--  AMA Monster Energy Supercross - Round 8 – Atlanta
--  By Darren Smart

Arlington 450 Class Report:

Well, James Stewart finally put 20 laps together without falling on his head and has managed to win round 8 of the AMA Supercross held in Atlanta last Saturday night.

Bubba got his first holeshot of the year and despite constant attention from defending champ Ryan Villopoto the Suzuki pilot managed to keep just enough gap to stop RV going for a pass.

Now, I am not a fan of Stewart but I take my hat off to the unpredictable/un-safe/dumb-arse former champion and if I had to describe his Atlanta ride I would call it very ‘Milsaps’ like. Stewart is the fifth different main event winner this season and that fact alone is very cool.

“I mean, what can I say, we won tonight,” said Stewart. “It means a lot, this whole season has been going crazy and to get a victory and to get a start, it was almost a perfect day. I was fastest in practice, fastest in the heat race, I got the holeshot in the main event and led every lap. I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous because I haven’t been out there in a while.”

Villopoto sat in second place the whole race and made several charges at the lead but just couldn’t string enough laps in the 52 second mark to get to the lead but the 22 points earned at Atlanta has moved RV into second place in point standings, coincidentally 22 points shy of championship leader Davi Milsaps.

Milsaps got his worst start so far this season but simply blew by Mike Alessi, Jake Weimer and Justin Brayton then sat in third for the final 19 laps and was actually closing in on Villopoto at one stage but didn’t get anywhere near catching his closest rival for the championship.

Justin Barcia smashed in to his teammate Trey Cannard during their heat race causing Cannard to go to the LCQ and in the main event it took ‘Bam Bam’ just one lap to drop Brayton on his head before having a serious crack at passing Milsaps but the experience of the Suzuki pilot was simply too fast and consistent leaving Barcia to settle for fourth place.

Cannard managed to secure 5th place in the main keeping Ryan Dungey at bay for most of the race while Eli Tomac’s first ever 450 race was a come from behind effort for an eventual seventh place.

Chad Reed actually got a decent start but a bobble on the opening lap saw the Aussie dropped back to 12th then it took Chad far too long to get by Mike Alessi leaving the former champion to settle for 9th place just behind Jake Weimer.

Chad’s problem was basically his lap times, while JS7, RV and Milsaps spent most of the race in the 52/53 second lap times, Reed was in the 54/55 seconds per lap and that just doesn’t cut it when the top 10 are so close in skill.
Championship Summary: Three Dog Race?

We are almost at the half way mark of a 17 round series and Milsaps has a 22 points lead over RV while Dungey sits a further four points back and then it starts stretch out with Cannard 39 points back from the championship leader and Chad another five points behind Cannard, a massive 57 points back from Milsaps.

Is it now a three rider race for the championship? Um..no, there are 225 points up for grabs just for the race winners over the next nine rounds (9 x 25) so there is a lot to play out between now and Vegas and if I am any judge there will be a major up-set along the way and don’t be surprised if that involves and big fall out among several of the top riders.

I am thinking CR22, Bam Bam, RV Park, TC41 and JS7 punching on at the hotdog stand BEFORE the race even starts…..while Milsaps walks away chewing a ‘Superdog’ through his smiling gob!

450SX Results

Main Event: 1. James Stewart. 2. Ryan Villopoto. 3. Davi Millsaps. 4. Justin Barcia. 5. Trey Canard. 6. Ryan Dungey. 7. Eli Tomac. 8. Jake Weimer. 9. Chad Reed. 10. Mike Alessi. 11. Matt Goerke. 12. Broc Tickle. 13. Justin Brayton. 14. Andrew Short. 15. Peter Larsen. 16. Josh Hill. 17. Chris Blose. 18. Les Smith. 19. Jimmy Albertson. 20. Robert Kiniry

450SX Points after 8 of 17 Rounds: 1. Davi Millsaps 174. 2. Ryan Villopoto 152. 3. Ryan Dungey 148. 4. Trey Canard 135. 5. Chad Reed 127. 6. Justin Barcia 116. 7. Andrew Short 102. 8. James Stewart 100. 9. Justin Brayton 91. 10. Matt Goerke 79. 11. Broc Tickle 77. 12. Jake Weimer 61. 13. Mike Alessi 60. 14. Josh Grant 40. 15. Weston Peick 39. 16. Kyle Chisholm 37. 17. Matt Lemoine 34. 18. Jimmy Albertson 31. 19. Vince Friese 30. 20. Robert Kiniry 24.

-- Arlington 250SX Class Report:

When Wil Hahn pulled the holeshot just ahead of last week’s winner Dean Wilson most would have thought that is was just a matter of times before Wilson caught and passed Hahn for his second main win of the season but that isn’t how it panned out.

Fresh from the Asterix Medical centre getting his big toe sewn up after an incident during his heat race Hahn fronted the gate for the 15 lap main event confident in ‘at least’ getting a good start on his Geico Honda and that is exactly what Hahn did then exceeded all expectations by pulling a three second gap over Wilson to take his first ever main event win.

"My toe is shattered," said Hahn. "They stitched it up in the Asterisk Medical Trailer and I'll need to get it examined again but it looks pretty bad. Still, I wasn't going to let it stop me, I have been riding with Eli and just the team behind me. I felt like I had it coming into the season. But you don’t know when you’ve never won one. It’s that burden that’s always there. And I’ve been in this class a while. It’s always there and you’re like, ‘I just need to check that off.’ For me to finally do it, now you really know.”
Pro-Circuit Kawasaki’s Wilson rode his own race to secure second maintaining his points lead in the championship while KTM’s Marvin Musquin took a few laps to get by veteran Blake Wharton for third place then made a run at getting to the back wheel of Wilson but couldn’t quite get close enough to make a pass.

2012 Australian Supercross Champion Gavin Faith looked solid again at Atlanta with a second in his heat to Dean Wilson but a poor start in the main forced the Suzuki pilot to charge up to an eventual seventh place just behind class rookies Jeremy Martin and Justin Hill while Aussie Jackson Richardson looked good with a seventh in his heat but a mechanical dnf while in 15th in the main put pay to the 17 year old’s race.

Championship Summary: Hey Deano, It’s Not That Easy!

This championship is only two rounds in and I have a feeling that championship favorite Dean Wilson won’t exactly get things his way and if Musquin, Hahn, Wharton or Gavin Faith for that matter get to the front early in any of the races they won’t be easy to get by for the win, no matter who is having a crack.

Wilson believes he belongs in the 450 class and not one of these riders gives a shit!

250SX Results

250SX Main Event: 1. Wil Hahn. 2. Dean Wilson. 3. Marvin Musquin. 4. Blake Wharton. 5. Jeremy Martin. 6. Justin Hill. 7. Gavin Faith. 8. Kyle Peters. 9. Vince Friese. 10. Zach Bell. 11. Mitchell Oldenburg. 12. Lance Vincent. 13. Cole Thompson. 14. James Decotis. 15. Steven Clarke. 16. Gareth Swanepoel. 17. Adam Gulley. 18. A J Catanzaro. 19. Kurtis Mccabe. 20. Jackson Richardson.

250SX East Points after 2 of 8 Rounds: 1. Dean Wilson 47. 2. Wil Hahn 45. 3. Blake Wharton 40. 4. Marvin Musquin 35. 5. Kyle Peters 31. 6. Justin Hill 31. 7. Gavin Faith 28. 8. Vince Friese 24. 9. James Decotis 20. 10. Lance Vincent 20. 16. Jackson Richardson 11.

250SX West Points after 6 of 8 Rounds: 1. Ken Roczen 138. 2. Eli Tomac 121. 3. Cole Seely 95. 4. Jason Anderson 88. 5. Kyle Cunningham 83. 6. Martin Davalos 82. 7. Zach Osborne 82. 8. Joey Savatgy 62. 9. Christian Craig 62. 10. Jessy Nelson 60. 17. Josh Cachia 29.

Next week we head to St Louis and for Chad Reed and Ryan Dungey it is time to lift their respective games if they want to add to their SX championship win record in 2013.

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