Supercross
Posted: 04/08/09
For the first time in it's history, the sport of Supercross made an appearance in the city of Jacksonville, Florida. Up on the far northeast edge of the state, Jacksonville would be considered a home track for many of the top riders in the sport, plus a bunch of privateers too. With Georgia and the Carolinas so close, not to mention central Florida and the Tallahassee area, that just about covers the entire southeast hotbed of the sport. James Stewart, who lives about 2.5 hrs away in Haines City said he was actually dreading it, since there would be so many more friends and family there to distract him from what's come to be one of the most anticipated Supercross championship runs in history.
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Posted: 04/08/09
The stadium had one of the biggest and most extravagantly displayed pit areas on the tour. With all of the biggies building their complete setups: Monster, Jagermeister, Parts Unlimited, etc., plus the various bands and other attractions it was like a veritable motocross festival that just happened to also have the best supercross racing in the world right next door. The Peace Bridge is seen in the background, which ties the stadium quite nicely to several major traffic arteries, making it a pleasure to get into and out of for everyone involved.
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Posted: 04/08/09
James Stewart was all smiles as he and man-friend Raddo took care of the horde of autograph seekers in the pits prior to the racing. This smiley version of James Stewart quickly changed to the one seen in the next shot as time come closer to do battle... and what a battle it was.
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Posted: 04/08/09
This is the business side of Mr. Stewart, who quickly switched off the smile and went into game-face mode as he strolled forcefully up to the stadium, like a gladiator heading to battle. This would prove to be a decisive night in the battle for the championship, and one that defined how badly both he and Chad Reed want this championship.
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Posted: 04/08/09
Also in the pits was ill-stricken Monster Kawasaki front-man/rookie Supercross rider Ryan Villopoto. Ryan's been bummin' with a mystery virus the past several weekends, but is finally well enough that he's gotten back on the bike and is training again, albeit at a greatly reduced volume. To us, he looked singificatly slimmer - "Gaunt" is a perfect description, look it up. Team Manager Mike Fisher has high hopes that Ryan will be able to make his comeback for the Seattle round, which is a home race of sorts for Ryan, since he's originally a Washingtonian. The dirt in the stadium at Seattle, though, will be nothing like what he'd be use to from the local tracks, so don't expect much home field advantage for Villopoto.
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Posted: 04/08/09
For whatever reason (maybe because of this cheering section?), Mike Alessi once again pulled a great ride out of his hat and lead his heat race for several laps over Chad Reed. He looked fast, agressive and precise, which dramatically contrasts to the Mike Alessi we saw up in Toronto just one week prior. Mike had reportedly felt ill due to the lime and smoke in the Rogers Centre, and it apparently effected his result. If he continues riding like he did in Jacksonville, another podium finish is not out of the question. In fact, had he not fallen and given 3rd place to Kevin Windham, he probably could've gotten one in JAX.
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Posted: 04/08/09
Blake Wharton, shown here doing some pushups to warm-up for his heat race, has certainly proven he's had the speed to win this season. Of course, speed is only part of the equation, and the other part he's lacking is consistency. With the East series now over, Blake ended up 5th in the final standings, and his results varied wildly - including a 10-1-5 in the last 3 rounds. He should be a factor in the Nationals this summer, but then again so will a dozen other guys, most of which with way more experience.
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Posted: 04/08/09
When Chad Reed enters the stadium, everyone notices. For Jacksonville, his gear sponsor THOR came up with a set of gear based upon the old custom car paint jobs that are prevalent along the FLorida east coast area. The stuff looked awesome, and he wore it all day - even in practice - which is highly unusual.
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Posted: 04/08/09
The stadium was a big one, no doubt, but it was definitely a bummer to see so many open seats at such a great venue. Municipal Stadium can hold upwards of 85,000 fans in certain configurations, and the "official" count for supercross fans on hand was in the low 30K range. While that seemed like a VERY generous estimate, those that did make it in the house got one hell of a race for their money. While this crowd may have been below average in terms of numbers, it was definitely high on the list for enthusiasm.
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Posted: 04/08/09
One of the extra treats for Jacksonville fans was a rare appearance by Ricky Carmichael. RC was once again the designer for this weekend's track, and it produced some great racing. Shown here giving a look-over to balance out James Stewart's look-back, Carmichael also spent time up in the SPEED broadcast booth with Jeff Emig and Ralph Sheheen, adding plenty of color commentary on the superb racing unfolding below them. It was a treat to hear RC's perspective on the Stewart/Reed madness, and everyone looks forward to getting him back up there again.
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Posted: 04/08/09
The night's first 450 class heat race set the tone for the evening somewhat, as teammates Chad Reed and Mike Alessi actually battled a bit before Reed was able to make a pass stick on the 800. But Reedy didn't run away, and a rejuvenated Alessi was quick to get with Reed after the finish to discuss what had just happened. It can't be sure what was said, but it at least SEEMED like a friendly conversation, although there's no doubt that Alessi knows his place on the team, particularly in a series as close as this one.
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Posted: 04/08/09
Adding to the confrontational tone for the evening were Jason Lawrence and Broc Hepler. Even though the two have undoubtedly shared track time at the Yamaha track during the week, Lawrence and Hepler seemed to run into each other throughout the day and night in Jax. This really came to a head in the main event when Jason stood Broc up in a corner, forcing him to stall his bike and lose several positions before getting rolling again. Karma came back in Hepler's favor, however, as JLaw ultimately DNF the main while Bhep pulled off an 11th after running as high as 6th early on.
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Posted: 04/08/09
But the rest of the racing paled in comparison to what was happening out front in the 450 main event. In what many considered to be one for the ages, Reed and Stewart got out front from lap one and were able to set a torrid pace that only Kevin Windham was even remotely able to match. As seen here, the crowd was on its feet for nearly the entire 20 lap main, although things got significantly less exciting after Stewart finally jammed his way past on lap 15 to maintain a lead and built a gap of 3.5 seconds by the flag. But that's really when the fun began, as you'll read about later...
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Posted: 04/08/09
Josh Hill went down in the first turn of his heat race, which sent him to the LCQ which he handily won. What's amazing about that was that even with the crummy gate pick, he managed to get a mid-pack start and bust his way up to 4th place by the end. In doing so, he dispatched Andrew Short, who'd been riding great and moving forward himself for the entire race. Hill is definitely on the upswing following a couple of nagging injuries, and is really coming into his own on a supercross track lately. Unfortunately, the season's nearly over and we can only hope that he'll be a factor in the nationals (he wasn't last year).
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Posted: 04/08/09
Poor Josh Grant. He tangled (again) with Ivan Tedesco in a small whoop section, and ended up on the ground (again). But despite taking more than his share of soil samples this year, he's clearly one of the fastest riders on the track and that's quite a remarkable statement considering he's never raced 450's before this season (OK, he raced Seattle last year on one). At this moment, it looked like we'd seen the last of Grant, but...
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Posted: 04/08/09
... the word on the street is that his injury was nothing more than a lot of pain and a bit of a scare, as there are no broken bones and he plans to be back on his Joe Gibbs Racing YZ450F for Seattle in two weeks.
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