Racer X Notebook: Toronto
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 | 10:50 AM
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PrintNotes by Jason Weigandt and Chase Stallo
- We’ve still got a big battle going for “best of the rest” in the SX Class standings, as just 19 points separate fourth-place Davi Millsaps from eighth-place Jake Weimer. Kevin Windham is just three points behind Millsaps, and Justin Brayton is just one point behind Windham. And with James Stewart’s injury, Millsaps is just eight points behind his teammate for third in the standings.
- Stewart was interviewed on the SPEED television broadcast of the race where he revealed he had not only hit his head last week, but also broke his hand and tweaked a few other old injuries. Based on that, we would expect Stewart to at least miss this weekend’s race in Houston. After that race comes the only off-weekend of the season for Easter, which could provide enough time for some riders to come back into the series.
Brayton (left) and Millsaps (right) continue to battle for "best of the rest" title.
James Lissimore photo
- Stewart’s brother Malcolm looked fast in qualifying with the fourth-fastest time. But crashes and struggles left him 13th in the Lites main. But Justin Bogle qualified first in the Lites class, and had his share of problems too. More on that later.
- Wil Hahn took the reigns of the Honda Muscle Milk 450 from Cole Seely, who will return to practicing on his 250 for a run at the Lites West Championship. Hahn started his first 450 SX race ever in the best fashion possible—by grabbing the holeshot in his heat race. Hahn is just coming off of a hip injury, so he certainly had his work cut out for him. He dropped a few spots in his heat, and then finished tenth in the main event.
- Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Broc Tickle has had an up and down season. He's gone from missing the main in Phoenix to finishing as high as eighth place, but in recent weeks, seems to have leveled off with three eighth place finishes in a row.
- Struggles continue for Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett—and there is still no explanation. A few weeks ago we asked Blake if he knew what was wrong, or if he was struggling with an injury of some sort, and he didn’t make any excuses, and said he is healthy. After a bad start in Toronto he was fighting into the top ten—still subpar for a rider of Baggett’s stature—but then crashed. He finished 15th.
Inconsistency continues to plauge Blake Baggett.
James Lissimore photos
- Baggett’s teammate Darryn Durham had troubles as well. He washed out and crashed while battling hard with Blake Wharton for third, and fell back to sixth. A late pass on Shawn Rife put him into fifth.
- And Rife probably had the heartbreak of the night. A slow start to the season saw Rife miss the three of the first four mains of the year. But he turned the corner in Indy, scoring his first top ten of the year. At Toronto, he was shooting for the top five until Durham put a hard pass on him, putting him on the ground. Although a 19th place finish will show up on the results page, it surely doesn’t tell the story of the great ride Rife put together.
- MotoConcepts' Jake Canada continues to surge. Canada scored a career best seventh in Dallas, only to top it two weeks later in St. Louis with a 6th. He matched that the next week in Daytona, and topped it once again in Indy with a 5th. In Toronto, Canada continued to climb the Lites food chain besting his previous career high (5th) with a 4th in the Lites main. Canada now sits fifth in points, twelve behind Ken Roczen. Based on these strong rides, we hear Canada has already resigned with the MotoConcepts team for 2013.
- Canada’s MotoConcepts teammate, Tommy Weeck, also had a career night in Toronto, notching a career high 7th in the Lites main. It was Weeck’s second top-ten in three weeks after making his season debut at Daytona. (Weeck missed the first three rounds of the series with a concussion).
Tommy Weeck had a career night in Toronto.
James Lissimore photo
- MotoConcepts wasn’t the only team to achieve success North of the Border. The Eleven10 Mods duo of Alex Martin and Jeff Gibson both had a season high finishes in Toronto with a 6th and 10th, respectfully. Martin’s sixth moved him inside the top ten in points (9th), while Gibson’s tenth marked his first top ten of the year.
- Joining Martin and Gibson with a seasons best was Ohlins/Langston Motorsports KTM’s AJ Cantanzaro who finished a shade outside the top ten in 11th.
- AX Champ Tyler Bowers was gunning for his first top-five Lites finish of the season after a solid eighth last weekend in Indy. But he came together with Alex Martin late in the main, and both riders went down. Martin recovered but Bower’s bike was bent up, sending him to the mechanics area. He finished 14th.
- Crazy night for Justin Bogle, who had a bunch of incidents in his heat race, qualified through the LCQ, and then got off to a terrible start in the main. The rookie GEICO Powersports Honda rider finished 8th.
- Since missing his first main event of 2012 in Daytona, HRT Racing’s Matt Lemoine has gone on a tear, capping off back-to-back top tens with a ninth in Toronto. Lemoine missed the top ten in the first four rounds of the season, but has now shined a ray of light in what has otherwise been a bleak season.
Wil Hahn scored a top ten in his 450 debut.
James Lissimore photo
- For Team Tedder/Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dakota Tedder, 2012 has been a struggle. After breaking his wrist during off-season training Tedder was relegated to the East Region Lites class. With only a few weeks to prepare for the season, Tedder struggled early – missing the first five main events of the year. Toronto may have proved to be a turning point for the California native, though. Tedder qualified for his first main of the year, out of his heat race, finishing 16th in the main.
- Canadian fans were hoping for a great homecoming from pro rookie Cole Thompson, but he hit his head in a practice crash and was knocked out of action for the night. He tweeted that he will return in New Orleans.
- The hits continue to pile up for J-Star/JDR KTM's PJ Larsen. After a disappointing start to the 2012 season, Larsen is staring down the barrel of a gun loaded with yet another injury. Larsen crashed in a rhythm section in practice injuring his knee and foot. Larsen will undergo further tests this week to determine the extent of his injury.
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Any word on guys on might be returning at Houston yet? The rumors were possible returns for Tedesco, Hill, Short, Stroupe and Blose. Maybe even Dungey, though I'm guessing he's more likely post-Easter at New Orleans.
Anything to add a little interest to the 450 class, please!
Stewart is pulling a fast one on the JDR team, kind of similar to a "Fake Workers Comp injury" thing. He wants out and this was his opportunity, but its clear his hands were on the bars when he " tipped over " I dont understand how he can claim all this with that little tip over.... And how the Media keeps calling it a BIG crash…..come on now…….
It was Windham that took the big hit AND a big crash later in the night...He still showed up to race, and what about Bogle, That was a big crash and he came back to race...... looks like Stewart will sit at home and collect his millions, thats total BS. I hope JGR cans him, hes not doing all the sponsors at JGR any good by blaming everything but himself every single weekend, Millsap’s doesn’t have any problems and it’s the same bike………..
It does sound like maybe JS7 might not want to run the Nationals.If his hand is broke he can at least start working on his cardio for the outdoors.
@143 what does he have to gain or lose by 'lying' about an injury. Hes gotten up and contiued from major crashes and of all his problems being a wimp isn't one. Were you on the bike when it happened...Did you see the go-pro ..looked pretty nasty to me..or where you in the stands trying to convince your gilrfriend you could ride like that if you had a bike...Are you a doctor ,did you see xrays or are you basically just hating and talking out your a*s as usual. I can't stand people calling out injured riders ...if you EVER raced you would no how it works and you would know better.
I dont get why every one hates on the Stewart brothers. They are good otherwise they wouldnt be where they are. And in James' case im pretty sure thats the same hand he broke a few years ago, an injury that almost ended his career because of where the break was. He is no wimp. He rides fast and crashes because he is pushing the limits. I hope he rides outdoors so he can silence all the haters to prove he is still fast. They are both good for the sport and i hope they both can get some greater success going.
biker143... JS had a "little tip over"... You might want to watch that again.
. I hope RD does not come back, I would love to see him out there but would rather see him Testing for the ouitdoors, Get the bike set up for the Nats RD!!
Maybe the time off for James will give him a chance to sort things through, then again maybe not. Hopefully he does the ride the outdoors, it would be good to see some more competition out there. There sure is a long list of injured riders, but PJ Larsen is always injured or something, I was hoping to see what this kid has, but I guess he just can't get the breaks. Also for BB Gun, he is either on it or not, hopefully the kid will figure it out.
check out the new racer x and see the pic of braytons leg he still raced and he's nowhere near winning a title stewart is having the worst year of his career and as stupid as it may sound to some of you he is looking for just another excuse yes stewart is tuff as shit when he needs to be but he owes it to his sponsers and fans that pay to see him to race to the end regardless of the points defecit
be honest with yourselfs that crash was plain weak compared to crashes he's had and still raced
he lost a lot of respect from me last year when he didnt race the outdoors here's to hoping he redeems himself this year but one things for sure if he chickens out. short of being in a wheelchair and having x-rays to back it up, he should be fired from jgr and labeled as a lazy ass coward
JS is a punk and always has been. fast, sure...but a spoiled punk.
"I win or crash trying." "I won't race if I do not feel I have a chance to win"
What a douche bag people! Why do we love K-Dub? You dang well why. He shows up every week ready to race and does it because he loves it!
JS, Please please just retire and go away. You continue to piss on this sport, the racers, and the fans.
Go. It is ok, really. You can go an time now.
Yeah, I am totally done with the d-bag. Zero personal accountability! it everything under the suns fault but his own. No thank you people!
To many other very deserving riders that should be getting fan support (AND industry support) not this yahoo.
BLAH BLAH BLAH!!! go ride or race, watch the races and be happy.
U guys talk shit like college girls.
@openclass /jeramey if you guys hate Havoc so much why not spend your time saying something positive about "the other riders' you supposedly want to receive more attention instead of your ENDLESS whining about JS7 not living up to your standards. The only one he has to answer to is him self and his employer. And I believe JGR knew what they were getting into and understand injuries. I would imagine coming from a football and neckcar background they have a REAL good understanding of injurys and if they are genuine. You being "done' with him is laughable as you seem to endlessly suffer from his absence. You guys need to explain to me how you can tell the extent of an injury or pain from TV... I don't think any of these guys FAKE injurys....just kind of shows a ignorance of the sport and Pro riders. @keke we will now add you to the long list of know it alls with no take..
I do. You will actually notice that I try and avoid JS all together...usually. Today I was in a mood and all the crap over all the years from this yahoo just got to me :-)
Yes, he is black. Oh crap! what does that mean? Does not mean a damn thing, The media thinks it opens up new market opportunities and are doing their best to exploit him.
Fans want to try and make it about race so they can feel better about themselves.
Me, I just see enormously talented, self absorb, racer who has disrespected the sport since he got here.
Two years in on the big bikes he is whining about the tough schedule and does not want to show up Saturday to practice. Half the time does not want to take a second practice, wants SX only, and on and on and on.
Does not feel he can win, does not want to race to even salvage points, and on and on and on.
Ok, I got that out and I am over it. :-)
To many terrific racers on the circuit right now to be bothered about him right?
Peace out.
Although it is stating the obvious, some of the fans probably wonder if Villo would win if Dungey, Stewie and Reedy were not hurt. Probably not ... as much.
So my next question is whether or not the 2012 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will be interesting. Perhaps?
This article talks about how many other racers? Yet the same people start complaining about Stewart. Must be tough being such a "hater." You guys have to type so much!
I'm sorry, you girls have to type so much!
@osteo
What's it like to be uneducated? I signed up on this site because of something you wrote, that's how bad you are when it comes to commenting,. And once again osteo, here we are.
RV was winning when they were all healthy and beating them straight up. Maybe, just maybe, if you watched the sport or educated yourself on the series you wouldn't have to ask such dumb questions.
Bogle acts like a little girl
@tonewall awesome !!! :D what are u? like Z class? lol...
@yzfsean yess like a soccer player.