Race Report: Las Vegas SX 2012

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Sun, May 6 2012 2:36 am | Comments

By Jordan Powell
Photos by Michael Antonovich

That’s it. It’s done. Over. Finished. After 17 rounds of pure excitement, carnage, and trips all across the United States and Canada, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series came to a close inside the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although there wasn’t a title chase for any class coming into the final round, the stadium played host to a crowd that sold out all of their seats. In the 450 class, Ryan Dungey dominated from the start, all the way to the end. With an over 10-second lead, no one had a chance for the top spot on the podium. Justin Barcia grabbed another win for the final East Coast Lites main event, while Eli Tomac grabbed the win for the West Coast class. When it came time for the East VS. West Coast Shootout, all eyes were on the champions, and Barcia and Tomac went one and two, respectively.

EASTERN REGIONAL SUPERCROSS LITES
The beginning of the night started with the East Coast Lites Main Event. When the gates dropped for the 15-lap main, Geico Honda’s Justin Barcia came out swinging, and led the entire pack of riders through Monster Alley, and into the stadium. Close behind was Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett. Barcia’s teammate, Jusin Bogle, had slid out into the first corner with Les Smith and both were put all the way back in the pack. Much like what Bam Bam had done all season long, he started to quickly put together some smooth lines, and the Honda rider started to pull away from Roczen. After the first three laps, the running order was Barcia, Roczen, Baggett, Malcolm Stewart, and Kyle Peters. However, it was too long after, Peters fell back in the pack, and Rockstar Suzuki’s Blake Wharton moved into fifth.

Halfway through the race, Barcia had made a mistake coming out of a corner before the triple, which forced him to double. Consequently, Roczen had tremendously closed up the gap. After 10 laps, though, there was some serious lapped traffic that the top five riders had encountered, and that let Barcia extend his lead again. When the race came to a close, Barcia had taken the win, followed by Roczen, and Baggett.

Overall
1. Justin Barcia
2. Ken Roczen
3. Blake Baggett
4. Malcolm Stewart
5. Blake Wharton
6. Kyle Cunningham
7. Hunter Hewitt
8. Jake Canada
9. Matt Lemoine
10. Kyle Peters
11. Justin Bogle
12. AJ Catanzaro
13. Les Smith
14. Austin Politelli
15. Zach Freeberg
16. Micheal Akaydin
17. Shane Sewell
18. John Pauk
19. Dakota Tedder
20. Shawn Rife		 250 Class East Coast Championship Standings (After 9 of 9 rounds)
1. Justin Barcia (210/6 wins)
2. Ken Roczen (165/1)
3. Blake Wharton (158/1)
4. Blake Baggett (148)
5. Darryn Durham (143)
6. Jake Canada (131)
7. Justin Bogle (117)
8. Kyle Cunningham (85)
9. Matt Lemoine (78)
10. Malcolm Stewart (77)
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