Race Report - New Orleans
Chris
- March 14 2009
- 31,530 views
- 100 comments
Words by Bayo Olukuton
Although the rain fell down on New Orleans on Friday and Saturday, Supercross stayed dry inside the Superdome. Just a stone’s throw from the historic French Quarter, the Superdome welcomed locals and travelers alike, as they poured into the giant edifice to see James Stewart, Chad Reed, Christophe Pourcel, Austin Stroupe, and the rest of the SX stars battle it out.
Coming into Saturday night’s race, it seemed Chad Reed had the momentum, with wins in the last two rounds (Indy and Daytona). But as we all know, James Stewart doesn’t really need momentum to win regain control of a series. So what happened?
Lites Qualifying
Heat 1
Geico Powersports/ Honda rider Blake Wharton and Division Seven/Star Racing/ Yamaha’s Darryn Durham held the top two positions in the opening laps, while Martin Davalos of the Muscle Milk/ MDK/ KTM team had an early crash pushing him to the back of the pack. The top five was made up of mostly unproven riders as Jacob Saylor, Levi Kilbarger and Division 7/ Star Racing/ Yamaha’s Broc Tickle rounded out the top five. With Davalos’ unfortunate first lap crash, he was pushing his way back to the front of the pack and was up to eighth place until another crash pushed him out of contention. Consistent podium finisher and second place in East Coast Supercross Lites points standings, Rockstar/ Makita/ Suzuki’s Nico Izzi was having terrible luck as he failed to make it into qualifying position. However, out front the winner was an undisputed Blake Wharton, taking his first ever heat race win with a best lap almost two seconds faster than the next fastest rider. Heading into the main event, Wharton looked to be a very strong contender for the win. He was so excited in fact, that he could not remember most of his sponsors during his post race interview.
1. Blake Wharton
2. Darryn Durham
3. Jacob Saylor
4. Levi Kilbarger
5. Broc Tickle
6. Jason Thomas
7. Chad Ward
8. Dennis Jonon
9. Daniel Blair
Heat 2
With another big first turn pile up, Tyler Wharton managed to sneak through with the holeshot, but the start collected a whole slew of riders. After the first lap, Suzuki City’s Matt Goerke had managed to work his way into the lead. Branden Jesseman, of the Canidae/ Motosport/ Kawasaki team, finally managed a good start and was being pressured by Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki’s Austin Stroupe. However, Jesseman did manage to work his way into the lead on the following lap and was running some of the fastest laps of the evening so far, in the 52 second range, along with Austin Stroupe.
After getting caught up in that first turn pile up, Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel had somehow managed to work his way into qualifying position and by the finish ended up in 6th place.
1. Branden Jesseman
2. Austin Stroupe
3. Matt Goerke
4. Tyler Wharton
5. Wil Hahn
6. Christophe Pourcel
7. Bryan Johnson
8. Phil Nicoletti
9. Teddy Parks
Lites LCQ
Moto Concepts’ Vince Friese managed the holeshot and held on to the lead for the first few laps until being over taken by Englishman, Steven Clarke from the Suzuki City effort. While working his way up to qualifying position Martin Davalos collided with Friese and took each other out. Somehow after a poor start, and a crash a lap later that pushed him out of the top ten, Rockstar/ Makita/ Suzuki’s Nico Izzi zipped through the pack and up to third place and battled for several turns with Division Seven/ Star Racing/ Yamaha’s Matt Lemoine for second place. After several bumps, Izzi was unable to clear a jump, leaving the door open for Lemoine who took the final transfer position. With that, Izzi missed out on the main event, which likely took the Suzuki rider out of contention for the championship.
1. Steven Clarke
2. Matt Lemoine
Page 1: Lites Qualifying Page 2: SX Qualifying Page 3: Lites Main Page 4: SX Main
To upload photos or videos, 
»
March 14th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
finally some good battle here
March 14th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
James” bubba” Stewart {7}!!! If he stays on 2 wheels, he’s the fastest man on the planet and not even Chad can run with him. Who’s now complaining saying the AMA’s boring? It’s now as exciting as it’s ever been. My respects goes out to Chad he’s riding awesome this season, better than i’ve seen him ride and more consistant. But i’m a Bubba fan all the way from the UK. So come on James ride the hell out of that yamaha and claim that title.
March 14th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
man chad dont look happy on the podium, theres always next week bud!
March 14th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
I did not realize that Heather Voss raced supercross?
March 15th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Of course Chad’s not happy, he knows that if James stays on 2 wheels he the fastest man on the planet and no1 can catch him. All these people that say Chad’s faster than James just don’t want to believe the truth. They both have their weak points as were all human, no1’s perfect. But for all out crazy speed James Stewart {7} is the man.
March 15th, 2009 at 12:36 am
reed can not win unless stewart crashes.
March 15th, 2009 at 12:39 am
stewart rides out of control and reed rides fast and smooth.
March 15th, 2009 at 12:48 am
great comment ranks…that’s the honest truth. chad only goes that fast when he needs too, as for james hes the one who sets the pace. James may never win as many titles as carmichael, or as many sx as mc, but there is no question that james is the fastest person to ever twist a throttle on a mx bike. point, blank, period.
March 15th, 2009 at 12:54 am
wheres jlaw?
March 15th, 2009 at 2:36 am
where was jdog
March 15th, 2009 at 2:44 am
vp needs to step his game up
March 15th, 2009 at 3:13 am
pic 13: is wey running stock triple clamps?
March 15th, 2009 at 3:16 am
and hubs and forks?
March 15th, 2009 at 4:54 am
wheres jlaw?
March 15th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Jason Lawrence injured his ankle on Thursday. His agent, Scott Sepkovic, told that we can expect to see J-Law back in action in St. Louis.
March 15th, 2009 at 6:41 am
who really cares where j-law is
March 15th, 2009 at 7:05 am
WHATS UP WITH RYAN V I THOUGHT HE WAS SUPPOSE TO BE THE NEXT RC ? I BET KAWI ARE WISHING THEY KEPT STEWART.THE ONLY WAY REED CAN WIN IS IF JS CRASHES.
March 15th, 2009 at 8:02 am
ur an idiot
March 15th, 2009 at 8:19 am
If you go back 10 years or so RC wasn’t exactly lighting up the Supercross class back then when he first moved up either.
March 15th, 2009 at 8:22 am
If you go back when RC first moved up to the Supercross class he wasn’t exactly lighting them up either. After a couple seasons he took over. You gotta give RV2 some time too because chances are history will repeat itself.
March 15th, 2009 at 8:30 am
you sit on a throne of lies
March 15th, 2009 at 8:32 am
i wish Ricky was here im not a stewart man but how do all you folks think reed is faster . the truth will set you free.
March 15th, 2009 at 8:56 am
I care where JLaw is…he has made the biggest rookie impact yet-on a privateer bike no less!
March 15th, 2009 at 9:00 am
I HEAR REED IS LOOKING TO BUY VILLO’S #2 FOR NEXT YEAR :O
March 15th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Jail Bird was hurt, Stewie grabs a hole shot and checks out, Reed finishes second - SHOCKER! Thank the good Lord I was in Indy and Daytona was so entertaining because the rest of the season is going to BLOW! Boring!
March 15th, 2009 at 9:20 am
James stewart has a stat that he only loses when he crashes. Most of those crashes have been caused by either rc or reed putting pressure on him. stewart may be the fastest man out there most the time, but when he is being pushed he has a problem under pressure keeping it on two wheels. That is his weaness and chad reed knows it, thats why chad will win the title i think, though it could very easily go either way. reed needs two more wins and stewart can’t mess up any. james needs to be pretty much perfect from here on out to win the title.
March 15th, 2009 at 9:46 am
m-racing motocross wear its from finland are you erno aro or some other finish rider?
March 15th, 2009 at 10:07 am
No sir, he see’s truth and you are the idiot.
March 15th, 2009 at 11:09 am
no he dosnt
have u ever seen stewart and reed
March 15th, 2009 at 11:15 am
It’s not stewart’s fault that the season blows, it’s everyone elses fault that cant keep up with stewart. If something blows around here, it’s all the other riders besides stewart
March 15th, 2009 at 11:39 am
lol your right he looks pretty bummed
March 15th, 2009 at 11:41 am
well luckily the championship isnt necasarily about who’s the fastest. so maybe chad reed still has a shot
but lets not forget chad reed isnt much slower then james (if
he is at all)
March 15th, 2009 at 11:43 am
IM GONNA WRITE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE IM COOL
March 15th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
haha stewart is so much faster its stupid….when reed catches him he can just turn it on and disappear but he does sometimes crash when he pushes that hard
March 15th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
thats 100 percent true!!
March 15th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I’m not real sure how you conclude that the season “blows”??? “it’s is everyone else’s fault that they can’t keep up with Stewart”…in case you haven’t realised mx723, Chad Reed is in the championship LEAD! It’s negative moron’s like you two that fill message boards with rubbish….I don’t know about you, but I’m enjoying a GREAT championship BATTLE in one of the coolest sports in the world. Go #22
March 15th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
i think you mean ryan villopoto his initials would be rv not vp
March 15th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
yes… he is still just a high sponsored privateer not a full on factory rider
March 15th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
wow your stupid
March 15th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
haha lol
March 15th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
He really isnt j-law sucks. How many races has he won?
March 15th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
What’s tha point of J-Law having the number one plate if he dosen’t seem to win. He looks like hot GARBAGE. Can’t even win races.He talks crap and can’t back it up. J-law sucks 8==D~
March 15th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Jesseman definatly deserved that 2nd place.
March 15th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
you can’t judge a rider on how many races they win, are you going to sit there and say that K-dub is a bad rider? Or what about short, poto, even reed. He has only won 2, thats only one more than grant! c’mon, dont judge by that. J-law got 2nd last week, thats awesome! He’s got skills.
March 15th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
All the guys on the supercross track are faster than you so shut your mouth.
March 15th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Stewart’s G a y….
March 15th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
I don’t think the championship blows, I just hate all those who don’t like stewart winning and consider it boring.
I know reed has the championship lead, but that’s just because of anaheim 1. Lets be honest, Reed isn’t half the rider Stewart is.
March 15th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
yoos all neid speling lesons fer hels saik
March 15th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
ur all stupid cause tedesco is going to start winning and take this championship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lolololololol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!jk
March 15th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
and you are complete poop compared to even the riders that didnt even make the night show.
March 15th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
and what are you doing? sitting on your a$$ in front of your computer.yeah jlaw sucks. i bet he wishes he was you right now
March 15th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
congrats to my hometown boys durham, jesseman, and hepler. you all had a great night. reed, keep your head up. a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. and sometimes that blind squirrel (james stewart) doesnt crash as he is prone to. hang in there and stay consistent.
March 15th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
i think villopot just needs a season to get used to racing the 450, so far he is like RC, cause RC didnt have the best year in his big bike rookie season. i am thinking he will be hard to beat in the nationals and beyond
March 15th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
I’m happy with K Dubs finish, I wish he didn’t fall with stwewart early in the season he’d be up around 3rd or 4th overall where he belongs.
March 15th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Last year I was pretty upset that I paid for tickets to Vegas right before my favorite rider (Bubba) sat out the rest of the Supercross season. It was my first trip to the final round and I wasn’t really that into it. This year is going to be totally different.
Sure the first few rounds weren’t good for TV, but this season has turned out to be a real all for nothing battle for #7. These last few rounds should be truly exiciting for everyone watching, even if the rider your cheering for isn’t on the tallest step of the podium.
March 15th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
If your going to talk shit, at least login. This isn’t AA.
Back when Emig and Showtime were going at it, someone would always hold back to stay with in points contention. I don’t think that’s the case with Reed. Stewart is clearly the better rider.
I just wish the two of them would duke it out for the national (outdoor) title.
March 15th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
LMAO! Go Tedesco.
March 15th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
hahahah cr94 should go take up following like golf or something. what an idiot.
March 15th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I wont be surprised if Chad wins. He has been most consist rider(MCR) in all of supercross. One more mistake from Bubba and its all over
March 15th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
JS-7 is riding the out door Nats this year!Does any one remember the 125 nats when JS-7 beat REED for the title? How about when JS-7 pulled over in the moto to let REED pass him and then JS-7 rode by REED and won!REED is good,very good but he has nothing for JS-7!!He got the start he has been talking about every wk and look what happend!And will some one please tell me who the hell Jim holley is?He sound like a hater!!What races did he ever win?
March 15th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Lawrence ran in the 1:09s and 1:10s for more than half the race at Daytona. With no suprise the only other riders that ran that pace was Reed and Stewart. I don’t even think the hyped up RV has managed this yet. Think about it.
March 15th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
K-dub isn’t hungry at all and its been a few years but he never should have left yamaha,he hasnt been right ever since! he won more on the yamaha!!K-dub is one of my favorite racers.K-dub if you read this go back to yamaha this summer and ride the NATS.
March 15th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
wtf are both of you talkin abot
March 15th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
haha that was awesome…
March 15th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
ALRITE FORUM WARRIOR ,RUNNIN YOUR MOUTH ON THE COMPUTER,YOU SISSY,YOU PROBABLY DONT EVEN HAVE A BIKE ,YOU SIT ON YOUR COMPUTER AND RUN YOUR PUNK MOUTH LIKE YOUR SOME BODY .DONT WORRY IF I WRITE IN CAPS OR NOT.YOU DONT EVEN NO ME YOU LAME
March 15th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
jim holly raced back in the early 80S if you dumb asses would learn a little history of the greatest sport in the world you would know that
March 15th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
of course he has a weaness, all of them do! or should anyways unless there is some girl racing that i dont know about??
March 15th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
you might be the dumbest person ive heard in my life
March 15th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
looks like chad thinking to himself “Oh S#&*, I hope he falls again soon..”
March 16th, 2009 at 1:38 am
Could I get some Hot sauce in my bean borrito!!! Go!! #9
March 16th, 2009 at 1:44 am
If james wins this title , he may very well go and beat those win records.
Stewart may not say he’s going to race out doors but he is always silent of what he does until its time , smart man I say.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:29 am
Stephen122193, you must not have seen any races with j law in them in the past five years
March 16th, 2009 at 5:31 am
Well then Stewart is the fastst G a y guy on the planet.
March 16th, 2009 at 7:45 am
wut is wrong wit u cr94
u were stupid around san diego sx and now here
get ur motocross facts straight or go back to 4wheels
March 16th, 2009 at 8:17 am
I cant stand anyone of those Pro Circuit Monster Energy kids this year. Dont get me wrong they’er fast(anyone riding those bikes are), but once they lose a race they turn into big spoiled babies. I guess Pourcel is an exception( I cant understand him anyway).
March 16th, 2009 at 9:05 am
LMFAO! NICE CATCH ON THAT ONE!
March 16th, 2009 at 9:54 am
it all about u. u think u know. what u always say. it all a big lie. u think ur special. we no ur not. don’t tell me who i should be or do. so shut up, shut up, shut up. don’t wana hear it… “am i talking to the wrong person?” “i thought something was up!”
March 16th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Dear Transworld,
I am so annoyed everytime I make it to your website and haven’t been able to watch the race yet and you put pictures of the winner on the home page. I will now stop coming to the site.
Thank you.
March 16th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I agree, sorta, I’m overseas in the military and try not find out who wins before i watch it. But I’m so addicted to this site I can help but find out soon as I open the home page
March 16th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
My jim holley?? was me being a smart ass!I know he raced back in the day but he comes off as a JS-7 hater!!But what did he ever WIN!!!Temper,Temper!! lol…Any way JS-7 has a lil brother 2years away and counting!Here we go again.
March 16th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
what ever happened to j law did he just race at daytona
March 16th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
squirrels?
March 16th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Yeah With that you got to remember from age 15 to 25 years of age your muscle mass increases as well as strengh , Villapoto will get there along with new results for sure ( you gotta grow into your bike and new faster riders period) Goooooo Ryan!!
March 17th, 2009 at 12:21 am
In Hell
March 17th, 2009 at 12:45 am
James Stewart [7] if you’re reading this. Take this championship to the next level. It’s in your blood you’re a born rebel, settle for nothing but a gold medal!! The top spot is the only spot, the jackpot is the only pot!!
March 17th, 2009 at 6:08 am
he actually ran with him pretty well considering he was only 5 seconds behind at the end and they were half a minute ahead of the next guy, not even counting how far back the rest were… sweet work though
March 17th, 2009 at 6:14 am
ahh yes but dont forget about #7’s perfect moto season.. that was pretty flawless
March 17th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Yeah I know. I just wanna watch some pictures from like the heats before ive seen the race, and then theres a big ass picture of bubba with the fire thing from the main on the front page.. I was so pissed, ruined the whole thing.
March 17th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
i absolutely hate stewart but he is by far the fastest rider on the track and the only rider willing to ride past his comfort level if hes behind . everyone else just settles for their position
March 17th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Bubba is NOT the fastest ever, they call Ricky the G.O.A.T.— greatest of all time for a true reason. To bad he is wasting race gas turning left for hours. If he stayed in MX/SX we would see some good racing.
March 18th, 2009 at 8:55 am
You’re right, he was only 5 seconds back at the end. This was after Bubba had pretty much coasted the last lap and a half.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
reeds gonna prove that consistency outweighs crazy speed when it comes to championships, bubba and reed are both the ish, so i dont care who ends up taking it, but my moneys on consistency for sure
March 18th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
To be a true champion in my opinion you have to push the boundaries of whatever sport you’re doing. You have to be able to do something that no-one else can do in that sport. Sure Chad’s consistent, but James can be consistent. Can Chad ride on the edge like James? Maybe for a few laps, but if James stays on 2 wheels, he wins. I think the last race answered you’re question.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
H e l l no he’s not….:p I hate that guy sometimes.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
He wasn’t pressured in MX so it doesn’t apply to his post.
March 19th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Not true. He’ll still be runnin the 1.
March 20th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
last year was the only year he had any wins sense turning pro.
March 25th, 2009 at 9:43 am
chads faster than you.. racing isnt all about speed
April 8th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Is this guy serious?