Sign of the (Lap) Times: U.S. Open

October 16, 2007, 8:52am

Las Vegas is all about numbers, and the Rockstar Energy Drink U.S. Open has some very important digits to speak of. The digits most important are the ones following the dollar sign—but to add more zeroes to your payoff you must lower the numbers of your lap times.

Chad Reed was clearly the fastest rider inside the MGM.

photo: Simon Cudby

Chad Reed was the fastest all weekend long aboard his Yamaha 450F, as he recorded the fastest lap times in both the Toyota Superpole qualifying each night, as well as the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute main events. Reed looked to be on his way to becoming the first rider to ever win the Trifecta—becoming $250,000 richer—but an overly aggressive bid for the holeshot meant a huge first-turn crash in Saturday night’s main event. That all but ended those chances of taking the Saturday win, let alone a quarter-mil.

For this week’s Scott USA Sign of the (Lap) Times, we listed the times of the Toyota Superpole from both nights, as well as the main event lap times below. And check this out: The confines of the MGM Grand Garden Arena are pretty tight, and the track seems very short. The fastest lap time of the entire weekend came in Saturday night’s Toyota Superpole qualifying, which was a 43.084 logged by Chad Reed. But oddly enough, that lap time is longer than one we saw in the 2007 Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series: Looking back at the San Francisco SX, James Stewart recorded a 42.719 on his fastest lap there—and that was inside a baseball park!

For complete results from both nights of the 2007 Rockstar Energy Drink U.S. Open of Supercross, check out www.ussx.com.

Friday Toyota Superpole

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
1	44.476	Chad Reed	Yamaha
2	45.059	Andrew Short	Honda
3	45.133	Grant Langston	Yamaha
4	45.597	Mike Alessi	Suzuki
5	45.945	Michael Byrne	Suzuki
6	46.054	Dan Reardon	Honda
7	47.040	Jake Weimer	Honda
8	47.267	Justin Brayton	KTM
9	48.331	Josh Demuth	Honda
10	1:22.492	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki

Friday Main Event

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
1	45.701	Chad Reed	Yamaha
2	45.889	Grant Langston	Yamaha
3	45.962	Andrew Short	Honda
4	46.477	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki
5	46.827	Mike Alessi	Suzuki
6	47.389	Josh Demuth	Honda
7	47.052	Dan Reardon	Honda
8	47.517	Justin Brayton	KTM
9	47.494	Michael Byrne	Suzuki
10	47.059	Jake Weimer	Honda
11	47.829	Jason Thomas	Honda
12	47.294	Billy Laninovich	KTM
13	47.925	Bryan Johnson	Honda
14	48.047	Heath Voss	Honda

Saturday Toyota Superpole

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
1	43.084	Chad Reed	Yamaha
2	43.214	Grant Langston	Yamaha
3	43.527	Andrew Short	Honda
4	43.883	Mike Alessi	Suzuki
5	44.566	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki
6	44.997	Jake Weimer	Honda
7	45.080	Dan Reardon	Honda
8	45.325	Josh Demuth	Honda
9	45.630	Justin Brayton	KTM
10	48.189	Jason Thomas	Honda

Jake Weimer took a surprise win Saturday night.

photo: Steve Bruhn

Saturday Main Event

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
1	45.293	Jake Weimer	Honda
2	45.387	Josh Demuth	Honda
3	45.169	Mike Alessi	Suzuki
4	45.088	Dan Reardon	Honda
5	44.787	Grant Langston	Yamaha
6	45.650	Justin Brayton	KTM
7	44.924	Andrew Short	Honda
8	44.116	Chad Reed	Yamaha
9	46.211	Heath Voss	Honda
10	46.423	Jason Thomas	Honda
11	45.317	Michael Byrne	Suzuki
12	44.803	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki
13	47.192	Jeff Gibson	Kawasaki
14	47.234	Bryan Johnson	Honda