Rice Eccles Stadium Posted: 04/26/09 Salt Lake City was once again host to the Monster Energy Supercross series, and once again the weather was sketchy. While it ultimately did turn out to be OK, it was questionable all night and rain fell for a fair bit. The temps were chilly too, in the 40's most of the day, which when combined with the elevation must've made jetting on the carburated bikes a nightmare. Regardless, it was the old fashioned Keihin carb on James Stewart's YZ450F that took him to the victory of the EFI RMZ450 of Chad Reed. But that's not where the drama stopped. 1272 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	450 Podium Posted: 04/26/09 Once again, Davi Millsaps rounded out the podium in the 450 class. He ran in 3rd place for the entire race and was never really challenged from behind, and certainly didn't offer any sort of challenge to Reed and Stewart out front - the gap was over 30 seconds at the end. 1509 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Lites Podium Posted: 04/26/09 Trey Canard hounded his way up to the front, and his first Lites win of the 2009 West season. Last year's East Lites champ was a real threat last weekend in Seattle too, but a few miscues put him on the ground one too many times. In SLC, however, Canard chased down Dungey and Jake Moss to get out front and gain a little gap by the end. 1223 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Ryan Dungey: West Lites Champ Posted: 04/26/09 Ryan Dungey is joined by his family, assistants and the whole of Rockstar/Makita Suzuki on the podium after finally laying claim to his very first professional title. Despite cutting it close by getting a 4th in the main event (if Weimer had won, Dungey would've needed to get a 5th to clinch), RD10 was all smiles on the podium for the photo shoot. 1507 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes
Dungey Posted: 04/26/09 Ryan's Mom and Dad and even his brothers joined him on the podium after he donned the #1 jersey. The Dungeys are and have been a racing family for a long time up in the Minnesota area, and both of his brothers are solid national-level amateur racers. His Dad races too, which no doubt helps him relate to his fast kids. 1016 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Stewart Posted: 04/26/09 It took James Stewart 12 laps to finally make a pass stick on rival Chad Reed, but when he did, that's when the fireworks started. Stewart failed to pull a significant gap on Reed right away, and as the two came around San Manuel rider Kyle Chisholm, Kyle pulled a vicious retaliatory strike on Reed. The move nearly put them both on the ground, and it put enough time between Stewart and Reed that catching back up and passing back became a non-issue. Chisholm was black-flagged, DQ'd from the race and suspended from the final round in Vegas. 1250 Views 1 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Reed Posted: 04/26/09 Chad Reed was certainly competitive all night. He won his heat, was quick in practice, and lead the main event handily for 12 laps. It appears that any ailments that he'd had previously have been cleared up somewhat, which leads to what should be a great final showdown in Las Vegas next week. If he's able to pull off a win, Stewart would need to finish 4th or better to clinch the title. 1110 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Stewart Posted: 04/26/09 Following the main, James was clearly quite psyched-up that he was once again able to beat Reed after chasing him down and making a pass stick. Whether it can be considered "Straight Up" after the moves that his teammate Chisholm put on Reed, there's little doubt that he'd have stayed ahead 'til the end anyhow. Nevertheless, next weekend Stewie has to be on his game and finish 4th or better - which likely means no crashes in the main event. 908 Views 1 Comments Rating: 0 Likes
Dungey Posted: 04/26/09 RD10 really seemed to back it off when he saw he was doing "good enough", and almost seemed to let a slew of guys past him in the main. Morais, Canard, and Weimer all moved past him no problem, but he knew that even if Weimer won (which didn't look likely) he'd have to finish 5th or better. What he didn't realize was that Weimer was pushing Canard hard for the win, and that he was only 1 spot a way from tieing on points with Weimer. 964 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Weimer Posted: 04/26/09 Runner-up in West Regional points heading into and out of SLC was Jake Weimer. Jake needed to pull out another win and see Dungey get 5th or worse to pull off the title, but it was not to be. He did manage a heat race win though, and looked impressive and on his game all night. This conradicted rumors earlier in the week that he'd injured himself during training and that he'd be sub-par for Salt Lake. We're going to go ahead and pick Jake as the East/West shootout winner, as he'll have something to prove next weekend in Las Vegas, for sure. 957 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Weimer, podium. Posted: 04/26/09 The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki combo of Weimer and Ryan Morais proved to be quite formidable in the LItes West region this year, to the surprise of more than a few pundits. Morais was much faster and more consistent than he's ever been in the past, and seems to have really been rejuvenated by his new ride. Weimer was already more or less on an upward swing in his career but many considered him to be hitting a plateau. Well, he's put that theory to rest and is clearly one of the several favorites heading into the Outdoor Nationals which start on May 23rd at Glen Helen. 822 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Canard Posted: 04/26/09 So, Trey was finally able to pull off a win - and what an impressive win it was. He passed not only Dungey, but a blazing fast Jake Moss as well as Ryan Morais to do so. Trey's had a tough season, with a super-hard getoff in Phoenix that put him on the DL for several rounds. 846 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes
Ryan Villopoto Posted: 04/26/09 RV2 looked great during the single practice, and was ultra-fast in his heat race despite only making it up to 5th place. Last week's winner put in laps faster than Stewart in that heat, but in the main was able to make it only to 4th by the flag, about 4 seconds behind Millsaps. 935 Views 0 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Josh Grant Posted: 04/26/09 Josh Grant looked good in the main event too, but there were just 5 guys that were going too fast for him to continue his charge up from 11th to 6th for him to do any better. Any main event where Josh doesn't auger himself into the ground is a good one, and Salt Lake was one of those occasions. Grant's debut in the 450 class has undoubtedly been an impressive one, spiked with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, which is precisely what could have been predicted based on his Lites career. 1022 Views 1 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Cool. Posted: 04/26/09 Cool weather forced even the 30 second girls into their winter-wear, although even with all of those clothes on, they somehow still fulfilled their purpose and looked great while doing it. 1282 Views 1 Comments Rating: 0 Likes	Millsaps Posted: 04/26/09 Millsaps debuted a new gear sponsor after riding with NoFear for literally his entire career (amateur and professional). One Racewear secured Millsaps, in a late season move that has to have a lot of people wondering - what went wrong? Whateer it was, it certainly didn't slow Davi down as he rode strong for the entire main for 3rd place. 944 Views 1 Comments Rating: 0 Likes