Rider Files

(NEWS RELEASE)

Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto became the first rider since 2003 to race for back-to-back victories at the Daytona Supercross at Daytona International Speedway.

Irvine, Calif. (March 7, 2011) – Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto became the first rider since 2003 to race for back-to-back victories at the Daytona Supercross at Daytona International Speedway. The night led to Villopoto stretching his points lead to 23 over second place in the championship standings. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett rode to his first victory of the season in dominating fashion as he finished an impressive 15 seconds ahead of second place. Teammate Dean Wilson got off to a rough start and finished the night in eighth. Fabien Izoird experienced the Daytona track for the first time and finished 16th.

Monster Energy Kawasaki Under the Tent

His Own Race
With long lap times, Villopoto’s game plan from the start was to ride a pace he was comfortable with and try to minimize his mistakes on the technical and long track. The game plan worked and he became the first rider since 2003 to earn two consecutive wins at the historical Daytona Supercross.

“It feels great to win the Daytona Supercross,” said Villopoto. “This track was pretty difficult and it only got more difficult as the track went away later in the race. I tried to be smart and ride a pace that I was good with even before I went into the lead. My team did a great job helping me set-up my Kawasaki KX™450F for this track, since it’s pretty different compared to a normal supercross.”

Huge Win
While Baggett already racked up his first career win in his rookie season, his second win felt almost as satisfying as the first. He made a huge statement as he grabbed the holeshot and quickly gapped the field. Baggett and his Kawasaki KX™250F came across the finish line 15 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

“I am really happy to finally get a win and prove that I am more than a third-place finisher,” said Baggett. “I think this win feels almost as good because last year it was said that I only won because everyone crashed. Now I won by a pretty big gap and I hope people see that I am here to fight for the championship.”

Comeback
After qualifying with the second-fastest lap time, Wilson was confident with his ability to do well on the tough track. In the main, Wilson got out to a mid-pack start and had a few moments in the opening laps where he lost time. He used the final 13 laps to move through the pack from 18th to finish eighth.

“I am very disappointed with myself because I knew I had the speed to win,” said Wilson. “I can’t dwell on this race and have to keep going after wins. I will be working very hard this week to come out in Indy and do well.”

First Time To Daytona
In his first trip to Daytona, Izoird continued to remain consistent with his heat race and main event finishes. He qualified straight through to the main where he finished 16th. With only four main events raced so far this season, he has put himself in the top-20 in points of an extremely talented class.

“I didn’t know what to expect for this race and it was a lot harder than the other tracks I’ve raced so far,” said Izoird. “I did my best to ride well and put in good laps. My Kawasaki KX450F ran great. I am happy to be going back to the stadium tracks.”

Long Race
In 16 out of 17 weekends of the Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM Championship, the riders face tracks that have significantly lower lap times than what they saw in Daytona. This year, the riders had to have the endurance to finish a long race. In the supercross lites class, Baggett came across the finish just shy of 20 minutes. The supercross class saw a much longer race as Villopoto came across the finish after nearly 27 minutes of racing.

“It was a long race, but I have been training to make sure I can be up there the entire race whether the race is 20 minutes or 30 minutes,” said Villopoto. “I was never really worried about getting tired. It was just a long time to make sure you didn’t make any mistakes and the track was deteriorating pretty good in some spots.”

Points Leader
Villopoto increased his points lead from 10 to 23 points with his win in Daytona. Although he has a sizeable lead in the championship, Villopoto won’t be relaxing any time soon.

“I can’t stop what I’ve been doing because I want to be able to put myself in a good position once we get down to the last couple of races,” said Villopoto. “It would be nice to go into Las Vegas with a good enough points lead where I can ride comfortably that night. I’ve been taking it all race by race and I’ll keep doing that as we go to Indianapolis.”

Baggett Coming Back
While he remained consistent with two third-place finishes, Baggett now has pulled within four points of the leader in the championship standings. His teammate Wilson is just behind and only nine points down from the leader.

“I won’t be happy until I have the points lead,” said Baggett. “That is what I set out to do this year and I am getting closer. The win has definitely given me confidence and I hope to keep going after wins.”

On To Indy
The next race takes the Monster Energy Kawasaki and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teams to the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. Last year, Villopoto won the race and he hopes that he can have the same fortune in 2011.

“I am looking forward to keeping the streak rolling,” said Villopoto. “I know it’s not going to be easy and I want to keep riding smart.”

Results

AMA Supercross Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla.
March 5, 2011

AMA Supercross Class Results
1. RYAN VILLOPOTO, POUSLBO, WASH., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI
2. Chad Reed, Tampa, Fla., Honda
3. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki
4. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM
5. Davi Millsaps, Carlsbad, Calif., Yamaha
6. Justin Brayton, Cornelius, N.C., Yamaha
7. Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda
8. Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM
9. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha
10. Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM

AMA Supercross Lites Results, Eastern Region
1. BLAKE BAGGETT, GRAND TERRACE, CALIF., MONSTER ENERGY/PRO CIRCUIT/KAWASAKI
2. Justin Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda
3. Ryan Sipes, Ekron, Ky., Yamaha
4. Blake Wharton, Aubrey, Texas, Honda
5. PJ Larsen, Murrieta, Calif., KTM
6. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M. , Suzuki
7. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki
8. DEAN WILSON, MENIFEE, CALIF., MONSTER ENERGY/PRO CIRCUIT/KAWASAKI
9. MATT LEMOINE, COLLINSVILLE, TEXAS, KAWASAKI
10. Les Smith, York, S.C., Honda

AMA Supercross Class Point Standings
1. RYAN VILLOPOTO, POUSLBO, WASH., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 196
2. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha, 173
3. Chad Reed, Tampa, Fla., Honda, 172
4. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki, 165
5. Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda, 154
6. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM, 128
7. Brett Metcalfe, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Suzuki, 107
8. Justin Brayton, Cornelius, N.C., Yamaha, 105
9. Davi Millsaps, Carlsbad, Calif., Yamaha, 104
10. Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda, 89

AMA Supercross Lites Results, Eastern Region Point Standings
1. Justin Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda, 69
2. BLAKE BAGGETT, GRAND TERRACE, CALIF., MONSTER ENERGY/PRO CIRCUIT/KAWASAKI, 65
3. DEAN WILSON, MENIFEE, CALIF., MONSTER ENERGY/PRO CIRCUIT/KAWASAKI, 60
4. Ryan Sipes, Ekron, Ky., Yamaha, 54
5. Blake Wharton, Aubrey, Texas, Honda, 51
6. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M. , Suzuki, 41
7. MATT LEMOINE, COLLINSVILLE, TEXAS, KAWASAKI, 35
8. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 34
9. PJ Larsen, Murrieta, Calif., KTM, 33
10. Lance Vincent, Youngsville, La., Honda, 33

Nate Ryan’s gripping story of the incredible Atlanta Supercross brought thousands of new readers to USA Today’s website. As a result the paper seems to have taken notice that motorcycle racing fans read too, and all of a sudden USA Today has become a great source of features on the AMA Supercross Series.

Read the latest Supercross installments in USA Today here, here and here.

Dave Despain sent a great story associated with this excellent piece on Don Vesco’s 1975 Bonneville Land Speed Record attempts.

Quick back story…in the summer of 1975 I took my first real vacation since going to work at the AMA. My wife and I were at a lake in The-Middle-Of-Nowhere Wisconsin and the only person who knew our whereabouts was my mother. About 10pm the first night the phone at the bar rang…it was for me…Ken Squier calling! He had tracked down my mother, then tracked me down and told me I needed to fly to Bonneville to be the CBS pit reporter for Vesco’s record attempt, documented here. I left my wife, flew to Bonneville and sat for three days as the wind howled and nobody turned a wheel. The little interview in this video was, as I recall, recorded during a lull in which Vesco actually took the bike to the line, only to have the wind come up again. When they finally pulled the plug on the attempt I left and went back to work…Squier returned for the second attempt, which resulted in the crash… and but as you can tell from the lack of “on camera” presence, neither of us was there when Don actually broke the record.

(NEWS RELEASE)

JARED MEES REPORT

Savannah, GA – 4 March 2011

Since I started racing the Grand National circuit, this has been the first dirt track race of the new season for me. This is one of my favorite tracks, it makes for some really fast fun-racing. It is very easy to go fast here making it hard to pass. This year I decided to do the open practice the day before the race. I felt there were a couple of things on the Twin that needed to be tested really quick. Needless to say, things went really well at the practice day. I went out on the Twin twice and three times on the Single. Things were going very well. This type of track seems like most any set-up works ok. Chris Carr always mentioned that this was a “GET IT ON” track.

The next day we got up and got the bikes washed up because practice day made for some very dirty bikes. Brent Armbruster, my mechanic, and I got them looking good again and off we went to the track.

Practice went well on the 450 but I did not feel that dominant on the Twin yet. There were 5 Heats in both classes and they took only the top two finishers for the Main. I got a good start on the Harley but Robbie Pearson had the inside advantage on me. I was able to get around him and set sail. I won the Heat race but Matt Weidman was coming for me. I was having some trouble in turns three and four.

In the 450 Heat race I got the hole shot and ran away with it, feeling flawless on the bike. I did not want to change a thing.

In the Twins Main Event I got a really good jump and would have had the hole shot if I hadn’t gotten throttle-happy. Jake Johnson ended up getting the jump and as I was coming off turn two I missed a shift and Nichole Cheza got under me. She was riding really, really well all night on both bikes. I managed to get around her and was trying to run down Jake. It wasn’t happening as quickly as I’d have liked. I had to settle for 2nd but was pretty happy with that. This being almost like a National with all the talent competing, it was a good night.

In the 450 Main Event I got a good jump but Chase Sconyers was leading. He was riding it like he stole it. I finally got by him and then Sammy Halbert passed him also. Sammy and I then went back and forth. About four laps from the finish my tire was just gone and I had no more drive. It was a fun race but Sammy out-smarted me on the tire choice.

Well, that was the first race of the year and to get a pair of 2nds wasn’t too bad.

We are supposed to race Volusia on Sunday. The weather forecast isn’t too promising but we will see. I’ll have that report out later Monday or Tuesday!!

Thanks for your support. Jammin’ Jared Mees # 9.

Thank You to the 2011 Marketing Partners:

Rogers Lake Racing, Blue Springs H-D, Lucas Oil, Twisted Beverage CompanyTM, Saddlemen, Digger Helm 57, M.E.H. Corp, Rod Lake, Arai Helmets, Speed Strength leathers, KK Motorcycle Supply, A&A Racing, Steve & Cindy Vizzo, Battley Cycles, Kelly’s, Maxxis Tires, MTA, JE Pistons, Cometic Gaskets, VP Racing Fuels,Tsubaki, Motion Pro, TCX Boots, Troy Lee Designs, K&N Filters, Millennium Technologies, Vortex, Craig Pickett, Goodridge, Works Connection, Rekluse Clutches, Gene & Gail Cummings, Eddie Mulder, NGK, Z Gallerie, Dick Winters, Oakley, WestCoast Hot Shoes, Jupiter Wheels, EBC, Ogio, Mikuni, Web Cam, Ancra, J&M Racing Frames, Pro Plates, Kold Kutter, Turn 1 Distributing. Crank Works Crank Shafts, EZ-up, Suburban H-D, Twenty Six Suspension, Flash, G2, Penske Racing, Chicken Hawk, Ferrea Valves, J2 Motorsports, Royal Publishing Co., Applied Diamond Coatings, M&Z Anodizing, Brent Armbruster, Bristol Core, Universal Coatings, Hammer Head , Hot Rods, Decal Works, Dyno Jet, DVS Shoes, Xtremely Fit.

Singles:

Lucas Oil, Rogers Lake Racing, Montgomeryville Cycle Center, Twisted Beverage CompanyTM, Saddlemen, Digger 57, M.E.H. Corp, Rod Lake, Arai Helmets, Speed Strength Leathers, KK Motorcycle Supply,A&A Racing, Steve & Cindy Vizzo, Battley Cycles, Kelly’s, Maxxis Tires, MTA, JE Pistons, Cometic Gaskets, VP Racing Fuels,Tsubaki, Motion Pro, TCX Boots, Troy Lee Designs, K&N Filters, Millennium Technologies, Vortex, Craig Pickett, E2 Voltage, Goodridge, Works Connection, RekluseClutches, Gene & Gail Cummings, Eddie Mulder, NGK, Z Gallerie, Dick Winters, Oakley, WestCoast Hot Shoes, Jupiter Wheels, EBC, Ogio, Mikuni, Web Cam, Ancra, J&M Racing Frames, Pro Plates, Kold Kutter, Turn 1 Distributing. Crank Works Crank Shafts, Ezup, Suburban H-D, Twenty Six Suspension, Flash, G2, Penske Racing, Chicken Hawk, Ferrea Valves, J2 Motorsports, Royal Publishing Co., Applied Diamond Coatings, M&Z Anodizing, Brent Armbruster, Bristol Core, Universal Coatings, Hammer Head, Hot Rods, Decal Works, Dyno Jet, DVS Shoes, Xtremely Fit