In only his seventh season in the 450 class, and his fifth season actually racing the 450 Nationals, Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Chad Reed can finally check “Won a 450cc National” off of his list of things to do. At High Point Raceway, round four of the 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, Chad Reed was unstoppable.
450
Reed had a lot of firsts at High Point. The first of these firsts was not being fastest in practice. The next was getting the holeshot in the first moto. After grabbing the holeshot, Reed was actually passed by Honda Red Bull Racing’s Andrew Short, but soon passed him back and began to pull away.
Reed went on to win the moto – another first – while Short was second, Ivan Tedesco was third, Michael Byrne was fourth, JGR/Toyota Yamaha’s Cody Cooper was fifth and his teammate Josh Grant was sixth, after passing his way into second near the end of the race, only to crash heavily, his bike hitting a trackside pickup truck.
In moto two, Tedesco got the holeshot and immediately began putting time on Short in second, Jeff Alessi in third, and Reed in fourth. Reed passed Alessi right away, then set out after the other two Hondas. It took him a while to get his groove, but on lap six, Reed passed Short, then set out after Tedesco, passing him four laps later. Reed began to pull away, but then fell. As Tedesco tried to go around him, he too fell. Reed was up quickly, but Tedesco remounted in third.
The top three in the moto and overall were Reed, Short and Tedesco.
Reed took over the points lead, and amazingly his teammate Alessi is still second in points despite not racing High Point.
450 Results:
1. Chad Reed (1-1)
2. Andrew Short (2-2)
3. Ivan Tedesco (3-3)
4. Michale Byrne (4-5)
5. Cody Cooper (5-6)
6. Ricky Dietrich (8-9)
7. Nick Wey (7-10)
8. Josh Grant (6-11)
9. Justin Brayton (13-7)
10. Tommy Hahn (18-4)
450 Points Standings (After 4 of 12 rounds):
1. Chad Reed (161/1 win)
2. Mike Alessi (142/2 wins)
3. Andrew Short (137)
4. Josh Grant (119)
5. Ivan Tedesco (110)
6. Cody Cooper (91)
7. Tommy Hahn (89)
8. Michael Byrne (84)
9. Justin Brayton (79)
10. Dan Reardon (68)
250
Another first was in store for both Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel and Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey in the 250 class at High Point. Just like always, Pourcel went out and won moto one. He started second behind his teammate Jake Weimer and then passed him and checked out while Dungey actually went down when he hit Weimer and got up 13th.
Weimer later went down twice and was not a factor, but Dungey began working his way through the field until he eventually finished third behind Pourcel and GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard, who rounded the first lap in ninth. Canard was gaining on Pourcel at the finish.
In moto two, Canard snatched the holeshot just in front of Pourcel, and for 13 of the 15 laps, Pourcel tried everything he could to get around Canard, but couldn’t make it happen. Unfortunately, with a lap and a half left, Canard went over the bars hard and broke his right wrist. Pourcel inherited the lead and went on to his first second-moto victory of the year and his first 1-1 performance, while Dungey hung on for second in the moto and overall, losing his first second moto of the year. Muscle Milk KTM’s Tommy Searle was third in the moto and overall, while Pourcel’s teammate Tyla Rattray was fourth with a 5-4 and Canard’s teammate Blake Wharton was fifth with a 6-6.
Pourcel took over the points lead with the win.
250 Results:
1. Christophe Pourcel (1-1)
2. Ryan Dungey (3-2)
3. Tommy Searle (4-3)
4. Tyla Rattray (5-4)
5. Blake Wharton (6-6)
6. Justin Barcia (8-5)
7. Broc Tickle (9-8)
8. Matt Lemoine (7-11)
9. Kyle Cunningham (10-10)
10. Trey Canard (2-32)
250 Points Standings (After 4 of 12 rounds):
1. Christophe Pourcel (177/2 wins)
2. Ryan Dungey (175/2 wins)
3. Trey Canard (139)
4. Tyla Rattray (135)
5. Tommy Searle (117)
6. Blake Wharton (116)
7. Brett Metcalfe (111)
8. Broc Tickle (97)
9. Justin Barcia (83)
10. Jake Weimer (66)
