Team Yamaha’s David Vuillemin chalked up his second AMA/EA Sports Supercross victory in a row in nearly the same manner in which he won at Anaheim a week earlier, by taking the lead early and holding on to win. At Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Vuillemin took the lead away from Team SoBe Suzuki’s Travis Pastrana on the fourth lap and maintained a steady pace on the technically challenging track. Pastrana, however, kept Vuillemin in check through out the 20-lap race, putting in a late-race charge that carried him to within one second of Vuillemin at the finish.
Finishing in third place was Mike LaRocco on the Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Factory Connection Honda. LaRocco started off in fifth, battled with Honda’s Ricky Carmichael for most of the race, then forged ahead of him for good.
A fairly healthy – considering the serious crash he suffered the previous week at Anaheim – Carmichael rode a strong race. He held third for most of the race before losing out to LaRocco towards the end.
Fourth place went to the fast and consistent Chad Reed of the Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing team. At one point, the Australian was as far back as eighth before getting in the groove and working his way up to fifth. Reed is currently third in points (31), behind Vuillemin (50) and LaRocco (42).
Sixth place went to SoBe Suzuki’s Kevin Windham, followed by Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki Ezra Lusk, Team Honda’s Nathan Ramsey, Motoworldracing.com/Suzuki rider Damon Huffman and Bud Light/Yamaha’s Jeremy McGrath.
McGrath appeared to suffer the same troubles he faced last week at Anaheim – severe tightness. McGrath said he got “tight” again and couldn’t get up to speed. McGrath got off to an eighth-place start, peaked out at seventh, and then dropped back to 10th.
In the 125cc West Coast main event, Chevy Trucks Kawasaki’s James “Bubba” Stewart became the youngest rider ever to win an AMA Supercross event. The 16-year-old rookie from Florida came from fourth to take the lead on the third lap. From there, Stewart led every lap, though he nearly threw it all away when he got out of shape and almost ran off the track. He went on to win by three seconds over Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing’s Rodrig Thain. Thain ran second for most of the race but always had Stewart within his sights.
Finishing out the podium in third was Thain’s teammate Ivan Tedesco who was followed across the line by KTM Red Bull’s David Pingree, last week’s winner Travis Preston (Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Factory Connection/Honda), Chris Gosselaar, Craig Decker, Travis Elliott, Danny Smith and Keith Johnson.
After two rounds, Stewart leads the series with 47 points, followed by Preston with 41 and Thain with 38.
