By Brendan Lutes
Photos by Jeff Kardas
The rain is falling and the wind is howling outside Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas, however, inside the track is in pristine condition for the seventh round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series. While this is the seventh round of racing for the Supercross class racers, the East Coast Supercross Lites class riders are in their opening round, and the heavy favorites are already at the top of the running order heading into the night show.
Geico Honda's Justin Barcia qualified first heading into the night show.
At the conclusion of timed qualifying, defending East Coast Lites Champion Geico Honda’s Justin Barcia picked up right where he left off by posting the fastest time of 48.736. Behind him Red Bull KTM’s young German phenom Ken Roczen turned in the second quickest time of 48.910. Completing the podium in practice was JDR/KTM’s Malcolm Stewart with a time of 49.656.
In the Supercross class, Two Two Motorsports/Honda’s Chad Reed turned in the fastest time with a 46.537 just ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto’s quickest lap of 46.869. In third was JGR/Toyota/Yamaha’s James Stewart with a time of 47.072.
In other news, Geico Honda’s Kevin Windham will be doing arguably his biggest transfer ever during opening ceremonies—hopefully SPEED will show it in the live broadcast tonight. K-Dub was also going very fast during practice, turning in the fastest time in the first timed session. In one of his first races back since getting injured earlier this season, Valli/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Austin Stroupe went down and broke his collarbone. Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett also hit the dirt fairly hard during the first free practice session, but showed up for the remaining sessions, finishing sixth in timed qualifying. Lastly, Supercross.com/Honda’s Andrew Short only rode a few laps before pulling out. Short separated his shoulder last week in a crash during racing in San Diego.
Don’t forget that tonight’s racing is live on SPEED, so check your local listings for times. Be sure to check back later for a full report and photos from the racing action.
RESULTS:
Lites:
1. Justin Barcia 48.736
2. Ken Roczen 48.910
3. Malcolm Stewart 49.656
4. Justin Bogle 49.672
5. Matt Lemoine 49.637
Supercross
1. Chad Reed 46.537
2. Ryan Villopoto 46.869
3. James Stewart 47.072
4. Ryan Dungey 47.233
5. Kevin Windham 47.602
TAGS: chad reed, dallas, dirt bikes, james stewart, Justin Barcia, Ken Roczen, Monster energy, supercross, SX, texas
