For those of you fellow moto fans, the SX season opener in Anaheim is about as exciting as running downstairs on Christmas morning as a child and seeing that lit up tree overflowing with presents. New bikes, new teams, new numbers, team swaps, flashy new gear, and all the other pre-season hype that goes along with it makes this one of the most anticipated races of the year. Sure this year we did officially take the big hit in our sport by losing the presence of that big number 4 on the starting line. However Ricky Carmichael’s retirement hasn’t seemed to make any of the guys out there all to sad. As a matter of fact after watching the end of this past summers mx season it appears the loss of the Goat has only inspired most out there twist that throttle just a tad bit further.
The 2008 season opener was by far no slouch. The riders were all hindered by a somewhat sloppy conditions thanks to a little rain, but all in all after a week of the weather man preparing us for a pacific monsoon, I think everyone would have to agree that Live Nation with a little help from Mother Nature set us all up with some exciting racing!
In the West region Lites class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey swept the field after taking the lead mid-way from Yamaha of Troy’s bad boy Jason Lawrence. During the first few laps we saw an intense battle break out between six riders including Monster Energy Pro Circuit’s rookie Austin Stroupe and the newest Aussie prodigy Dan Reardon. However when it all settled it was sophomore Ryan Dungey who topped the podium. Jason Lawrence held on for second after a small crash towards the end of the main, and the MDK KTM mounted Justin Brayton put together the best supercross ride of his career finishing third. (Go JB!)
There was quite a bit of hype leading up to the big boy “Supercross” class this year. With Monster Energy Kawasaki’s James Stewart coming off a knee injury from the nationals this past summer, San Manuel Fusion Yamaha’s Chad Reed taking the summer completely off from racing, team Yamaha’s newly crowned Motocross/U.S. Open champ Grant Langston coming off the best season of his career, plus factor in a handful of younger riders getting the taste of “big bike” victory this past summer (some of which throwing their legs over new color bikes), and WOW….! That’s a lot of factors (not to mention a mouthful) that left us all with somewhat of a question mark going into this season opener.
The start of the supercross main saw James Stewart get an early jump on the pack and found himself first heading into turn one. Unfortunately for James that would be as far as his lead would last as the slippery first turn would cause him to wash out taking a number of key players with him. Team Yamaha’s Grant Langston snatched the Progressive Direct holeshot followed closely by the Thor backed Chad Reed. Langston’s lead was short lived as Reed quickly got by and stretched his wings. Stewart found himself remounting after his crash in last place and we all got to witness a very mature and fit James Stewart begin to work his magic. Stewart would calmly work his way all the way to second by the end of the race. Behind Stewart we saw a battle break loose between both Langston and Team Kawi’s Tim Ferry. Out front Reed looked like the Chad of old and although Stewart came from last, Chad would hardly loose a second of lead on James the entire race. In the end Chad Reed earned his first Anaheim 1 win since 2004. Second went to the hard charging pink Fox rider of James Stewart, and mister consistent himself Tim Ferry rounded out the top three.
Next week we head to Phoenix for round 2 where we are guaranteed a dry race thanks to the covered Chase Ballpark. Things should be even more interesting with an even playing field. Lets face it some of the guys out there aren’t exactly known for their mud capabilities. Nonetheless you put them on a dry track and that my friends is whole other story.
In the Lites I say keep and eye on that #51 Villopoto replica of Austin Stroupe as well as his teammate Brett Metcalfe. Of coarse you can’t forget about Team Yamaha’s Broc Hepler, Torco Racing Fuel’s Dan Reardon and Jake Weimer (If he’s ok?), and something tells me we’ll see the #273 of Gavin Gracyk towards the front here sooner than later. I think the Supercross class will have a few underdogs as well. I expect to see a few more blue bikes, a slew of red riders, and hopefully an orange bike added to A1’s top finishers, but I’ll keep their names to myself.
Who do you think will take the honors in Phoenix? Drop us a line and lets get some of your opinions.
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