Bubba takes the title!
By TMX Archives on 6th May 09
The dice rolls well for Stewart at super Vegas finale...
THE Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas was the venue for the final round of the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, and FIM World Championship.
A packed crowd of nearly 40,000 fans turned out to witness the rivalry between Yamaha's James Stewart and Suzuki's Chad Reed for one last time.
On the night however, it was Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto who claimed victory ahead of Reed in second and Stewart in third. This third place was enough though as, at the end of the night, Stewart was crowned champion just four points ahead of Reed.
As the 20-lap main event kicked off, Suzuki's Mike Alessi grabbed the holeshot with Stewart and Villopoto chasing hard, whilst Reed suffered a poor start and turned the first corner in seventh. By lap two, Stewart had fought his way through and took a brief lead before Villopoto regained control of the lead and never looked back.
"It's been awesome (the last three weeks),” said Villopoto. "To come back and win at Seattle was awesome, especially since it was my hometown. It's been very close running in Vegas and it feels good to finally get a win here. I've never done that before.''
As all eyes focussed on the battle emerging behind Villopoto, Reed was clawing his way back through the pack and was giving it his all. On lap 15, Reed made a heavy-contact pass on Stewart to move up into second. It wasn't enough though, as a third place for Stewart was all he needed for the championship title.
"You have no idea how tough this has to come back from what happened at Anaheim 1,” said Stewart. "This is the toughest I have ever had to fight to win a title. It's been a hard-fought championship for everyone. I just want to thank everyone who has been involved in everything we've accomplished this season.”
As the East and West riders met in the the AMA Supercross Lites main event, Honda's Blake Wharton powered through to take the holeshot ahead of teammate Trey Canard, with Eastern and Western Regional Champions Christophe Pourcel and Ryan Dungey in fourth and ninth respectively. As the first lap came to a close, Canard moved into the lead whilst Pourcel began piling on the pressure in second. It stayed this way until lap 12 when Canard made an error, allowing Pourcel through followed by Dungey in second.
At the end it was close as Dungey tried all he could but ended half a bike length short as the pair crossed the line.
"I just rode the best I could the entire main event. I stayed close to Trey (Canard) and then he made a little mistake. From that point I just rode as fast as I could. It feels great to get this victory.” said Pourcel.
AMA & WORLD SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 17 (Final) – Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
SUPERCROSS MAIN: 1 Ryan Villopoto (Kaw), 2 Chad Reed (Suz), 3 James Stewart (Yam), 4 Kevin Windham (Hon), 5 Ivan Tedesco (Hon), 6 Mike Alessi (Suz), 7 Josh Grant (Yam), 8 Andrew Short (Hon), 9 Nathan Ramsey (Yam), 10 David Millsaps (Hon), 11 Jason Thomas (Hon), 12 Nick Wey (Yam), 13 Paul Carpenter (Kaw), 14 Matt Boni (Hon), 15 Jesse Casillas (KTM), 16 Robert Kiniry (Kaw), 17 Kyle Partridge (Hon), 18 Thomas Hahn (Kaw), 19 Tyler Bowers (Hon), 20 Heath Voss (Hon).
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS: 1 James Stewart 377 points (CHAMPION), 2 Chad Reed 373, 3 Andrew Short 270, 4 Grant 237, 5 Windham 236, 6 Villopoto 233, 7 Tedesco 226, 8 Millsaps 219, 9 Alessi 218, 10 J Hill 146, 11 Boni 110, 12 Voss 103, 13 T Ferry 100, 14 Wey 98, 15 Carpenter 96,...
SUPERCROSS LITES (East Meets West): 1 Christophe Pourcel (Kaw), 2 Ryan Dungey (Suz), 3 Trey Canard (Hon), 4 Jake Weimer (Kaw), 5 Austin Stroupe (Kaw), 6 Ryan Morais (Kaw), 7 Justin Brayton (KTM), 8 Jake Moss (Hon), 9 Wil Hahn (KTM), 10 Broc Tickle (Yam), 11 Blake Wharton (Hon), 12 Daniel Blair (Hon), 13 Chris Blose (Hon), 14 PJ Larsen (Kaw), 15 Jimmy Albertson (Hon), 16 Ben Evans (Hon), 17 Sean Borkenhagen (Hon), 18 Vince Friese (Hon), 19 Matt Lemoine (Yam), 20 Matthew Goerke (Suz).
A delighted James Stewart has had to fight hard all season for this moment.