Sign of the (Lap) Times: Las Vegas

It’s been reiterated over and over how the Las Vegas Supercross is like no other throughout the season. What is it that sets this event apart? The track? The environment? The pressure?
 
This year’s track was similar to years past; very technical and hard-packed, with that high-speed section dubbed “Monster Alley.” You’d think this type of track would probably suit the 450 a bit better, but when comparing lap times from each class, the Lites were faster across the board, from first down to last. Let’s dig in and analyze the Las Vegas lap times a little closer.

Lites

If you were in attendance on Saturday night, I’m sure you could agree that the Lites main event was one of the best races ever! I don’t think anyone could’ve ridden a dirt bike any faster than Ryans Dungey and Villopoto Saturday night, and it was the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki rider who logged the fastest lap time of the entire evening with a 1:08.342 en route to his second-consecutive Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout. 
 

These two guys were absolutely flying in Vegas. photo: Carl Stone

Ryan Villopoto, who led 14 of 15 laps, wasn’t far off of Dungey’s pace, and the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider had a 1:08.645, the second fastest time of the night. In fact, these two were the only riders out of both classes who were able to dip into the 1:08 range! Coincidentally, both of these riders were the runner-ups on each respective coast for the championship, so they both had something to prove.

As for the rest of the class, RV’s teammate, Austin Stroupe, who actually passed and pulled away from Dungey in the Heat race, was third fastest, and the rider wearing #1E, Trey Canard, was fourth fastest on his way to third on the podium. Take a look at the rest of the field below:

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
1	1:08.342	Ryan Dungey	Suzuki
2	1:08.645	Ryan Villopoto	Kawasaki
10	1:10.645	Austin Stroupe	Kawasaki
3	1:10.697	Trey Canard	Honda
7	1:10.884	Brett Metcalfe	Kawasaki
4	1:11.453	Dan Reardon	Honda
6	1:11.524	Justin Brayton	KTM
9	1:11.925	Broc Hepler	Yamaha
11	1:12.308	Matt Lemoine	Yamaha
21	1:12.331	Matt Goerke	KTM
5	1:12.772	Ryan Morais	Yamaha
15	1:13.189	Nico Izzi	Suzuki
8	1:13.320	Kyle Chisholm	Kawasaki
20	1:13.328	Ben Coisy	Honda
14	1:13.851	Justin Keeney	Honda
22	1:13.854	Jason Lawrence	Yamaha
16	1:13.978	Kyle Cunningham	Honda
13	1:14.178	Wil Hahn	Yamaha
19	1:14.581	Ryan Sipes	KTM
17	1:14.809	Tyler Bowers	Yamaha
12	1:14.860	Bob Kiniry	Honda
21	1:15.868	Matt Boni	Honda

Biggest surprise: Yamaha’s Matt Lemoine looked fast all day, and in the main event he was able to record the ninth-fastest lap time with a 1:12.308, just a few ticks off of Factory Yamaha’s Broc Hepler’s best time. 

Matt Lemoine put in some quick laps. photo: Simon Cudby

AMA Supercross

It was neither the champion nor the runner-up with the fastest lap time in Vegas; rather, it was Honda Red Bull Racing’s Davi Millsaps, who grabbed the Progressive Direct Holeshot Award and raced off with the lead for a few laps. Unfortunately, an early crash cost Millsaps a spot on the podium, as well as third place in the final standings of the 2008 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.

Davi Millsaps had the best AMA Supercross lap time photo: Carl Stone

Although he didn’t need to ride as fast as he did, Chad Reed had the second-best time (1:09.361), followed by Geico Powersports Honda’s Kevin  Windham (1:09.420) and Honda Red Bull Racing’s Andrew Short (1:09.617). Those were the only four riders in the 1:09 range, and the next four riders were in the 1:10s. Check out the entire field below:

Finish	Best Lap Time	Rider	Bike
5	1:09.005	Davi Millsaps	Honda
1	1:09.361	Chad Reed	Yamaha
2	1:09.420	Kevin Windham	Honda
3	1:09.617	Andrew Short	Honda
4	1:10.146	Josh Hill	Yamaha
6	1:10.486	Nick Wey	KTM
9	1:10.715	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki
7	1:10.743	Josh Summey	Yamaha
8	1:11.293	Travis Preston	Kawasaki
10	1:11.961	David Vuillemin	Suzuki
15	1:12.895	Ryan Clark	Honda
12	1:13.066	Paul Carpenter	Honda
11	1:13.267	Heath Voss	Honda
13	1:13.649	Jason Thomas	Honda
16	1:13.708	Kevin Johnson	Yamaha
14	1:14.013	Kelly Smith	Kawasaki
19	1:14.319	Robbie Reynard	Suzuki
18	1:15.072	Josh Hansen	Honda
17	1:15.267	Tyler Bright	Honda
20	1:16.531	Eric Sorby	Honda

Biggest surprise: Sixth fastest in the AMA Supercross class was MDK KTM’s Nick Wey, who went on to finish sixth, tying his season best. It’s obvious that Nick is getting more comfortable on the KTM 450 SX-F each and every weekend, and here’s hoping he can carry this momentum into the AMA/Toyota Motocross Championships.

Nick Wey photo: Simon Cudby