Vital Buzz

Jake Weimer, blasting through the whoops in Vegas on Saturday night. Click any photo here to see a larger version.

You can always count on something crazy happening in Las Vegas (of one sort or another), but this year’s U.S. Open was one of the wilder editions that we’ve seen.

First up was James Stewart’s withdrawal from the race after Friday afternoon’s practices. But he was extremely open about his reasons for not racing, had the full backing of his team, and was eager to explain his reasons for not racing. “The thing is, when I race, I want to be ready to race. The reason I probably got hurt in the outdoor season was I couldn’t train, and I couldn’t ride during the week and I was going to the race like I am now. When you’re in a series, you have to make those adjustments. You have to suck it up and race, where this is not a race on the calendar. I just think it’s not a good decision for us to be here right now and take this chance.”

James says he wasn't ready to carry the number one plate in Vegas, but he'll be ready at Anaheim 1.

"It’s not like it just hit me today. I’ve been contemplating this decision the whole time. To be honest with you, last week I said I wasn’t coming. On Wednesday we thought, ‘Well, maybe we’ll come here and just try.’ I just felt like something’s not right. Normally I get up in the morning ready to go, and it’s work time. I just never had that same feeling because I knew I wasn’t ready to come. If somebody raced me for 20 laps, I knew I was going to be the weaker guy. That’s not how you’re supposed to race, you’re supposed to race at 100 percent, unless you’ve got some kind of injury, or you’re in a series. Obviously we’re not at the Supercross series where you can take that into consideration. I just felt like, ever since I got here, that I shouldn’t be racing.

When asked if he might make an appearance at Bercy, or some other international events, James said, “If we would have come here and felt good, that could have been a possibility, but, I just don’t see us pulling out of this race and then going to race somewhere else. I just think, for me, I wanted to take advantage of these two-and-a-half months, to get myself back to even better than I was last year. It’s going to take all that, and my goal’s to be ready for the AMA Supercross championship, and nothing else in-between. That’s what’s going to happen, so our next race will be at Anaheim.”

Of course, he did show up with the number one plate on his bike, and when Mario Marini asked whether it felt good to have the number one on the bike for a few laps, James replied, “It definitely felt good to have the number one, but I wasn’t riding like I had the number one. I shouldn’t have shown up with the number one, because the way I was riding out there, that’s not the guy who won the Supercross championship. That’s not James Stewart out there. That’s someone who’s trying to do too much too soon. I realized that, and that’s why I’m having this press conference with you guys to pull out. I’m not ready. I’m not ready to hold that number one plate and carry it right now. It’s too early.”

Slightly overlooked in all the commotion of the crazy main event on Saturday night was the winner of the main event, Jake Weimer, and the fact that he’d won on a 250F against the bigger machinery. “I definitely had some luck on my side. I wasn’t putting pressure on myself to win…riding a Lites bike, which I don’t really think was that big a disadvantage aside from the start.”

Jake did have some strategy on his side, though. “For starters, I lined up on the inside, because I knew everyone was going to push wide. I got a pretty good jump, but let off earlier than Reed, and stayed to the inside, because I knew that…I didn’t know he was going to go down, but I knew there’d be commotion the outside. I let off early, got my braking done, saw that Reed was sliding out, and I was like, ‘All right, I got the holeshot.’ The first five laps I tried to really sprint, ride smooth with minimal mistakes. After that, I took a look behind me, and saw Demuth was behind me. I got a little bit of a gap, and just tried to keep it right there  and hold it with a smart, good pace, and it worked out.”

Jake Weimer put in a very solid ride on Saturday night, taking the main event win.

So how much satisfaction was there on winning the main on the Lites bike? “It’s good for sure. Especially after last night when Reed got all butt-hurt in the heat race. He got all bummed out on me…I don’t know why. It’s tight racing, and everyone’s doing what they’ve got to do to qualify and get in the main. So it was just good to capitalize on his mistake and make some money. It’s a good feeling, obviously for me. I’m taking a few weeks off after this. It’s obviously a really good feeling to have this under my belt in the time off. It makes it easier to go back to the gym and start working hard again, knowing that the last time I raced I won.”

Where will he be taking his time off? “I’m going back to Idaho, where I’m from, and just relax. I’ve got a really good Supercross track so I’ll ride, but nothing too intense. Just ride, hang out with friends, and have fun.” Jake did also mention that he’ll be doing some hunting on his time off, saying, “If it flies, it dies.”

The first turn in Saturday night’s main event had a lot to do with the race’s outcome, when a crash took out nearly all the top finishers. Tim Ferry got punted under the bleachers by Chad Reed, and was none too pleased. His Kawasaki was already sporting a nice gouge on the swingarm from where Chad had nudged his way past in the first turn on Friday night, and let Chad know it after the finish on Saturday night. Maybe the fake boxing ring used for the rider introductions could have been put to use after the main?

Fro was back in the ring on Saturday night, duking it out with LaRocco and Huffman. Maybe they should have used it in the closing ceremonies, too?

When we caught up with Ferry after the race at the Kawasaki rig, he explained the first turn this way. “Basically, Chad came in hot. Obviously the money was on the line for him, and I thought I had the holeshot from the outside, and in a worst-case scenario, him sneak around the inside. He basically just drilled me. I flew up underneath the stadium.”

The first turn on Saturday night looked like almost a repeat of Friday night's. Tim Ferry had a slight advantage, with Chad Reed on the inside of him.

“I got up and finished the race, and I stayed in front of Weimer the whole time. I think I actually pulled him a little bit. He had somebody to chase, and it was probably good for him.”

“I’m disappointed. The weekend could have turned out a lot better. I had a fourth, and set up for a podium finish with the two-night combo. If that would have happened and I’d have been the one who stayed up, I could have been the overall winner tonight. But this is racing, and this race is very funky in a way. It’s always done this to me. It seems like I do good one night, and crash the other.”

“We found some errors that we’ve made with the bike, and we’re going to start testing this week, so that’s the positive that I get out of it, and the reason we actually came here.”

Red Dog was fired up after getting punted off the first turn and out of the arena.

And what happened after the race? “I was mad, and I think I have every reason to be mad. This is racing, and my adrenaline was going. I told him what I thought about him, and that’s that. We’ll put it behind us. I’m calmed down now. I know he was going for the money, but I don’t see any reason why I ended up under the bleachers. He got his, and went down with us, and I think he had that coming.”

That just leaves the overall winner, Grant Langston. When quizzed about whether that was the craziest race he’d ever been in, he said, “Yeah, unreal. I got a good start. I was stoked. I had Red Dog to the left of me. Obviously I didn’t have the greatest of gate picks. I was like, ‘Sweet.’ Me and Timmy were side-by-side, and I was going to give Timmy the edge, because I figured he’d drift wide and block me, but I still thought I was going to come out okay. As I was thinking we’re in the clear, all of a sudden Timmy kind of comes over and hit the side of me and I went down. Then I’m trying to pick up my bike and it’s like in fourth gear because the shift lever hit, and I know those bikes you’ve got to get it in neutral. I got it in neutral, and everyone’s kicking. I’m looking around, and the guys who went 1-2-3-4 are all lying on the ground. I’m like, ‘This thing’s still up for grabs.’ The four of us were down for a while.

So then I’m thinking, ‘The top four guys are out. I’ve got to go for it. I tried to charge, and got going, and Chad was right behind me, and Shorty was right in front of me. I was trying to be calm about it, but I made a little bobble here. It got slick and then I really messed up coming back in the tunnel. Chad, I could hear him all over me. I made a couple mistakes, the track was really slick and really easy to make mistakes. I kept trying to push, and like I said, I did make that one bobble and I could hear Chad and I knew he was going to come up on the inside of me and he did. Then I tried to stick with him and I really messed up coming into the whoops. That turn was so slick, the long left, and the very end before you do the double into the whoops. I almost washed out and went down. I faced the double and had no momentum going into the whoops. I probably lost two seconds right there, and thought, ‘Oh man, I’m losing touch with these guys.’ Then I came around the next lap and they were playing pick up sticks. The funny part was, I turned onto the start straight, and they were off the track kind of, on the start straight. They both picked up their bikes and it looked like they were both practicing starts. I came ‘round the turn, and I could hear these bikes coming and all of a sudden I feel a thud from behind, and I looked over my left shoulder, but I didn’t see anyone. I found out that it was Chad that hit me. I was spinning, and someone said he tried to cut over. It was just crazy. There was a lot of stuff going on.  I didn’t know what position I was in or how many laps were left. I knew I was getting arm pump.”

After tangling in the middle of the main, Chad Reed and Andrew Short went down. That allowed Grant Langston to catch and re-pass them. A second or two after this shot, Reed and Langston tangled, and Reed went down again.

The question came up about what kind of pit boards he was getting during the race, and he laughed and said, “There was too much on the pit board. My mechanic was trying to give me his whole life story there on the pit board. I couldn’t make it out. He had plus seven, laps, person, position, and I never really figured it all out in the correct order. Then I saw a big sign that said, ‘Get Byrne!’ So I was thinking, maybe he knows something I don't, and I put my head down and I was adamant on getting Byrne. I reeled him in, and right when I got up on him, he made it easy by tipping over. Then no one was close behind me, and no one was close in front of me, and I was super-tense, so I just mellowed out. I crossed the finish line and sort of figured out where I finished. I’m like, ‘2-5, I should at least be on the podium. Everyone’s like, ‘You may have won.’ Then it was, ‘I think you won.’ ‘I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure you’ve won.’ I’m like, ‘Can someone get the facts around here? You’re killing me.’ I’m looking at the check on the podium, going, ‘Can I grab it?’ When they told me, I was like, ‘Are you sure?’ They said, ‘Yeah, you tied with Chad, but you got the overall because of the better finish. I was like, ‘Wow, unreal. Just crazy. I never thought that this would turn out this way, with that ending.’ But nevertheless, I’m very happy.”

What will he do with the $100,000-plus that he took home for the win? “I think I’m going to buy myself a nice car. I was thinking about doing it with my championship bonus, but I put it away in investments and didn’t even see it. It got wired to my investment account, so I let my guy make me some money there.”

“You know, I’ve always said at the U.S. Open we’ve seen in the past that maybe not the fastest guy has won. Multiple years, just guys that have stayed out of trouble and put in two nights won.  I think yesterday, I had a good feeling that I had a shot at it tonight. One way or another, whether I would go out and straight up win, or whether it would be this crazy. I just thought a second last night’s as good as a win, if you win tonight. I mean a 2-1 always takes it. I felt good in practice, I set the fastest time and I was pretty excited. I was so bummed on the Superpole, that last corner my rear wheel broke through that berm and caught the tuf-blok. It honestly cost me two tenths, and I lost by a tenth. I was thinking, ‘Man, I blew it. I’ve gotta win something.’ So at least I took the big one. The one that goes in the record books.”

Chad checks his wounded elbow after Saturday night's main. The scraped-off left forearm left his pants leg bloodied as well.

So now that the race is in the record books, and everyone’s looking at a long period of preparation between now and Anaheim 1 in January, and the race means…well, it doesn’t mean a whole lot. Was it a preview of next season? Probably not. But if everyone comes in as hungry and competitive as they did in Vegas, ’08 will be a very good year.