James Stewart Wins Monster Energy Supercross in Detroit

Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart laid down a dominant performance to earn his third win of the year in Monster Energy Supercross. In spite of the win, Stewart is still unsure he has a realistic shot to earn his third career Monster Energy Supercross Championship in 2014 and take down point leaders and defending champion Ryan Villopoto, but that hasn’t stopped Stewart from winning races.

Stewart passed early leader Cole Seely and put a five-second gap on the field for most of the race. His gap was cut down to 1.7 seconds when he crossed the finish line to earn the chechered flag and win, with Monster Energy Kawasaki-backed Villopoto finishing in the second spot. Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey finished in third and he was another 2.6 seconds behind Villopoto.

With the win, Stewart tied Supercross great Ricky Carmichael for second place on the all-time Monster Energy Supercross winners list.

“It feels great to tie a legend like RC,” Stewart said. “We’ve been riding good. This is the first time that we haven’t been down on the first lap in, like, three races. So, it feels good.”

Stewart essentially switched places in the standing with Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen, who had a disastrous night after suffering mechanical issues and finishing 21st (the second time this season), which probably puts him out of the championship race. Stewart now sits at third in points with Roczen behind him in fourth, and both are behind leader Villopoto and second-placed Dungey.

Villopoto was Stewart’s closest challenger during the race but he struggled with lapped traffic and was never able to reel in Stewart.

“All I want to do is try to break some records,” Stewart said. “The championship is out of my reach right now, but I feel great.”

Villopoto still holds a commanding 30-point lead in the series. He cushioned that by keeping his chief rival, Dungey, behind him.

“I got off to a pretty good start and was riding well, but I just made one mistake and lost a lot of time,” Villopoto said. “But I was able to regroup and still get second. It’s all about the points. We’ve been working at it, and now we are slowly clicking down these races to the last one.”

If he wants to challenge for the championship, Dungey knows that he needs to start beating Villopoto to have a realistic shot.

“Villo is a pretty solid dude,” Dungey said. “He doesn’t make many mistakes, and it is just going to take consistency, winning races, and if it happens it happens. We’ve got to keep focusing on one race at a time. It’s a long series. It was good night, all considered.”

In the 250cc main, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki kept its podium streak alive when rookie rider Adam Cianciarulo claimed his third win of the season. Similar to the past several weeks, a Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider grabbed the holeshot, with Martin Davalos leading Cianciarulo and the rest of the 22-rider field into turn one. Davalos started pulling away from Cianciarulo, but he crashed and handed the lead to Cianciarulo on lap three. Davalos recovered but had another crash three laps later that dropped him out of podium contention.

Cianciarulo was never challenged again and coasted to a 3-second win ahead of GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett made it two Pro Circuit riders on the podium by finishing third after passing his way to the podium.

Cianciarulo now enjoys his biggest points lead yet, with a seven-point margin over Davalos, 94-87, with just two rounds remaining in the seven round AMA Eastern Region Supercross Series.

“It’s a dream come true to be up here, and I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Cianciarulo said on the podium after the race. “I can’t say enough about the guys in my corner. There are so many people that make this happen that it would be wrong of me to take all the credit.”
 
Monster Energy Supercross Results (Round 11 of 17)
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan

450 Main
1. James Stewart-Suz
2. Ryan Villopoto-Kaw
3. Ryan Dungey-KTM
4. Andrew Short-KTM
5. Justin Barcia-Hon
6. Broc Tickle-Suz
7. Weston Peick-Suz
8. Joshua Hill-Suz
9. Justin Brayton-Yam
10. Joshua Grant-Yam
11. Matthew Goerke-KTM
12. Dean Wilson-Kaw
13. Mike Alessi-Suz
14. Wil Hahn-Hon
15. Cole Seely-Hon
16. Chris Blose-Hon
17. Nicholas Wey-Kaw
18. Jimmy Albertson-Hon
19. Ronnie Stewart-Suz
20. Ken Roczen-KTM
21. Cody Gilmore-Kaw
22. Nicholas Schmidt-Hon

Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Points Standings (After 11 of 17 rounds)
1 Ryan Villopoto-231/3 wins
2. Ryan Dungey-201/1 win
3. James Stewart-182/3 wins
4. Ken Roczen-181/2 wins
5. Justin Brayton-167
6. Andrew Short-143
7. Justin Barcia-134
8. Broc Tickle-126
9. Wil Hahn-115
10. Chad Reed-111/2 wins

250 Main Results
1. Adam Cianciarulo-Kaw
2. Justin Bogle-Hon
3. Blake Baggett-Kaw
4. Kyle Cunningham-Hon
5. Matthew Lemoine-Kaw
6. Martin Davalos-Kaw
7. Vince Friese-Hon
8. Jeremy Martin-Yam
9. Alex Martin-Yam
10. Jimmy Decotis-Hon
11. Cole Thompson-KTM
12. Kyle Peters-Hon
13. Gavin Faith-Hon
14. Mitchell Oldenburg-Hon
15. AJ Catanzaro-Hon
16. Jesse Wentland-Hon
17. Jackson Richardson-Hon
18. Landen Powell-KTM
19. Matt Bisceglia-Hon
20. Justin Freund-Yam
21. Daniel Herrlein-Hon
22. Ryan Zimmer-Hon

AMA 250cc Eastern Region Supercross Series Points Standings (After 5 of 7 rounds)
1. Adam Cianciarulo-94/3 wins
2. Martin Davalos-87/1 win
3. Blake Baggett-79/1 win
4. Justin Bogle-72
5. Vince Friese-61
6. Blake Wharton-51
7. Cole Thompson-48
8. Kyle Cunningham-45
9. Jimmy Decotis-43
10. Matt Lemoine-37