The Houston Supercross harbored wonder before the drop of the gate. Who would come out on top of the inevitable Chad Reed/Kevin Windham battle? How much would James Stewart win the 125cc main event by? And who would win the “Non-Bubba” class? The answers to those questions turned out to be Reed, 21 seconds and Team Suzuki’s rookie Broc Hepler.
Chevy Trucks Kawasaki’s Stewart actually gated poorly in the 125cc main, starting out in seventh or so. But he was fourth by the end of the first lap, second by the end of lap two, and leading by the end of lap three. Holeshot artist Hepler hung on for second, but Bubba stretched out quite a lead by the time the main was over, and he cruised across the finish line with over 20 seconds in hand before performing The Worm on the start straight.
Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Eric Sorby hung on for third, while HangtownMX.com/Lamson Racing’s Steve Lamson came through from a horrible 16th-place start to nab a strong fourth and Team Solitaire’s Ryan Clark got fifth.
Team Yamaha’s Reed got the 250cc holeshot in front of the 45,000-plus fans inside Reliant Stadium ahead of Red Bull KTM’s Grant Langston, Star Racing’s Erick Vallejo, Team Suzuki’s Nick Wey, and Amsoil/Chaparral Honda’s Mike LaRocco and Kevin Windham. Windham got moving quickly and moved to fourth by the end of the first lap, then third, and then second by the fourth lap. He was three seconds behind Reed at the time, and he closed it in to about two seconds. But that’s as close as he would get, as Reed held the gap steady before pulling away near the end of the race.
LaRocco grabbed third again over Team Yamaha’s David Vuillemin and an impressive Heath Voss. The Mach 1 Yamaha YZ450F rider came through from quite a ways behind to grab fifth – his best result of the year, at least.
125cc MAIN: 1. James Stewart (Kaw); 2. Broc Hepler (Suz); 3. Eric Sorby (Kaw); 4. Steve Lamson (Hon); 5. Ryan Clark (Yam); 6. Danny Smith (Yam); 7. Brett Metcalfe (KTM); 8. Steve Boniface (Suz); 9. Ryan Mills (Hon); 10. Kelly Smith (Yam); 11. Billy Laninovich (Hon); 12. Michael Blose (Yam); 13. Matthieu Lalloz (Yam); 14. Tiger Lacey (Hon); 15. Daryl Hurley (Suz); 16. Tyson Hadsell (Yam); 17. Josh Woods (KTM); 18. Doug DeHaan (Hon); 19. Turbo Reif (Hon); 20. Hans Neel (Hon); 21. Daniel Blair (Yam); 22. Shae Bentley (Suz).
THQ AMA 125cc EASTERN REGIONAL SUPERCROSS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 1 of 7 rounds): 1. James Stewart (25/1 win); 2. Broc Hepler (22); 3. Eric Sorby (20); 4. Steve Lamson (18); 5. Ryan Clark (16); 6. Danny Smith (15); 7. Brett Metcalfe (14); 8. Ryan Mills (12); 9. Kelly Smith (11); 10. Billy Laninovich (10); 11. Matthieu Lalloz (8); 12. Tiger Lacey (7); 13. Daryl Hurley (6); 14. Tyson Hadsell (5); 15. Josh Woods (4); 16. Doug DeHaan (3); 17. Turbo Reif (2); 18. Hans Neel (1).
250cc MAIN: 1. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. Kevin Windham (Hon); 3. Mike LaRocco (Hon); 4. David Vuillemin (Yam); 5. Heath Voss (Yam); 6. Nick Wey (Suz); 7. Nathan Ramsey (Hon); 8. Sean Hamblin (Suz); 9. Michael Byrne (Kaw); 10. Damon Huffman (Hon); 11. Timmy Ferry (Yam); 12. Erick Vallejo (Yam); 13. Tyler Evans (Suz); 14. Jason Thomas (Hon); 15. Mike Brown (Yam); 16. Robbie Reynard (Hon); 17. James Povolny (Hon); 18. Andrew Short (Suz); 19. Ryan Clark (Yam); 20. Grant Langston (KTM).
THQ AMA 250cc SUPERCROSS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 7 of 16 rounds): 1. Chad Reed (169/5 wins); 2. Kevin Windham (143/2 wins); 3. (TIE) David Vuillemin/Mike LaRocco (132); 5. Michael Byrne (96); 6. Nick Wey (94); 7. Damon Huffman (93); 8. Heath Voss (71); 9. Grant Langston (67); 10. Sean Hamblin (59); 11. Keith R. Johnson (50); 12. Tyler Evans (48); 13. Ezra Lusk (47); 14. (TIE) Timmy Ferry/Erick Vallejo (46); 16. Ryan Clark (45); 17. Robbie Reynard (34); 18. Mike Brown (29); 19. Ernesto Fonseca (28); 20. Joe Oehlhof (21).
