Chad Reed clinches the win at Las Vegas: 2011 AMA Supercross
After 16 intense races, the Monster Energy American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Supercross, an International Motorcyclist Federation (FIM) Championship, came down to its last stop. The final battle took place this Saturday, May 7, at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. Once the dust form the epic showdown settled, it was TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed who stood victorious. Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey settled for the runner-up position while Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto rounded out the top three. A finish that was good enough to secure his first ever AMA Supercross Championship title.
As soon as the starting gun got fired, KTM’s Mike Alessi got off to a perfect start to clinch the Nuclear Cowboyz® Holeshot award, with GEICO Powersports Honda’s Kevin Windham and San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart in tow. Villopoto, who needed to finish in the fifth place or better to secure the AMA Supercross Championship title, rode in fourth place with Reed right behind him.
By the end of the first lap, Alessi ended up losing the lead to Windham. A crash in the fourth lap made him lose his second place to Stewart. He wasted no time in putting pressure back on the leader of the pack after getting in second place and ended up clinching the lead.
Stewart led the pack, with Windham on his trail and Villopoto, Reed and Dungey in tow. However, the Yamaha rider got out of shape in the seventh lap and ended up crashing, something that has pretty much plagued his entire season. Windham, who was right behind Stewart, got no room to dodge the crashing rider and ended up getting caught up in the crash and going down as well.
With the top two suddenly down, Villopoto found himself in the front, with Reed and Dungey in pursuit.
Villopoto continued to ride cautiously, intending to avoid the Stewart’s and Windham’s fate. Reed continued to push himself further to take the lead from the Kawasaki rider
In lap 12, the persistence eventually paid off for Reed as he managed to overtake Villopoto to move into the lead. The Washington based rider did not put up any significant resistance to hold on to his position, again intent on avoiding a crash.
A while later, Villopoto saw Dungey getting in passing range and politely allowed him to pass in order to avoid getting tangled up. Now, Reed was in first, with Dungey in second and Villopoto in third.
The Rockstar/Makita Suzuki rider kept on trying to pressurise the TwoTwo Motosports rider, but the effort remained futile. Reed maintained his lead for the rest of the race to pass the chequer flag first and secure the win. Dungey finished a second later, while Villopoto’s cautious riding allowed him to finish third, 35.3 seconds behind the winner of the race.
Though the night saw the TwoTwo Motorsports rider winning the race, the real star of the night was Villopoto for winning his first ever AMA Supercross Championship title.
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