Thank you for following along tonight! Be sure to head over to Twitter and follow the official account of the Racing section of VAVEL at @RacingOnVAVEL. That would be much appreciated! Thanks again for following tonight! Until next time.
With both recaps and the live coverage of tonight's racing all below, it is time to close out this LIVE of the Arlington Supercross. Next race: next Saturday night, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 450 Supercross Round 7 Recap:
The 450 main event saw a holeshot from Ryan Dungey on his KTM, with Millsaps just behind in second, and Baggett behind them both in third. Baggett soon lost two spots to Roczen and Canard, who became second and third, respectively. Before the halfway point of the race, Chad Reed, Eli Tomac, and Cole Seely each had falls, losing positions on the track; Millsaps even went down, looping out his Kawasaki on the downside of the wall jump before the finish line, allowing Canard by. Dungey, who had the lead from the very first corner, ran perfect laps all race long, opening up a massive gap between he and Ken Roczen, with the help of lapped riders. With a lead of over six seconds and counting, Ryan Dungey closed out the final race of the night with his second win of 2015. After tonight's win, he has a 12 point lead over Ken Roczen in second, and 23 over third place of Canard, and he heads into two round in at Atlanta with the red plate on his KTM, signifying his points lead.
Standby for the recap of the 450 main event from tonight. The 250 recap is below.
- 250 East Round 1 Recap:
The main event for the 250 East class, their first of the year, saw Marvin Musquin immediately steal to the front on his KTM, getting a massive lead over Justin Bogle's Geico Honda and the rest of the field. His lead was getting larger and larger as the laps went on - reaching 6 seconds, before the red flag came out. The second red flag of the night in AT&T Stadium came with 7 laps complete out of 15. Cunningham had crashed hard, and spent a long time on the ground with the Asterisk medical crew before coming to his feet. Since 7 laps had already been completed, rather than a full restart of the race, it was a staggered restart on the front straight of the technical track. The riders lined up tire to tire before the green flag flew and the final half of the race was completed. After the restart, Musquin gained another large lead on the field, with Bogle running second once again. Musquin continued to click off consistent and near perfect laps on his KTM, taking the win in the season opener for the east group of the 250 class.
First, standby for a recap of the first 250 East main event of the year. It'll be above this in just a few minutes!
Now that the racing and interviews are done for the night, some analysis, and then full recaps of both main events. Be sure to stick around just a bit longer! Thank you so much for following.
Trey Canard: "Happy Valentine's Day to my wife." :)
Ken Roczen: "I'll take another second, and the season is long."
Ryan Dungey: "long ways to go, but we're in a good spot." He leads Roczen by 12 in the points, and Canard by 23.
- Quotes, analysis, main event recaps, wrap up (above)
- 450 Supercross main event:
Ryan Dungey wins in Arlington! His second win of the year, increasing his points lead!
Two laps to go tonight in AT&T Stadium! Ryan Dungey has finished on the podium in 6 of 7 races in 2015, winning one, taking fourth in the one off the podium, and is on the final half lap of winning his second of the year!
Dungey continues clicking off perfect laps. Only 4 left to go tonight.
Roczen is losing time to Dungey lap to lap. At this point, it looks like Dungey will lead all 20 laps tonight, winning his second race of 2015. In his first and, as it stands at the moment, only win of 2015, he lead 19/20 laps. 7 to go.
Half of the race is gone, now on lap 9 of 20 in this final race of the night.
Canard doesn't seem to have the pace of the leaders; he is almost 10 seconds behind them.
Roczen in second has leader Dungey in his sight, but is still about 3 seconds behind him. Behind Roczen, it's Canard, Baggett, and Short who make up the top 5.
Millsaps goes down! Canard barely made it by him without hitting his bike on the ground, but he safely went by the #18 Kawasaki. Millsaps twisted the throttle as he was going down the wall jump that is a bit before the finish line jump, and he wheelied quickly, flipping the bike. His night is over.
Roczen gets by Millsaps for second place! Dungey leads 3.1 seconds ahead of them. Canard, fourth place, is now catching up to Millsaps.
Chad Reed fell as Tomac bumped into him with some force, lost lots of positions. Tomac fell soon after... now Seely is down. Technical track for sure!
Gate drop! Dungey to the lead with the holeshot! Davi Millsaps runs second right behind him. Baggett in third.
30 second board sideways...
30 second board is up!
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The final race of the night is in the gates. The 450s are set to go!
Now that things have concluded for the 250 main event, it's time for the final race of the night at AT&T Stadium: the 450 Supercross class main event. Who will win? Tweet your prediction to @RacingOnVAVEL.
- 450 Supercross main event (above)
- 250 East main event:
What did you think of the first 250 East main event of 2015? Tweet your thoughts to the official Twitter account of the Racing section here on VAVEL: @RacingOnVAVEL
Musquin takes lots of time with a long interview. He's excited to be back on top and competing in Monster Energy Supercross, that's for sure!
Marvin Musquin takes the win in the first 250 East main event of 2015!
White flag for Musquin!
Musquin's quickest lap is 0.3 seconds faster than that of Bogle.
Three wide through the whoops! Great battling once again for the final spot on the podium!
The race has been restarted! Musquin is already dropping the hammer once again, another lead on Bogle and the rest of the field. This restart can help Bogle get to the front - can he do it? Let us know at @RacingOnVAVEL!
There is a white line drawn right in front of Musquin's (leader) front tire, drawn between two tough blocks. Each rider cannot pass another rider until he has gone through those tough blocks and over the white line.
The first ever staggered restart was at Indianapolis in 2012 - when Cunningham, the same rider, went down and was knocked out for a long period of time. He just stood up himself, he is ok.
Kyle Cunningham crashed very hard on lap 8 of 15 of the 250 East main event. The race will be restarted with a staggered start, each rider lining up tire to tire in a diagonal fashion from just before the first turn all the way down the start straight. Marvin Musquin had a lead of over five seconds before the race was restarted, remember, so this is potentially devastating for him.
Halfway through the first main event of the night already. Be sure to tweet to @RacingOnVAVEL who you think will take the checkers!
Marvin Musquin is already over 3 seconds ahead of Justin Bogle. Can Bogle make a charge and catch up? The race is already 1/3 over.
Onto lap 2 of 15!
The two fastest riders of the night are at the front, Musquin and Bogle. Great racing all behind them as well!
Musquin, Bogle, Davalos - DAVALOS GOES DOWN!
GATE DROP!
It's time for the first 250 East main event of 2015!
It's main event time! Who do you have winning the first 250 East main event of 2015? I know you're out there! Head on over to Twitter and tweet to @RacingOnVAVEL who you think will win!
- 250 East main event (above)
- 450 Supercross LCQ:
Nick Wey pushes Chisholm way wide in the final corner! All the way into the tough blocks, off the track, and onto the ground! Wey takes the final transfer position to the main; it'll be his third main event of 2015.
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Lap 1 of 4. Nick Wey is running at the front, with Seely (leading), Partridge, and Chisholm.
Almost time to go back racing!
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The semis have concluded. The main event is already set for the 250s, and there is only one race left for the 450s before it's main event time for both classes. Time for the LCQ for the 450s!
- 450 Supercross LCQ (above)
- 450 Supercross semi two:
Checkers for Short!
Andrew Short continues to lead. Grant has the final transfer position.
Two to go in the final semi of the night!
Above, a picture of the track from the view of a fan in the seats at AT&T Stadium...
Gate drop!
Baggett, Short, Partridge, Nicoletti all in this one.
- 450 Supercross semi two (above)
- 450 Supercross semi one:
Reed takes the win, and does a nac nac on the finish line jump! This is his second semi race win... meaning the streak is broken. Before he won, the streak was 12 different winners in 12 different semis.
Reed to the lead on the final lap! Final corner...
Gate drop for semi 1! Seely, Reed, and Anderson are looking to get into the main event. Remember: only the top five advance in the semis. Down goes Seely! Rough crash. Can he hold onto a transfer position? Reed racing hard for the win with Schmidt.
- 450 Supercross semi 1 (above)
- 250 East LCQ:
Final lap for the 250 LCQ. Z. Williams, Herrlein, Rencland, Catanzaro in transfer positions. Checkers for Williams, he's got an LCQ win.
Two riders down hard in the first corner. First and second have already pulled way ahead of the rest of the field.
The 250s are lined up at the gates, bikes fired, 30 second board down... gate drop for the LCQ!
- 250 LCQ (above):
- 450 Supercross heat two:
The heat races have concluded. Just a few more races remain until it's main event time in Texas!
What a great battle that was for the final transfer position!! Canard takes the checkers, but the excitement was behind him! Roczen even nearly jumped off the track on a triple jump on the final half a lap. Results coming in just a second.
Canard leads, Peick, Alessi, Baggett are behind him in the four transfer spots. Roczen and Seely are out of transfer positions as it runs now at the halfway point.
Gate drop!
The riders in heat two for the 450 class is lined up at the gates!
- 450 Supercross heat two (above):
- 450 Supercross heat one:
Two to go in heat one for the 450s.
A scary crash took place on the opening lap where Albertson was stuck under his bike, Anderson's bike, and another rider's bike in the whoops section. Was scary indeed. Chad Reed got stuck behind them and lost plenty of positions.
Gate drop! Dungey gets the wholehsot this time, Nicoletti to second! Nicoletti of Joe Gibbs Yamaha fell in the aborted heat race! Tomac gets by Nicoletti for second now.
Bikes are started once again at the gates! Time for another gate drop - in the same race. A fresh heat race is to come, as fewer than 3 laps were completed by the leader. 30 second board is up!
The full restart draws near for heat one of the 450 class. Still have not seen a replay of the crash; I'll describe it if/when I see one.
Hoping the rider who has fallen is okay. The rest of the riders have made their way back to the gates for a restart.
Anderson comes through, and Nicoletti goes down! Tomac, Millsaps, Dungey, Reed in the top four and in transfer positions - RED FLAG.
Tomac, Nicoletti, Reed, Millsaps, Dungey the top five!
Gate drop!
The 450s are lined up at the gates, ready to begin their stretch of east coast racing! What are your predictions for tonight's 450 class racing? Tweet to @RacingOnVAVEL!
Time for the 450s to hit the track.
- 450 Supercross heat one (above):
- 250 East heat two:
In his interview, Musquin admits that he should be in the 450 class by now, but the ACL injury kept him sidelined.
Musquin wins heat 2!
Six riders are battling for the final transfer position on the final lap!
Marvin Musquin, who is leading this heat race, hasn't raced in Supercross since the Vegas finale in 2013.
Musquin, J. Martin, Starling, Lemoine, Savatgy the top five with 3 to go.
Gate drop! A couple riders got stuck in the gate. Good racing already! Marvin Musquin looked great through the whoops on his KTM.
Davalos, Martin, and the rest of the 250 East field that didn't race in heat one, will all be in this second race of the night.
- 250 East heat two (above):
- 250 East heat one:
Last year's 250 East winner Justin Bogle takes the checkers! Begins 2015 the way a champion would. Friese, who crashed on the opening lap in a crazy crash with second position; he finished eighth and will be heading to the main event (top 9 transfer).
Top 5 on lap 4 of 6:
1. K. Peters
2. Bogle
3. Davalos
4. Decotis
5. Audette
Friese crashes out of the lead! The new dirt is looking fantastic, the first corner is very interesting, and it's overall a very technical track.
30 second board goes down... gate about to drop for tonight's racing in Arlington! GATE DROP!
- 250 East heat one (above):
Time to go racing!
For years, the dirt in Arlington has been hard. Tonight now, the dirt is all new. 60% sand, 40% clay.
Top three riders to watch in the 250 East group:
1. Justin Bogle (defending 250 East champ)
2. Jeremy Martin (won the 250 finale last year in Vegas)
3. Marvin Musquin (fastest in practice today)
It's Supercross time! Live on Fox Sports 2 and here on VAVEL! Another great night of racing is head. For the first time of 2015, it'll be time for the 250 East group to hit the track!
Tweet your predictions for tonight's race to the official Twitter account of the Racing category here on VAVEL, @RacingonVAVEL, or to me personally, @DoubleA291.
The track, pictured below, looks absolutely incredible. It has been said that it's the best track of the year so far, and, by the looks of it, I cannot disagree. Tonight's racing will be fantastic - be sure to follow here for LIVE coverage of all the Supercross action!
Check out the track the riders will be racing on tonight below!
Race time is now under half an hour away! The first race of the night will be heat one for the 250 East riders - their first Supercross race of 2015. The final race of the night will be the main event for the 450 Supercross class, coming just after the 250 main. Minute to minute coverage all night will be right here!
More will be added here as the first "east" race of the season draws near tonight. Stay tuned, as coverage of all the racing tonight, beginning at 8:00 pm Eastern, will be right here!
The top three title contenders for the 450s all finished on the podium last weekend in San Diego; 18 points separate these top three.
Trey Canard has proven twice this season that he can win and contend for the title - he may be someone to watch for tonight. He won in Arlington in 2011.
Ken Roczen is closing in on the points leader, KTM's Ryan Dungey; the gap is now just 9 points heading into tonight.
Dungey, with his impressive consistency, was able to finish on the podium last weekend for the fifth time in the six races that have been run this year so far. Unfortunately, the two riders directly behind him in the championship, Ken Roczen and Trey Canard, both finished in the two spots before him, keeping the points tight.
Although it was a bit behind third place of Ryan Dungey, Chad Reed finished in a quiet fourth last weekend. He has the most wins at the Supercross in Texas (4), and will be looking to add a fifth tonight.
Now that the recap of last weekend is below, a few news and notes pertaining to the 450 Supercross class, entering the night of their seventh race of 2015.
The sixth main event of the year for the 450s kicked off with the RCH Racing Suzuki of Ken Roczen stealing immediately to the front, getting a huge lead within the first two corners on the rest of the field. His lead did not last long, though, as Trey Canard, Davi Millsaps, and Ryan Dungey were all there to make it interesting. Millsaps, though, would crash from third place early in the race, dropping all the way down to second-to-last on timing and scoring; closer to the end of the race, he was lapped by Trey Canard and Ken Roczen, who were beginning a battle. Eli Tomac also had an off as he and his #3 Geico Honda hit the ground. Trey Canard and Ken Roczen had a few exciting moments, but it was Canard on the Honda who would dominate the race right to the end - taking his second win in the last three races, and sticking right at the front in the points race. Roczen finished with a strong second, and was content with his result, stating that he would’ve made more of a run for a pass for the lead on Canard, but he didn’t know it was so late in the race until he was shown the white flag. Points leader Ryan Dungey rode his #5 to a podium finish once again (he’s ⅚ on the podium in 2015), retaining the aforementioned points leader and the red number plate that comes with it.
Will be very interesting to see how the 250 East championship unfolds - and it begins tonight in Texas. Moving on to the big bikes of the 450 class; news and notes are above. First, the recap of the 450 main event from last Saturday night in San Diego (above).
250 East title contenders/riders to watch: 1) Justin Bogle (reigning East champ, will have number 1E on his bike). 2) Marvin Musquin 3) Martin Davalos 4) Jeremy Martin
First, tonight begins the chase for the 250 East championship. It will be eight weeks until the West group goes racing again. Of course, since it's the first race of 2015 for the East riders, there are no points standings to report just yet. Above, though, I have listed the top riders of the class that you should watch for as their season begins tonight in Texas.
Welcome to live coverage of another night of Monster Energy Supercross racing here on VAVEL. From now until race time at 8pm Eastern, you will find news, notes, and more leading into tonight's racing.