Justin Brayton will not suit up for tonight’s Houston Supercross.
Things are relatively quiet so far in the early stages of the Houston Supercross today at Reliant Stadium, where the sun is quickly disappearing behind the incoming and threatening clouds, but that’s okay, since the stadium’s roof is already closed. Weather won’t be a factory.
After the two timed qualifying sessions, points leader, Monster Energy Kawsaki’s Ryan Villopoto set the quickest lap of the 450 class with a 48.213-second run. Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey is right there, second quickest with a 48.217. Ken Roczen is next, followed by Justin Barcia.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart set the quickest lap time in the first timed session but did not participate in the second qualifying session. The word from the Yoshimura Suzuki camp is that Stewart is not feeling well and chose not to ride. He is, however, expected to compete in the evening program. Stewart has won the last three races and is 36 points behind Villopoto in third, one point behind Dungey.
Justin Brayton has had a tough afternoon in Houston. The Toyota/N-Fab/JGRMX Yamaha Team rider fell hard in the first practice run, then fell again in the first on-the-clock session. This time, he walked off the track and headed straight back to the pits. Word has it that Brayton will not participate in tonight’s program. Brayton came into the Houston race already banged up, having suffering a broken foot the weekend before at St. Louis. It sounds like he might have re-injured the foot.
There was talk awhile back about Houston possibly being the race that Davi Millsaps was going to make his return to racing from his knee injury, but the Rockstar Energy Drink Team rider will not ride, having chosen to wait it out for the opening round of the outdoor Nationals to begin his comeback. He is, however, at the race – just not suited up.
The Houston race marks the return of the 250 West Supercross Championship, where Rockstar Energy Drink’s Jason Anderson holds a slim four-point lead over Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda’s Cole Seely. Ten points behind Seely is Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Justin Hill with just two races left after Houston – Seattle and Las Vegas.
In the final timed practice session for the A group, Anderson was the top rider with a 48.393, followed by Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Dean Wilson (48.664). Wilson is back on the 250 again after a short stint riding in the 450 class on the TwoTwo Motorsports/Discount Tire Kawasaki.
Malcolm Stewart was next, followed by Hill and GEICO Honda’s Zach Osborne.
