Photo by: Hoppenworld
The Dark Horse is a weekly column by MotoXAddicts contributor Nolan MacDonald that elaborates on the riders who can surprise you and emerge to prominence when you least expect it. Some may be well known while others have never been heard of. To be recognized as a dark horse, a rider doesn’t have to win but rather perform above expectations.
As we enter one of our last few rounds of Monster Energy Supercross, the tour heads back to the west coast and Century Link Field in Seattle, Washington. This is our second consecutive Western Regional 250SX round and our final one until the finale in Las Vegas on May 3rd.
As we begin our 15th straight week of racing, it appears that the points gap is spreading out in the 450 class while we still have a close battle in the 250’s. Last week was our first Western Regional 250SX round in over six weeks, taking us back to the points battle between Jason Anderson and Cole Seely, and 20 other incredibly fast riders trying to edge their way onto the podium. In Houston, Rockstar Energy Racing/KTM’s Jason Anderson dominated his field and left Houston with an 11-point lead over Troy Lee Designs/Honda’s Cole Seely. Meanwhile, on the bigger bikes, Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto established that he is the man to beat for the fourth year in a row by extending his points lead to 45 points over Yoshimura/Suzuki’s James Stewart.
For our picks in Houston, this writer chose Troy Lee Designs/Honda rider Malcolm Stewart for a win over a stacked 250 class. Malcolm came close, finishing 3rd, and that was enough to give me the peace of mind that he can make moves. In the 450 class, it was Ben Lamay’s second race back from an insane injury just before Supercross started in January. Ben unfortunately had some rough luck in the main event and didn’t perform as well as I had thought he could. As it is only his second race back, look for Ben to put it all together in some upcoming rounds aboard his Cycle Trader/Rock River/Yamaha.
This week we head to Seattle for some good old west coast racing. This is a homecoming for several riders such as Justin Hill, and it looks to be a good battle for the points lead in the 250 class and a chance for some 450 riders to eliminate some of Villopoto’s points lead. CenturyLink Field is home of the 15th round of Supercross this year, but rumors are flying that it may be the last. The fans will surely prove the circuit wrong when we see a packed house of some of the best fans in the country.
Regardless, this week, we have a few riders that have Dark Horse potential in the mind of this author. For the 250 class, this week’s Dark Horse goes to Bam Pros Racing’s very own Chris Howell. Looking back to the beginning of the season, Chris was banging bars just to get through the LCQ, but with some hard work, the privateer has worked himself into some good positions over the last few rounds and an 18th in Houston. Chris may not be in the top 5 in points standings, but this rider has really shown some improvements and looks to qualify and improve his results at every round from here on out. Look for Howell to get a 15th or better this week in Seattle, as he is also a Washington native and looks to make his family and friends proud.
In the 450’s, we commonly refer to the 2014 list of riders as the “Deepest Field in History” for good reason. So many riders battle just to make it in the main week by week, and this round we look to Oklahoma native Trey Canard to do just that. Trey has always been a front-runner in our sport, but with some bad luck lately for the American Honda rider, it seems as if he has fallen out of the ranks. Well for everyone reading, this writer knows Canard looks to not just place well this weekend but win. With only a few rounds this year under his belt, Trey still possesses the potential to lay it down and show the rest of the field who is boss heading into the outdoors. Trey may not have 14 rounds under his belt, but he has raw speed and that is why he is this week’s Dark Horse.
With CenturyLink Field a part of the latest Supercross rumor mill, look for the riders and the fans to put on a show this weekend. This will be one of the most exciting west coast rounds to date and one of the final two for the 250 riders.
