Sparkplug 36

The first race, if by “first” you mean “first American round”, of the season is usually full of unexpected developments, some pleasant and other not so. Here is my quick list of “things that surprised me” from this weekend's exciting race at the Amp'd Mobile Supercross in Anaheim.

1) The “killer whoops.” From the stands they didn't look that bad, but they collected just about everyone at some point during practice. It was so bad that they sent a bulldozer out to alter them a bit before the second practice, and later Team Honda's Eric Kehoe and Team Makita Suzuki's Roger DeCoster were seen walking through them to check out the changes. That one section was the hot topic of the night... and it turned out to be the deciding factor in the fight between the “Big Three.”

2) Ryan Villapoto getting out front and leading the 250F main for ten laps, and ended up finishing second to Andrew Short. The kid looked like an RC clone out there, cutting quick and consistent laps as if he had been doing it all his life. He made it very hard to believe it was his supercross debut.

3) Jason Lawrence fading into oblivion in the LCQ and not qualifying. He seemed sharp in practice, and his Rockstar Suzuki sported some of the tightest graphics out there, but apparently looks aren't everything.

4) Grant Langston coming from dead last to finish a points-salvaging fourth place in the 250F main, turning the fastest laps of the class.

5) Mike Alessi's overall performance. He looked good at the start of his heat, but was nowhere to be seen in the main.

6) Chad Reed qualifying out of his heat after getting knocked down at the start. He made it all the way back to second place! And his speed was no fluke; he would eventually turn the fastest lap of the night in the main.

7) Mike Larocco ran strong all night. He had a little trouble in his heat, but won his semi in style, and then held off Carmichael for a number of laps in the main!

8) A surprisingly strong Ivan Tedesco ran very well in his heat until Michael Byrne looped out in front of him. When the two were re-matched in the semi, Ivan came out on top, winning his very first 450F semi. Then in the main he got a second place start and stayed there for a good number of laps before his inexperience led to a small mistake and killed his momentum.

9) Ernesto Fonseca's main event holeshot. How long has it been since we've seen Ernie out in front?

10) RC blowing his lead in those aforementioned “killer whoops.” It was a very rare mistake by the master of consistency.

11) The “King of Supercross”, Jeremy McGrath, finishing outside the top ten, which speaks more to the immense talent in the 450F class than to any lack of speed on his part. Ladies and gentlemen, we have an exciting season of racing ahead of us this year!