Archive for April, 2011
April 23 is a well deserved weekend off for the riders of the AMA Supercross Series. The riders will pick up in Utah next weekend with only 2 rounds to go.
The championship points are unbelievably close with Utah and Vegas left on the calendar. 4 riders have a legitimate shot at the title. None of the riders can just shoot for top fives and hope for the best. They all need to go out to win.
James Stewart is in 4th 9 point s behind leader Villopoto. Stewart could win the remaining events and still not win the championship if Villopoto finishes second in both events.
Defending champion Ryan Dungey is third 7 points out of the lead. This is another rider who needs to ride hard, win and make no mistakes to become a repeat champion. Can Dungey do better than just a podium?
Chad Reed has been the under dog the whole season. His brand new Two Two motorsports team is now recieveing technical assistance from Honda Factory because Trey Canard is unable to finish the season. Could the Honda support be the difference that makes Reed a champion? 2 more events and we will know.
Ryan Villopoto, well he walked away from the field of riders early in the season and made it look like the race was for second. With a streak of poor finishes and missing the main event once RV has allowed for the season to be competitive again. RV can shut everyone down with a couple of wins.
Whoever takes the 2011 title will need to have a notation next to their name. That notation should say “Champion of the most competitive Supercross season ever.” Good luck to all four of the motocross jerseys left in this championship battle. Who’s gonna win?
The Global Rally Cross Series continued it’s season with event number 2 in Seattle Washington. The main event featured a 6 car battle side by side on the odd shaped and challenging rally course. The course had a combination of gravel, asphalt, and dirt.
Andreas Eriksson won the Friday head to head event with Foust taking second.
Once again there was a lot of carnage as some drivers struggled with the 70 foot gap jump and other course obsticles. The next event for the Global Rally Cross racers is at the Pike’s Peak Raceway in Colorado in June. The Rally event will be a lead into the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb event also in the Denver area.
Good luck to all rally racers who took their off road helmets to the track this past weekend and to those who will this June. Marcus Grönholm will return to the seat of his Best Buy Ford for the Colorado event.
Travis Pastrana has added a stock car race to his already busy schedule. Pastrana will participate in the Blue Ox 100 at the Richmond International Raceway April 28. The Blue Ox 100 is part of a three day NASCAR show at Richmond International.
Thursday the 28th the NASCAR K&N East Series will run it’s 100 lap race. Friday the 29th the NASCAR Nationwide Series will run 250 laps. Finally on Saturday the NASCAR Sprint Cup cars will run a 400 lap event to wrap up the weekend. No motocross gear on this weekend! Getting Pastrana experience in a stock car event is important considering his first Nationwide race is this summer.
Despite only racing with other cars on the track twice, Pastrana finished 6th back in January at the NASCAR Allstar Showdown. Die hard Pastrana fans are anticipating a successful NASCAR career for the young dare devil. Good luck and many top fives to you Mr. Pastrana
After a great rookie campaign in 2011 Trey Canard will not be able to complete the season. Canard was injured during a testing crash in Southern California.
Canard fractured his leg and will not bring the factory Honda Motocross Jersey back to victory lane this year. Canard won 3 events so far this season and had a chance at finishing in the top 5 in points. Wishing Canard a speedy recovery.
Sebastian Vettel has been absolutely dominant after 2 races inFormula 1. The F1 series has been to Australia and Malaysia and the result was the same both weeks. Vettel on the pole, Vettel on the top step of the podium.
Vettel won at Malaysia without the use of his KERS for the majority of the event. It may be another dominate weekend if the Red Bull Team can work out the bugs in their KERS for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Although Formula 1 is the furthest thing from motocross helmets and off road racing, its still just too cool to ignore.
Careful when shopping for dirt bike gear on the Internet. Most buyers are looking for highly creditable websites to purchase from but sometimes, we get distracted by a lower price.
Manufacturers in China can reproduce nearly any product in the world including dirt bike gear. Many times the manufacturer markets their product as a “high quality copy,” of the real thing. However, a reseller who got a great deal on 500 pairs of motocross gloves may try pass it off as the real thing. Whenever you are shopping online for dirt bike safety gear, make sure it is the real thing and not a copy. You don’t want a high quality copy protecting your head in a 60 m.p.h crash.
This weekend NASCAR heads to one of its most exciting tracks on the schedule. Talladega! Talladega is where the 2 car freight train was invented. The track is smooth and fast making for some of the best side by side racing all year.
Talladega is home to 2 of the scariest crashes ever seen. Carl Edwards nearly went through the catch fense in 2010 on the final lap of the race. Bobby Allison almost went over the catch fense at Talledega in 1987. After the Allison crash NASCAR implemented the use of a resrictor plate to help slow the cars down at Daytona and Talladega.
Talladega is also home to some of the most exciting racing. Like when Dale Earnhardt Sr went from 18th place to 1st in only 2 laps.
After the dirt bike gear is put away in Seattle on Saturday night, tune in to the Talladega event on Sunday morning. You will enjoy every minute of this event.
Hart and Huntington rider Ivan Tedesco took the hole shot on Saturday in St. Louis. The whole H&H team has had an up and down season. Getting the hole shot and an early lead had to feel like progress.
Tedesco finished 8th with Chris Blose finishing 12th. The Hart and Huntington team is really digging in the heals of their motocross boots to become a permanent fixture at the top of the Supercross leader board for many seasons to come. Great job to Carey Hart and the rest of his team.
Infineon Raceway will play host a huge moto weekend beginning May 11. The event will offer 5 different types of moto 
events on 4 different race tracks on the Raceway grounds.
The big ticket of the weekend is the AMA Pro Road Racing event on the big track. Leading up to the AMA road race event there will be Supermoto, Motocross, Flat Track, and Electric Motorcycle Racing. Don’t forget the Infineon Raceway Girls will also be on hand for the event.
Break out all your motocross gear and support your favorite rider, or just enjoy the atmosphere. This is a must for all California moto fans and riders alike.
James Stewart broke a long winless streak in St. Louis this past weekend to take the top spot on the podium in convincing fashion. The two time champion took the lead early and ran away from Villopoto, Dungey, and Reed. Does this put him back in the fight for the Supercross Championship with 3 rounds to go? Now only 16 points out of the lead, maybe.
In order for Stewart to win the title Villopoto would need to go into another slump. Canard would have to stop winning. Reed would have to get knocked off the track and Dungey would have to lose his consistency. And Stewart would have ride like he did Saturday night in St. Louis for 3 straight rounds.
This year’s Supercross has been full of dramatic surprises all season long. So could it happen? James Stewart 2011 Supercross Champion after a very difficult season? Just read the back of his motocross pants. It ain’t over yet. What do you think?