Saturday Night Live
Sunday, March 10, 2013 | 3:10 AM
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PrintThis track was just plain tough. The heat races offered up some great racing, but with the longer races in the main, there wasn’t as much action. But those heats! A KTM duo of Ken Roczen and Andrew Short was blowing minds early in one of them, battling for the lead ahead of James Stewart and Ryan Dungey. Roczen eventually wrestled the lead from Short, and he held it all the way until the last lap, when Stewart launched an attack and made the pass. In the other heat, Justin Barcia held strong under an attack from Ryan Villopoto. Seemed like anyone in that group could win the main—but when it came down to crunch time, Villopoto got the start and outlasted everyone to the finish. The 450 main was long, 28-some minutes. There wasn’t much battling left through the final laps.
Roczen was a revelation on that KTM 350 SX-F, though, nailing two starts on it and laying down some blazing laps. Eventually, arm pump got the better of him on the rough track, and the German kid was not, ahem, pumped on his performance overall. But the speed and starts where there. Too bad Roczen is one and done in the 450 SX class this year.
Roczen’s 250 SX West sparring partner Eli Tomac was pumped on his ride. It was quiet, but effective, resulting in fourth. "I finally rode like I know how to ride and I finally felt comfortable on the bike for the first time," Tomac said. "We all kind of got sandwiched on the start and I had to fight through that. I fell into like eighth or ninth place and then just told myself to relax and let the race come to me. This time on the 450 is going really well for me. I'm learning a lot and I definitely know what it takes to ride at this level. I guess the next step is get up on the box now."
Chad Reed’s normally not all that fast (relatively) in practice—he’s way, way beyond the days of showing off with a fast lap during the day. But he couldn’t help it here, he likes Daytona and he was hauling. Fastest in the first timed session, third in the second one. Unfortunately, he was down in a pileup off the start in his heat, and he had to dig from last to fifth, all while riding without a rear fender. He didn’t have a great gate pick in the main event and had a so-so start, then crashed. He kept digging and came back from eighth to fifth.
Roczen was in the thick of some battles all night long.
Now that's a holeshot!
James Stewart won his heat race, but struggled with a bad bike setup in the main. A crash didnt help, either.
Simon Cudby
Davi Millsaps just didn’t seem to have the same spark that he’s had all year, and the rough Daytona track usually works well for his style. Bad starts in his heat race and main made it worse, as did an early fall in the main, but no doubt, it was the toughest night of the year for the Rockstar Energy Racing rider. He’s lost the points lead for the first time this year—it will be a true test to see how he responds.
Ryan Villopoto is now undefeated since switching to a new triple clamp offset.
Justin Barcia had four-time Daytona SX winner Jeff Stanton whipping on him for ten days leading into the event. “I’m working harder than I ever have,” says Barcia. “But this race was tough tonight. Trying to build a track to prepare for it, it’s like riding Southwick to prepare for Lommel.”
Does a Frenchman really understand the importance of winning at Daytona, home of NASCAR’s Daytona 500? Marvin Musquin says yes, he had dreams of winning this race, and doing a big burnout on the pavement. Well, half of that dream came true. He won. But he pretty much sucked at getting the burnout going. He’ll settle for the win!
Mike Alessi had a tough one, he was down with Reed early in the heat race, then came back through to get into a transfer position. Then he had another problem and ended up a lap down, sending him to the LCQ. There, he took the win, but his main event was filled with ups and downs and he struggled to 16th.
Oh, but the battle behind Alessi for the final transfer in the LCQ! Bobby Kiniry and Weston Peick had the battle of death for the last spot, passing back and forth on the last lap, then drag racing over a triple and the finish line jump side-by-side. The transponder feed gave the spot to Kiniry, but since the transponder reads at the bottom of the finish line jump, a visual override is used to determine who really had the spot at the top of the jump. That gave the spot to Peick, and Kiniry was out of the main.
Crazy, right? No, here’s the crazy spot: Peick, at first, thought he missed the cut, since the transponder gave it to Kiniry. So he was captured via the SPEED TV cameras kicking his bike to the ground in frustration. Moments later, he was in the main!
What happened to Dean Wilson? We hear he got arm pump part way through the race, and just couldn’t hang on. The 2011 250 MX Champ showed great speed in practice and his heat. But he really needed a win in the main to steal some confidence from Hahn, and it didn’t come together.
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250 EAST; better than people expected it to be...
What the hell is wrong with Chad??? :/
Bcooksey94
I thought Chad rode awesome! A decent start and he had the pace to run with Villo I think!
Millsaps has had a dream run, but i get bummed out on him when he blames some vague injury/health issue when he doesnt get the job done. Oh well, i guess things are just finally back to normal. Well done Musquin!
It's the excuses that piss me off about this guy, particularly when you know it's horse manure.
"James Stewart won his heat race, but struggled with a bad bike setup in the main. A crash didnt help, either."
Up till now it's been.....
"James Stewart won his heat race, but struggled with a bum knee in the main. A crash didnt help, either.
It's always something holding back the fastest man to hit the planet, right?
" I get bummed out on him when he blames some vague injury/health issue when he doesn't get the job done"
Yeah, alot like another rider?
THE MAIN ISSUE IS THIS: RACERX DID NOT HAVE ONE (1) "WRITER" SAYING MILLSAPS WOULD END UP DOING THIS(I HAVE SAID IT FROM THE BEGINNING)...NOT ONE! ALL THEY DO IS KISS-ASS ALL DAY LONG. OH THE "DREAM" RIDE...YOU FOOLS WENT ON AND ON AND ON.
When a publication just candy coats everything, never giving the "reality" to anything, it is a disservice to your readers...
Millsaps is a MASTER manipulator...that never finishes anything. He shows you what he "could" do if he actually put in real work(Ezra does not know anything...sorry)...then he sits back and collects checks.
Move the transponder to the spot of the actual finish line. Problem solved.
Exciting races!!!! It was great to see a track that really challenges the racers. It was also good to see fitness and bike set up play a more significant role.
Can they schedule as many Daytona rounds as they do Aneheim?
Come on people,Deep down we all knew the Davie train would come off the rails.I ersonally think he will end of 5th or 6th maybe futher back by the end of the year.
I love how the Sunday morning quarterbacks "know" that certain riders had no problems and are just making it up. pizzacorner is just a miserable human being who would b1*tch about the entranceway to the Pearly Gates (if he were to ever see them). Davey got hammered by Canard last week, and then had a practice crash this week. Who's to say injuries didn't slow him down? No one expected him to be where he is. How many riders have been in top form every week? Making the top five in this class is an accomplishment. I just hope RV doesn't keep getting holeshots....
Don't want to go as far as pizzacorner about Davi, but agree that very few were considering reality when talking about his odds at a title. Many were looking at his finishes and for some reason thinking he was just going to podium every race and avoid any problems. Others were saying the inevitable bad luck would come in a 17 race series. Davi has done better than I said he would after 3 rounds, but I see Dungey getting him here soon too. Davi just didn't have it in Daytona, and not sure if it is injury or he just isn't in good enough shape, but he HAS to be able to get by Tickle at least. RV has gone 1-2-1-1 in the last 4 races and people still think the strategy is to wait for him to implode? On the flip side, I guess that is all any of them have to cling to for 7 more races.
I was there yesterday for the first time and what an awesome event it was. I was at A1 and Dallas but this track looked so much more difficult in person than either of those. RV looked liked the man to beat after practice and that turned out to be just the case. He dominated but Dungey rode an impressive race. Barcia was fast but I just don't think he's that great of an outdoor rider, I think his style kills a lot of his actual corner speed. Musquin also dominated with the huge help of a huge hole shot and I was wondering what happened to Dean because he started fading bad towards the end. Maybe he shouldn't have passed up the Aldon thing...
Don't judge the rest of the Supercross season based off what you just saw at Daytona. It's a one and only race..
I thought Reed a d Roczen were shining brightly. RV wants it, good for him. Stewart looks like he doesn't care, I understand.. But not cool, we expect more from him.
The podium spots in 450 was a visual of the outdoors top dogs running order.. Both Ryan's out front with Barcia in the mix.. Reed will be in there too he seems to amaze me on how well he rides the rough.. I wonder if Reed and tomac got up front with good starts how they Would of finished
@B-KR. The only rider with a realistic shot at the title besides the points leader, is the Dunge. He is exactly where I imagined he would be at this stage of the title chase, and with RV, in my opinion, more likely than RD to make a major mistake in the remaining rounds, Dungey is still well in this thing.
All it will take is one slip and the red plate gets transfered onto an orange bike. Now, how sweet would that be?
Starting to hear some talk about how Dungey is only 14 behind the leader now. That is great, but these people are talking like he is closer to RV as well. 4 races ago, Dungey was 19 out of the lead........but 8 points AHEAD of RV. RV has gained 29 points on Millsaps since then. Dungey has only gained 7 points on Millsaps........and lost 22 points to RV. RV mistakes are the only realistic shot anyone has.
Pippie, there is still a lot of racing to go and anything can happen......but "hoping" a guy screws up, has a mechanical, doesn't qualify, etc. isn't how we should be looking at the racing. My point was that some are talking like Dungey has been reeling RV in and will now step it up to put the nail in the coffin. Quite the contrary. At least you are acknowledging that no one is catching RV without his help.
I forgot about Millsaps getting nailed last week, so he could have had problems from that.. And I want to know where all the "so called fans" are who where bad mouthing Dungey the last two weeks?? they know who they are.... RV killed it, dominated everyone, and Reed looked good too.. If not for the mistake , he podiums I think..Pretty good for a guy "Not Prepared"
When Erin interviewed Musquin, it looked like he hadn't even broken a sweat in the main!
What is this BS about Reed not having a good gate pick when he started right next to RV? Stop making excuses and do not distort the facts because he lost. There is no way anyone was going to beat RV even if he had started 7th. This track showed some guys need to get in shape or get a new profession. As for Kenny, yes he is fast but history has proven him to be a fader always even in the 250 class and I doubt he will ever beat Tomac even in one moto.
wfodave, I noticed the same thing- not a drop of sweat or even breathing hard- just excited and happy- look out boys when the nationals begin. . . . Has anynoe seen a better jump on the gate- watch it in slo-mo !!
Hoping DM gets thinks back together- he is a welcome addition to the top riders in my book, lets hope he stays there. The guy has serious skills.
I think the talk of Dungey reeling in RV comes from the fact that he is super consistent and will be right there should RV have another bad race. RD doesn't have the aggression that RV has, but he is there for the war, not the battles.
How bout we just wait and see what RD does when we get back to regular SX tracks? Did he put all his struggles behind him in one night or was the MX theme of Daytona a one off for him?
@ripdown good point dungey is hands down a better MX rider than SX not saying he's the Blake bagget of the 450 class it just seems like he takes a little longer to get moving and runs out of time
The tide has turned, RV put on a stellar ride last night. I may have to change his nickname from the Firecracker to the Steamroller, as he looked to crush everyone else's championship hopes. Dungey lived up to his name the Locomotive, took him a few laps to get going, but then he ran laps on par with Villopoto for the second half of the race. When it is rough an gnarly these two are up to the challenge.
Then came the Honda team, Barcia Tomac Reed and Canard. Justin caught a bit of a break when Eli washed the front end, other wise he would have had to battle a charging Tomac. Reed showed some heart, got to give it to the ole guy, when Daytona rolls around he gives it his best shot!!
Roczen showed the KTM 350 can holeshot the 450's and run with them, at least until his lack of fitness required him to back it down a notch. Stewart and Milsaps just did not look inspired in the main, which I can see, the pain from any lingering injury, would have been intensified on that brutal track...(wow I just used the word brutal to describe a supercross track.) I am sure both will see better results once back indoors...
Musquin and Martin are the talk of the 250sx class, BIG congrats to both for their firsts of their careers!! Hope Deano is okay, that head slap seemed to take it out of him.... Heroes of the night, Peick and Kinnery for the Great Racing on display in the LCQ...That's what I am talkin about ....
Funny how Stewart can say his bike setup was off and that gets repeated. How about ignoring what he says and focusing on the results? He got blown off the track.
Villopoto's "new triple clamp offset" involves putting sprung forks back in the triple clamps.
What a race! 26 minute 450 main! Let's make the AMA/FIM hear from the fans that we want timed mains. 20 minutes plus 2! If we the fans keep putting this on the boards they might listen.
Let's give some well deserved credit to RC. The track was nice and wide, the obstacles were reasonable and challenging, and the racing was good. Feld should broker a deal whereas RC has control of the track layouts and logistics for the races going forward....otherwise we will simply go back to follow the leader. Seeing riders changing up lines ( even during the heats/mains ) was great, and the fans deserve more race lanes than they have this season. C'mon RC....get your business hat on!!
dont count out millsaps just yet, it certainly was not luck that got him this far.
dont count out millsaps just yet, it certainly was not luck that got him this far.
Speaking of the track guess what the toughest and longest race had less crashes than most of the races so far. Come on Dirt works lets make the tracks tougher.
The TV coverage was the best yet !! love it when they show all the heats and lcq's and it was good race coverage !!
Uneasy rider-
I don't know, if you feel Dungey will be reeling RV in now, he better start doing it at some point! I think that was Dungeys best ride of the year (not best result, best ride) and he still dropped 3 more points to RV. Dungey has dropped 10 points to RV in just the last two races. One more thing, remember all the talk last year about how RV would not be doing as good if EVERYONE was out there? Well EVERYONE is out there now and they even brought some friends for backup (Tomac and Roczen and Barcia)......it didn't help. 5 wins in 10 races. We should all be happy he didn't cruise to a 6th or 7th in those really bad races or he'd be a race up on everyone right now.
Stewarts problem with crashing all the time has nothing to do with what brand of bike he is riding. It comes down to him not getting the bike setup correct and still trying to win. This year he is not pushing hard when his setup in not working thus less human lawn darts. If he keeps this up he just might get back to winning some races.
KROC sounds like JS7 sometimes! Who by the way said he was having vision and tear off problems in his heat race. I am guessing that was the reason It took so long to pass Kenny. Who by the way had arm pump and that is why he got passed by so many guys in the main.
Not the fact that the bike is bigger, the race is longer on a tougher track and oh yeah the guys I am racing are a lot better!!!!
Red54, KROC has always wore me out with his excuses, he needs to just say I got beat and go back to work, he is an incredible rider that doesn't need excuses and so is JS
Stewart got worked.
RV beat Stewart by almost a minute.
And don't blame James' tip over either because RV had one also and still waxed him.
Stewart knew he better bow down and coast to the end so he could have an excuse of bike issues instead of admitting to just straight up getting waxed by the top 5 fit and fastest riders.
They could take lessons from Barcia who said " the Ryan's brought their A game tonight " admit defeat without the woulda, coulda, shoulda! You will be respected soooo much more. Lat week James gave RV credit for ridin great and followed it with " I am not gonna lie, he caught me off guard " Then he went on to say that RV got away when he got caught in battle with Barcia. All wasted breathe for his fans. KROC always sounds like he is about to cry. Love the kids talent but the whinning has to stop.
B-KR
I don't necessarily think RD will reel him in, but RV hasn't been rock solid this year (neither has Dungey), but he is less than a race away from the points lead. I don't think Dungey can match the speed, but he is always there to capitalize on the other guys mistake. I know he would prefer to be the bride, but sometimes the bridesmaid is the best position. The target is not on your back.
Congrats to Marvin on his win. The kid was so excited, he just looked lost for words. Deano looked aggressive out there but sure fell off the pace.Too bad for Chad, he had great speed, but bad luck. Track looked rough for sure, but they should have those at all rounds. Too bad the venues they go to are not bigger.
News flash.....Still no major injuries!
Looking forward to the Nationals, where fitness & bike setup factor in more.
Dungey was catching rv-he has the speed and is right in it. So much for Stanton saying Kroc can beat him- he folded like a Kmart lawn chair
Why does somebody always say whoever was in 2nd was catching the leader?? Everybody who has ever watched a race knows when the leader has a good lead, they back it down and cruise towards the finish.. Always.. I garuntee you RV and his mechanic knew exactly where Dungey was, and knew exactly how much the lead was, and RV backed it down some and cruised to the finish.. Dungey rode great, and I am happy for that, but he wasnt running down RV, not on that track..
@therealmofo...exactly. RV was gone . make up all the scenario's you want....he repassed JB and kroc like they brought knives to a gun fight and was gone. All the JS7 haters on here are WAY more concerned with what he didn't do and finally breathe a sigh of relief that they have something to hate again.....Loved watchin 22 and 51 ride there a*ses off...but the super training guys wore people out last night... congrats to MM25 ..deserved the win....great lcq 450 wow.....was glad the great KALI made the main....I may be the only one but i'm not countin 18 out just yet...hes STILL in the hunt...but the alpha dog is DEFINITELY startin to roll....
Dungey was not catching rv. Once dungey passed barcia the gap between them stayed almost exactly the same every lap with the exception of the last lap when rv was off the pace on a victory lap. My wife and I were there timing the gap every lap as dungey is her favorite and poto is mine. They both looked very fast but rvs explosive speed and aggression in the first part of the race sealed the deal for him.
Dungey was not catching rv. Once dungey passed barcia the gap between them stayed almost exactly the same every lap with the exception of the last lap when rv was off the pace on a victory lap. My wife and I were there timing the gap every lap as dungey is her favorite and poto is mine. They both looked very fast but rvs explosive speed and aggression in the first part of the race sealed the deal for him.
All you stew haters are so pathetic, is it a requirement to like the biggest Whiney underdog in history ( reed) if you hate on James. Seriously Chad is the sorriest most excuse making fifth place rider out there. How can the oldest most experienced supercross rider in these races still not be prepared ? I'm so sick of that dork getting press
Lets hear about some one with a future racing dirt bikes. Not some washed up wish - he -could -have -been. You can take his win list and shove it he got most of them when someone else already had the title wrapped up... And yes he wasting a Honda seat . ... Stamp that.
@joel347...you're soundin ALOT like the haters that are buggin you....what race were you watchin ...Reed was on it...dude was givin his all and haulin when a lot of young bloods guys were sittin on there tongues....I could see that and i'm a RV guy. Its tuff out there. Its possible to like ALL the riders if you understand just how hard it really is just to make the program....and as for his win list ...you're so far of the mark its , as you would say, pathetic. I don't understand the suffering 'Whiney' teenager mentality of disliking any rider just because hes not your pick....'wasting a Honda seat.'...wtf are you even talking about...its his team.!..
@Joel347
Really? You are tired of people hating on your favorite rider, so you attempt to validate him by hating on Reed? Reed has the same number of titles in the big boy class as JS, so you need to work up better argument. EPIC FAIL!
tonewall, your wasting your time , that's not a fan of the sport, maybe just one rider.
Reed was doing better than 15 of the best in the world out there, the man always gives 100%
@Joel347--You are bagging on Reed, he rode pretty darn good Saturday.. And he podiumed in St.Loius.. I think he is doing good myself.. And why do guys keep saying he isnt prepared.. He got rid of the air forks, so what.. RV changed the whole front rake of his ride at the same weekend.. So I dont see where Reed is less prepared than anyone else.. Its obvious his fitness is fine, he charged all the way to the finish in Daytona..
@Joel347--I wouldnt bag on Reed too much, he is still way ahead of your guy Stewart...you are amking Stewart look bad bagging on Reed..
@preston again contributes nothing but hating on someone..typical..
reed impressed me he never gave up, kept pushing until the end
Hey Jason Weigandt, tell me why you mention Stewart in this article and failed to mention the name of the man who got a 2nd in the main? Oh and make sure it is a great reason and not an excuse.
Personally I think Davi will do fine the rest of the year but if RV keeps riding like he did at Daytona nobody will touch him. Perhaps the only one capable at this point is RD, who rode really well but none of us know that because the cameras never showed him and the crew never mentioned his name after the first three laps (until he passed Barcia which we did not see).
Weigandt says there was not much action. What race was he watching? I thought the Reed, Canard, Roczen battle was awesome. There seemed to be plenty of racing action from 3rd on back. Tomac was impressive as he moved through pack too.
I thought CR looked the best he has all season and Canard was looking a little more confident too.
Dungey was definitely NOT catching RV at the end but Dungey rode a great race. RVs cornering was truly amazing. As for Stewart, well it was time for him to take a dirt nap again.