Photos by: Chad DeRosa
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, has wrapped up the early, Californian West Coast rounds and now heads into the first of eight-straight weeks in the East starting this Saturday night with the Arlington Supercross. While 2012 will mark the 32nd time the gate has dropped for an AMA Supercross in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, this will only be the third Monster Energy Supercross event held inside the beautiful, 1.3 billion dollar Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Two Two Motosports/Honda rider Chad Reed has been the winningest supercross rider at the Dallas/Fort Worth area event with four wins, but in the two years since the event has moved to the new Cowboy Stadium, only Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey and Factory Honda’s injured warrior Trey Canard have been on the top step of the box.
Generally with six rounds completed in the Monster Energy Supercross series, we already have a firm grasp on who the Championship favorites are, but with the depth of talent this year, 2012 is not as easy to pin down. So far, though, one man has risen to the top more frequently than the rest. We have to give the nod to the 2011 AMA Supercross Champion: Monster Energy/Kawasaki’ Ryan Villopoto. The defending Champion has won three of the first six rounds including the last two straight, but we think it was the last round in San Diego that really displayed the defending champs’ heart and determination.
In San Diego, RV grabbed the early lead and looked to have it well in hand. That was before the former two-time Supercross Champion Chad Reed pushed up to his rear tire on lap seventeen and stole the lead with two laps to go. Rather than settle for second place and a share of the red plate for Arlington, the #1 went right back after Reed taking back the lead for the Main Event win. It was a metal war that ended with the man from Washington State getting the edge, but the Australian number twenty-two served notice as well. Villopoto and Reed have definitely separated themselves from the rest of the field, and they have done it with pure speed and incredible consistency. The two sit at the top of the points with RV carrying a six-point lead heading into Arlington.
With last year’s winner in Arlington, Trey Canard, out with injuries, the only man on the line in Arlington with a chance to become the first two-time winner inside the new Cowboy Stadium is Ryan Dungey. Ryan won the inaugural event in Arlington back in 2010, but since that point, wins have been few and far between for the #5. Mr. Dungey has only won two Main Events out of the last twenty-three following his 2010 Championship. If he wants to become a two-time Champion in 2012, that is the first thing we think needs to change. Ryan’s strength in 2012 has been his ability to score solid points week in and week out; in the end, though, he is going to have to find some speed. Despite being quite a bit off the pace and going 4-4-3 over the last three Main Events, the man from Minnesota is still very much alive in this Championship.
On the opposite end of the consistency spectrum this year is Joe Gibbs Racing/Yamaha’s James Stewart. Both Stewart and Dungey look to be a little behind the ball with bike setup, but one rides for points and waits for better days while the other pushes too far and crashes. James has always been known as a crash-or-win rider, but in 2012, he has taken it to a whole new level. The #7 has tasted the dirt in five of the six venues we have visited in 2012, and unless he is a dirt sampler for the American Farmers’ Association, that is not a good thing. After his fifth crash in San Diego and subsequent fifteenth place finish in the Main Event, James has a quickly growing thirty-two point deficit to contend with. In years past—when he had very little competition—we might say it could be overcome, but in this field, it would be the comeback of the century. Whatever happens, Mr. Stewart is still the most exciting man in the sport to watch, and we know that if he can stay healthy, wins will come.
When the series started, we knew that the men that are top four in the points would carry the majority of the wins, but we also thought that a couple of darkhorses might join the fray. Now, though, with six rounds completed, it seems like it would take a miracle for anyone other than those four to be on top of the box. At round two in Phoenix, Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer made us look good with surprise podium appearance, but since then he has been nowhere to be found. Other riders like Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe, GEICO Powersport/Honda’s Kevin Windham and Muscle Milk/Honda’s Justin Brayton have shown flashes, but those flashes have not been nearly bright enough to bring them close to a win. Our hope, as the series now heads to the dirt of the East, is that one or more of these guys can take it to the next level.
Remember to tune into SPEED TV at 8pm EST for live supercross. If you cannot tune in live, you can always follow @MotoXAddictsCom on Twitter. We will be tweeting updates and pics from Cowboy Stadium all day and night as well as race updates from @dandunes818
Supercross Class – After 6 Rounds – 2012 Championship Points
Click here for full 2012 Championship points standings.
1 1 Ryan Villopoto Seattle, WA, USA 133 2 22 Chad Reed Dade City, FL, USA 127 3 5 Ryan Dungey Belle Plaine, MN, USA 123 4 7 James Stewart Haines City, FL, USA 101 5 14 Kevin Windham Centreville, MS, USA 78 6 24 Brett Metcalfe Lake Elsinore, CA, USA 75 7 21 Jake Weimer Wildomar, ID, USA 72 8 18 David Millsaps Murrieta, CA, USA 70 9 10 Justin Brayton Murrieta, CA, USA 68 10 100 Joshua Hansen Elbert, CO, USA 64
Check out the arrow throwing down a fast lap on the 2012 Arlington, Texas SX circuit.
