But there was a surprise behind him, as DNA/Jeff Ward Racing’s Josh Grant started in second and rode solid the whole way, logging his first podium since 2009 with a runner-up ride. Behind him, Mike Alessi had a shot at a podium on his MotoConcepts bike, but he crashed under pressure from Justin Brayton, and then couldn’t get his bike restarted. Alessi ended up 13th while Honda Muscle Milk’s Brayton took third. Brett Metcalfe started fourth and held on for fifth on his Yoshimura Suzuki, and Andrew Short put in a great ride in his return to racing from a shoulder injury, with fifth on his L&Mc Racing Honda.
The SX Main blasts off.
Once RV1 got to the first turn first, the battle for the win was effectively over.
A huge first turn crash claimed Davi Millsaps, Kyle Chisholm, Wil Hahn, Kyle Regal and others.
Josh Grant came out of nowhere to land a second place finish.
Justin Brayton made a few passes to get into third.
Carl Stone photos
JGR/Toyota Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps had a rough night after a heat race crash left him with a sore knee and ribs. He then crashed in the first turn of the main, and came back to tough out a sixth. Star-Valli Rockstar Yamaha’s Weston Peick, Grant’s teammate Kyle Chisholm. Honda Muscle Milk’s Wil Hahn and Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawaski’s Broc Tickle rounded out the top ten.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer won his heat race, but crashed on the first lap of the main and then went down again. He finished 20th. Star-Valli Rockstar Yamaha’s Nico Izzi made some waves when he logged the fastest lap time in the first 450 practice session, and he was running a solid sixth in the main before he crashed out in the whoops with a few laps to go. He finished 19th.
The Lites main featured Justin Barcia going for a title, and Ken Roczen going for a win after his logged the fastest time in both practice sessions. But a spoiler emerged in Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Darryn Durham, who quickly made the pass on early leader, Eleven10 Mod’s Alex Martin, and started pulling away. Behind him a crazy battle emerged between Malcolm Stewart, Blake Baggett, Martin, Barcia, Roczen and Justin Bogle.
Darryn Durham (center) grabbed the first pro win of his career. Blake Baggett (right) and Justin Bogle (left) were second and third.
Malcolm Stewart was on a rail early while running second, but a huge crash ended it for him.
Durham made a big mistake by landing on a tuff block, but recovered to hang on for the win.
Justin Barcia's fourth-place finish was enough to lock up the East Lites title again.
Carl Stone photos
Stewart looked to be fastest of the group, and he put his J-Star JDR KTM into second and tried to run down Durham. But Mookie then crashed hard in the whoops. Baggett then moved into second by putting a hard pass on GEICO Honda’s Barcia, and Roczen took advantage to pass Barcia as well on his Red Bull KTM. Barcia continued to fall backwards, with his teammate Bogle getting around him.
Baggett and Roczen then fought it out for second, but then Roczen tightened up and started falling back as well, with both Barcia and Bogle getting around him. This left Baggett all alone in second, but he suddenly had a shot at the win when Durham made a big mistake and landed on a tough block. Durham managed to keep the bike up, but Baggett closed up and applied some pressure. Durham went back to work and made some slick moves in lapped traffic to get away from Baggett, but on the last lap, he made a few more mistakes and Baggett closed back in on him again.
It was too little too late. Baggett’s charge came up short, and Durham took the first win of his career, and first for his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team in the East Lites Championship.
Meanwhile, Barcia recovered for fourth behind his teammate Bogle to clinch his second-straight East Lites Title. Roczen was fifth ahead of Kyle Cunningham, Jake Canada, Tyler Bowers, Austin Politelli, and Phil Nicoletti.
Main Event Results:
SX Class
1. R. Villopoto
2. J. Grant
3. J. Brayton
4. B. Metcalfe
5. A. Short
6. D. Millsaps
7. W. Peick
8. K. Chisholm
9. T. Hahn
10. B. Tickle
11. N. Wey
12. J. Albertson
13. M. Alessi
14. J. Sipes
15. G. Faith
16. C. Gilmore
17. K. Regal
18. B. Kiniry
19. N. Izzi
20. J. Weimer
Lites
1. D. Durham
2. B. Baggett
3. J. Bogle
4. J. Barcia
5. K. Roczen
6. K. Cunningham
7. J. Canada
8. T. Bowers
9. A. Politelli
10. P. Nicoletti
11. S. Rife
12. M. Lemoine
13. Z. Freeberg
14. B. Wharton
15. T. Weeck
16. A. Catanzaro
17. M. Stewart
18. S. Lipanovich
19. A. Martin
20. K. Peters
