Just like Millville, one of the hot stories with this group was the rookies. The entry of Austin Stroupe had created a lot of buzz, especially after he knocked out the fastest lap time in Saturday practice. After pulling the holeshot with an all-or-nothing blitz from the outside (knocking a few veterans down in the process) and holding off his charging teammate Ryan Villopoto, he validated his place on the strongest team in Lites competition—his 2-12 scores were good enough for fourth overall.
Finishing right behind him was Makita Suzuki’s Nico Izzi, who rode strong and hard all day to 7-7 moto scores and fifth overall. Nico doesn’t seem to have the blinding speed yet, but his consistency and impressive staying power makes him a very solid pick to contend for wins and championships in the years to come.
The other new guy, Trey Canard, had to work hard for his top ten. He was the last rider to get going in the gnarly first turn pile up and started about five seconds behind last place, sans muffler, and rode back up to 16th. Trey gated better the second time out and rode fast to the very end to finish fifth. A couple KTM guys deserve notice as Martin Davalos posted 13-4 scores for seventh overall while Zack Osborne rode well to 6th in moto two.
Although, the biggest news was the demise of Ben Townley. Counting the first turn pile up, Ben went down three times the first moto and finished sixth. Another crash in the second moto left him second and now six points behind the defending champion. With four motos to go, RV1 is the one with the momentum.
