250 Words: Anaheim II

January 20, 2009, 3:42pm

This whoop section claimed Canard in Phoenix and kept him from racing in Anaheim credit: Steve Cox
The defending champ is all but out of this contest after 3 rounds credit: Steve Cox
Dungey is confident and in control credit: Steve Cox

Has there ever been a couple of defending 125 or Lites SX champions that started the next season out as badly as Jason Lawrence and Trey Canard have?

That was what I was thinking while watching Ryan Dungey, the man J-Law loves to mess with, methodically track down the leading Pro Circuit Kawasaki of Ryan Morais and then jump away for his second straight win in the 2009 Monster Energy Supercross Series. Unlike Phoenix, where he failed to qualify, Jason was out there for the main at Anaheim 2, but just barely. After having problems with his bike and floundering all over the track in his heat race, he made it to the main through the LCQ, only to have to line up on the outside. He got a decent jump, but then caught up in that funky chicane and actually skipped the inside of the right-hand corner before the wall-like jump.

It didn’t matter: His nemesis Dungey was away clean and was soon working his way into the lead. Lawrence kept it pinned to salvage a fourth-place finish, but one was left with the impression that this championship is over for him – he’s down even further than he was last year after three rounds. All of the talk and clowning around seems to have affected him more than Dungey, who after changing gear sponsors after feeling slighted by One Industries’ signing of J-Law, is 2-0 in his new Fox threads.

{LINKS}As for Trey Canard, we’ve heard of sophomore slumps but this is ridiculous. After sweeping the first three SX races his rookie year for 75 point to start his indoor career, he’s scored a total of six points in the one main event he’s ridden in—his crash in Phoenix left him too banged up to race A2.

One gets the feeling that both of these guys can use the weekend off, as well as the fact that both are probably already looking forward to the start of a new series come Memorial Day Weekend, because this one could not have started out any worse for J-Law and the Duck.