2010 AMA Supercross

[dt]

I heard that some people (one of them was probably the crybaby with the #1 on his bike) was complaining about Justin being too aggressive so Justin was told by his trainers to ease off some. So he just rode around not giving 100% to please the complainers. I haven't seen him do anything so far that some of the other riders haven't done as far as being aggressive. To me if you are not aggressively going for the win then you aren't doing your best.

That would be truly disappointing if Justin is being told to back off. MX and SX aren’t just about speed. Granted, that’s pretty important, but it’s also about strategies, including blocking and, yes, there’s a little gamesmanship in the sport, just like any other. I think I’ve heard it said that you need to get psyched up … not psyched out to be worth a shit at MX. Being told to back off doesn’t strike me as something to get psyched up over.

I’ve been watching Justin closely and it’s clear to me that The Kid has been “coached” well in strategy and has developed a winning attitude (a want-to-win attitude). Even though it’s very early in his pro career, I’ll go as far (dating myself in the process) as to compare him to Bob Hanna. That is, Bob “Hurricane” Hannah.



For those who don’t know or remember him, Hurricane raced MX and SX from the mid 70s to the mid 80s. During his years in racing, he’s the one who had the reputation somehow falling today on young Barcia. That is, an outrageously cocky and dangerously aggressive racer. However, the fact is, today Hurricane is the most successful American motocross racer, ever, including three straight SX titles, and a bajillion other titles. He’s also an AMA Hall of Famer. This is the dude that in 1976 inspired me to strip down old DTs and TSs, pop some big knobbies on and go battling.

I appreciate that Christophe and Austin are a couple of super fast sobs, as are some others, but that shouldn’t mean that they get a free ride imho. As long as it’s within the rules, Justin should be able to apply all the winning skills he’s developed. And shit, if Hurricane was out there today, he’d block all their asses into the stands and still go on to be a Hall of Famer in the future.

                                 


Want to hear a little “attitude” from the Hall of Famer himself? Watch this:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQskCHzVZXM" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQskCHzVZXM</a>

I have watched this whole program on tv a couple years back and I’ll tell you, it’s a hoot!
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[dt]

Don’t forget, the AMA Supercross is in Toronto Saturday. Live on Speed Channel, starting at 7:30PM.


Some more photos from Daytona last week:

Supercross Start



Supercross restart after Langston’s Crash



Justin Brayton



Kyle Chisholm, Kevin Wydam, Justin Brayton



HAH! So no one [but young Barcia] blocks on the straights? LOL. Here’s SX No. 3 Ranked Josh Hill (75 plate) blocking No. 1 Ranked Ryan Dungey (5 plate) into the bales on the straight. Found this on VitalMX. That’s the exact same thing that has Christophe all shitty faced! Oh, but then certainly Josh isn’t doing that on purpose though or it’s a bad camera angle or … LOL. Alright, I’m done. Watch Saturday.

[dt]

If you watched the Supercross tonight, you might have noticed the lack of riders on the starting line, particularly in the heats. That’s because only 23 riders in the Premier 450 Class made the trip, and MotoUSA reported today that Canadian riders were being recruited to ride in the Premier Class to fill in. Uh, what am I thinking … lame. Yup, that its.

This weeks trivia tid bit: Jeff Emig, former SX/MX star and commentator tonight, did a brief bit tonight on some of the factory bikes. Get this...the factory bikes have $30,000 of handmade titanium parts, mostly for weight reduction.  The way Emig put it, the factory (Kawasaki in this case) spends $30,000 on each bike to cut 10 pounds. Those are some serious mods!

Toronto offered a real tough track tonight, complete with bullet sized rocks. That was the reason for the extra armor and even hand guards, unheard of in SX.

Justin Barcia:


Anyway, the Lites were awesome. The Kid, or whatever he’s called now, won the race owning the lead from start to finish. Not that it was that simple. No … first he got a block cover stuck to his foot peg for about three-quarters of a lap. Nothing good ever comes of that, but it fell off on its own. Then with three left he went flying off the track for some unknown reason, finding a gap to get back in after a painfully long time. Fortunately, some of the lapped bikes held up Stroupe who was coming on hard.

Podium (Lites)

1. Justin Barcia (Honda)
2. Austin Stroupe (Suzuki)
3. Christophe Pourcel (Kawasaki)
   (Christophe got a block cover too but, unlike Justin, stopped to get it off. He also crashed in his qualifier. Both cost him.)

Justin has a fan club:



Home town boy (Toronto) Dean Wilson (Kawasaki) had a respectable fourth place finish:


Some nasty crashes tonight. First, unknown Tevin Tapai (KTM)…no, not a typo or mistake…had a real nasty fall in the Lites LCQ trying to regain second position from Brett Metcalf (Honda), Barcia’s teammate. Yes, there are a couple KTMs out there, not many. I’ll be looking for this crash on youtube over the next couple days; quite spectacular. Then, Davi Milsaps (Honda) had a bad fall in the SX Main. Neither guys needed a stretcher, but Milsaps sat in the middle of the track and didn’t move for a long time.





Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) won his fifth main tonight, only getting three more points on Ryan Dungy (Suzuki) who now leads the series by seventeen.

Supercross Podium:

1. Ryan Vilopoto
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Trey Canard (Honda)
(Yup ^^^ same as last week.)





Ivan Tedesco (Yamaha) rode great tonight with a fourth and has been all series. Needs to step it up a little.


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[dt]

As mentioned ^^, only 23 riders showed up in the Premier 450 and MotoUSA said they were filling gaps with Canadian riders. Not correct. Apparently, they were discussing that earlier and the AMA said NFW. Ha Ha, think about it … what if a fill-in won! Anyway, that’s why the start grids looked so sparse. To cut to the chase, they still had two heat races, no LCQ and all riders went to the Main no matter where they placed. So, I guess, the heat races were a little more practice for the riders and show for the spectators. Lame!


Here’s a shot on VitalMX on Justin with the block cover. It caught on to the foot peg and came off on it’s own eventually. When that happens, the cover can easily get caught in the chain/sprocket, wheel. Barcia’s damn lucky!


Here’s a great shot of the “sandy” corner in Toronto…and this was the second Lites Heat Race! That’s Pourcel front and Barcia back. Justin got pulled into the back of the corner and both Pourcel and Stroupe overtook him. Then Pourcel crashed and Stroupe went on to win the Heat.



On a side note, I know the sponsors of the non-factory teams are real important, but geesh, sometimes these riders standing up on the podium rambling about every damn sponsor is ridiculous. What’s more ridiculous was in San Francisco when poor Ryan Villopoto had to hold up a jar of Mandigo Pickles and say how much he loved them. How embarrassing. Just found it on youtube; watch yourself:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlS7q4zlJac" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlS7q4zlJac</a>


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[dcameras]

I didn't get a chance to watch the race until Sunday and then all I got to watch was the Lites, which was the one I wanted to watch most anyway. I was laughing my a** off when Pourcel took his fall in the heat race. Then when he picked up the cover off the bale in the main like Justin did I was smiling again. It was good to see Justin get the hole shot in both the heat and main. I just hope he can keep that kind of stuff up for the rest of the races this season. He needs to work on keeping it on the track though. Although he did do a great job of getting back on track very quickly.
I am still hoping to get over to Jacksonville week after next.

[dcameras]

My co-worker just showed me the April edition of the Racer X magazine and inside the front cover is Justin Barcia double page ad for foxracing.com.
Hopefully Justin can do as well this weekend in Texas.

[dcameras]

On a side note, I know the sponsors of the non-factory teams are real important, but geesh, sometimes these riders standing up on the podium rambling about every damn sponsor is ridiculous. What’s more ridiculous was in San Francisco when poor Ryan Villopoto had to hold up a jar of Mandigo Pickles and say how much he loved them. How embarrassing. Just found it on youtube; watch yourself:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlS7q4zlJac" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlS7q4zlJac</a>

At least the lady doing the interview helped him out on the pickle promo.

[dt]

He got help there, but not when he had to take the stupid pickles up on the podium with him. Christ! First that Enzite Penis Elargement NASCAR sponsor deal...next, like Tampax will sponsor someone. He won't be able to say he loves them.

My co-worker just showed me the April edition of the Racer X magazine and inside the front cover is Justin Barcia double page ad for foxracing.com.

I checked the Fox website and they got him on the first flash.

http://www.foxhead.com/us

[dcameras]

I checked the Fox website and they got him on the first flash.

That has to be a photographer's dream.. to get THE shot on the first couple of clicks yet even better the first click..

[dt]

If you watched the Toronto SX last week, you probably saw a few commercials for the upcoming series “Bubba’s World.” Bubba, of course, is the nickname of Haines City-based, reigning SX Champion James “Bubba” Stewart, although pretty much out of the season with an injury. I just got around to Googling a little to find out what that is. This is out of an article in Cycle News:

"Bubba's World is a 10-episode docu-series that provides exclusive access into the daily life of America's number-one motocross racer, James "Bubba" Stewart. At age 24, Stewart is the highest paid rider, earning more than $10 million a year, and a pioneer as the sport's first African American superstar. In 2008, Stewart completed a perfect outdoor national motocross season: 24 wins in 24 races. He followed that up by winning a hard-fought Supercross Championship in 2009. "Bubba's World" presented by Geico, premiering on Sunday, March 28, at 10:00pm ET/PT. In an unprecedented move, the premiere will be simulcast on FUEL TV, FOX Sports Net, SPEED, Fox College Sports and Fox Reality Channel.”

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/supercross/2010/03/01/bubba-world-set-for-tv

  $10 MILLION! WHAAAAT! Note to self: Discontinue criticizing sponsors, including Madingo Pickles.

Anyway, March 28th at 10PM and it looks like you’ve got several channels to choose.






This weekend the Supercross is at Cowboy Stadium in Dallas. It looks like it’ll be on Speed Channel Sunday at 5PM.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I’m reminded that Chad Reed committed in Daytona to be back in action in Dallas, if not Toronto. So, since he wasn’t riding last week, hopefully we’ll see him tomorrow. Just an FYI, Chad practiced and then qualified in Daytona before deciding not to race. He had the fastest time in qualifying. Obviously, he’s out of the Championship, but he could really shake up the Villopoto – Dungey thing going on if he comes out charging, like I’m sure he will.


________________________________________________

[dt]

"Despite rumors of his return, Chad Reed will once again miss the action this weekend as he continues to recover from his early-season injury." supercross.com

Cool photo of Cowboy Stadium on VitalMX:

[dt]

I’ve never seen a pile up in a Supercross first corner (or anywhere) like the one they had in the Lites Main at Dallas. Only four (out of 25) made it through; that’s it. The remaining 21 were absolutely pretzeled all over one another. Lucky for Young Barcia, he was on the inside and was second to pull his bike out of the pile for sixth around the corner. What appears to have happened was Christophe Pourcell, who had the line for the hole shot, got his leg or something caught on the inside block or block cover that both slowed him and pushed him to the right. From there it was simply dominos. Here are a few photos from MotoUSA.




Rookie Blake Baggett, one of the four who made it through the first turn, won the race. Note that Blake is the No. 66 Yellow Suzuki in photo just above. Obviously, he got through by being knocked off the track altogether. Ryan Sipes who was first through the mess got caught behind some pokes (looked like his own fault imo) and placed second.

Lites Podium:
  1. Blake Baggett (Suzuki)
  2. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha)
  3. Justin Barcia (Honda); another podium for the The Kid, and he was the only top rider to catch up with the riders who got through the opening crash. No crashes, actually stayed on the track. Pretty impressive. Pheeww.

Points Standing
Pourcell (109)…Seventh in last night’s main.
Stroup (104)…Fifth, after a crash. Austin seems to crash a lot.
Barcia (84)…Imagine if he got the extra 20 points for hanging on in Atlanta.

Blake Baggett

Justin Barcia

Christophe Pourcell’s new No. 1 Plate introduced in Dallas...Hmmm.


The Premier Supercross looked like it was becoming the Two Ryans Show, but Davi Millsaps is really coming on, with a Heat Race and a Number 2 finish to Ryan Dungy…and Trey Canard…another 3rd place podium finish. Geesh, the dude is just a “fill-in” and he’s kicking ass!

Supercross Podium:
1. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)
2. Davi Millsaps (Honda)
3. Trey Canard (Honda)

Points Update:
Dungey (239)
Villopoto (215)…Fourth place in Dallas, lost some momentum in the points race.
Hill (192)…Sixth place, needs to find the groove he had early in the Series.

Ryan Dungey

Davi Millsaps

Ryan Villopoto


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[dt]

This video has the start and ensuing pile up during the Lites Main Event in Dallas Saturday.  

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu9J_64FNJI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu9J_64FNJI</a>

[mrbones]

Is this still on CBS? I think NCAA basketball has taken over until the Final Four.

[dt]

Is this still on CBS? I think NCAA basketball has taken over until the Final Four.

CBS only picked up a half dozen or so races, including this coming weekend in Jax. They’ll be televising on Sunday (3/28) from 12:00PM to 1:00PM.

SPEED was televising the races live for the last couple weeks, until Saturday in Dallas. Saturday evening SPEED ran that American LeMans Racing Series over in Sebring, so the Supercross wasn’t scheduled until late yesterday. Kind of a pain to have that delay, and if CBS is only going to give it an hour it’ll likely only be just highlights of the heats and LCQs. Getting both the Lites and Supercross Mains in an hour is going to be tough as it is.

Of course, I’m not complaining. I’m in sideline Seat 111 in Jax this Saturday. 

__________________

[dcameras]

I have got to start recording these things cause I keep missing being able to watch them.

Have fun in Jax. It looks like I am not going to be able to make it after all. 

Make sure you get some pics to share with the rest of us.

[dt]

Make sure you get some pics to share with the rest of us.

Count on it. 

[dt]

 Well, I made the run over to Jax for the Supercross last night. It was a pretty good ride. Mapquest said 3 hours and 15 min, but it was four hours with the couple stops to stretch. When I left it was warm, but the closer I got to Jax the colder it got, and the windier. I had the cold-weather gear out and on by about Starke. It was real cold and windy for the Supercross. My seat was on the sideline; thought it was going to be a little closer, but it was actually between the 100 section and the 200 section. I was hoping to be a little closer. Also, the finish line was on the other side of the stadium, but I had the holeshot right in front of me, which was a good tradeoff. Pardon the quality of the shots…my digital doesn’t do too well with motion or bad lighting, both of which we had last night.

Here’s a shot of the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.



Here are some shots of the track about an hour before the races started:











Before the races got started, several of the riders came out and did a lap, waved to the crowd, etc. Ryan Dungey, Ryan Villopoto and Josh Hill stayed out and were interviewed. Here’s a shot of the three sitting on their bikes:



Here’s the Supercross start and Holeshot. There were 118 yards between the starting gate and the hole shot. A straight right up the center of the stadium. They had a full head of steam by the time they got to the turn. Ivan Tedesco (Yamaha) took the hole shot, but Ryan Villopota was past him about three second later, and stayed there winning the race. Ryan Dungey got caught up in the pack.





This is a photo of Kevin Wyndam trying to run down Ryan Villopota. The crowd seemed to really get into this; he’s the old guy (at 31) you know? Kevin was on Ryan for about half the race before Ryan Dungey finally got through the pack and passed Wyndam for second place; Trey Canard seemed to come out of nowhere and overtook Wyndam for third.



More Supercross action:





Supercross Podium:

1. Ryan Villopoto
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Trey Canard (Jax was it for Trey in the 2010 Supercross. As mentioned, he’d come up from the West Region Lites to replace injured Andrew Short. He’s headed back to practice and prep for the Lites Shootout in Vegas. Personally, I’m thinking…what better practice is he going to get than the Supercross?)

On to Lites. Here’s the start and the hole shot, which went to No. 24 Bret Metcalf (Justin Barcia’s teammate). Justin didn’t have a good start, but fought well to get back to fourth for the race. He had a bad starting placement because he wiped out in the hole shot on his heat race. To his credit, in the heat race, he came through the first turn last, but went on for fifth. It was some serious racing!







Christophe Purcell didn’t have much better of a first turn placement, but he ended up winning. This first shot is of him working on Austin Stroup, who took second. The second is later after he took the lead. For all we complain about Christophe, I’ve now seen it live and in person. He is one hell of an mx’er. Just so you know, he even wiped out in the main and still went on to win.





Some more Lites action, including Justin Barcia (second photo; No. 17)







Lites Podium:

1. Christophe Purcell
2. Austin Stroupe
3. Brett Metcalf


Everyone gets a break this week, and then the Series picks up in Houston on April 10.


Oh yeah, I stayed at the Hyatt on the river about six blocks from the stadium. They had a little area for motorcycles in the garage. There were only Harley parked there LOL. Mine has the cover.



Here are some shots from my window:







I took this shot from the stadium.



Ya know, I’ve never seen so many people dressed in Camo in one place as I did at the Jacksonville Stadium last night.  

________________________________________________________________

[mrbones]

That looks like a great trip. What was it like to see a race like that in person?

[dt]

That looks like a great trip. What was it like to see a race like that in person?

It’s been awhile since I’ve watched Supercross live; glad I went. Also, it was mostly a nice ride up to Jax and back. In particular, US 301 from Ocala up to almost Jacksonville, before picking up I-10, was a fairly fast and scenic road; lots of horse farms. If I wasn’t in a big rush each way, I’d have stopped a dozen times on 301 for some photos of various things (coming back, I needed to beat that rain). I-75 up to Ocala totally sucked and I regret taking it, both directions.

Anyway, the great thing about live Supercross is you can actually see it all going on in front of you. If you go to most of the mx tracks, you only get to see portions of the track and have to move around over the course of the motos to get a sense of what all the riders are dealing with. It’s nice to sit in one place (with a beer) and see the whole thing.

More important, in person, you get to focus better on a particular racer or just a couple, as opposed to having the SPEED channel dictate who you’re going to watch, and then bounce you around with brief spurts at that. Saturday, I really got to focus on Christophe Pourcell, Justin Barcia and Ryan Villopoto. I focused exclusively on Christophe during his heat race because Barcia and Stroupe (the other two Lites players) were in the other heat. Like I said up above, Christophe is everything they make him out to be and more…freaking amazing!

I also taped the races on tv and watched again yesterday evening. CBS only ran the Supercross at noon, so they got everything in, and then SPEED ran the Lites at six. Watching it on tv, there was a ton of shit that went on that I never even saw happen…LOL! So, I guess there are pros and cons of being there versus watching it on the tube.

[dt]

Supercross rolls into Reliant Stadium in Houston Saturday night following the Easter weekend break. Televised on SPEED Sunday; Lites at 3PM and Supercross at 5PM. Set your DVRs!
_____________________________

More on James Stewart…

James started a Funk Band. 

James Stewart and the Hollywood Celebrities Funk Band, World Tour starts 1/20/2011.

http://www.supercross.com/features/james-stewart-and-the-hollywood-celebrities-announce-2011-world-tour

James concluded "I want to let all my supercross and motocross fans know - I will have my L & M Racing San Manuel Yamaha, complete with RedBull, Answer, Nike, Oakley, Alpinestars, Bell, and MX vx. ATV Reflex stuff with me, and I'll be getting in plenty of practice time on the road. I plan on winning every supercross race in 2011, and at the supercross championship celebration in Las Vegas, which coincides with our last show, all the songs we play at my championship celebration will be requests from the audience! Come on & check out some of our shows ... we will rock your world!"

Still getting those sponsors in, I see. Confident, as always. Funk band, and an album? Hmmm. We should start the bikerflorida funk band. Bags can teach us how to play instruments; he’s a musician you know? Bones can be lead and close every session with House of Bamboo.

James, the hair no-workie!   

[dt]

Another win for RV, and with Ryan Dungey placing fifth after a stall, the points spread is down to a measly 12. Add to that teammate Chad Reed’s return last night (placed fourth). With Reed totally out of the championship, you can imagine all the x’s and o’s on the blackboard in the Team Monster Kawasaki strategy room. RV might actually pull this off!

Podium-

1.  Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)
2.  Kevin Windham (Honda)
3.  Ivan Tedesco (Yamaha)

Ryan Villopoto


Kevin Windham and Josh Hill (10th place)




Congrats to Christophe Pourcel, not just for the Lites win in Houston but for securing the East Region Points Championship. Christophe’s principal competition for the championship, Austin Stroupe, was out of the race due to an injury from a crash during practice and the win gives Christophe all the points he needed. One more race for the East Region Lites in St. Louis next week, then the two final West Regional Races (Seattle and Salt Lake City) and finally the shootout between the East and West Regions in Las Vegas on May 8th. The shootout is an invitational race with, supposedly, the top 20 racers from each region.

Podium Lites-

1.  Christophe “I shall spit on National TV while receiving my No 1 Plate” Pourcel (Kawasaki)
2.  Blake Bagget (Honda)
3.  Justin “I got me a crew cut for Houston” Barcia (Honda)





Oh hey! Congrats to Phil Mickelson for winning his third Masters today!

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[dt]

4 to go! The Supercross is in St. Louis this weekend at Edward Jones Dome.

Last weekend Christophe wrapped up the East Region Lites Championship, but there are still slots being sought for the shootout. And I doubt Christophe is going to coast the remaining two races in the East Region Series.

Rookie Ryan Dungey lost a big chunk of his comfortable 21 point SX lead to RV last week coming in fifth. The spread is now 12, and don’t forget about RV’s team mate Chad Reed. He could easily find himself taking a place between RV and Dungey, if not the outright win…costing Dungey more points. Dungey needs a win, or two, if he’s going to pull off the Championship. RV hot as they come…Reed now in the mix…Windham and Millsaps coming on strong. Roger DeCoster (Makita Suzuki Team Captain) is shitting bricks! 

Set your DVRs

Supercross on CBS, Sunday 2:00 PM
Lites on Speed Channel, Sunday 6:00 PM

Nice photo of Kevin “Old Guy” Windham and his family on VitalMX…

[mrbones]

I just finished watching the latest race. There was a big crash near the end by Vilapoto. Dungy ends up winning. Very dramatic and a great race.

[dt]

When RV crashes…he crashes! Current reports are a broken right leg. If so, that would seal the Championship for Ryan Dungey. Here it is:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVlFqiErfyc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVlFqiErfyc</a>

Where he crashed was the end of a rythm section where the last mound was way too steep. Chad Reed complained about that exact mound earlier in practice and then again after his heat race at which time they took a little off the top. Not enough. Three laps latter Ivan Tedesco did the same thing as RV and they carried him off too.

Also, it’s interesting to point out, that the crash was RV’s second in the race. As you saw, three laps earlier he crashed into Dungy, putting them both in the dirt. RV’s a competitor, but still a good guy. I wonder if that took his mind off the track and then missed the last triple.
_________________________________________

Update: Yup, just confirmed on the Speed Report, it's a busted up leg. RV's out for the rest of the year. That's calendar year...no motocross.
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