Stewart Wins 11th Supercross Race at Rice-Eccles Stadium

SALT LAKE CITY (April 25, 2009) – San Manual Yamaha’s James Stewart, of Haines City, Fla., won his 11th Monster Energy® AMA Supercross, a FIM World Championship, race at Rice-Eccles Stadium before 40,612 fans. Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, of Belle Plaine, Minn., capped off the Western Regional AMA Supercross Lites class season with the championship. In tonight’s Western Regional AMA Supercross Lites class main event, GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard, of Shawnee, Okla., won his first race of the season.


Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Chad Reed, of Tampa, Fla., opened the AMA Supercross class main event with the holeshot with Honda Red Bull Racing’s Davi Millsaps, of Tallahassee, Fla., and Stewart following in second and third respectively. Stewart passed Millsaps one turn later and secured second place.


On lap four, Stewart passed Reed, but Reed bounced back and regained the lead. The same scenario would unfold on lap eight, but it was on lap 12 that Stewart made the pass and rode off to victory. Millsaps finished third. The Monster Energy® Supercross finals takes place next Saturday at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium with Stewart leading Reed by xx points.

“I got the holeshot and started the race out great,” said Reed. “There are little things here and there that I need to work on, but it was a good race. We head to Las Vegas next weekend for the last race of the season, and I am looking forward to it.”

“That was a fun race for me,” said Stewart. We passed one another several times and it was fun. Chad was on it tonight, and I almost crashed a few times. We have one more race next weekend in Las Vegas.”

Villopoto Captures First Career SX Victory in Seattle

SEATTLE (April 18, 2009) – Clear skies greeted the 50,016 fans that filled Qwest Field for the 15th race of the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, season in Seattle. Hometown rider Ryan Villopoto, of Poulsbo, Wash., was able to take advantage of a good start and capture his first career AMA Supercross class victory for Monster Energy Kawasaki. In the penultimate round of the AMA Supercross Lites Western Regional Championship, Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, of Belle Plaine, Minn., took advantage of a stellar start to gap the field and extend his points lead heading into the class’ final round next weekend in Salt Lake City.

The most exciting championship fight in decades became even more intriguing as neither Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Chad Reed nor Team San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart finished the night on top.


As the AMA Supercross main event blasted out of the gates, Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Mike Alessi, of Victorville, Calif., sped to yet another holeshot with U.S. Air Force Honda’s Heath Voss, of Mico, Texas, and Villopoto in tow. Reed, of Tampa, Fla., crashed coming out of the gate and found himself in 19th place while Stewart, of Haines City, Fla., was mired in 11th by the end of lap one. Throughout the early portion of the race, Alessi and Villopoto battled for the top spot before Alessi washed out just before halfway to give up the lead. Villopoto, in his first race back since New Orleans on March 14, put his head down and rode to an impressive and surprising victory.


“It’s awesome,” boasted Villopoto, who missed the last three races with a virus. “I can’t thank my team enough and everybody that put effort into it. It hasn’t been the year we wanted but they never gave up. I could see James and Chad out of the corner of my eye sometimes. I just focused on Mike (Alessi) and he made that mistake. The track was super tricky tonight and there were some slick spots so you really had to ride smart.”


Stewart worked his way through the field to bring home a hard-earned runner-up finish while Reed found difficulty passing his competitors and could only muster a seventh-place finish, his first outside of the top three this season. Stewart now sits in the points lead, three ahead of Reed with two races remaining.

“I don’t know what happened. We all almost went down and we got the short end of the stick,” said Stewart. “I was so far in the back and saw Ryan and Mike out front and realized how far back I was. It’s all about the championship though and tonight was good for that. The way Chad has been riding all year, it was definitely surprising to see how things played out.

Stewart Scores 10th Win at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (April 4, 2009) – Team San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart, of Haines City, Fla., won his 10th AMA Supercross class race at the inaugural Monster Energy® AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, race at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium before 31,653 fans. Stewart’s win narrowed current AMA Supercross class point leader Chad Reed’s points deficit to just five. Just one week after clinching the Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites class championship, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel, of Corona, Calif., won his fifth main event of the season.

Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Mike Alessi, of Victorville, Calif., started the AMA Supercross class main event by winning the holeshot followed closely by his teammate and current points leader Chad Reed, of Tampa, Fla. Reed moved past Alessi in turn two and secured the lead and Stewart snuck into second place.

Stewart tried to set Reed up in a few different sections but the Australian held his ground. Stewart stalked Reed for 13 long laps before he made a pass on the defending champion. Reed answered back and took over the lead on the same lap. Just one lap later, Stewart re-passed Reed and rode to his 10th victory of the season. Reed finished second and GEICO Powersports Honda’s Kevin Windham, of Centerville, Miss.

“I had fun out there tonight,” said Reed. “I tried to be smooth and consistent out there. This was a great race, and we have three more left on the season. It’s time for me to get up there and go to battle.”

“It was a great race, and we actually collided over the triple jump, but that’s racing,” said Stewart. “I look forward to the next race in Seattle.”