April 19th 2008 - St Louis Supercross
Minneapolis marked round 15 of the 2008 Supercross schedule and the final round of the East Coast Supercross Lites Championship. In the Supercross class it was Chad Reed leading Kevin Windham by only a few points after his monster crash in Detroit. Reed only managed a 12th place finish and lost several important championship points. In the Lites division it was Canard with a huge mistake as he crashed on the opening lap and also finished well back of the leader. Ryan Villopoto won another race and managed to move back to within 3 points of the leader with one race remaining. Nobody thought that Villopoto had a chance at the title after his horible start and bad luck at the beginning of the year.
With the excellent coverage of the races by CBS Sports and Speed TV, most had a chance to already watch the next day coverage. I won't bore you with the lap by lap coverage, but will give you some pits and racing photos from St. Louis.
Blast from the past! Former factory Yamaha rider Jimmy Button was in attendance at St. Louis.
Who is #273? Gavin Gracyk joined Joe Gibbs racing but wasn't in attendance at St. Louis. JGR bikes are some of the best looking bikes in the pits.
Ryan Villopoto attacking one of the tricky rhythm sections.
Flying high at the Edward Jones Dome.
Brandon Jesseman impressed Mitch Payton with great finishes all year. Jesseman secured an outdoor ride for Pro Circuit.
Concentration! DV12 looked good in practice but was forced to the LCQ to make the main.
Jesseman had quick practice times all day long. Brandon finished 2nd on the night, his best finish this year.
RV2 hanging it out before the tripple.
Canard won his heat race and interviewed with XM radio.
Start of the Lites Heat Race #2. Notice the two mounds of dirt behind the start gate? RV2 needs a little help reaching the ground.
Start of the Supercross Heat race #1.
Supercross Heat Race #2. This race featured Hill, Reed and Windham.
One of the wildest crashes this year. Ryan Clark lost control and jumped over a berm onto the concrete floor. He stopped under the stands!
Start of the Lites Main Event.
Canard battled with RV2 for a few laps until contact was made up the finish line jump. The mistake by Villopoto handed the championship to Canard.
Behind Canard was Brandon Jesseman and Josh Grant.
Both Reed and Windham got good starts in the main. The two stayed this close for several laps.
It was Windham who out lasted Reed picking up the win and 3 valuable points on the championship hunt.
Say what you want about Reed, the guy has heart and is tough as nails. While many of the factory riders are sitting out with injuries, Reed continues to soldier on.
Windham, Reed and Short in the Supercross class.
