That does it for tonight's coverage of the fifth round of Monster Energy Supercross for 2015. Thank you for following along here on VAVEL. Next up: San Diego for round 6!
- 450 Supercross Main Event Summary
For the 450 Supercross class, there was no issues with the gates, all 22 riders got going, dropping down the 7 foot tall elevated start, and all 20 laps were run clean - although Trey Canard did hit the ground, though, losing the front end in the corner that began the sand section. Tomac, Seely, and Roczen were all in an exciting battle for the second step of the podium, as 2010 champion Ryan Dungey pushed away at the front. Roczen, who won the other two races in Angel Stadium of Anaheim earlier in the year, couldn’t get to the front and sweep the Anaheim races for 2015 It was Ryan Dungey, who stayed at the front after getting by Blake Baggett in the early stages of the race, who took his 15th career Supercross win - his first of 2015. He rode his KTM smoothly, quickly, and effortlessly to the win, extending his points lead to 11 over RCH Racing’s Ken Roczen. Chad Reed of 22 Motorsports is way back, 50 points behind Dungey, although still in the top 10 in the points. Both the 250 West and 450 Supercross classes will travel to San Diego for round 6 of 2015.
- 250 West Main Event Summary
The main event for the 250 West class, their fifth of 2015, wasn’t as action-packed as one or two that have come before it so far this year. It did, however, have the event of Zach Osborne’s gate not falling, causing a red flag to come out and the race to be fully restarted; a fresh 15 laps after 6 had already been run. When leader Cooper Webb got the red flag, he couldn’t believe it. He was very animated, very frustrated. When the 250 riders all lined back up into the gates for the restart and 15 new laps, all the gates fell, and all 22 riders left, plummeting down the 7 foot drop that was the elevated start - the first one in Supercross since the 90s. Osborne shot to a good start, but it was Cooper Webb who went right on back to the lead. It was Oakland winner Malcolm Stewart who lost out to the restart, as he went down in the first corner, starting his race in dead last. Webb’s new rival, Tyler Bowers, would also eventually lose hugely to the restarting of the main event, after he was in contention for a podium position in the aborted race, then had a rough crash in the official one. Not yet to the halfway point of the race, Bowers came up short in a rhythm section, sending him forward on the bike and into the air, still on the bike but not in control. Just before landing, he jumped off the bike, getting his legs over the handlebars, and just getting his body over the next jump - and getting out of the way of Geico Honda rider (who led laps in the aborted main event) who nearly struck him. Malcolm Stewart and Tyler Bowers stayed back in the pack for the race, around 17th and 18th. Up at the front though, it was Cooper Webb, Nelson, Plessinger, and Osborne (whose gate didn’t fall, causing the restart). The front of the pack continued to knock off good laps, with Cooper Webb winning his third race of the year and extending his points lead. Kawasaki rider Tyler Bowers is now 27 points behind Webb, going into San Diego next Saturday night.
Congratulations to Ryan Dungey on his first win of 2015. He extends his points lead heading to San Dieigo next weekend, keeping the red number plates on his KTM (signifying being the leader in the points. Stay tuned for the summaries of both main events from tonight!
- Analysis, Race summaries, and Conclusion (above)
- 450 Supercross Main Event
A great ride for the 2010 champion, Ryan Dungey! He takes the checkers, which have fallen for the final time in Angel Stadium in 2015.
Eli Tomac goes by Roczen! Ken Roczen not done yet. Points leader Ryan Dungey gets the white flag, as he looks to extend his points lead.
Second, third, and fourth of Seely, Roczen, and Tomac will continue to battle these last couple laps - just two laps to go!
Final 5 laps of the night.
- Dungey
- Seely
- Roczen
- Tomac
- Canard
- Baggett
- Reed
- Anderson
- Barcia
- Hill
Canard down, drops to fifth. Baggett is now right behind him. Reed is up to seventh, just behind them.
Ryan Dungey hasn't won since Indianapolis last year; these are also the first laps he has led since that night in Lucas Oil Stadium.
A great battle going on between Roczen and Baggett!
Nearly the halfway point of the final race tonight! Dungey, Seely, Canard, Baggett, Roczen, Tomac, Anderson, Reed, Barcia, Hill are your top 10.
Points leader Dungey to the lead! Seely trying to get by Baggett for second position. Canard, Roczen, Alessi, Tomac, Anderson, Metcalfe, Barcia the rest of the top 10.
Gate drop for the final race of the night! Holeshot to Blake Baggett, a great start for him! Dungey in second, Seely third, Trey Canard fourth, Roczen back in about seventh.
It's time for the final race of the night, and the final race of 2015 in Angel Stadium. The 450 Supercross class is lined up in the gates for their fifth main event of the year! If you've followed along here tonight, let me know on Twitter! That would be much appreciated! @DoubleA291
- 450 Supercross Main Event (above)
- 250 West Main Event
Podium interviews have ended for the top 250 finishers in their fifth main event of the year. Webb with a good win, Bowers with an enormously disappointing race; the Kawasaki rider is now 27 points behind points leader Cooper Webb.
Cooper Webb wins his third race of the year, extending his points lead! Nelson takes the second spot on the podium, then Plessinger with his career best finish in third! Osborne goes from being stuck in the gate in the first (aborted) main event, to finishing fourth in the official one.
3 laps to go in this 250 main event.
Bowers and Malcolm Stewart (last week's winner) are all the way back in 17th and 18th.
Webb by Nelson, Nelson back a few corners later, then Webb by him again! Nelson trying desperately to get back into the lead!
Nelson and Webb beginning a battle for the lead. Plessinger is on his way to a career best third if he can hold Osborne and the rest of the field behind him.
Nelson, Webb, Osborne, Plessinger, Bisceglia the top five on lap 6 of 15!
Wow! Bowers made a huge mistake that could have gone much, much worse. He ended up jumping off over the handlebars, just making it over the next jump, leaving his bike behind.
Bowers down, just now back onto the bike, losing positions and points! Dropped all the way down to dead last!
Malcolm Stewart went down in the first corner. How disappointing. Definitely not fair to him after a good start to the original main event.
Gate drop (all of them!)
Completely new race is the call. An all new 15 laps. Everyone but Osborne has 6 laps of experience on the track in the previous aborted main event.
Of course, the cause of the red flag and the stopping of the race is Osborne's gate malfunctioning. Officials and Dirt Wurx crew are taking a look at it now. As the red flag was thrown, Cooper Webb was extremely animated, after finally getting to the front of a main event at the beginning of the race. He couldn't believe it. Stay tuned for what happens for the rest of the race and updates during this red flag period.
*Red flag is out*
Webb by Bisceglia for the lead! Geico Honda's Bisceglia lead his first laps since New Jersey last year, where he only led 3.
Osborne's gate malfunctioned, I've just learned. His gate didn't go down, and as he let the clutch go, he broke it straight off. How unfortunate.
Bowers is about a second behind his new rival Webb; he was the fastest qualifier for the 250s tonight. He must be motivated to catch Webb and grab some points.
Bisceglia, Webb, Bowers, Bell, M. Stewart, Hill, Hansen, T. Hahn, Alldredge, Freeberg are the top 10 on lap 3 of 15.
Holeshot: Bisceglia. Webb right along side him, but almost loses the front wheel! Bisceglia begins to pull away. Bowers is in fifth.
Gate drop for the final 250 main event in Angel Stadium until 2015!
The fifth main event for the 250 West riders so far in 2015 is in the gates and is ready to go. Big names are about to throw down.
Well, it's time for the main events! Head on over to Twitter and tweet me your predictions for the race, that would be so cool! @DoubleA291 is my handle.
- 250 West Main Event (above)
- 450 Supercross LCQ
Checkered flag. Those four are headed to the 450 main.
Short, Albertson, Friese, Chisholm the top four who are in the final transfer spots to the main, with a lap and a half to go.
Andrew Short to the lead!
Final race of the night is in the gates - final qualifier race that is! Last chance qualifer for the 450s, then two great main events. Gate drop!
- 450 Supercross LCQ (above)
- 450 Supercross Semi 2
Millsaps becomes the 10th new winner of 10 semis in 2015! Seely, Lamay, Hill, Anderson also headed to the main. Now, only the 450 LCQ remains before it's main event time.
Millsaps, Seely, Lamay, Friese, Hill the top 5 who currently own transfer positions to the main. Friese was just behind Hill but he went down! Drops to the back of the pack. Anderson lost some time as he was in the corner just behind him as he fell.
Seely is the only rider in the top 5 who has won a semi so far this year. Looks like we'll have a 10th different winner after 10 semi races in 2015.
Millsaps to the lead! Lamay, Friese, Seely, Partridge are in the other transfer positions. Knocking on the door of those transfer positions: Hill and Anderson.
The tenth semi race of 2015 is set to begin. It'll be the final semi of this first month of 2015, and the final semi raced in Angel Stadium until 2016. I hope you can head to Twitter and send me a tweet, let me hear your thoughts on tonight's racing: @DoubleA291
- 450 Supercross Semi 2 (above)
- 450 Supercross Semi 1
Weimer becomes the ninth different semi race winner in 2015 - after 9 total semis!
Monea was the Kawasaki rider who fell in the second corner with Short. Short made heavy contact with him into the corner, and Monea's leg lodged into Short's bike, between the rear fender and the rear tire - painful! He then let go of the bike with a full throttle, which shot it over a jump, doing a backflip, at some photographers.
Weimer blasts into the first turn, and takes the holeshot! Andrew Short and a Kawasaki rider go down, then the Kawasaki does a backflip on its own, shooting off the track!
Gate drop!
Big names in this first of two semis for the 450s. Top 5 go straight to the main.
- 450 Supercross Semi 1 (above)
- 250 West LCQ
Checkered flag. The four riders mentioned below are the final four additions to the 250 main event tonight.
Final lap; running order is still the same as below.
Lilly, Reis, Breece, Jelderda the current top four to be headed to the main. The favored rider to make it to the main through this LCQ was Canada, who is way down at the bottom of the running order.
Gate drop for the 250 LCQ! Four laps to find out the final four riders to make 22 in the 250 main event tonight.
- 250 West LCQ (above)
- 450 Supercross Heat 2
Millsaps actually went down at the start of that heat race, in the first corner. He'll be in a semi tonight. He finished 9th, one position behind Short.
Dungey, Roczen, Canard, Alessi the top four who are in transfer-to-the-main positions. Checkers for Dungey, the aforementioned riders are headed to the main!
Dungey by Alessi for first, Roczen and Canard immediately by as well. Alessi has consistent starts, never consistent races.
Alessi is actually doing an alright job at keeping Dungey and the rest of the field behind him, 4 laps of 6 still to go in 450 heat 2. Alessi is running fast.
Alessi with the holeshot, Dungey in second, Short, then Roczen. Can Mike Alessi actually stay at the front after another good start? He always just falls back.
Gate drop!
Millsaps and points-leader Ryan Dungey are in this second heat race for the 450s, the final heat race inside Angel Stadium until January 2016!
Before the final heat race of the night gets going, tweet me! @DoubleA291
- 450 Supercross Heat 2 (above)
- 450 Supercross Heat 1
Checkered flag for Tomac! Another heat race win for Geico Honda tonight (Malcolm Stewart won heat 1 for 250s) Reed, Baggett, Barcia also headed straight to the main.
Tomac, Reed, Baggett, Barcia the top 4 who are in transfer positions to the main.
Remember: only the top 4 are taken from the heat races for the 450s, since they also run two semi races on top of an LCQ (last chance qualifier).
Baggett gets passed by Reed for second!
Gate drop. Tomac, Baggett, Reed the top 3!
Chad Reed in this heat race. He said last week's third place isn't good enough for him. He had a great start last weekend, but couldn't keep up.
450s are lining up in the elevated gate!
- 450 Supercross Heat 1 (above)
- 250 West Heat 2
Nelson wins his third heat race of the year. 18 riders now qualified for the 250 main event; the rest of the field that didn't make top 9 in their heat race is headed to the LCQ later tonight.
Nelson still leads from Hansen by 2.6 seconds. White flag for Nelson.
Top 9 on lap 2 of 6 for the 250 West heat 2 (top 9 go straight to the main):
- Nelson
- Hansen
- Hill
- Alldredge
- Plessinger
- Bowers
- Richardson
- Canada
- Freeberg
Gate drop! Nelson out front.
Tyler Bowers and the rest of the 250 riders who didn't race in heat 1 start their bikes, 30 second board up, gate drop ready. Hill is also in this one. Nelson, Plessinger, Hansen, too.
Time for the second race of the night: heat 2 for the 250s!
- 250 West Heat 2 (above)
- 250 West Heat 1
Malcolm Stewart just barely took the 250 heat 1 win from Cooper Webb; Webb was riding crazy fast toward the end of the race there. Stewart with his first heat race win of the year.
Gate drop for the first race of the night! Osborne down early, slowing much of the pack behind him. Track looking fantastic. Last Saturday's winner, Malcolm Stewart, currently running 2nd.
There's a drop down start; right after the grates drop, there's a couple foot drop.
Time for 250 West heat 1!
- 250 West Heat 1 (above)
It's 10 pm - and time for Supercross! Who's following here on VAVEL tonight? Let me hear from you on Twitter @DoubleA291!
Remember that as you follow along via this LIVE article on VAVEL, my personal Twitter account will be open for you to interact with me about the race. Here it is: @DoubleA291
An hour and a half until the first gate drop of the night in Anaheim. It'll be the 250 bikes who take to the track first, for their two heat races. Then come two heat races for the 450s, the 250 LCQ, two 450 semis, the 450 LCQ, then the 250 main event, followed lastly by the 450 main event. Here that is in list form; the races tonight, in order:
- 250 heat 1
- 250 heat 2
- 450 heat 1
- 450 heat 2
- 250 LCQ
- 450 semi 1
- 450 semi 2
- 450 LCQ
- 250 main event
- 450 main event
Summaries of the most recent main events for both classes are below, as well as the top points standings for both classes. Be sure to use them as a reference before racing gets started tonight - back in Anaheim tonight!
250 West class top 5 in the points:
| Pos. | Name | Points |
| 1. | WEBB | 86 |
| 2. | BOWERS | 78 |
| 3. | NELSON | 71 |
| 4. | OSBORNE | 69 |
| 5. | HILL | 65 |
450 Supercross class top 10 in the points:
| Pos. | Name | Points |
| 1. | DUNGEY | 82 |
| 2. | ROCZEN | 78 |
| 3. | CANARD | 68 |
| 4. | TOMAC | 64 |
| 5. | ANDERSON | 62 |
| 6. | BARCIA | 58 |
| 7. | SEELY | 45 |
| 8. | MILLSAPS | 44 |
| 9. | SHORT | 44 |
| 10. | REED | 42 |
Now that you're caught up on the most recent main events of the two classes, a look at the current points standings (above).
Now, summary and analysis of the 450 Supercross class racing from last Saturday night in Oakland: Andrew Short shot to a fantastic lead, and he stayed at the front for the first lap and a half of the race - leading his first lap since Salt Lake City years ago. He suddenly dropped to seventh, unable to keep up with the incredible pace of Chad Reed, Trey Canard, and Ryan Dungey, as well as Ken Roczen. Roczen, though, didn't stay at the front of the pack for long. He came up way short on a triple, looked back to make sure no one was about to land on him, then cased the jump and fell to the ground in pain. His arms immediately take a brutal force, as does his chin as it struck the handlebars at impact. He didn't even head back to his RCH Racing Suzuki; instead, he stayed on the ground next to the triple, clearly in pain (clutching his arms). Racing continued, but soon after calmed down. Chad Reed was running at an incredible pace in especially the opening laps of the race, hunting down Trey Canard who led the race and was his partner in an altercation that took place last weekend in the main event. Reed unfortunately made a mistake that saw him go off track, allowing Dungey to get by and snag second position. Canard continued to turn scorching hot laps, again and again, eventually taking the checkers, winning his first main event in four years. Dungey and Reed finished behind him, with Reed gaining a bit of a morale booster with his first podium finish of 2015.
Starting with the 250 West main from last Saturday night: So much action took place in the earliest stages of the main event for the 250s, that it felt weird seeing that only 7 of 15 laps were complete when more and more drama continued to take place on the track. It all seemed to begin with an altercation between Tyler Bowers and the Yamaha rider who Bowers trains with, Cooper Webb. Webb cut down the berm on a 90 degree corner, and Bowers t-boned his bike straight into him, at full force. In slow motion, you can see the force of the collision, much of the force being ablied to Webb's upper body - notably, his neck. Webb fell, Bowers looked back - and shook his head at the Yamaha rider on the ground, then continued on at the front of the race. Webb rejoined in 15th, and a surge to the front began. With only 2 laps remaining in the race, Cooper Webb (cleanly) passed Tyler Bowers, storming to a second place finish. An incredible feat. In his post race interview, he was extremely upset; you can tell he will be coming back for Bowers. That will be something to look for tonight in Anaheim when the two are on the track together. Only laps after this incident took place, the Kawasaki of Alldredge, who made his way into the main from the LCQ, went for a wild ride, sending Alldredge into the air, before being struck by the bike and having it land on his head. The Asterisk medical crew was immediately there to assist him, and racing continued. Hill crashed out of the lead of the race after attempting to double-jump the rollers that were at the beginning of the sand section of the track inside the O.co Coliseum, but he ended up hitting the ground hard, being sent over the handlebars of his KTM. This opened the door for Geico Honda rider Malcolm Stewart to grab the lead, and close out the 15 laps of the main to earn his first ever 250 main event win. In his interview, he stated that it didn't feel like he won because his older brother James was not there - a definite shot at the FIM's decision to suspend James Stewart for the year. Overall, the 250 West championship is heating up, and many story lines exist - each one will be relevant when racing resumes tonight, back in Anaheim for the third and final race of the year at Angel Stadium.
First, let's review the last two main events we saw, the 250 West and 450 Supercross were last on track in the O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California. Above are summaries of both races.
Once again, VAVEL will have live coverage of yet another round of the 17 race-long Monster Energy Supercross season. It begins now, with some news, notes, analysis, and more from now until 10pm EST when the racing begins for the 250 West and 450 Supercross classes.