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Stewart is thinking about the possibility of leaving Vegas $250K richer! | | |
The Toyota Trifecta is in effect(a). Kawasaki’s
James Stewart dialed in all three elements of the Rockstar Energy Drink U.S. Open on Friday night, winning the all-new timed Super Poll qualifying session, nailing the Progressive Direct Holeshot, and then winning the main event. That’s $50,000 in the bank for Stewart already, but if he can do it again tomorrow night, he’ll win the full pot: $250,000. That’s big.
Stewart’s main challenge is of course expected to come from Makita Suzuki’s
Ricky Carmichael, but Ricky struggled in the Super Poll session with a bad bike set-up, and then he crashed in the first turn in the main. But don’t write RC off. He got up and charged all the way back to second the crash, passing
Ivan Tedesco and
Kevin Windham on his way through the pack. It was an inspired ride, and Carmichael, with his revised bike set-up, rode much better and now thinks he has the stuff to challenge Stewart tomorrow night.
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RC crashed in the first turn of the main event | | |
With Stewart fighting to Double Down his Toyota Trifecta money and make a quarter million dollars, and Carmichael all tuned up and ready to fight, tomorrow night should be a great race.
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Stewart controlled Friday night's main from start to finish, and to add to that, he won the new Trifecta. | | |
Windham ended up third and Tedesco fourth. Windham actually clocked a faster lap than Carmichael, but he admitted he was looking behind him (to check Carmichael’s progress) way too much and got tight.
Tim Ferry finished fifth on his debut ride with the factory Kawasaki team, and
Michael Byrne was sixth in what will be his final weekend with that team.
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As RC tried to catch up he was running lap times a little faster than Stewart | | |
In Lites action,
Josh Grant snuck his Sobe/Samsung Honda through the first turn to grab the Progressive Direct holeshot, and he was never headed on way to victory. There was plenty of battling behind him, though, and eventually Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s
Chris Gosselaar was second. Third went to a surprise, Motoworldracing.com/PPG Yamaha’s
Justin Brayton, who put his Arenacross experience to work with third. Ben Townley was plenty fast but also crashed a few times and finished in the back.
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Josh Grant rode a smart race and won the Lites main, which he called "good practice." | | |
It’s all back on tomorrow with Stewart gunning for a shot at some big bucks. Check the Supercross Live! Webcast at
www.ussx.com to listen, and don’t forget CBS will air the show next Saturday at 1:30 pm EST.
