Team owner/racer Chad Reed earns his first Monster Energy AMA Supercross win of 2014 at the Anaheim II Supercross.
Discount Tire/Two Two Racing’s Chad Reed pulled off a stunning ride in front of a capacity crowd at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, tonight to collect his 42nd career Monster Energy AMA Supercross win at the Anaheim II Supercross.
Reed, 31, who rounded the first turn of the 450cc main event in sixth-place, rode a strong second half of the 20-lap race, biding his time before putting on a lap-17 charge that carried him past RYoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart for the win. It was a sweet victory for the Australian, a two-time former Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion, and the win tied him with fellow champions and legends Stewart and Jeremy McGrath on top of the all-time Anaheim Supercross winner’s list, with eight victories. Tonight’s race also marked Reed’s first 450cc Supercross win in 22 rounds. He went winless through all of 2013.
“You know, last year was just so gnarly in the fact that it was just emotional week-in and week-out, all winter, all summer,” Reed said. “We just made so many changes, and when you’re 31, going on 32, you’re the old guy out there, you start to second guess yourself. That was when I just knuckled down and made the choices that I felt was right.”
Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey, who had uncharacteristically slammed and banged his way into a direct transfer position with a fourth-place finish in the first 450cc heat race, pulled the holeshot and led the 22-rider main event field through turn one, followed by Nick Wey, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto, Stewart, Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen and Discount Tire/Two Two Racing Kawsaki’s Chad Reed and Joe Gibbs Racing Yamaha’s heat one winner Justin Brayton.
Stewart, Villopoto and Roczen passed Wey before the end of lap one, with Reed following suit to move to fifth place right at the start of lap two, thus establishing a cast of primary title contenders in the top five positions. Roczen then stayed aggressive and tried to pressure Villopoto for third place. Both men then reeled-in Stewart on lap three.
Roczen created the first fireworks in the main when he stuffed his KTM past Villopoto in a right-hand turn to take over third place. Villopoto tried to repay the favor a lap later, but Roczen was able to keep him at bay, while Reed tried to make it a three-man battle for third place.
Dungey, meanwhile, was running smoothly out front, with a lead of 1.6 seconds over Stewart by lap five, but two laps later he pushed the front in the Amsoil right-hander at the end of one of the whoop sections and crashed, handing the lead to Stewart. Dungey remounted in sixth place.
Villopoto found his way past Roczen again, then began knocking on Stewart’s door on lap 13 before nearly kicking it in with an aggressive move underneath Stewart in the right-hand corner just past the mechanics’ area. Stewart was able to him off, however, and in the next turn the two made contact, with Villopoto going down and surrendering positions to Roczen, Reed and Brayton.
Reed seized on the change in the order to knife underneath Roczen in a left-hander for second place with six laps to go, but Roczen answered back immediately. There was little more than a bike length’s gap between the front three when Reed passed Roczen for second place again with three laps to go. This time it stuck, and the crowd went wild when Reed made his way past Stewart and into the lead with three laps to go. Stewart tried to strike back at Reed with two turns remaining to the checkered flag, but Reed clearly had him covered.
“I worked way too hard for that win,” Reed said. “I’ve had 41 others, and they’ve come a hell of a lot easier than that. Honestly, I had the most pressure from my son (Tate) last week. He told me, ‘Oh man, you’re slow!’ I don’t want that on me. I don’t want to go down like that. I honestly believe I can be (a championship contender). That’s why I spend millions of dollars to go racing. I just love it. I’m just stoked, happy for everyone, because everyone took a gamble to stay with me.”
Stewart said that he was frustrated to be leading the race and lose it by being passed rather than by crashing.
“Chad was riding really good,” Stewart said. “That cold is really going to kick my butt. Two weeks of it now, but no excuses. He (Reed) just rode better. I wanted to get him, and guys were going down all around me. No excuses, like I said. Chad smelt it, he took it, and to get out of here…I got on the podium for the first time this year, so we’ll be all right.”
Roczen’s third-place finish showed that his win at Anaheim I was no fluke, and it should come as no surprise, as the German-born rookie trains and practices with Villopoto during the week.
“I think my riding tonight could have been a little better, but it was good fighting and good passing,” Roczen said. “The track was tricky tonight, but I’m actually really happy for Chad. Congratulations. Overall, that was a good race, and I’m happy to be on the podium again.”
Roczen’s finish also put him back in the series points lead as the Monster Energy AMA Supercross circus heads to Oakland, California, for round four of the series next weekend.
There was a last-lap drama behind Roczen, as Dungey once again showed aggression in his attempt to pass Villopoto for fourth place. The two riders tangled, and they both crashed, with Villopoto’s Kawasaki coming to rest partially on top of Dungey’s KTM. It gave Villopoto the advantage of remounting before Dungey to salvage fifth place after Brayton slipped through for fourth. Dungey was sixth.
Round three of the AMA Western Region Supercross ultimately featured the same two combatants vying for the win as in the previous two rounds, only this time Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda rider Cole Seely turned the tables on Anaheim I and Phoenix winner Jason Anderson by taking the lead and staying there all the way to the finish to collect his first 250cc Supercross win of the season. Anderson then suffered the added indignity of being docked two positions for jumping a section where the red cross medical flag was being shown, which dropped him from second place to fourth place and cost him the series points lead.
The difference tonight was in the starts that each rider got in the 15-lap main event. Seely just barely missed out on snagging the holeshot from Yamaha’s Cooper Webb, and ran second, just ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Justin Hill—who promptly hit the ground just after the first turn. Seely quickly shot past Webb and took the lead on the opening lap, however, followed by Webb and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson.
Anderson, meanwhile got a less-than-spectacular start and rounded the first turn in fifth place, behind Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda’s Malcom Stewart. Anderson quickly found his way past Stewart in Thor right-hander before one of the rhythm sections and set off after Wilson, who crashed on lap four. Wilson’s mistake allowed Anderson to move into third, but Wilson collected Geico Honda’s Zach Osborne.
The flying Anderson needed four more laps to catch Webb, and he knifed under the budding young Yamaha star in the Parts Unlimited left-hander just before the rider scoreboard halfway through the lap. At that point both Seely and Anderson were running 52-second lap times, making Anderson’s job of cutting into Seely’s 5.7-second lead all the more difficult. With the advantage of a clearer track in front of him Seely was able to maintain his advantage before crossing the finish line to take his first 250cc West main event win the fourth of his career and his first 250cc Supercross win in 18 races.
“It was awesome,” Seely said. “We have done so much testing. We have put in so many hours at the test track, during the pre-season and this week, and we just knew exactly what we needed in the main, to throw down some laps. It felt good to finally have a little bit of breathing room on that last lap. The last two laps I just played it pretty conservative—just wanted to make sure that thing was mine. I knew that I had a pretty good gap on Jason. It just feels so good to finally be on top of the box. I’ve been sick the past couple weeks, and this just helps my confidence.”
Anderson finished 3.3 seconds behind Seely on the track.
“I’m not disappointed at all,” Anderson said. “It takes a good season, and it takes not mistakes and crashing. So you take the good with the bad, and, you know that wasn’t bad. I gained valuable points, and I am still in the points lead.”
But then came word of Anderson’s penalty, and the net result was that Seely now leads the 250cc West standings as the series moves to Oakland.
Webb was third on the track but then was bumped to second. Either finish was good enough to mark his first career Monster Energy AMA Supercross podium finish. Stewart was across the line fourth but was bumped to third place.
“I got off to a really good start, got another holeshot and just tried to get out there and ride the best I could,” Webb said. “I was kind of nervous out there, but once Jason got by me, I was just like, ‘Man, I just want to get on the podium. I couldn’t be happier, and this is a good way to start of the season.”
Angel Stadium
Anaheim, California
Results: January 18, 2014 (Round 3 of 17)
450cc Main
1. Chad Reed-Kaw
2. James Stewart-Suz
3. Ken Roczen-KTM
4. Justin Brayton-Yam
5. Ryan Villopoto-Kaw
6. Ryan Dungey-KTM
7. Weston Peick-Suz
8. Josh Hill-Suz
9. Andrew Short-KTM
10. Jake Weimer-Kaw
11. Justin Barcia-Hon
12. Wil Hahn-Hon
13. Ivan Tedesco-KTM
14. Josh Grant-Yam
15. Nick Wey-Kaw
16. Matt Goerke-KTM
17. Vince Friese-Hon
18. Mike Alessi-Suz
19. Matt Moss-Suz
20. Chris Blose-Hon
21. Kyle Partridge-Hon
22. Jimmy Albertson-Hon
450cc Points Standings (After 3 of 17 rounds)
1. Ken Roczen-60/1 win
2. Ryan Villopoto-59/1 win
3. Chad Reed-57/1 win
4. Ryan Dungey-57
5. Justin Brayton-55
6. James Stewart-44
7. Justin Barcia-42
8. Andrew Short-38
9. Wil Hahn-30
10. Brock Tickle-26
250cc Main
1. Cole Seely-Hon
2. Cooper Webb-Yam
3. Malcolm Stewart-Hon
4. Jason Anderson-KTM
5. Justin Hill-Kaw
6. Shane McElrath-Hon
7. Dean Wilson-Kaw
8. Zach Osborne-Hon
9. Michael Lieb-hon
10. Jessy Nelson-Hon
11. Dean Ferris-KTM
12. Dakota Tedder-Kaw
13. Cole Martinez-Kaw
14. Chris Plouffe-Hon
15. Valentin Teillet-Kaw
16. Chris Howell-Yam
17. Chris Proscelle-Hon
18. Conner Elliott-Hon
19. Scott Champion-Yam
20. Austin Burns-Hon
21. Aaron Siminoe-Kaw
22. Joe Dalzell-Kaw
250cc Western Region Points Standings
1. Cole Seely-69/1 win
2. Jason Anderson-66/2 wins
3. Zach Osborne-53
4. Cooper Webb-53
5. DeanWilson-50
6. Malcolm Stewart-49
7. Justin Hill-44
8. Jessy Nelson-35
9. Dean Ferris-33
10. Shane Mc-Elrath-29
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