Stewart Quickest In Dodger Stadium SX Qualifying

Kit Palmer | January 22, 2011

James Stewart has set the bar for the first Supercross race ever held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. (In fact, this is the first motorsports event ever held in this baseball-only stadium, the home of the LA Dodgers.)

On what has been a near-perfect warm and sunny day in Southern California, San Manuel Yamaha’s Stewart reeled off the quickest lap during timed qualifying. Stewart was the only rider to break into the 51-second mark, stopping the clock with a 51.889-second lap time. Stewart looked smooth and confident around the fast-looking track that utilizes almost every foot of the infield, except for the pitching mound, which is safely protected by a small mountain of dirt.There are four riders in the 52-second range, and they are Honda’s Trey Canard (52.014), Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto (52.185), Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey (52.235), and JGR/Muscle Milk Yamaha’s Justin Brayton (52.901).TwoTwo Motorsports Honda’s Chad Reed is sixth-fasted with a 53.017. He’s joined by seven other riders in the 53s: Davi Millsaps, Ivan Tedesco, Tommy Hahn, Kevin Windham, Andrew Short, Kyle Chisholm, and Brett Metcalfe.

Things are very close in the Lites division, as five riders broke into the 53-second bracket, but none are quicker, however, than Rockstar Energy/Suzuki’s Martin Davalos. His 53.277 edged out Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Josh Hansen, winner of the first two rounds, by .2 of a second. Third quickest is GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac, followed by Hansen’s teammate Broc Tickle, and DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham.Cole Seely, Ken Roczen, Tyla Rattray, James Decotis and Travis Baker have all broken into the top 10.

Davalos maintained his top time despite suffering a hard get-off in the final practice session. It took him a few seconds to get back up, but he ended up walking off the track.