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Posted by Jason Weigandt on Saturday, January 30, 2010
Crazy days here in San Francisco, first we had last night’s bombshell with James Stewart bowing out of the weekend (and perhaps the season) with a broken wrist, then we have the open door for the championship for everyone else. Yes, Ryan Dungey and Josh Hill already had Stewart behind them in points, but now Stewart’s out of the championship chase for certain, which could shift some pressure their direction. It’s one thing being the underdog, it’s another to have to deal with it being your championship to lose for 15 more weeks. Dungey, though, continues to look cool, calm and collected right now. He's prepared and he's confident, and I don't think the new championship outlook has changed him one bit.
We chatted with Larry Brooks this morning regarding Stewart’s injury. He’s not sure when, exactly, the wrist got to this point. Obviously James took a big hit in the Partridge crash at Phoenix, and then there was the second crash with Reed in the main. But James had the wrist x-rayed after that race and they didn’t find anything, so there’s a chance that racing in A2 might have pushed the wrist past the point of no return.
The wrist wasn’t getting better so James finally visited the renowned Dr. Ting here in Northern California. He did an MRI and extended the wrist in a manner that can help expose a broken navicular. Dr. Ting found out that was the case, and then wet into surgery immediately. No idea yet when James will be better, but Larry is just happy they caught the injury now, before James kept riding on it and made things worse.
So the real buzz in the pits today is who else might step up now that the Stewart/Reed duo isn’t on the gate. Dungey has been rolling, but what about guys like Short, Villo, Windham, Tedesco, Millsaps and the rest? This could be the shot in the arm that they need.
Ryan Villopoto explained that they made some changes to the forks on his bike this week, and the bike is better. He doesn’t know if that was the problem last week, but he does admit things are easier now that Reed and Stewart are out. It was also cool to see Ryan’s dad Dan here today, the Villopoto parents haven’t been to the races since mid-season last year, and dad looks pretty happy to be back. Could Ryan turn things around and get back in the hunt?
Also chatted with Hill, Stewart’s teammate. He says the absence of James doesn’t change things for him, because he said he was going to do everything in his power to contend this season anyway, and the team was already giving him tremendous support. So he’s going to keep doing what he’s been doing.
Tonight’s track is shaping up pretty good considering how much rain the stadium has absorbed in the last week. The track builders said the dirt was wet when they brought it in, and then more rain came down throughout the week. But with some hard work mixing in drying agents all day (that’s chemicals, not people who make business deals) they’ve salvaged the place. Like last week, there’s some water in the low areas between the jumps, but this should be a soft track, not a muddy one.
But all of those ruts will make things tough for 20 laps, and as we’ve already learned, one little mistake can change everything. We’ll see how this turns out.
(And of course, don't forget tonight's live webcast at www.supercrossonline.com/supercrosslive
Posted by Jason Weigandt on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Posted by Jason Weigandt on Saturday, January 23, 2010
Two races into Monster Energy Supercross 2010, and folks are already buzzing about a changing of the guard. After last weekend’s podium sweep by the new kids, Ryan Dungey, Ryan Villopoto and Josh Hill (which, by my calculation was the first race in like 15 years in which we didn’t have Reed or Stewart on the podium) I’ve heard whispers about the 1990 season, when the old guard of Lechien, Johnson and Ward were winding down (or gone altogether in the case of The Dogger) and a new crop of Bradshaw/Bayle/LaRocco/Larry Ward/Matiasevich ran up front every weekend.
But we’re only two races in, so hold off judgement. And James Stewart is here and going to race this weekend, his bike even sports a cool new look today with white plastic and blue graphics. That should last about three feet into the race, when the mud starts flying. The start is the muddiest part of this track here. Right now the crew is removing the mud from that section and trucking in fresh sand to revive it. As for the rest of the track, the jump faces look good, it’s the ruts in between that should prove the most treacherous part of the course.
So we might not have a crazy mudder, and we might just soon go back to James Stewart running the show every weekend. So just in case the young guys don’t stay on top, I better write about them now.
I’m intrigued by this matchup because of the history between the three riders. Villopoto spent three seasons as the boss of the Lites class, with Dungey often chasing him outdoors. But in supercross, they haven’t raced much. Villo raced West in ’07 while Dungey raced East, and they swapped in ’08. But at the final round of the 2008 season, Villopoto’s last-ever Lites SX race, Dungey straight-up ran him down to take the lead and the win at the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout in Vegas. That was a big statement, one that indicated Dungey might have a higher ceiling in supercross that RV. Now two years later they’ve finally met up again, and Villopoto is still doing the chasing.
But Dungey is coming off of a spectacular 2009 season, while Villopoto spent more time away from the track than on it. Villo is rebuilding his momentum and confidence while Dungey already has his. Is Dungey’s ceiling still truly higher, or will Villopoto catch him? The idea that we really don’t know, that the matchups between them in supercross are so rare that we really can’t predict what comes next, is a nice change from the Reed/Stewart battle which has raged over and over and over again.
Hill factors in, too. At the end of the 2006 season, Hill was anointed the “next big thing” with his factory Yamaha ride and massive array of amateur titles. Dungey was less proven and was considered a work in progess. But by the end of the ’07 season, Dungey had collected a bunch of Lites SX wins, while Hill was stuck behind Villopoto out west, and winless. That had to hurt even more since Hill had grown up battling Villopoto as a kid in the Pacific Northwest.
I have to think Hill was a little stung watching Dungey take the “next big thing” mantle with his East Region victories. So again the showdown came at the Vegas Shootout in ’07, where Dungey bolted out to the early lead and Hill started tracking him down from second. Josh was going faster and looked to be setting up a pass, but instead of waiting for his spot, he decided to dive-bomb in on Dungey in a corner and knock him down. Somehow Dungey stayed up, and Hill crashed. Dungey won again.
Hill then struggled outdoors and later requested a switch to a 450, where he enjoyed some early success, winning the Minneapolis SX in 2008 ahead of…Dungey.
And that’s about the only history between Hill and Dungey in supercross. They haven’t raced each other much, so there’s not much evidence to build predictions from. That means all three of these riders have a belief that they can win, a confidence that says, “If that’s the guy I have to beat, then that’s a guy I can beat.”
It’s different if you’re chasing Stewart. At the moment they aren’t and that could lead to some great racing.
Posted by Jason Weigandt on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Posted by Jason Weigandt on Monday, January 18, 2010
I’m late for everything. Forget the classic sports phrase first one here and the last one to leave” to describe a hard-working player. I’m the last one to arrive and the last one to leave.
But I almost got beat on Saturday night. By 11 p.m. in Phoenix, the pits were clearing out as usual. By midnight, they were nearly empty and many team trucks were already headed to California. Then I got a call from a couple of Ryan Dungey’s people, who were out celebrating (but not with Dungey himself, who did not want to go out. He just won his first supercross, but this kid is thinking championship, not celebrating race wins).
Figuring there weren’t any scoops left to get, I sent out a few final tweets (in 2010, the battle to out-tweet and out-video is as fierce as the racing on the track) and headed out into the Phoenix night life. Closing time came just about an hour later, and then I started getting some texts from people: “I’m STILL at the track.” It was 2 a.m. So I walked back over to the stadium.
We might as well have started a campfire as I met up with Steve Cox, Vital MX’s Guy B, and Cycle News' Jean Turner for some bench racing while we waited. Guy B threw down his tailgate and we kept chatting. Later, Kawasaki PR man Tom McGovern opened up the snack cabinets in the Kawi rig and I had a nice late-night meal of Tostitos, the perfect dessert for the liquid steaks I had earlier.
We were letting the good times roll. Finally, at 3:52 a.m., after we stuffed our faces with chips and candy, the word finally came out from the AMA rig that Chad Reed’s penalty was getting reversed. He was originally to be fined $5000 and given a one-race suspension for Anaheim 2 (which he would have missed anyway due to injury). After much dileberation, I guess, the word came out that Reed wasn't going to incur a penalty. By then, we had solved most of the world's other problems, too.
Everything took so long that I was able to go from sober to buzzed to sober again before I finally left the track, yes, plenty of time to make sure I was the last to leave.
Posted by Jason Weigandt on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Posted by Jason Weigandt on Saturday, January 16, 2010
Well, it didn't work out for the Arizona Cardinals. But this may still be a good night in the Phoenix sports scene is tonight's Monster Energy AMA Supercross an FIM World Championship brings the goods. And it just might.
The field is still super deep in the Supercross Class, missing only Josh Grant from the talented field last week. And with opening round jitters gone, a bunch of riders are going faster.
Top of that list comes Chad Reed, who looked very determined in the final practice today. Reed told us during an interview for the supercross live! webcast (tune in tonight) that a lot of things changed on his Kawasaki during the month of December, once he got back to the U.S. Now he's back to a baseline setting and things are getting better--he was fastest in the second timed practice session.
But just after logging that fast lap, his engine quit and cut his practice short.
Meanwhile, James Stewart wasn't even out there in the second practice, his team says the track just gets so dried out in the final practice it's not even worth going out there, as the fast times come from the first session. And maybe he's right, because Stewart's first-session time was the best of the field, with a 52.756.
Second overall, again, comes Ryan Dungey with a 52.323. Reed's 53.365 is third best, but he did turn that time in during the slower second session, when Dungey only clocked a 54.303.
Josh HIll looks very aggressive, too. Forget opening night, expect to see the real Josh Hill here. He logged a 53.508. Ryan Villopoto, saying earlier he made a shock change this week, was fifth with a 53.523. Villo and Reed look a lot more comfortable than they did last week. So does Hill, and Dungey and Stewart are still flying. This could be good.
Live webcast tonight at supercrossonline.com/supercrosslive That's the way to her how it all goes down.
In lItes Josh Hansen leads Jake Weimer, Trey Canard, Will Hahn and Blake Wharton in times.
Should be good but I have to go on the air. Enjoy the race!
Posted by Jason Weigandt on Saturday, January 16th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
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