Bubba Tex it ATT the double
By TMX Archives on 20th Feb 14
Team Yoshimura Suzukis James Bubba Stewart won his second straight Monster Energy AMA Supercross at the AT&T Stadium at Arlington, Texas on Saturday night.
In front of a crowd of moe than 54,000 fans Stewart produced a dominant performance in the 450SX Class, for the 47th Supercross victory of his career.
In the opening race of the Eastern Regional 250SX Series, Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Adam Cianciarulo notched up a victory on his Monster Energy Supercross debut.
Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey claimed the holeshot award to start the 20-lap 450SX Main, edging out Stewart and Monster Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto.
By the end of the first lap, Team Honda's Justin Barcia had moved into third, with Toyota Yamaha's Justin Brayton fourth and Red Bull KTM's Ken Roczen fifth.
Villopoto crossed the line in sixth.
Dungey maintained the lead for the opening three laps before Stewart made the pass and then steadily pulled away for the remainder of the Main.
Dungey was never challenged for second place, but a battle for the final podium position raged between Barcia, Brayton, Roczen, and Villopoto.
Barcia and Brayton both took turns running in third, while Villopoto challenged for the spot during the final stages of the race.
However, Barcia held on to third to secure his first podium result of this year's series.
Stewart moved to within one victory of tieing with five-time Monster Energy Supercross champion Ricky Carmichael for second, on the all-time 450SX class wins list.
It was his first win inside the AT&T Stadium, but his third in Texas, following wins in 2005 and 2007 inside the old Cowboys Stadium in Irving.
He also moves up to tie with Villopoto and Chad Reed for the most wins in the class this season with two.
"I'm so happy,” said Stewart.
"I thought we needed to be better for the Main – and we were. The track was really difficult and I knew I had to get myself to a certain point in order to make a pass and control the race.
"The series doesn't matter right now. We just need to keep riding like we are. If we do that, then we will be good.”
Villopoto finished fourth to maintain his lead in the series standings and is now 12-points ahead of Roczen, who finished sixth on the night.
Stewart has climbed to third place and is now just 14 points off the lead.
Reed, who suffered an injury on the final lap of the race the previous week in San Diego, attempted to practice on Saturday despite a broken scapula, collarbone, and T1 vertebrae, but eventually pulled out of competition and dropped from third to sixth in the table.
As a result of his win, Stewart took control of the Toyota Triple Challenge and holds a one-point lead over Villopoto and Barcia.
With one race remaining in the Triple Challenge (on April 26) Stewart is now in a position to win a new Toyota truck if he maintains the advantage.
The wins by Reed and Stewart in the first two races mean that no rider will claim the $250,000 bonus for winning all three Main events.
Teenager Cianciarulo began his first career Eastern Regional 250SX Main by racing to the holeshot award, bringing his Kawasaki team-mates Martin Davalos and Blake Baggett with him.
Davalos – fastest in practice – made a pass for the lead on the opening lap but then crashed on lap three, allowing Cianciarulo to reclaim pole position and Baggett to take over second.
Yamalube Yamaha's Anthony Rodriguez took over third in his first professional start, but crashed out of the race on lap six. Out front, Cianciarulo and Baggett opened a sizeable advantage over the rest of the field before Baggett made a pass on Cianciarulo for the lead on lap seven.
The rookie responded quickly and retook the lead in the very next turn.
Faith crashed out of the race next time round, which allowed Davalos to move back into a podium position.
Once back out front, Cianciarulo extended his advantage to become the first rider since Trey Canard in 2008 to win in his first career Monster Energy Supercross start.
Baggett finished second, while Davalos rebounded from a pair of crashes to climb his way from sixth to third and secure a podium sweep for Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki.
"I couldn't be more pumped,” enthused Cianciarulo, who became the 93rd different 250SX Class winner in Monster Energy Supercross history.
"This is for everyone who has stuck behind me through all the good times and bad. It's taken a lot of good days and a lot of bad days to get to this point.
"I cannot believe it, all these fans cheering for me and giving me the support.
"I just can't believe we did it.”
