MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES
VOL. 51 ISSUE 14 APRIL 8, 2014 P35
every race, but if the opportunity
is there, I will go for it."
And that he did. Villopoto had
an excellent start and was never
challenged over the course of
the 20-lap final. With Dungey go-
ing down in a nasty pileup on the
first lap and Stewart, the winner
of the last three races, feeling un-
der the weather at Houston, Vil-
lopoto knew this would be a great
chance to win and gain more
points, going into his home race
next weekend in Seattle.
"With a start [gate pick] like
that, I had to go for it," Villopoto
added. "I lined up a little farther
outside than I wanted because of
going to the semi, but it worked
out. The track was tough and
they did a good job tuning it up
before the show, but I had some
moments. I'm sure everybody
had some moments. I made a
small change to the bike and the
whoops were tough, but I felt
good in them. Over 20 laps I did
them good probably 15 times."
After winning the last three
main events in a row, James
Stewart finished fifth at Houston
and the word from the Yoshimu-
ra camp was that he was feeling
"under the weather." He started
feeling ill the day following his
win the week before in St. Louis
and was weak coming into the
Houston race. Stewart rode
the first practice, but only half
of the first of two timed qualify-
ing sessions before pulling off.
Trying to conserve his energy,
he chose not to ride the sec-
ond timed practice. Stewart's
next appearance was in the first
450-heat race, winning an excit-
ing five-way battle over Dungey,
Barcia, Trey Canard and Josh
Grant. It might've been a costly
win, though, as he had to work
Briefly...
Millsaps' teammate Ivan Tedesco
was a no-show at Houston after hav-
ing a rough second half of the Su-
percross season, starting back with
his now famous crash at Indianapolis
where he got sucked into the rear
wheel of Tevin Tapia's bike right off
the start. Team manager Dave Gow-
land said, "He might not be back
at all for these last few races." He
added, "Ivan isn't contracted for out-
doors [with the Rockstar team], so
that may be it."
GEICO Honda's Kevin Windham
didn't do his famous transfer jump at
Houston after crashing while practic-
ing for his transfer jump on Friday at
the stadium. Windham came up very
short on the long jump and was too
sore to perform. He did do his regu-
lar announcing duties from the floor
during the show.
Despite not having a rider on his
team anymore (with Dean Wilson go-
ing back to the 250 class), Discount
Tire/TwoTwo Motorsport's Chad
Reed traveled to Houston to sign
autographs and watch some racing.
"It's nice to watch but also painful,"
Reed said. "The track looks awe-
some and I'm jealous not to be out
there. I'll be back on the bike in three
weeks and the goal is to be ready for
the outdoor opener at Glen Helen."
NASCAR star Jeff Gordon was in
attendance at Houston. "I'm racing
up in Ft. Worth this weekend and
saw Supercross was here and had
to come down," said Gordon. "It's so
impressive to watch on TV, but being
here is awesome."
Another famous sport star was also
continued on next page
Justin Barcia made it three
podium finishes in a row with a
second-place ride.
