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Welcome to Jacksonville and a brand new supercross round! I’m excited to just go somewhere new and it was strange to not know where I was going when the cab driver dropped me off this morning. Anyways, practice is on now and the track is short and hard packed. Which is surprising because I guess it poured the last few days. Track is pretty basic but tricky. It’s pretty busy with jumps. I’ll be back after first practice with some updates.
Ok, first set of practices are over and Stewie’s over a second faster than Reed followed by Grant. There’s this double followed by a tabletop then a single and early on, Reed figured out to triple onto the table and then off the single. It looked really cool but soon after just about all the big dogs started figuring it out and that turned into the line. Mike Alessi went down (twice actually) as did Bobby Kiniry and Matt Lemoine. Nothing serious, oh and Tedesco went down and was down for a while but eventually go up to speed. Props to Andrew Short for his practice, not too shabby considering he didn’t ride all week due to his torn tricep. Also Robbie Reynard was near the top of his practice and that’s something we haven’t really seen out of the former prodigy.
The dirt is hard packed and slippery, reminds me of Anaheim actually. Earlier this week in a track walk I did with Ferry he was wondering how the dirt was going to be here in Jacksonville and I think we now know-it’s Anaheim 4! Just past the mechanics area is a triple that is pretty big and doesn’t give you much run. The 250 guys were struggling to get over but now the Dirt Wurx guys are adding a bit of a berm to the outside to give the guys more run. This corner will be a prime stuffing sport methinks.
The stadium is real nice as is the press box. I heard that there were poor ticket sales this week for the event which leads me to believe that Floridians just don’t like supercross because Tamp and Orlando never really drew that well. Weird because someone had told me earlier this year that the Monster Jam’s sell well and hey, we all know those two crowds fit together right?
Stay tuned for updates after next practice…
Ok second practices are over and it was exciting. Something happened between Stewie and Reed and they got into it for a couple of straights. They were helmet to helmet and there was some hand waving. Not sure what was up but we’re getting near the end here and there is some heavy pressure and big money involved. It’s gold for dudes like me! Lawrence was good as and KW looked fast to me but I have no idea where he finished in times. Anyways, some of the guys are quading a section after the first turn and that looks like it’s a little faster. Track is drying out and getting hard and slippery.
I didn’t watch the 250 practices, I was in the tunnel on the way to the press box but got cornered by Wey and we shot the shit for a little while. Sorry for the lack of reports from that but I did see Tyler Wharton on Lawrence’s 250F because Tyler blew up his Honda. Yes, you read that right. Jason Lawrence is a giver!
Tim Ferry is also not racing, in case anyone was wondering.
RC just busted out a parade lap. Did you know he is greatest of all time? Well now you do and the voice of god told us! No Terry Boyd here tonight, not sure what happened. I’ll do some digging.
First 250 heat is over and Will Hahn won by a big margin. This was after Austin Stoupe went down and had to fight his way back to just grab the last quali spot on the last lap. Remember that spot on the track before the triple that I said would be stuff-o-rama? Well, it’s turning out that way as the dudes that swing wide to triple get parked by the guy inside. Then they both get jacked and some dude flys over him. Exciting times, Jesseman crashed out and somehow JT$ qualified when he was dead last down the start straight. The wiley veteran comes through again. Tyler Wharton took his J-Lawrence YZ250 to a fourth spot.
Pourcel grabbed the lead and then stalled it first lap. Lemoine and Friese had a stuff-a-thon that allowed everyone else to catch up to them. Blake Wharton wins the heat with Darryn Durham in third. All of Canada is sad as Tyler Medaglia does not make it. Pourcel squeeks in with a good ride in the last few laps. So that means neither PC guy will have an ideal spotting spot for the main. I don’t know if it’s me or what but the racing has been a bit boring and the track is pretty simple really.
First 450 heat and Reedy had a bit of trouble with Alessi, even going off the track after the triple at one point. Sipes and Chisholm rode good and there was a hell of a battle between Boni, Carpenter and Wey for the last transfer spot until Wey hit the back wheel of Carpenter and stalled. Eventually Reed won and Windham wode great to come up through the pack. Hill and Wey going to the LCQ and as once again, it will be stacked.
Second 450 heat is over and Stewie wins, even though he had a bit of a tip over at one point. Lawrence got second after a little duel with Tedesco. It was funny,they interviewed RC during the race and asked him what IT was thinking right now and RC said that he probably wanted to "smash" the guy in front of him. Classic. Hepler came from the back to a good finish and Ramsey went backwards after something happened to him. Laninovich is in and as a reader pointed out to me, did you know BL’s number is 132 and that 13+2 is 15 which is Ferry’s number? I’m just saying.
250 LCQ and the quiet one, Branden Jesseman wins it with Jacob Saylor in second. Those are the lucky dudes that get to go to the main event on this night. Some dude that was in third early on missed his brake in the whoops and flew off the berm onto the ground. Exciting stuff. Keylon came from WAYYYY back to finish sixth but it’s a ride that won’t matter to really anyone a week from now.
450 LCQ and as usual it was stacked. Ramsey, Wey, Kiniry, Bowers, Hill and Hahn all going for two spots. As usual, Wey took too long to get going and couldn’t make the pass on him despite blitzing the last lap like his life depended on it. Hill won by the way. Bowers had the spot but stalled his bike with a lap and half to go. Man, these 450 LCQ’s are crazy. Ok, it’s Jagrmeister jump time!
250 main is over and Pourcel grabbed the lead on lap ten from a very game Will Hahn and won his sixth race of the season. Hahn led for a long time and stayed strong. Izzi was on it and then with 1/4 lap to go Izzi cartwheeled over the triple and lost a sure third spot. Stroupe gets third from the back of the pack and I think with Izzi’s meltdown, Stroupe will get second in the standings. Probably a $50,000 mistake from Nicco right there. Ouch. Track is holding up well and I think this 450 race is going to be exciting as there is nothing really seperating the guys.
Heartbreak of the night was Vince Friese, who was in second, blowing his bike up. At least he was right by the mechanics area. Durham and and Lemoine rode good until Matt crashed. Which is a complete shocker tono one.
WOW. WOW…what a race. Reed was the first guy not named Alessi to be in the lead early and soon after James Stewart was breathing down Reed’s neck. Then the back and forth began, it kind of looked like Stewie was playing with Reed as he stalked him. Soon the games began, Stewie would get by and then Reed would jam it back in there. I don’t know, it almost looked like James was letting Reed go but he can’t do that with all the points and money on the line can he? Anyways, Stewie took off for the win and the two guys had words after the race while still on the track. It seemed that they were ok with each other but maybe not after the practice incident. Watch for yourself tomorrow and see what you guys think.
KW rode great to get third and he was on it all day and I kind of thought this would happen. Lawrence rode like a total dick. He got passed by Hepler with a typical block pass move you see in supercross so the next lap, in the same spot Lawrence went for the clean out. There was ZERO chance the pass was going to work but he didn’t seem to care. After knocking himself down and ruining Hepler’s race, he then caught back up to Broc and proceeded to try and take him out again. He was stopping in the turns and looking over at him and then you know what he did? He quit. He simply rode off the track, because he was way in the back and was probably "over it". The guy is fast but I lost some respect for him tonight for sure.
How about Short? Not riding all week and then busting out a fifth. Boni crashed hard and hit his head, I heard Josh Grant broke his wrist in a fall with Tedesco and Boni. Not confirmed for sure. Not sure what was up with Millsaps but he DNF’d also.
It was a great race and kind of a weird one to be honest. Not sure what to think of it besides my initial feeling of Lawrence being a dick. But what do I know?
