Kawasaki’s James Stewart recorded his seventh win of the season after leading every lap of the abbreviated 15-lap main at Qwest Field in Seattle. In muddy conditions, Stewart took the lead from MDK Motosport/Honda’s Nick Wey, who took the holeshot, on the first lap, quickly opened up a 14-second gap and rode cautiously and steadily the rest of the way, unchallenged.
Finishing second was Yamaha’s Chad Reed, while Makita Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael finished third.
With just one race left in Las Vegas next week, the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series is now tied between Carmichael and Reed, and Stewart is five points back in third, making for one of the closest finishes in Supercross history.
While Stewart and Reed settled into second and third, respectively, early in the race, Carmichael was struggling in the pack after getting a bad start and was having difficulties coming up through the pack in the mud. He nearly crashed a couple of time, including one time when he ran off the track and nearly threw away a lot more than just a few seconds. Carmichael still forged on and got into third about five laps from the end.
Finishing fourth was Team Honda’s Travis Preston, while Wey rounded out the top five overall.
Meanwhile, Grant Langston became the third rider to win titles in both Lites regions after winning the abbreviated, 12-lap West Lites main event. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider, who won the Lites East title last year, got a little help from his teammate Ryan Villopoto, who was leading and let Langston by on the second lap. From there, Langston circulated the muddy track with his teammate behind and took a relatively uneventful win.
For Team Honda’s Andrew Short, who held a small, four-point lead over Langston going into the final, had a miserable night in the mud. He crashed a couple of times early in the race and was not able to mount any kind of a comeback. He ended up finishing ninth.
Making the Lites podium for the first time all season was Rockstar Suzuki’s Jason Lawrence who came from well back in the field and finished right behind Villopoto.
Langston finished out the series with 161 and three wins, while Short salvaged second with 153 points and two wins. Villopoto ended up third with 141 points.
