by Andy Bowyer
Rev Up: San Diego
Thursday, February 7, 2013 | 12:30 PM
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PrintHello, everyone and welcome to the Rev Up. Business is picking up. I’ve began to look at the Monster Energy Supercross series in three parts: The opening six rounds in the West, the five rounds of the East Coast swing, then final six races spread across Canada, Texas, Washington, and Utah before calling it off in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. The road to the Supercross championship is long and hard as cross-country travel soon becomes a veritable 21st rider to compete against. But not yet. Beautiful San Diego, California is on the board and serves as the end of Act 1. While some characters have thrived in the opening rounds and others are aching for a change of pace, there is one particular player that is set on kill...
Let’s review. A puzzling 16, 2, 1, 1, 8 tally for Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto lands him 17 points out of the championship lead. He’s been on the ground a lot since the Monster Energy Cup. Muscle Milk Honda's Justin Barcia began to show championship form, then he put up consecutive DNF’s. His teammate Trey Canard has shown flashes of both brilliance and folly, but he is healthy and remains in the hunt. A bombshell hit the tour last weekend with a timely and dominant victory by Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey. Where had he been? His season was looking darker than 3 a.m. when he finally grabbed a start, put in the fastest 20 laps and in one fell swoop put himself in second place in series points. Two racers needed a breakout performance, and now only Chad Reed has yet to step up. Imagine the noise if Reed and James Stewart hook up out front in San Diego?
It’s an obvious nod, with Reed owning six wins in San Diego. One aspect that fuels this is the laps he put in last weekend. His momentum is back, and while he’s been on the ground in the second or third corners the last two races, he has gated very well. The other aspect is the track design to come looks to be higher speed with wide corners, and a real whoop section. All of that considered it is a good time to be on team Discount Tire/Two-Two Motorsports Honda. Time to bring back “The Thunder.” He has the confidence of his six trophies, but this may be the hardest one to earn yet.
This leaves the butt-kicking that Rockstar Energy Racing’s Davi Millsaps has put on everyone to earn his 14-point lead. Davi has been top five in almost every practice, won heat races, a main event, and is the championship force to reckon with. His opening effort has rewarded him with a very real chance at the title. Sure, a DNF dashes his lead, but if he keeps banging out top-fives somebody is going to have to go on one hell of a run to overtake him. He has shown no signs of slowing down and it will surprise me if he fails to extend his point lead this weekend. He'll have to beat Dungey to do that, though.
The show rolls on. Racers like Matt Lemoine, Vince Friese, Weston Pieck, and Jimmy Albertson are hungry and making life extremely tough for anyone on a big team. And now, Josh Hill returns to the mix.
Can Millsaps extend his 14-point lead over the field in San Diego?
Simon Cudby photo
San Diego will mark the end of Act 1. To be champion you have to get out of California with your health and a mathematical chance at the title. The East Coast swing to come offers a probable mud race at Daytona, the battle of Atlanta and the Mid-West mayhem of Indy and St. Louis. Before any of that enters the picture there is a huge dust up on the horizon. Every single main event that’s transpired has been the most anticipated of the season, and this trend could stretch the entire duration. We are seeing some amazing supercross, ladies and gentlemen. Reed is going to go for it, Dungey is hot off a win, and Davi Millsaps is slowly pulling away! Can Ken Roczen win again and put a nail in the 250 class coffin? Is it possible to be anymore excited about Supercross? You can’t script this kind of story, it is too random and has it’s own irregular heartbeat. I’ve never been more happy to say I have no damn clue who is going to win this weekend. In either class! Let’s keep everybody healthy and let this thing continue to grow.
Thanks for reading, see you next week.
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I think it would be win #7 for Reed at SD......IF he were to take the checkers.....
Another great night of racing lies ahead....Live on SPEED.....so thankful for that!!! Really trying to avoid routing for just one guy and just enjoying the racing...2013 has been great to date, so it can only get better from here on out, cheers!
Yeah, I've already written off the CBS showings. Something will come up and they'll get pre-empted.
Reed will be lucky to get top 5 LOL !
He is washed and soon up LOL! STAMP IT !
Where are some good places to ride SW of Atlanta heading towards Pensacola FL?
@ Miso
go to Reeds place and meet the neighbors...lol
@rip...Wrong direction but I would be there if needed or wanted.
Reed has been building momentum yes - but he has yet to run up front with the boys and is he is just starting to barely get on the front runners pace. SD will surely give Reed the extra incentive he needs, but will it be enough.???.....we'll find out. They way he rode last week he was pretty even with the 4 other guys and RV....so he will really need to take it up a notch to beat these guys....
I dare not make predictiona about this season...the A# main blew me away - The Dunge is fast with an open track for sure. Could we have a fitth winner in Stewart or Canard -who also goes pretty good in SD? - Not Sold on Reed so far theis season he has literally been a lane or two of of the pace mainly starts I am sure but as we all know - starts are verything.
@Pitbull - I agree with your comments on Roczen - you mean ole' mongrel .
Good read Andy!! Can't wait to watch it live this Saturday night.
As for all you guys online here, if you can, take a few minutes to drop a note of thanks to the good people at the Speed Channel for all this amazing live coverage:
Here's the link:
http://www.speedtv.com/feedback/
I think I read once that for every comment they receive, it counts in the thousands as to how many viewers are tuning in and I know they will certainly appreciate it.
At the same time, go easy on Ralph will ya. He may be a bit goofy at times, (I heard him say "Martin is catching Davalos" last weekend and it cracked us all up), but I've met him, (as well as Emig), and he's a down to earth guy just trying to do his job as a sportscaster at Speed. Nobody's perfect, but the guy IS a big enthusiast, so I count him as one of us!
Jeff has been great with the color, and the fact he overcame his stuttering to become a broadcaster is a story in itself. Erin is always fun to watch and it isn't easy being down there on the floor asking the tough questions, (I still laugh at the time she hounded Stewart after he crashed asking him what happened out there? He say's" I crashed" and she say's "yeah, we know that". That's comic gold right there).
You can also appreciate Ricky "preperating" and joining the crew at times, (sorry Ricky). And this Saturday, we have Kevin jumping into the booth. How awesome is that!!
So instead of wasting ALL your time on this site, do something good for the sport and spend two minutes to appreciate all the hard work these men, (and woman), do at Speed.
It might just help to ensure we get this great coverage for a long time to come.
Yeah Baby, Another Cali race!! WooHoo!!!!!
I am feeling Reed this weekend for top 3 and maybe the win IF he keeps it on 2 wheels for the first lap? What I am not feeling is that this is about the time of year when one of the top guys goes down and out for the series. Hopefully not?
It would be great to see another winner this weekend, it makes the season interesting. If Chad keeps hitting the dirt the way he has, a win in San Deigo will be tough. When you have that many riders capable of winning at any given point, it is hard to pick a winner. So far this season we have had a lot of surprises. So we have to wait to see who lights up the candles at San Deigo.
What a Supercross season 2013 is turning out to be!! Each week some thing unexpected happens that leaves us all in shock. What will it be this weekend, another new winner, another pile up, another one of the Sensational Seven in the LCQ or all the top guys out there dicing for the win? None of us know and that is whats making this so much fun to watch!!
Last week Barcia found patience, Canard struggled, Dungey looked aggressive, Millsaps remained steady, Reed was pressing, Stewart became relevant and Villopoto proved to be human. I could speculate on what will happen in San Diego and write a book, but instead, I will spare you and simply suggest, if you can't attend the race, get in front of your TV, tune in Speed and watch the surprises unfold.
"it will surprise me if he fails to extend his point lead this weekend"
.Really?? It will surprise me if he does. Not knocking the guys he is doing a GREAT job. He is the only one of the fast group that has had NO bad luck in a main yet. The laws of avarge say it will catch up with ya sooner or later. All it will take is a first or second turn mess that he gets held up in to level the playing field and erace his points lead. RD and RV have showen speed that Saps could not match 3 times now and my guess is with better luck or starts it could have been more than 3. He is getting great starts and riding well but I really feel RD and RV are coming, TC, CR and JB as well. This will tighten up, i don't see how it does not...Unless the others keep having bad luck. every other week LOL.
@SanClementeRider: Great idea to leave a voice of support at SPEED. Done.
@BILLC-- Not a big surprise for you to not give Millsaps his due, saying he cant match the speed of Dungey or RV.. Millsaps average lap last week was less than half a second from Dungey and he did that running behind Stewie for several laps.. I think he knew there wasnt any running Dungey down when he got past Stewie and played it smart.. Millsaps is showing he is fast enough to win..
After holding the points lead this long, you say it will surprise you if he extends the lead?? You still cant give the guy his respect....he has earned mine so far, he finally had a healthy off season where he could train instead of heal, and he has found his speed again.. Kudos to him..
@BD200
put another way 1/2 second a lap is 10 seconds. at the checkers. DM finished 2.589 back of Dungey.
The old DM would drop anchor when he got passed. The new real #18 either passes back or hangs in there....great to see !
One solid battle against the big 4 and his confidence wil be offf the charts.
JiM
Pala374
milsaps is going fast enough to win and slow enough to stay off the ground so if he keeps that up he will win because others are getting antsy and making mistakes and thats how it all starts
I like reed but I see him turning in to the new kdub..just riding around keeping the sponsers on the track..I hope im wrong
Dude reed will never be k dub if he can't do well in sandiego his championship run will probably end with a crash cuz he won't like getting beat by 4 or 5 guys every weekend.
Well bd200, Did you not see RV pass and put 10+sec on Saps?? That tells me he could not match what RV was doing, last week RD put a lot of time onb him as well. What part of that is rippin on Saps?? It is what happen. You say stuck behind JS, Well news flash JS passed him so I don't think thats a good excuse. I gave him props, I said he was doing a GREAT job so stop fishing for a fight.
.Do you have anything to say about how Davalos did last week after Ripping Mitch for saying he is not doing well?? Or for saying he has NEVER done well so mitch should not expect much out of him??
Good Rev Up Andy. Off to the International at Hawkstone on Sunday but I wish I was in San Diego !!
I too am baffled that anyone would be surprised if Milsaps doesn't add to his points lead. It has been surprising that he has been able extend it 5 rounds in.
Why is it seen as a form of disrespect if you call what you see? I think Milsaps is doing awesome......for him. Isn't that why everyone is so stoked for him? If RV had the lead right now, and 1 win, and a bunch of 2nd-4ths, people would be asking "What is wrong with RV"? Just as they are asking it when he "only" has 2 wins and a 2nd in 5 races. It's all perspective. RV wins and everyone says it was because there was a pileup, but in the same race Davi gets 2nd and he is kicking everyone's butt! Perspective. I am sticking to my prediction that Milsaps (if all are healthy) finishes 4th or worse in the standings behind RV, Dungey, and Reed or Canard. I don't say that based on any disrespect or dislike for Milsaps. I say that because I think that is what is going to be the end result. It actually is more out of RESPECT for the other guys who have done it that are out there, than any form of DISrespect for Milsaps. All about your perspective.
Cr put in a faster lap than every racer except Rd. CR cant be another Kw because he has accomplished so much more than Kw while racing against each other. Fact,so dont get all uptight when I point the finger @ the results. There not anyones opinion.Saps is focused & poto seems to be over riding the track @ times ,sx its all timing .The animal gets a good start & see yaahh.
Right on B-KR!!
.some on here are aways looking for a fight, You can't even say what you think will happen without someguys trying to start crap. SORRY BD200 that I don't think Saps will add to his points lead, He for sure could but I don't think he will. If that is disrespect to you you must have real thin skin. Like B-KR said I could say you are being disrespectfull to RD, RV, CR, TC, JB and JS for saying they CAN'T cut into Sap's points lead!!
@ Miso I do not know the current status of Monster Mountain in Alabama (off I-85) between Atlanta and Montgomery, but it is a heck of a track. Davy has looked at it a couple of times to maybe add to MX schedule.
Via text message,JS 7 said he had a great week of testing and training. Said he felt like this was going to be the weekend that would have him standing on the top step of the box!!! Go #7 i know you have the speed to gap anyone out there,be smart and shut up all the HATERS!!!!!!!! You are the man...............
@maico25...They are still open and are at the head my list. Thanks.
1-JS
2-CR
3-JB
SanClementeRider: Great idea. I just did my part....
Go Dunge!!!
@BILLC-- I never said Davalos never done well, I said he has never WON--And he still hasnt, and wont. sorry.. But he will not and neither will Rattay--so far I am still right..
@BILL--You are really stretching saying I am "disrespecting" the top guys.. Did I say they CANT cut into his points lead?? NO--I said Davi CAN extend his points lead because I believe he is fast enough.. And I was right again..
@Why would you think it was disrespectful to me?? My nake isnt Davi Millsaps--you just dont respect Millsaps ability on the bikje this year.. Maybe he just changed that..