Photo by: Hoppenworld

The 2014 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, headed to the banks of the Mississippi River for round number thirteen and the St. Louis Supercross. With the Championship points leaders having their issues in Toronto last weekend, the series seemed to catch a second wind, but with just five rounds left on the year, it’s put up or shut up time. The big questions heading into the evening show in St. Louis were could Yoshimura/Suzuki’s James Stewart continue his late season dominance and, with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo crashing out of the 250SX Eastern Regional Championship points lead, who would emerge as the man in the 250SX East?

The pressure was on the #31 in St Louis. Photo by: Hoppenworld – Click to Enlarge

After inheriting the points lead from his teammate in Toronto, the talk all week was about Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Martin Davalos‘ propensity to crash while leading, and that talk was on center stage from the drop of the gate in St. Louis. The #31 passed Rock River/Cycle Trader/Yamaha’s Alex Martin for the lead on lap one and went right to work on putting a gap between himself and the man just five points behind him: GEICO/Honda’s Justin Bogle. With Davalos up front, the #32 also passed Martin and slowly began reeling the Ecuadorian in.

Bogle stalked Davalos, but could not get close enough to make the pass. Photo by: Hoppenworld – Click to Enlarge

By the mid-way point of the race, the #31 and #32 were as close as their numbers and the battle for the 250SX Eastern Regional supremacy was on. Unfortunately for Bogle, Davalos was solid as a rock in St. Louey and, despite the pressure and an abundance of lap traffic, he was able to stay mistake free and get his second win of 2014. While Bogle was able to get to Davalos’ rear wheel, he was never able to get close enough to get a wheel in on the Kawasaki rider. With Davalos winning and Bogle finishing in second, the two of them go into their week off with an eight point spread between them.

Finishing in third on the night was the man that’s now third in the points: Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett. Baggett’s Achilles’ heel in ’14 has been his starts, and in St Louis, his start once again prevented him from being a factor for the win. Last weekend, Baggett crashed while in the thick of the Championship, but with a DNF in Toronto and a third tonight, he now sits twenty-nine points out of the lead.

Davalos crossed the line with the second win of his career. Photo by: Hoppenworld – Click to Enlarge

The last two men in the top-five in St Louis were MotoConcepts’ Kyle Cunningham and the Factory Metal Works privateer A.J. Catanzaro. Incredibly, both the #30 and the #57 came from mid-pack to have their best finishes of the year with Cunningham going from 10th to 4th—matching his best finish of the year—and Catanzaro going from 8th to 5th. Hopefully, they can both carry that confidence through the break and into the final two rounds of the east.

2014 St Louis SX 250SX Podium – Martin Davalos (center) Justin Bogle (left) Blake Baggett (right) Photo by: Hoppenworld – Click to Enlarge

With a great 250SX main event in the books, the focus turned to the 450SX class and the two men who have won six of the first twelve main events: James Stewart and Monster/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto. Last week in Toronto, the three-time defending 450SX Champion and current points leader had stomach problems and dropped ten points to Stewart, but with Villopoto still up thirty-five points on Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey and thirty-nine points on Stewart, both Dungey and Bubba needed more points in St. Louis.

450SX Start – Photo by: Hoppenworld – Click to Enlarge

At the drop of the gate for the 450SX main event, it was the holeshot hero, MotoConcepts’ Mike Alessi, snatching yet another large check from the Nuclear Cowboys holeshot award money, but Villopoto and Stewart both made quick work of the #800. Villopoto was quicker around Alessi, and with that, put a little three-second cushion between himself and the #7. By lap five, though, Stewart had closed the gap and was on the #1’s rear wheel studying his every line. After following Villopoto for six laps in the heat race earlier in the night and for ten laps in the main, the former two-time 450SX Champion saw a very small window for a pass and jumped through it. It was a left-hand 180, and James dove under the Kawasaki, produced a little contact and took over the lead in the main event.

There was no letting up for James Stewart. The #7 pressured the #1 relentlessly before making his move. Photo by: Hoppenworld – Click to Enlarge

Once around Villopoto, Stewart used his consistently fast laps to run away for his third-straight win of 2014. It was another dominant display by the second winningest rider ever in Supercross, but one still has to wonder if we would see a different Villopoto if not for his comfortable lead in the points. As a fan of the sport, with two of the best-ever on the track together, you have to feel a little robbed right now. If we could just erase Atlanta, Indy and Daytona, we would have a battle royale to Las Vegas between two of the greats. As it is now, though, with Stewart winning and Villopoto second in St Louis, Villopoto still has a healthy thirty-six points over James. With the ultimate prize being the Championship, Villopoto cannot and probably will not go out on that edge to challenge the James Stewart that is at the races today.

The rookie Wil Hahn had one of the gnarliest crashes of the year in his heat race. Unfortunately, the #23 went to the hospital with a broken arm. Get well soon, Wil. Photo by: Hoppenworld – Click to Enlarge

Finishing third in St. Louis and grabbing his second-straight podium was MuscleMilk/Honda’s Justin Barcia. For a man that was struggling for the better part of the first eleven rounds, he has once again found his groove late in the season. After grabbing another great start, the #51 could not run with the #7 and the #1, but he also did not let them get too far away. It was another solid ride and big boost of confidence towards getting back to the top step on the Honda.

Crossing the line just a second behind Bam Bam in fourth was Red Bull/KTM’s Ken Roczen. The #94 got a top-five start and spent the first eight laps battling with JGRMX/Yamaha’s Justin Brayton and the last twelve laps battling with his teammate, Ryan Dungey. First the German worked on Brayton for fourth, and once securing the position, he then had Dungey all over his rear wheel trying to take it from him. On the last lap, though, Dungey crashed trying to make a last-lap run on Roczen and collected Brayton in the crash. Dungey and Brayton finished a very disappointing ninth and tenth, leaving Roczen to cruise home as the top finishing KTM in St. Louis.

Trey Canard made his long awaited return in St Louis. Photo by: Hoppenworld – Click to Enlarge

The last man in the top-five was probably the surprise of the night: MuscleMilk/Honda’s Trey Canard. I’m not quite sure why it was a surprise considering the #41 always comes back from injury swinging, but after missing the entire SX season, we thought it might take a round or two. Nope, the Oklahoman showed up in St. Louis, was blazing fast in practice, qualified for the main directly out of his heat and finished top-five in his first race since last summer. All in a days work for Mr. Canard, I guess. Tell you what, I won’t be surprised again.

2014 St Louis SX 450SX Podium – James Stewart (center) Ryan Villopoto (left) Justin Barcia (right) Photo by: Hoppenworld – Click to Enlarge

On to round 14 in Houston!

450SX Class Results: St. Louis

1.     James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki

2.     Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki

3.     Justin Barcia, Pinetta, Fla., Honda

4.     Ken Roczen, Murrieta, Calif., KTM

5.     Trey Canard, Edmond, Okla., Honda

6.     Eli Tomac, Cortex, Colo., Honda

7.     Josh Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Suzuki

8.     Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM

9.     Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM

10.  Nick Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Kawasaki

 450SX Class Season Standings

1.     Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki, 268

2.     Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 233

3.     James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 232

4.     Ken Roczen, Murrieta, Calif., KTM, 215

5.     Justin Brayton, Cornelius, N.C., Yamaha, 196

6.     Justin Barcia, Pinetta, Fla., Honda, 176

7.     Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM, 166

8.     Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki, 126

9.     Wil Hahn, Menifee, Calif., Honda, 122

10.  Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Kawasaki, 111

Eastern Regional 250SX Class Results: St. Louis

1.     Martin Davalos, Cairo, Ga., Kawasaki

2.     Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda

3.     Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki

4.     Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Honda

5.     AJ Catanzaro, Portland, Conn., Honda

6.     Cole Thompson, Brigden, Ontario, KTM

7.     Matt Bisceglia, Weatherford, Texas, Honda

8.     James Decotis, Peabody, Mass., Honda

9.     Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha

10.  Gannon Audette, Tallahassee, Fla., Kawasaki

 

Eastern Regional 250SX Class Season Standings

1.     Martin Davalos, Cairo, Ga., Kawasaki, 149

2.     Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda, 141

3.     Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., 120

4.     Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki, 120

5.     Vince Friese, Cape Girardeau, Mo., Honda, 100

6.     Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Honda, 94

7.     Cole Thompson, Brigden, Ontario, KTM, 89

8.     James Decotis, Peabody, Mass., Honda, 65

9.     Matthew Lemoine, Pilot Point, Texas, Kawasaki, 74

10.  Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha, 72

 

Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.