Race Report: Dallas 2011 7

Coming into Dallas, the top three riders in the 450 class were all within eight points…and a total of 22 markers covered the top five. Chad Reed was on top, followed by Ryan Villopoto. Once racing was finished on Saturday night, things were even tighter, with only seven points between the top three, and all of the top five were within 21 points of each other. On top of that, four of the top five spots had changed hands.

The track in Dallas proved to be plenty tricky, with a mix of hardpack with a couple sandier sections thrown in. But the big story were the whoops. There were two separate sections, but the one along the west end zone of Cowboy Stadium was particularly nasty.

450 Main

It looked like Trey Canard (American Honda Racing) had everyone covered heading into the first turn, but Mike Alessi (Red Bull KTM) and his 350 SX-F had other ideas. He came from way outside, and led the pack through the first turn, before Canard took over the top spot and quickly gapped the field, and he was being pursued by the rest of the guys within the top five in points. Chad Reed (TwoTwo Motorsports Bel Ray Racing), James Stewart (San Manuel Red Bull Yamaha), Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Makita Suzuki), and Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Kawasaki).

Stewart moved by Reed on the second lap, and looked like he wanted to repeat his heat race, where he’d reeled in and passed Canard. But instead, he seemed to tighten up, and Reed got back by him on lap four.

They stayed that way until just before the halfway point, when Stewart got a little wild through the whoops, and collected Reed in the bowl turn that followed. (You can check out a complete sequence of that here.)

Reed dropped to ninth spot, and a long way back, after he finally remounted. But his bike was sort of a mess, with one of the number plates ripped off, as well as the seat’s front mount. But while Stewart remounted ahead of Reed in fifth place, his bike was steaming, and looked to be rapidly loosing coolant from a tweaked radiator hose.

With Stewart and Reed’s problems, that bumped Dungey and Villopoto up to second and third, respectively, and they ran that way for a couple laps. But a tangle with Michael Byrne (BTOSports.com/BBMX/Palmetto Suzuki) put Dungey down momentarily, and moving Villopoto up to second spot. That’s pretty much how the top three finished…though they were all much closer together by the time they reached the checkered flag. Canard took his third win of the season by 2.1 seconds over Villopoto and Dungey.

Stewart made it back to fourth at the end, and he was followed in by Kevin Windham (GEICO Powersports Honda), who’d had to go through the LCQ to qualify, after a tangle with Mike Alessi in their heat race. Andrew Short (Red Bull KTM) was sixth, and Reed was in seventh with a lap to go. But a bobble allowed Tommy Hahn (MotoConcepts Yamaha) to get by, adding to Reed’s bad night. Rounding out the top ten were Austin Stroupe (Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha), and Alessi.

Reed and Villopoto swapped the top two spots in the standings, and Villopoto now leads by six points. Dungey stayed in third, now one point behind Reed, and with his win, Canard moved ahead of Stewart and into fourth spot with only four races remaining.

250 Main Event

Lites East series points leader Justin Barcia (GEICO Powersports Honda) had the lead as they exited the first turn, followed by Ryan Sipes (DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha), and Dean Wilson (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), and Blake Wharton (GEICO Powersports Honda), but that only lasted for a lap before Sipes made his way by and into the top spot.

Sipes led for three circuits before Barcia bumped his way back by, taking over the lead. Sipes then made an off-track excursion on the following lap, moving Wilson into the second spot. Wilson began putting in some good laps, and closed on Barcia in the final third of the race. The two of them began trading the lead back and forth, swapping the lead each of the last four laps…and at a few points that don’t show on the scoring sheets. In the end, it was Wilson taking his second win in a row, followed by Barcia and Wharton.

Malcolm Stewart (Team Suzuki City Nitro Circus) had moved from seventh to fourth at the finish, matching his season’s best. Matt Lemoine (MotoExtreme Kawasaki), and Darryn Durham (Renegade Racing Fuels/Eleven10 Mods) grabbed fifth and sixth.

Barcia’s lead has now been trimmed to 13 points over Wilson, with two rounds (St. Louis and Las Vegas) remaining in the Lites East season. Sipes is a distant third.

We’ve got one more Midwest round next weekend, in St. Louis, before the series moves back West again. Can you imagine any more plot twists and turns for this season? We’ve run out of ideas, but these guys keep surprising us.

Results

2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross

Dallas, TX

Supercross Lites Heat 1


1. Ryan Sipes

2. Matt Lemoine

3. Jason Anderson

4. Hunter Hewitt

5. Justin Sipes

6. Malcolm Stewart

7. Levi Kilbarger

8. Blake Wharton

9. Tyler Bright

Supercross Lites Heat 2

1. Blake Baggett

2. Justin Barcia

3. Dean Wilson

4. Alex Martin

5. Taylor Futrell

6. Lance Vincent

7. AJ Catanzaro

8. Hunter Clements

9. Nicholas Myers

Supercross Heat 1

1. Ryan Villopoto

2. Ryan Dungey

3. Cole Seely

4. Chad Reed

5. Austin Stroupe

6. Justin Brayton

7. Tommy Hahn

8. Chris Blose

9. Fabien Izoird

Supercross Heat 2

1. James Stewart

2. Trey Canard

3. Ivan Tedesco

4. Andrew Short

5. Kyle Regal

6. Nick Wey

7. Michael Byrne

8. Davi Millsaps

9. Mike Alessi

Supercross Lites LCQ

1. Gannon Audette

2. Darryn Durham

Supercross LCQ

1. Kevin Windham

2. Weston Peick

Supercross Lites Main Event

1. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki)

2. Justin Barcia (Honda)

3. Blake Wharton (Honda)

4. Malcolm Stewart (Suzuki)

5. Matt Lemoine (Kawasaki)

6. Darryn Durham (Honda)

7. Blake Baggett (Kawasaki)

8. Gannon Audette (Yamaha)

9. Alex Martin (Honda)

10. Tyler Bright (Honda)

11. Hunter Hewitt (Suzuki)

12. Jason Anderson (Suzuki)

13. Taylor Futrell (Honda)

14. Lance Vincent (Honda)

15. Hunter Clements (Honda)

16. Levi Kilbarger (Honda)

17. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha)

18. AJ Catanzaro (Honda)

19. Justin Sipes (Kawasaki)

20. Nicholas Myers (Honda)

Supercross Main Event

1. Trey Canard (Honda)

2. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)

3. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)

4. James Stewart (Yamaha)

5. Kevin Windham (Honda)

6. Andrew Short (KTM)

7. Tommy Hahn (Yamaha)

8. Chad Reed (Honda)

9. Austin Stroupe (Yamaha)

10. Mike Alessi (KTM)

11. Weston Peick (Yamaha)

12. Fabien Izoird (Kawasaki)

13. Chris Blose (Kawasaki)

14. Michael Byrne (Suzuki)

15. Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki)

16. Kyle Regal (Yamaha)

17. Justin Brayton (Yamaha)

18. Nick Wey (Yamaha)

19. Cole Seely (Honda)

20. Davi Millsaps (Yamaha)

Supercross Lites East Point Standings

1. Justin Barcia 160

2. Dean Wilson 147

3. Ryan Sipes 119

4. Blake Baggett 114

5. Blake Wharton 109

6. Matt Lemoine 96

7. PJ Larsen 80

8. Malcolm Stewart 73

9. Alex Martin 59

10. Lance Vincent 56

Supercross Point Standings

1. Ryan Villopoto 255

2. Chad Reed 249

3. Ryan Dungey 248

4. Trey Canard 239

5. James Stewart 234

6. Andrew Short 174

7. Kevin Windham 150

8. Justin Brayton 141

9. Davi Millsaps 128

10. Ivan Tedesco 114