Confirmed: Hepler out for St. Louis

As originally reported at cyclenews.com, Makita Suzuki's Broc Hepler will not race tonight in the Amp'd Mobile SX Lites East Region opener. Hepler broke a bone in his foot a few weeks ago and was hoping to be ready to race here, but we tracked down his mechanic, Lee McCollumn, and found out that Broc is not ready to ride yet. Lee said Broc broke a weight-bearing bone, which means it has to be fully healed before he can ride. Broc's still on crutches at the moment.

Hepler was a definite title favorite in the East Lites this year. For now, they're taking the injury week to week, so hopefully we'll see the #60 back on the track soon.