This Week in Monster Energy Supercross: St. Louis

AURORA, Ill. (April
8, 2011) – The most parity driven Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM
World Championship, season of all time continues this weekend from the
Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. The 14^th race of the season
is coming off another exciting night of action from Arlington in which
the championship lead changed hands for the fourth time this season.

Monster
Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto has returned to the top of the
Supercross class standings following a runner-up effort in Arlington.
After two weeks of misfortune, Villopoto and his team have returned to
the form that has led them to a series-leading five wins and are
looking to build on the momentum they established last weekend.

“It’s
definitely nice to have the points lead back,” said Villopoto. “I felt
good in Arlington and I really want to get back on top of the podium
again this year.”

Last
year in St. Louis, Villopoto suffered a season-ending injury while
battling for the championship. While his return to the Edward Jones
Dome will be a major storyline, it’s just another race for Villopoto.

“When
I go back to St. Louis, I’m not thinking about what happened last
year,” Villopoto added. “You can’t really think about that stuff when
you are out of the track. I will be there to race and to get as many
points as I can.”

Ryan Villopoto currently sits in first place in the Supercross class points standings with a 6-point advantage over Chad Reed.

Photo Credit: Hoppenworld.com

The
misfortune experienced by TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray Racing’s Chad Reed
last weekend in Arlington ultimately dropped him into second in the
championship after taking over the lead heading into Cowboys Stadium.
Reed’s tough break allowed Villopoto as well as Rockstar/Makita
Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey to capitalize and make the title fight even more
competitive than it’s been all season.

Dungey secured his series-leading 10^th
podium effort in Arlington after a third-place finish and another
strong ride. He enters St. Louis, a venue which he won at last season,
just seven points out of the lead in the standings and just a single
point out of second.

"All
in all, it was a good day in Arlington,” said Dungey. “My whole
Rockstar/Makita Suzuki team and I worked really good together and they
did a great job with my Suzuki tonight. The track was tough; especially
the whoop sections which were really big and technical. I got off to a
good start in the main and was able to work my way up to second in like
the 10^th lap, but then a couple laps later I came up on a
lapper and just misjudged what he was going to do and went down. I got
back up in third and made a hard charge for second and got close but
just came up a little short. All in all, I felt great and my RMZ felt
great too. I’m looking forward to St. Louis. It’s always a tough track;
tacky and technical. We got a win there last year so it would be good
to go back there and get another win."

American
Honda’s Trey Canard continues to enjoy a remarkable rookie season. The
up-and-coming rider grabbed his second win in three weeks at Arlington
with his most impressive ride of the season. Now Canard boasts three
wins, tying him for the second most in the series, and has moved into
fourth place in the standings, just 16 points out of the lead with four
races remaining.

This will be the 16^th
time the gates will drop in St. Louis for a Supercross class race. Last
weekend in Arlington, Trey Canard locked in his third Supercross class
victory.

Photo Credit: Hoppenworld.com

“I
am the happiest I have been all season right now,” said Canard.
“Everything about last weekend felt right. My bike setup was spot on
and I rode really well. It’s been a crazy supercross season full of
unexpected happenings so my goal from here on out is to keep finishing
on the podium and earn as many points as possible. I’m only 16 points
out of the points lead so if I can keep posting results like last
weekend then who knows what could happen.”

San
Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart was looking to get back onto the podium
in Arlington after experiencing his own misfortune over the past few
weeks. A strong effort put Stewart in position to finish on the box,
but a mid-race incident resulted in a fourth-place finish for the
two-time champion. This week, Stewart headed back home to train this
week and is hoping to turn things around for these last four races of
the series.

“I
feel like I’ve been riding good, but things just didn’t click this past
weekend,” said Stewart.  “I’m going to work on it this week and get
some good training in. I hope to get it together for St. Louis and make
each one of these races count.  I have to thank everyone who has been
standing by this year – my team, my fans, my sponsors and my family.  I
couldn’t do this without them.”

Stewart’s
San Manuel Yamaha teammate Kyle Regal made his return to competition in
Arlington after taking some time off to heal an injured wrist. It was a
good step in the right direction for Regal to come back, and he’s
looking to build upon the effort.

“I
struggled with some crashes in the Main, but I’m glad to be back.” 
said Regal.  “I’m looking forward to a solid week of training in
Florida and hope for better results in St. Louis this weekend.”

GEICO
Honda’s Kevin Windham has experienced mixed results throughout the 2011
Monster Energy Supercross season, but the veteran rider is enjoying his
time out on the track competing against his younger counterparts. One
rider that has caught Windham’s attention is his teammate, Supercross
Lites Eastern Regional Championship leader Justin Barcia.

"It's
been a lot of fun watching Justin ride to his potential," Windham said.
"It's brought back a lot of great memories of years when I was right in
the mix for the championship. You look at this kid and see the energy
and excitement he's carrying right now and it's refreshing."

As
for Barcia and the rest of his Supercross Lites competitors, the
Eastern Regional Championship hits the home stretch this weekend in St.
Louis. Just two races remain on the schedule and Barcia’s advantage
over the field sits at 13 points. With a podium effort and finish no
worse than second through seven races, Barcia is feeling confident
coming into Saturday night.

Dean
Wilson earned his second consecutive victory last weekend in Arlington,
which marked the third win of his season. This victory moved him three
points closer to Lites class leader Justin Barcia who currently sits 13
points ahead of Wilson.

Photo Credit: Hoppenworld.com

"It's
getting close," said Barcia. "The emotions are there, but having guys
like K-Dub (Windham) and Rock (team manager and former multi-time world
champion Mike LaRocco) around has really helped. They're keeping me
focused on the right things. We just need to finish strong and we'll do
that if keep doing exactly what we've been doing all year. I have the
best team behind me. We have the best sponsor. The bikes are perfect.
It comes down to execution and just finishing this thing off."

Keeping
Barcia honest and taking a lot of the momentum over the past two weeks
is Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson. The second-year
rider won his second consecutive race of the season in Arlington after
another strong ride in which he chased down his championship rival and
made a pass for the win. The victory gave Wilson a series-leading three
wins this season in the Eastern Regional Championship and he’s looking
to keep the ball rolling in St. Louis and continue to close in on
Barcia’s advantage.

“It’s
nice that the races have come together for me after a few bad rounds,”
said Wilson. “It would be nice to make it three-in-a-row.”

Wilson’s
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammate Blake Baggett has
experienced a tough couple of weeks on the track, but with a win to his
credit already this season, Baggett is looking to get back on track
this weekend. His speed has been obvious despite the results, but this week he will be looking to get the start he was missing in Arlington.

“Most
of my starts this year haven’t been great so I have been working a lot
of that this week,” said Baggett. “When I start the race at the front,
I am usually really comfortable and able to stay there. A good start
will be one of my main goals this weekend.”

Also
looking to make waves in the Supercross Lites class prior to the
conclusion of the season in Las Vegas just a few weeks down the road is
DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing Yamaha’s Ryan Sipes, who is a winner in his
own right this season, as well as GEICO Honda’s Blake Wharton.

Tickets
are available at the Edward Jones Dome Box Office (from April 4 - April
9, 2011 only), Select Schnuck's and Macy's locations in the St. Louis
area, SupercrossOnline.com, all Ticketmaster retail locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com,
or charge by phone at (800) 745-3000. Tickets will also be available at
participating Yamaha dealers. Practice and qualifying begins at 12:30
p.m., and the main event begins at 7:00 p.m. Club level tickets: $50;
Gold circle tickets: $35; Price level 3 tickets: $25 adults/$10 kids;
Price level 4: $20 adults/$10 kids; Treadhead tickets: $10.  Fans can
also get into the Pits for FREE from 12:30 – 6 PM Race Day when they
recycle a MONSTER Energy Can at the stadium Pit Entrance (valid only
with event ticket). 

SPEED
will broadcast the Supercross Lites class race at 6:00 p.m. EST/3:00
p.m. PST and will also broadcast the Supercross class race at 3:30 a.m.
EST/12:30 a.m. PST on April 15, 2011.

For more information on the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, please log on to www.SupercrossOnline.com. For all media requests, please contact Denny Hartwig dhartwig@feldinc.com or 630-566-6305. To follow Monster Energy Supercross on Facebook and Twitter, log on to http://www.facebook.com/supercrosslive and http://twitter.com/supercrosslive.

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