The penultimate round of the Monster Energy Supercross series was held in Salt Lake last evening, and Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto took his sixth win of the year to gain a nine point advantage in the championship heading into the final round at Las Vegas next weekend. Finishing second and third behind Villopoto were Chad Reed (Honda) and Ryan Dungey (Suzuki). James Stewart (Yamaha) crashed during the main event, and finished back in tenth position, virtually eliminating him from championship contention this year.
In the Western Region Lites main event, Eli Tomac (Honda) took his second win of the year ahead of second place Ken Roczen (KTM) and third place Broc Tickle (Kawasaki). Tickle has a narrow two-point advantage over Tomac with one race remaining.
For additional details, results and points, visit the official Monster Energy site.
Of course James should race Saturday night. That’s his job. Any one of the riders out there could affect the outcome of the title. Think of how often lappers muck things up for the faster guys. I think RV2 will be racing with the big picture (Title) in mind. I am not a Stewart fan, but I don’t think he will mess this up for anyone else. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win though. (If he doesn’t crash.) I agree that he should race the Nationals. He’ll be 26 before the start of the next SX season. Time is really not on his side anymore….maybe he has enough money, and the fire just doesn’t burn for him anymore. The Nationals are very hard work, compared to SX.
Think of the race that coulda been though, had stewart not endoed in the whoops after the washout, between himself and villopoto . Villopoto was fast,real fast , woulda , shoulda been good. On another note,the race was over very quickly, less than 16 minutes!The number of laps of the main , for tracks with sub min. lap times( 41,42 secs), like salt lake, should be increased, Is Sewart riding the outdoor mx series this year?
Riding beyond your capabilities (phenomenal as they are for Bubba) and taking someone out of a podium spot is NOT racing; it’s irresponsible. Bubba can’t win the series, but he sure can keep the Ryans or Reed from doing so.
I didn’t say he should be banned, I suggested he do the right thing and stay out of the consistently-good competitors way. In his case, that means not starting his machine.
You can’t be serious about riding beyond your abilities being irresponsible. How do you think Villapoto eliminated himself from the SX series last year it was by riding over his head and crashing. That’s why no one whines when they are taken out by another competitor because that is racing. If you want to win you will ride at and sometimes beyond the limits of your ability. If you don’t somebody else will and they will beat you. It is a win at all cost take no prisoners strategy that we have Ricky Carmichael to thank for.
While you’re at it, why not cut out the qualifying races and only allow the top three points leaders to race? That would be exciting… NOT! Is this motocross or play school? How can a rider win some races against the worlds best talent- riding completely out of control? Why wasn’t there a big uproar a couple seasons ago in Vegas when Reed purposely ran Stewart off the track because wrecking him was his only chance at the championship?
Yeah, right.
Tell Stewart he can’t be in the last race of the series because he might spoil somebody else’s shot at the title.
Never heard anything so rediculous.
That’s called “racing”, folks.
Fastest crasher on the planet. When the season started bubba was much more controlled in his riding and I assumed that he had finally matured as a rider. Now my friends and I are taking bets on which lap he goes down. What’s really telling about him was his after race interview where he goes through the reasons for his bad season. All he really had to say was, “I need to stop crashing”. When this series is over he needs to review the tapes of each race and add up the wins versus number of crashes to get a good understanding of why he’s not #1 anymore.
Hey there Dug.
I think you are missing the point. Bubba can impact the outcome of the race if he accidently get in the way and accidently takes someone else out of the event. No one is questioning his incredible talent – merely stating it could hamper someones chances.
However, that being said, he should still race but be mindfull. Personally, dont like the guy but he is certainly an amazing talent.
Sure, he has speed. What he doesn’t have is judgement.
He rides like he owns the track and everyone else should get out of his way.
Then, when he IS in front, He rides like he’s trying to impress everyone.
What he’s NOT impressing anyone with is championships.
“To finish first, you must first finish”.
All the other guys have to do is play tortoise and the hare with Stewart.
He’ll crash eventually.
I just hope he doesn’t take out Reed or Villipoto next week with his supidity.
Stewart shouldn’t race Vegas? What planet do you live on? He adds a vital element of excitement to the mix. He could be on a moped, and smoke you in a race. So the front end washed out while he was checking out, the armchair hater’s are all over it again. Be funny to watch you out there pathetically attempting to maintain, getting in every ones way while being lapped multiple times.
Stewart should do the right thing and not race Las Vegas. If he wins it wont effect the out come, but he podiums it could alter the final standing. That, and if he crashes out, you never know who will take with him.
He’s not a very good competitor. I’m done with bubba.
@Bill
Same here. Bubba Stewart’s worst enemy? Bubba Stewart.
stewart….i almost feel sorry for him….almost