Las Vegas East/West Winner to Receive Toyota Tundra

AURORA, Ill. (May 4, 2007) – The Dave Coombs Sr. Memorial East/West Shootout is scheduled for May 5, in conjunction with the final round of the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium and features one of the deepest crops of young, up-and-coming talent in the history of the sport. Toyota will award the winner of the race with a brand new Toyota Tundra.

“The East/West Shootout is the only place where the best Lites riders from the East and West coasts series have the opportunity to race against each other head to head,” said Brian Smith, Corporate Manager, Truck Operations, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. “Toyota wants to recognize the rider that’s worked through the long season to make it to this event and rise above the competition by awarding him an all-new Tundra pickup truck at this exciting event.”

In addition to awarding the winner of the Dave Coombs Sr East/West Shootout a new Tundra, last weekend Toyota awarded Jeremy Albrecht, who is the mechanic for Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series champion James Stewart, a brand new Toyota Tundra.

"The man behind the superstar, in this case Jeremy Albrecht, doesn’t stand in the spotlight every week, but it's his hard work that ensured James was able to dominate all season," said Brian Smith, Corporate Manager, Truck Operations, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. “Toyota’s proud to recognize Jeremy for his tremendous support and outstanding work he’s done this season with an all-new Tundra pickup truck.”

Recently crowned AMA Supercross Lites champions Ryan Villopoto, of Poulsbo, Wash. (Western Regional), and Ben Townley (Eastern Regional) headline the deepest and most competitive list of Lites riders to ever compete in the East/ West Shootout. Both riders are from the highly-successful Pro Circuit Kawasaki stable, but don’t expect team orders to decide the winner on the track.

“The East/West Shootout is the biggest supercross race of our season,” said Villopoto, of Poulsbo, Wash., who has racked up a class-leading 12 wins over past full season. “Our class is split into two coasts, and although we watch what the other is doing on TV and sometimes in person, it’s really hard to get a gauge of how fast everyone is going. If you walk away from Las Vegas with a win, you have earned it.”

Current Regional Lites champions Villopoto and Townley, of Tallahassee, Fla., enter Sam Boyd with the with seven and three wins, respectively. Although Villopoto easily won his title, winning all but the San Francisco round in his series, the points chase in the East came down to the wire, with Townley walking away with the title with a three-point margin.

Competition will come from Yamaha’s Ryan Morais, of Temecula, Calif., and Jason Lawrence, of Carlsbad; Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, of Belle Plaine, Minn., a two-time winner in the East; Honda’s Josh Grant, of Riverside, Calif.; KTM’s Mike Alessi, of Victorville, Calif.; Kawasaki’s Darcy Lange, of Hemet, Calif, among others.

The Dave Coombs Sr. AMA Supercross Lites East/West Shootout is named after Dave Coombs, Sr., an innovative promoter who was instrumental in the development of the AMA Supercross Lites Class in the U.S. Coombs Sr. was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.

For more information about the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, please log on to www.supercrossonline.com. For media requests, please contact Denny Hartwig at 630-566-6305 or e-mail at dennyhartwig@livenation.com.