Andrew Short's mechanic Carlos Rivera (left) and Austin Stroupe's mechanic Lee McCollum (right) joke during Friday tech inspection. The pits were pretty quite on Friday, with most of the teams spending the day setting up awnings and preping bikes.
There’s less than 24 hours before the start of the 2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series and a quick trip through the pits at Angel Stadium seems to indicate that all the teams and riders are ready to get down to business. It’s certainly going to be hard to top the excitement and suspense of last year’s series – a series that saw James Stewart claw his way back from a 25-point deficit (after he suffered a DNF at the Anaheim opener) to edge Chad Reed for the title. However, the 2010 edition has the potential to be even more competitive, considering there are four or five riders with a decent shot at challenging Stewart for the championship – although Reed clearly leads this group of contenders.
Adding to the intrigue is the fact that a lot of the top talent heading into tomorrow’s race will be riding for different teams, after last year’s downward-spiraling economy forced many of the manufacturers to tighten their budgets. The most notable change during the off-season was Reed’s highly publicized jump from Rockstar Makita Suzuki to Monster Energy Kawasaki, where he’ll join forces with another title contender, Ryan Villopoto.
And while Stewart remains with San Manuel Yamaha for 2010 (he’s in the second year of a two-year deal with the team), like all the other Yamaha-based teams, he’ll be adjusting to an all-new model: Yamaha’s “revolutionary” YZ450F. Due to the late arrival of the bike, many of the teams are still scrounging around for aftermarket items like air filters and exhaust systems, so it’ll be interesting to see which teams got the most out of their limited amount of testing. It’s important to note that Stewart ran the new bike at the US Open and at the Bercy Supercross, while, for example, JGRMX’s Justin Brayton was on an ’09 version for the Bercy race, so Stewart and teammate Josh Hill should have an upper hand at A1, at least as far as setup goes.
James Stewart's bike drew lots of attention from spectators and other teams.
A subject to consider heading into Saturday’s race is Stewart’s health. Interestingly enough, the defending series champ became ill during the final night of competition at the Bercy race, and flew home the next day to consult his doctor. He later cancelled races in Australia and Italy, but at this week’s Thursday press conference Stewart said he was healthy and ready. “I went to Bercy and ended up getting sick, and I ended up having to take some time off to rest my body,” said Stewart. “But I’ve had a lot of riding during the off-season so it’s not a big concern for me, and at the end of the day it’s not going to effect how I ride this weekend.”
No doubt, Stewart will be carrying a lot of confidence into the Anaheim race after the come-from-behind effort he turned in to win last year’s title. “Last year was tough; obviously I didn’t start Anaheim off the way I wanted,” admitted Stewart. “But I was able to come back and win seven races in a row and take the championship lead. I had another bobble at Daytona but I was still able to come back and win it at the end of the day. It was a lot of work - it was more than just showing up and winning races. And looking back, while I was winning those races I kind of forgot what I did - coming back from 19th place. I was able to do it, and for me, that gives me a lot of confidence.”
Stewart’s main challenger – Reed – has a new team and a new attitude and seems more determined than ever to reclaim the title after coming so close in 2009. “I think it’ll be a good 2010,” says Reed. “I think I have what it takes to win races and win the title. Last year I wasn’t able to achieve that; I only won three races and I wanted to win a lot more than that. I’m going into this new year wanting to win and put myself in that position to win.”
Another top contender, JGRMX’s Josh Grant, returns for his sophomore year in the 450 division and, if you remember, Grant won last year’s opening race in his rookie debut. Grant also added his first outdoor 450 win over the summer, but injuries eventually squelched his bids in both title chases. A healthy Grant will definitely be a thorn in the sides of Stewart and Reed, however, Grant broke his nose during a practice crash this week and will wait until race day to decide if he will make a go of it. “I’m just going to go out and cruise around and see how I feel,” says Grant. “I’m just going to go by how I feel and you know your body best and I think that’s really what I need to focus on. I know I’ve ridden hurt before and had to deal with situations like this before, but at this point in time I just gotta be true to myself and know when to not go out there and push it. I’ve been known to do that in the past and I don’t want it to bite me again.”
Josh Grant will make a race-day decision to determine if he will ride Saturday's race.
It will also be interesting to see how Ryan Dungey fares, the Minnesotan returns to the mighty Rockstar Makita Suzuki team and is coming off of two Lites championships in 2009, not to mention being a member of the US team at last year’s MXoN in Italy. This will be Dungey’s first full season in the 450 class, although he claimed a 450 Supercross podium last year when the series moved to the “opposite coast” from the Western series he was contesting during the Lites championship. Dungey knows he has his work cut out for him in the premiere division, but he sounds ready for to the undertaking.
“This is going to definitely be a challenge, but I’ve always looked forward to it. It’s going to be a tough level of competition – it’s a deep class,” says Dungey. “But it will be that much better in the end to win it. After this first race we’ll know more where we stand, but winning and winning championships is always where you want to be. That’s the goal – it might come quick and it might take a little more time.”
Red Bull Honda returns a solid performer in Andrew Short, the Texas transplant from Colorado finished last year’s series in third overall. And while teammate Davi Millsaps was not as consistent in ‘09, he’s the only one of the two riders with a SX victory to his credit – albeit from the 2008 season. Short suffered from an illness during the outdoor series which kept him from reaching his full potential, but at the Thursday press conference, Shorty contends that he’s at full speed.
“I got to rest up during the off-season and just enjoy riding the bike, which is awesome, but I’m here to race – I’m healthy now and I’m ready.” said Short. “I just worked on speed during the off-season. I’ve just been missing that speed and that’s what I’ve worked on.”
Former Red Bull Honda rider Ivan Tedesco found himself on the outside looking in when contract negotiations got underway this fall, the Arizona rider was unlucky in the fact that his contract expired at the end of the season while Short and Millsaps were in the middle of two-year deals. A last minute deal with Valli Motorsports will see “Hot Sauce” riding the series on a Yamaha.
An interesting team to check out will be J-Law Racing/Boost Mobile/ampm, with Jason Lawrence and Grant Langston riding. Lawrence is reportedly riding A1, while Langston is returning to the sport after spending much of the last two years dealing with melanoma in his left eye.
Another rider to keep an eye on will be Tommy Hahn, winner of the final round of the AMA Pro Motocross series at Steel City. Hahn, who was injured for most of last year’s Supercross series, is back with Canidae Motosports, a team that made a last minute switch from Kawasaki to Suzuki in an effort to pick up a few more sponsors.
Meanwhile, Matt Goerke and Dan Reardon will head up the effort for MotoConcepts Yamaha.
In the Lites division, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki will have Jake Weimer and Josh Hansen riding the West series, with a possibility of having Dean Wilson, if he’s healthy. Meanwhile, GEICO Powersports Honda will rely on Texan Blake Wharton and “Okie” Trey Canard at A1.
Other West Regional entries include:
Star Racing Yamaha: Broc Tickle, Max Anstie, Gautier Paulin.
Rockstar/Canidae Suzuki: Ryan Morais and Hunter Hewitt.
FMF KTM: Tommy Searle.
Troy Lee Designs Honda: Wil Hahn, Cole Seely.
MotoConcepts/Yamaha: Travis Baker, Jeff Alessi.
