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Supercross & Motocross
SX: The Holeshot - Salt Lake City
Brandon Short breaks down another night of Supercross drama in Salt Lake City.
Red Bull/KTM's Ryan Dungey (Photo: Hoppenworld.com)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Monster Energy Supercross Championship from Las Vegas will air LIVE on SPEED Saturday, May 5 at 10:00pm ET. #SXonSPEED
We’ve hit the home stretch in the Monster Energy Supercross season and last weekend produced one of the most exciting nights of action we’ve seen all year. With the likes of Ryan Villopoto, Chad Reed, James Stewart, and Kevin Windham out, what we saw last Saturday really says a lot about the depth of the field these days.
With exception to Villopoto, no one has been better over the second half of the year than Davi Millsaps. In fact, with Villopoto now sidelined, I’d consider Millsaps to be the lead rider in the series purely based on the results he’s consistently put out. And in Salt Lake City, it looked like he was going to finally score a well-deserved win. He was most certainly the best rider all night, but when it came down to it, one mistake cost him perhaps his only chance at victory this season -- a very bitter pill to swallow.
However, due to the unfortunate outcome, you have to think that Millsaps is more motivated than ever to justify things. It wouldn’t surprise me if he feels a little robbed as lappers played a factor in what happened, and he should be fired up to close out the season strong in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Millsaps deserves a win and you know he'll be willing to pull out all the stops to get one and end a winless streak that dates back to the 2010 season. Davi has yet to take a victory for the Joe Gibbs Racing team and after everything they’ve been through this season, it would be a very nice reward indeed to be the only team to put both its riders atop the box while pit up against the factory-backed giants.
The rider who did ultimately prevail in SLC, Ryan Dungey, also needed that win. He got that and the way he earned it has to provide a huge boost in confidence as the season heads outdoors. Dungey is still fighting his way back to full strength from a broken collarbone, and after going down in an incident with Jake Weimer early in the main event, the KTM ace found a way to battle back from a huge deficit to pass Millsaps with just two laps to go and take his third win of the '12 championship.
At this point, there may not be a lot for Dungey to be riding for, but you could tell that he was determined to prove he’s not going down without a fight after he hit the dirt. It’s good to see that the intensity is still there and it can only bode well for Dungey as 2012 continues. Salt Lake City was a statement race, especially after a season-worst effort the week prior in Seattle.
Weimer’s effort at his home race were also impressive. It’s easy to forget that this is Weimer’s first full season of 450 competition in Supercross and the grueling 17-race season isn’t something to take lightly. He’s definitely experienced some ups and downs, but he’s grown tremendously as a rider. Weimer has remained healthy while most of the top contenders have fallen by the wayside and with five podium finishes this season, it's definitely a championship effort to be proud of.
We’ve hit the home stretch in the Monster Energy Supercross season and last weekend produced one of the most exciting nights of action we’ve seen all year. With the likes of Ryan Villopoto, Chad Reed, James Stewart, and Kevin Windham out, what we saw last Saturday really says a lot about the depth of the field these days.
With exception to Villopoto, no one has been better over the second half of the year than Davi Millsaps. In fact, with Villopoto now sidelined, I’d consider Millsaps to be the lead rider in the series purely based on the results he’s consistently put out. And in Salt Lake City, it looked like he was going to finally score a well-deserved win. He was most certainly the best rider all night, but when it came down to it, one mistake cost him perhaps his only chance at victory this season -- a very bitter pill to swallow.
However, due to the unfortunate outcome, you have to think that Millsaps is more motivated than ever to justify things. It wouldn’t surprise me if he feels a little robbed as lappers played a factor in what happened, and he should be fired up to close out the season strong in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Millsaps deserves a win and you know he'll be willing to pull out all the stops to get one and end a winless streak that dates back to the 2010 season. Davi has yet to take a victory for the Joe Gibbs Racing team and after everything they’ve been through this season, it would be a very nice reward indeed to be the only team to put both its riders atop the box while pit up against the factory-backed giants.
The rider who did ultimately prevail in SLC, Ryan Dungey, also needed that win. He got that and the way he earned it has to provide a huge boost in confidence as the season heads outdoors. Dungey is still fighting his way back to full strength from a broken collarbone, and after going down in an incident with Jake Weimer early in the main event, the KTM ace found a way to battle back from a huge deficit to pass Millsaps with just two laps to go and take his third win of the '12 championship.
At this point, there may not be a lot for Dungey to be riding for, but you could tell that he was determined to prove he’s not going down without a fight after he hit the dirt. It’s good to see that the intensity is still there and it can only bode well for Dungey as 2012 continues. Salt Lake City was a statement race, especially after a season-worst effort the week prior in Seattle.
Weimer’s effort at his home race were also impressive. It’s easy to forget that this is Weimer’s first full season of 450 competition in Supercross and the grueling 17-race season isn’t something to take lightly. He’s definitely experienced some ups and downs, but he’s grown tremendously as a rider. Weimer has remained healthy while most of the top contenders have fallen by the wayside and with five podium finishes this season, it's definitely a championship effort to be proud of.
SX Seattle
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