Racer X Notebook: Dallas
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 | 2:15 PM
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Print- Regardless of where the Dallas SX is held—the old Cotton bowl, the old Texas Stadium or now in the new Cowboys Stadium, the riders expect hard-packed dirt. During the track walk most of the riders thought the dirt seemed as hard as usual, but it actually tacked up and rutted up more than usual. Compared to most other tracks, it was still pretty hard, but compared to past races in this area, it offered better traction.
- The tough season for Austin Stroupe continues. He suffered a big crash in practice, where he was ejected in the whoops and launched all the way into the corner before landing on his side. Word is Stroupe has broken his collarbone and will be out at least two weeks.
- Perhaps the most impressive ride of the whole night was Phil Nicoletti’s solid fifth in the Lites Main. We haven’t seen much of the friendly New Yorker in U.S. SX since he did well in a few fill-in rides with KTM in 2010. Now he’s top-five on the team that loves to bring privateers to the front, Eleven10Mods Honda. Look for a privateer profile on Factory Phil soon!
- The day was about as bad as it could be for Dragon Racing Fuels/AG Racing KTM. Gannon Audette cased a triple and broke his wrist, ending his SX season in practice. And Tyler “Soft J” Sjoberg crashed in the same area and suffered an undisclosed injury, although we hear he may be back before the season is over.
Matt Lemoine suffered a tough start to the 2012 season with an early crash and 19th place finish.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- Bummer for Matt Lemoine, who looked super fast on his HRT Kawasaki but crashed in the first rhythm lane in the main event. That gave him a 19th place finish. And Kyle Cunningham crashed in the same area and ended up 20th. Amazingly, Cunningham’s last-place finish still made him the highest-placing Yamaha rider, because he was the only YZF mounted rider in the main!
- Cunningham’s teammate Kyle Peters missed what would have been his SX debut with a broken collarbone suffered a few days before the race.
- Rookies in the field: Canadian kid Cole Thompson was impressive all day and night, and took ninth in the main. Austin Politelli was 13th and Justin Bogle was 14th.. You probably already know what happened to Bogle!
- Here’s something we haven’t ever seen before: Weston Peick appeared to take the final transfer spot into the main in the LCQ, edging Gavin Faith by .002 seconds. But the AMA reversed that decision based on video proof of Faith leading Peick to the base of the finishline jump. Faith raced the main, Peick did not. We’ll try to get more info from the AMA or FIM on this ruling later in the week.
Kyle Cunningham also suffered an early crash and finished 20th in Dallas.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- Faith wasn’t the only Lites West rider making the main on a 450. Nico Izzi also rode well and made the cut. Faith finished 17th and Izzi 18th in the SX main event.
- Italian Angelo Pellegrini, complete with stock graphics and a gleaming cue-ball white helmet, looked fast all day in the Lites division. He finished 17th.
- We now hear Cole Seely will do three races on Trey Canard’s vacant Muscle Milk Honda 450, and then Wil Hahn will race the next four on that bike. Seely should be on it at Atlanta.
Nico Izzi finished 18th in his 450 debut in Dallas.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- The Stewart brothers of James and Malcolm both took sixth in their main events, so neither can brag about snagging the better finish in the Stewart house this week. You probably already heard that Malcolm was slapped with a $500 fine for his aggressive pass on Justin Bogle, and Bogle was fined $500 for slapping the back of Malcolm’s helmet after they crashed.
- Darryn Durham’s runner up ride in the Lites main was a career high finish.
- Josh Hansen has logged back-to-back fifths in the SX mains for the Dodge Motorsports Hart and Huntington team.
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Is lil Hanny slowly sneaking up to the podium? If he could get a good start it is possible. It would be interesting to see what Cole or Wil could do on 450. We need some new excitement up front.
Hanny has looked pretty solid so far, and steady too. Hate to hear about all the crashes though..Very happy for Durham too. great ride by him.
When Dungey took the title, Reed, RV, and Steward all went out with injuries. And look at last year, RV took the title with a DNF! SX is brutal. One small screw up can really bite you!
I'm starting to think Cunningham and Sipes are the same person.
Every weekend more guys sidelined - extreme bummer! I cannot recall a season with more injuries. It's starting to look like a game of last man standing. Is it the tracks, the speeds, the bikes? I dunno! And yeah I get it, SX/MX is a tough sport, but this is crazy!!
The Honda has strcuk again. I have noticed after it was pointed out by another person, that the Hondas are causing all kinds of crashes. K-Dub, Trey canard, Short, and now Reed, terrible, and all on Hondas. Yamahas cause Stewart to crash my tail, more guys are going out on the Hondas than ever, and nobody is blaming that bike!!
And I forgot to mention Justin Brayton, he went down hard on it in San Diego,
no kidding about the honda! wheres the hatters? or is it just a JS excuse?
Please tell me you guys are joking about the Hondas...... Riders crash...it happens no matter what you ride....Trey Canard opting to double cause he had a tuff block cover dangling off his peg has nothing to do with the bike...Short got ran into going down the start...not a bike issue...I dont think the bike is to blame for JS7 crashing either.....part of riding is knowing what your bike can handle and how it will perform...sometimes crashes just happen, you loose traction or get squirelly.....then there are times when the rider just goes over the edge and goes down...Stewart does that alot, but its not always that.....Reed was over the edge this week and it bit him...he looked a little too throttle happy going down that first straight jumping across the lane,just missing the tuff block and almost t-boned RV going into turn 2......
10 more races, CR out, RD 13 points back, JS has no shot(more than 40 back), put a fork in season's back, RV all the way.
Weege,
Time to let Matthes have it with both barrels again, for not posting the BTOsports.com Dallas Wrap-up podcast.
Giving Malcom Stewart a fine is total BS.They should of been giving other people fines at every race then.
Quit whining about the fine! It's only 500 bucks
@KilloMoto, nice to see the voice of reason and common sense appearing on these boards once in a while. Well said and totally accurate. You obviously ride.
Bogel is just a punk and deserved to be taken out. Finally someone did, even though it was by accident. That kid has had it coming for years!!! He showed his true colors when he he whacked Mookie. He should have been DQ'd.
Word is Alessi got fined too for starting on an angle and not centered with the gate.
Finally !!! , Phil Nicoletti gets some recognition for a 5th place, pretty much a privateer. Sooo much B.S. about Mookie's slap upside the head. Honestly if you people really race then you've been in Bogles mind set before.
Knobbywan_Kawnobi: " When Dungey took the title, Reed, RV, and Steward all went out with injuries".
When Dungey WON the title, RV raced all but the last 6 and Dungey was beating him in the points when he crashed. RV took Dungey out in the corner and then almost killed himself trying to beat Dungey. Dungey 2010 was a MUCH better bike/team than Dungey 2011and 2012. When you ride over your head a lot you WILL crash eventually and you will sit out for a season like TC, RV, JS and CR have each done a couple of times the last few years. RV is the man right now-hands down. But don't think Dungey and Decoster were a fluke. They only have 7 races under their belt with the KTM.They will get better and better. And unless someone like Allessi or Weimer take him out, he won't crash and he'll be there until the end.
Hey chosen that is funny s#@t
whats up with huskies anyway
I believe there are only 4 riders on 450 yamahas, I wonder why, and if they had a choice they would be riding green. JS had a choice but made a real bad one.
KilloMoto, the only reason you don't think its the bike is because you haven't ridden the new yamaha. This past weekend I rode one for the first time and it made me really happy that its not my money that bought that POS
Weimer appears to be Dunge's b!tch. That's gotta hurt! :)
JS wanted suzuki but they had no guarantee for a contract past 1yr plus big James really wanted JS to sign with JGR.
@Killomoto. I don't think Reed was on the edge and riding over his head. In fact he looked more focuses, smooth and calculated than ever. I think it was just one of those unlucky things. He didn't even know he was going to crash until the very last milly second. You could tell by his posture/reaction in the air (slowmo). I strongly think he had RV's # and was waiting to force RV into a mistake like he does, but we will never know. Nother words he was riding as fine as French wine.
I like chosen1 idea of racing on foot. Give the guys some bars to hold and when the gate drops everyone takes off running making bike noises. If someone crashes, they won't get hurt. Problem solved!
@DGIZZY, once again YOU sir are a liar--Quit amking crap up. Read the interview Stewart gave to ESPN and then spout off. Stewart said himself that he had offers from EVERY factory team out there, and rode every bike. NO offer from Factory Kawi but they did send him a set-up bike to ride.. HE CHOSE THE YAMAHA..Period!!
@The Chosen1. I was making those comments in a joking manner for all the guys who blame the Yamaha for Stewarts troubles you freaking tool. You are a total idiot if you cant see that. So for you to come on an American web-site and say that crap shows you are a bigot, and a total fool. You have no room to call anyone stupid. Euro-trash..
lots more racing folks .... I would not count out anybody yet ... a lot of speculation going on here .... Canards gone , Reeds gone , Hope not , but anyone can be sidelined at any time , way to early to put a fork in this thing , its still cookin !
I think we will continue to have a very exciting and fun SX season. I think JS can and will step up and win some more. I think RD who is not and has not been "out of it" will be very aggresive and hungry. I also see JW, JB, and KW really riding strong and trying to get to the podium. MA is racing for the podium. None of these guys will just let RV by and he will have to stay on his edge to keep winning. I am looking forward to sat racing. The 250 class is VERY interesting and I don't think Barcia will have it easy at all- Malcom, Bogle, Wharton, Bagget, Duram, Rocson can all win at any race
Kind of laughing at all the 'CR riding over his head' talk. It's racing at the highest level - if they are not riding on the edge (and quite often, a bit over it) then they aint trying hard enough. On/over the edge IS racing. RD is one guy who is very careful about the edge...and we all complain about that!
Also a lot of JS7 not trying talk. He did move from 19th to 6th, didn;t he? if a guy can move up 13 spots, not trying, guess some folks s/b worried what might happen if he decides to start trying.
PS - rule #1 of starting a hot, stalled 4 stroke in the middle of a race is - CALM. Panic may look better (in the 'I'm trying!' sense, anyway), but generally does't work out to well
@The Chosen1, you are fron down under alright, under a set of balls... I never made any bad remarks about Stewart, My comments were to quyit blaming the bike for everything. I think it is an excuse. Its not the brand of bike. That was my point, idiot..
And if you really think anyone believes you are from this mythical place, Urazzistan, you are sadly mistaken. Especially saying it is "down Under" sure, we belive you, no problem..LOL