By Steve Matthes
Photos by James Lissimore

Track: The track was as tough as I have seen in years.  Ricky Carmichael made the comment that they (RC and James Stewart) were unable to race because they were just worried about doing everything cleanly. One section of whoops was big and spaced far apart. The guys in the back of the pack looked like amateurs going through them.

Canadian hero Dusty Klatt had a rough night. After looking good in practice, he got a bad start in his heat and went down in the treacherous whoops. He got burned by his pipe and didn’t come out for the LCQ. Welcome to supercross! Don’t worry DK, it can only get better from here…

Doug “I was an amateur sensation” DeHann also had a disappointing night. I watched him closely and he rode well. He ran up front in his heat, but made some mistakes and dropped back. The LCQ is a crapshoot and he got a bad start—that’s all she wrote, folks.

Brady Sheren was also down here and he rode his Warthog backed Yamaha into the night show. That’s about it for highlights on him as he looked tentative and uncomfortable on the new ride. It’s the first race and I am sure he will be better with more seat time.

Josh Summey deserved better. His practice times were in the top ten and he was in second in his heat for a while before lawn darting himself off the side of the track. He then charged through the pack in the LCQ and got up to third before sliding out and not qualifying. Keep an eye on him in future races. Pretty good for a guy who has “wide open” tattooed on his knuckles—he is Moto XXX crazy.

The supercross LCQ was stacked with Nathan Ramsey, Josh Summey, Kyle Lewis, Paul Carpenter, Ryan Clark, Doug DeHaan and Jeff Dement all trying for the last two spots in the main. It was impressive that a guy named Kyle Mace got one of them.

I would like the aliens that kidnapped Kevin Windham to please return him, ASAP. He looked lethargic and just kind of rode around out there. He will get it together if we can get him back from outer space.

Josh Hill debuted his factory Yamaha ride and had a rough night. He cased the triple so hard in his heat race that his ancestors felt it. In the main, he finished at the back. He will be better in the weeks to come.

It was cool that Chris Pourcel got second in the main in his first ever SX race. P.S. I had him on my motoleague.com team!

Jason Lawrence was the most impressive rider in the 125 … errrr .. 250F .. umm Lites class. He was up front in his heat before crashing but still qualified for the main. In the main he was fifth or sixth and then blew by a bunch of fast guys to secure third. He didn’t even drop the f-bomb on the podium! Good job Jason; now go get a haircut.

The best ride of the night award goes to David Vuillemin. He crashed early on in the main and was 18th on lap three. He rode like an angry cobra and worked his way to sixth by the end of the race. He passed his teammate like he was shot out of a cannon and was catching Ferry and Preston before the checkers flew.

Paul Carpenter didn’t qualify for the main but showed up for the big show by way of a provisional. The announcers need to make more of an effort to explain this to the fans. I don’t like this new procedure because when I don’t accomplish something in my life, I don’t get a do-over. Why should these guys?

Travis Preston was also very good; he charged hard and was catching a tiring Chad Reed.  He got passed by Ferry and looked to be on his way back to his normal seventh place or so. Something clicked in him—he made up three seconds on Timmy, stuffed him, and continued on to the front.

Michael Bryne was up front early in the main before fading back to tenth. He needs to be better or it will be a long year for him. He has the talent to turn it around.

Grant Langston: If you happened to read my supercross preview (thanks mom!) you would know that I said to look for a few flashes of brilliance and a few caution flags. He was in the front in practice, ran fifth for a while and crashed out of the main. Maybe next weekend, I will guess his weight for a quarter.

It was cool to see 67-year-old Bader Manneh out there in the Lites class. He had the Fonzie style of yester-year and goofy looking euro gear. He didn’t make the main but kudos to him. The last time this guy raced a supercross, Michael Jackson was still black.

Some guy named Manuel Gomes Rivas also made the main … insert joke here.