Houston Heat Race Report
February 12, 2011 8:25pm | by: Jason Weigandt
Hey, what’s up with Justin Barcia in practice? He was only eighth. Oh wait, he jumped out to the lead in this heat race and checked out. No problems, Houston. Malcolm Stewart, James’ brother, took second in his SX debut. Blake Baggett was blazing fast in practice, and he needed that speed when he went down in turn one and had to fight his way back to ninth.
Darryn Durham suffered the highs and lows of SX in this one, leading early and hanging tough under pressure from Dean Wilson. Wilson kept challenging him, but Durham would not relent, hanging it out to maintain the lead. At one point Durham clipped a tough block, and bumped over the pole they had installed to keep riders from jumping a corner—and he still held on! Finally Wilson made the move, and then PJ Larsen snuck underneath for second. Durham finished third, but immediately went to the mechanics area and hopped off his bike. He reportedly broke his foot in that battle. Bummer.
Ryan Dungey needed to come back strong after DNFing last weeks’ race, and he did by winning his heat race. He quickly passed his teammate Brett Metcalfe for the lead and checked out. Andrew Short had a good start and held on for second ahead of Trey Canard, with Metty taking fourth. Dungey ran a 48.508 as his best lap.
James Stewart is fast tonight! Yup, tune into Racer X for all the shocking news. His teammate Kyle Regal grabbed the holeshot over Chad Reed, then Stewart knifed underneath Reed, and blew past Regal in the whoops. He was gone. Reed held on for second, but Ryan Villopoto was coming from the back, fast. He passed Alessi and Roczen in one turn, then passed Regal, and tried two hard passes on Reed but couldn’t make it happen. Stewart, Reed, Villo 1-2-3 in this one.
Darryn Durham suffered the highs and lows of SX in this one, leading early and hanging tough under pressure from Dean Wilson. Wilson kept challenging him, but Durham would not relent, hanging it out to maintain the lead. At one point Durham clipped a tough block, and bumped over the pole they had installed to keep riders from jumping a corner—and he still held on! Finally Wilson made the move, and then PJ Larsen snuck underneath for second. Durham finished third, but immediately went to the mechanics area and hopped off his bike. He reportedly broke his foot in that battle. Bummer.
Ryan Dungey needed to come back strong after DNFing last weeks’ race, and he did by winning his heat race. He quickly passed his teammate Brett Metcalfe for the lead and checked out. Andrew Short had a good start and held on for second ahead of Trey Canard, with Metty taking fourth. Dungey ran a 48.508 as his best lap.
James Stewart is fast tonight! Yup, tune into Racer X for all the shocking news. His teammate Kyle Regal grabbed the holeshot over Chad Reed, then Stewart knifed underneath Reed, and blew past Regal in the whoops. He was gone. Reed held on for second, but Ryan Villopoto was coming from the back, fast. He passed Alessi and Roczen in one turn, then passed Regal, and tried two hard passes on Reed but couldn’t make it happen. Stewart, Reed, Villo 1-2-3 in this one.
