Another champion was crowned at the Seattle Supercross, but it wasn't nearly as dramatic as the championship finish from a week earlier in St. Louis. The finale of the Lites West pitted points leader Jason Lawrence of the Boost Mobile/Yamaha of Troy team against Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey, who was at a six-point disadvantage to Lawrence, meaning that all Lawrence had to do was finish on the podium to win the title, no matter what Dungey did.
When the gate dropped to start the Lites main, Lawrence (338), Heat winner
Dan Reardon (122),
Brett Metcalfe (123), Zach Osborne (76), Dungey (28), and
Bobby Kiniry (45) get moving, along with everyone else.
Brawndo Honda's
Bobby Kiniry grabbed the holeshot, but didn't lead for long before...
...Dungey took over the lead and began to check out.
Unfortunately for Dungey, Lawrence (338) was quickly inside the top five, and immediately began passing his way through the leaders until he eventually found himself in second.
Late in the race, Metcalfe was running third until, on the last lap, he was caught by
Broc Hepler.
Hepler stuffed Metcalfe for the final podium spot on the last lap to grab third, while Metcalfe went down and finished seventh.
Dungey grabbed the win going away, so he did his part, but so did Lawrence.
Dungey (middle) celebrates his win, while Hepler (right) celebrates third and Lawrence (left) celebrates second, and the championship.
Lawrence shows off his new number.
In the 450cc class, San Manuel Yamaha's
Chad Reed posted the fastest practice time, but his fitness was still a question going into the main event. Could he hang on for 20 laps? Would the whoops bother his injured shoulder this week like it did last week?
When the gate dropped, it was
Andrew Short (29) with the holeshot, while
Kevin Windham (14) immediately assumed the lead from Short.
With Windham out front, it was a worst-case scenario for Reed, who went down in the first turn. The potential was there for a giant points loss to Windham heading into the final in Las Vegas next weekend.
Windham (pictured) immediately began to distance himself from the pack until...
...he sucked a banner into his rear wheel. He had to stop, remove the banner, and then continue. Although he was still ahead of Reed when he got going again, he was well outside the top five and immediately went to work fighting his way back to the front.
Short led most of the remaining laps with seeming ease.
Millsaps ran second for much of the rest of the race, with
Timmy Ferry (15) third.
Amazingly, Reed was able to catch and pass
Josh Grant for fifth late in the main. At the time, Windham was fourth and working on Ferry for third. Windham soon found his way by Ferry, then by Millsaps for second, and then by Short for the lead, and Reed was doing his best to fight his way through as well. On the last lap, Reed challenged Short for second, made a block-pass on Short, only for Short to fight back immediately and hit Reed, taking second back.
Windham took his second win in a row, and fourth of the season, but...
...Reed managed to fight his way back past Short just before the checkered flag, and he displayed his displeasure to Short over the finish-line jump. Here, he is looking forward again after looking behind him to give Short the message.
Windham (center) won, but only pulled up three more points on Reed (left), who still leads the championship by 10 points going into next weekend's series finale. If Windham wins the race in Vegas, all Reed needs is sixth or better to win the title. Short (right) celebrates another podium.
The series comes to an end next weekend in Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, while the Lites class will feature the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout, pitting the top 20 Lites riders from each coast against each other in a winner-take-all match.
