Rain has plagued the Seattle Supercross for the last few
years, but the weather is about perfect this time around. That doesn’t mean
rain won’t be a factor, though. The dirt was already wet when it was trucked
into the stadium, and riders here on Thursday (for press day) commented how the
surface reminded them of Jello. It’s drier now, but there are still a ton of
ruts out there, and that makes for very rough going, especially through the
rhythm sections.
Kawasaki riders are the
favorites here again, with Ryan Villopoto and James Stewart turning in the
fastest times in the 250F and 450 classes, respectively. Look for the usual
suspects chasing Stewart, riders Reed, Ferry, Windham and Tedesco, plus Andrew
Short keeps getting stronger every week and would love to extract some revenge
on the stadium that cost him the West Lites Championship a year ago. Grant
Langston is also back tonight after missing last weekend’s race with kidney
stones. Davi Millsaps hurt his hand last weekend in a crash with Paul
Carpenter, but he says he’s fine tonight. And expert observer Steve Matthes
just informed me that Millsaps pulled off a triple through the center of the
rhythm section. Then Stewart pulled over to look that jump over, and Millsaps
made sure to double through their while James was watching him.
Oddly, once
again Reed is just a hair off the pace in practice, just like he was in Detroit when he failed to
even snag his usual qualifying spot behind Stewart. But even after only posting
the fifth-fastest time in Detroit
practice, he came back to take second in the main. He’s hoping to do the same
tonight. Then again, there’s some highly-priced talent who has yet to bag a 450
podium this year, and those guys should be motivated.
The Lites
pack is close, with Martin Davalos, Josh Hill, Josh Grant and Jason Lawrence
all running fast times. It’s almost like the West riders didn’t take ten weeks
off.
Weather
should be clear all night, but the ruts aren’t going anywhere. Should make for
some unpredictable racing, but, all James Stewart has to do is finish ninth
tonight to wrap up his first AMA Supercross Title. Tune into www.supercrossonline.com to hear
the Supercross Live! webcast and hear some history, or check out the CBS
Broadcast tomorrow at noon EST, or 9 a.m. out here.
