (Yamaha)

10. Andrew Short (KTM)

11. Tommy Hahn (Yamaha)

12. Chris Blose (Kawasaki)

13. Nick Wey (Yamaha)

14. Kyle Regal (Yamaha)

15. Michael Byrne(Suzuki)

16. Robert Kiniry (Kawasaki)

17. Mike Alessi (KTM)

18. Tye Simmonds (KTM)

19. Fabien Izoird (Kawasaki)

20. Weston Peick (Yamaha)

Supercross Lites East Point Standings

1. Justin Barcia 185

2. Dean Wilson 165

3. Ryan Sipes 141

4. Blake Baggett 134

5. Blake Wharton 125

6. Matt Lemoine 105

7. PJ Larsen 80

8. Malcolm Stewart 73

9. Lance Vincent 69

10. Hunter Hewitt 67

Supercross Point Standings

1. Ryan Villopoto 275

2. Ryan Dungey 270

3. Chad Reed 267

4. James Stewart 259

5. Trey Canard 255

6. Andrew Short 185

7. Kevin Windham 165

8. Davi Millsaps 143

9. Justin Brayton 141

10. Ivan Tedesco 127