Weekend Wrap-Up is a weekly series by MotoXAddicts’ Dan Lamb and Nolan MacDonald wrapping up the highlights and lowlights from the weekend’s racing action.
For the ninth round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, the tour headed up to the midwest to brave the cold in Indianapolis, Indiana. With the points chase closer than ever in the 450 class and a battle between the Pro Circuit/Monster Energy/Kawasaki teammates arising in the 250 Eastern Regional Championship, it appeared that Indianapolis was going to be an all-out battle. What we did not know, though, was that a lot of strange things would happen this week, events that turned the Championships in new directions and sparked the intensity of the chase for the number one plate.
Adam Cianciarulo Wins Again
– Nolan MacDonald
Adam Cianciarulo has shown through the first two rounds that he is more than prepared to compete for a championship in his first year of competition in supercross. After a win in Arlington and being the runner-up in Atlanta, the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider continued his hot streak by surpassing teammate Martin Davalos in the main event and leading to the checkered flag. In three rounds, Cianciarulo has shown the battle is going to be pretty tight this year in the 250 East points chase.
Martin Davalos Crashes, Giving Up Lead
– Nolan MacDonald
Martin Davalos started the night strong in Indianapolis by winning his heat race, continuing his streak of winning every heat race he has entered this season. Come time for the main event, the gate dropped and Davalos came around the first turn on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki in second, close behind Vince Friese. Davalos turned up the heat and quickly passed Friese, attempting to get out front and get some space from the rest of the pack. His teammate, Adam Cianciarulo, quickly followed, and Davalos continued to lead until lap seven, where it appeared he hit a soft spot and went flying way to the left of the track into the tough block. Fortunately, Davalos was able to remount his steed and charge back to a well-deserved second place.
Bisceglia Shines in Indy
– Nolan MacDonald
GEICO/Honda rookie Matt Bisceglia had his best race of his young professional career this past weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium. Getting out of the gate into a third place start was the key to success for Matt, who ran up front all night and even led for roughly a lap when Cianciarulo and Davalos went down in their own areas of the track. Bisceglia held strong for 15 laps, as he went on to finish fourth, right behind his teammate Justin Bogle.
Drought Continues for Jeremy Martin
– Dan Lamb
Last week we talked about Jeremy Martin going zero for two in terms of making main events, and while the Star Racing/Yamamlube/Yamaha rider qualified for his first main event of 2014, his disappointing season didn’t exactly get back on track in Indianapolis. After qualifying with the fourth fastest overall time in the day qualifying, the pre-season 250SX Eastern Regional Championship favorite went on to finish third in his heat and transferred to the main. In the main, though, things quickly went sideways, and after crashing, Martin only completed two laps. Jeremy’s 2014 Supercross season has been baffling to watch, and we can’t even come up with a scenario another championship favorite has faced to compare it to. Can we simply write it off as bad luck? For Jeremy’s sake, we hope so, but we’re starting to think there may be more to it. Either way, the series now heads to Daytona—the site of Jeremy’s first professional podium in 2013—where, hopefully, he can get whatever’s going on figured out.
Eastern Regional 250SX Class Season Standings
1. Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki, 72
2. Martin Davalos, Cairo, Ga., Kawasaki, 67
3. Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda, 56
4. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki, 54
5. Vince Friese, Cape Girardeau, Mo., Honda, 48
Insane 450 Main Event Start
– Nolan MacDonald
It appeared that the night would be a race between the contenders for the Championship, but the tight start in Indianapolis would show us otherwise. As the gate dropped, Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey got out to the lead while teammate Ken Roczen was down on the ground with points leader Ryan Villopoto. Just ahead of Roczen and Villopoto, James Stewart was also on the ground, making it all three front-runners for the Championship down in the first turn while Dungey was out front to make up some lost points.
Mike Alessi Throws Away a Podium
– Dan Lamb
Because of the deep ruts that created some gnarly track conditions, the 2014 Indianapolis SX was more about starts than most, and because of that, MotoConcepts’ Mike Alessi had a huge advantage from jump street. We always expect Mike to pull holeshots, but what stood out even more in Indianapolis was Mike’s speed. After holeshotting and winning his second heat race of the year, Mike banked another $1500 by holeshotting the main event. Unlike last weekend in Atlanta, though, Mike did not pull over for anyone. After getting passed by Dungey, the #800 not only held off a charging Eli Tomac but pulled away from him. Then, with only seven laps to go and a second place finish well in hand, Mike made a huge mistake in one of the rhythm sections and went down hard. While the scorecard shows a fifteenth place finish, Alessi proved he’s more than just a holeshot artist in 2014 with the second fastest lap-time of the main event.
The Fill-In Riders Debuted in Indy
– Dan Lamb
With Chad Reed and Trey Canard on the sideline, Discount Tire Racing and Muscle Milk Honda called up Cole Seely and Dean Wilson to fill in while their 250SX Western Regional Championship is on a hiatus. With Cole and Deano both heading up to the 450SX class soon, many were paying attention to see how the two fill-in riders would fair, and surprisingly, they both did well. Deano, with very little time to prepare, qualified twelfth, made it to the main out of the semi and, after getting involved in a first lap pile-up, finished tenth in the main event. While both had similar speed in their 2014 450 debuts, Cole looked to be more patient, and on a rutted track like Indianapolis, that meant better results. The #21 was eleventh fastest in qualifying, qualified for the main directly out of his heat race and, after a decent, start grabbed his first ever 450SX podium with a third. Yes, Villopoto, Roczen and Stewart crashing helped Cole out, but in the 450SX class, any podium is a legit podium. Round one goes to Seely.
Eli Tomac Grabs His First-Ever Podium
– Dan Lamb
Heading into 2014, a lot of the industry and media predictions had GEICO/Honda’s Eli Tomac battling for podiums, wins and possibly even a Championship, but in the first lap at the first round, everything was put on hold when Eli tangled with Jake Weimer. With his shoulder injured in the crash, Eli sat out for the first four rounds, but since returning at round five, the #3 has struggled to find a top-ten result. With that, everyone has questioned everything from the factory Hondas to whether or not Eli’s riding technique works on the 450’s. At Indianapolis on Saturday night, though, a second place finish quieted some of those questions for now. Although, Eli got a great start, the top three riders in the Championship all went down and Mike Alessi was pulling away from Tomac before he too went down. So, yes, Eli’s second looks great on paper, but when looking at the big picture, his struggles may still be real. Everyone will be watching to see what he does in Daytona.
Ryan Dungey Finally Puts a “W” on the Board
– Dan Lamb
Eight rounds in and trailing Villopoto by thirty points, it was time to win or call it a season for Dungey, but the #5 got it done at round nine. With RV, Stewart and Roczen all hitting the deck on lap one, Dungey capitalized on the mistakes, scored his first win of 2014, jumped from fourth to second in the points and cut Villopoto’s lead to less than one race win. Yes, twenty-three points is still a large mountain to climb, but with Stewart and Roczen both capable of beating RV on any given night, points can be made up quickly. The series now heads to Daytona where Dungey has never won but where the Florida resident has also never finished off the box either. As a journalist, it’s hard to bet against Stewart or Villopoto this weekend in Daytona, but as a fan that wants the series to tighten up, you have to be pulling for the KTM.
Hard Chargers
– Nolan MacDonald
While the top three riders in the points standings had gone down in the first turn in the Indianapolis 450 Main Event, all three quickly arose and charged hard through the pack. Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto charged from dead last to 4th place in the 20-lap main event, while James Stewart rode hard for a strong 7th place. Unfortunately, Ken Roczen charged hard but made some mistakes and was forced to crash out with a 21st place. Roczen stood second in the standings before Indianapolis, now drops to third.
450SX Class Season Standings
1. Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki, 184
2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 161
3. Ken Roczen, Murrieta, Calif., KTM, 158
4. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 154
5. Justin Brayton, Cornelius, N.C., 143
