Cycle News

MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES VOL. 51 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 11, 2014 P59 Supercross win, and he did it right in front of his brother, Josh, who was waiting on the line to start the 450 main. "I've never felt anything quite like it, I can't explain it," Hill said of his first SX win. "I just wanted to ride a solid race and go mis- take free and I thought I did that. I started about third and then Dean fell and kind of handed it to me. I just tried to make every lap count and I did that. I was kind of nervous when they gave me the halfway flag. I was thinking I went this far - I need to go seven more. But everything went perfect." Hill got on the podium for the first time two weeks ago in Oak- land, a finish he said at the time gave him a lot of momentum go- ing forward. "I went out there and I ran the speed and I caught those guys," said Hill. "Even once I was out front and Anderson was trying to track me down, I didn't let it hap- pen. I felt like I pulled it out a bit, and that really boosted my confi- dence. Now that I know I can do it I'm excited; I got 25 points to- wards the championship and I'm sitting third in points, I couldn't ask for anything more." DAMAGE CONTROL Rockstar Energy Racing Team's Jason Anderson is used to com- ing from behind in this year's se- ries, and three times out of the previous five, he has done just that to take the win. But not this time, although he did come from fifth to second. "I just felt like I was in damage control mode out there," said Anderson. "Dean went down in front of me and I ended up run- ning over his bike. That was kind of a scary moment because I saw his bike, but I didn't know where he was." Earlier in the evening, Ander- son fell in his heat race and fin- ished sixth, which didn't leave him with the best gate pick. After getting a decent jump, Anderson got bounced around in the first turn and was out of the top-five heading into the first lap. "I just need to get a good start at one of these things and things will go my way," said Anderson. "I'm happy to come away with the points lead, though, now that we are going into the break." PODIUM FIRST (SORT OF) Getting his first-ever Supercross podium was Malcolm Stewart who led a short distance before settling into third. At Anaheim II, Stewart also finished third but not until Anderson (second on the night) was later penalized two positions, so Stewart did not get the chance to celebrate on the podium. This time he surely did. Stewart actually took the lead when Wilson went down but was quickly passed by Hill. He later got passed by Anderson but held on from there. "I felt really good, and I just got a good start and Dean fell and I was leading the race a little bit," said Stewart. "This is my first po- dium and I'm really pumped on it, I don't know what to say." SICK OF IT Championship contender Cole Seely had a rough week leading up to the San Diego race. The TLD/Lucas Oil Honda rider came down with food poisoning early in the week and spent all day Tues- day in bed. Despite still feeling a bit weak, Seely still won his heat race in convincing fashion but got off to a bad start in the main. "I tried to push it, but every time I would push it, I would make a little mistake so I decided that it was better to ride at a comfort- able pace and think about the points," said Seely. CN 450 MAIN 1. James Stewart (Suz) 2. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw) 3. Ken Roczen (KTM) 4. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 5. Weston Peick (Suz) 6. Justin Barcia (Hon) 7. Eli Tomac (Hon) 8. Brock Tickle (Suz) 9. Justin Brayton (Yam) 10. Andrew Short (KTM) 250 WEST MAIN 1. Justin Hill (Kaw) 2. Jason Anderson (KTM) 3. Malcolm Stewart (Hon) 4. Cole Seely (Hon) 5. Shane McElrath (Hon) 6. Jessy Nelson (Hon) 7. Michael Leib (Hon) 8. Scott Champion (Yam) 9. Jake Canada (Hon) 10. Dean Ferris (KTM)

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