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2014 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES VOL. 51 ISSUE 15 APRIL 15, 2014 P57 Ryan Dungey didn't cooperate, keeping RV from clinching the ti- tle. In all likelihood, Villopoto will sew things up at the next round in New Jersey. On an evening when the Se- attle race saw unusually nice weather, with an unbelievable zero percent chance of rain, Vil- lopoto turned in a near-perfect main event – as perfect as you could ask for on a sketchy and deeply rutted track. After grab- bing the holeshot – his second in two weeks – Villopoto held off an early attack by Stewart, and then when Stewart nearly threw it away when he came up short on a quad jump, Villopoto was able to pull away from the pack, finishing the race with over 12 seconds to spare at the finish. It was his fifth win of the season and the 40 th of his career. With Stewart finishing sec- ond, Villopoto came up just three points shy of wrapping up the title. "I couldn't ask for anything more tonight," said Villopoto. "Points-wise, we could have wrapped it up, but I'm not going to gripe or be bummed about it. It's tough to race at home and, in the past, I haven't been that stellar here, so to have a race like that is awesome. With Stew- art and Dungey standing up here next to me, getting a win is huge." Villopoto's heat race was any- thing but stellar. A bad start left him fighting his way to the front for the duration of the race. In the end, Villopoto could only make it up to fifth, one position short of transferring. Villopoto looked marginally better in the semi, which he won, but in the main event, the Wash- ington-native kept the partisan fans on their feet as he carved his way to an impressive victory. "This was probably the best Seattle I've ever raced," said Vil- lopoto. "It felt like our setup was maybe a little off in the heat race, but when the main event came around it was on." Stewart knew he had to get a win to have any realistic hope at the title, and his runner-up finish did prolong the championship conversation for another two weeks, since next weekend is an off week, the first and only of the 2014 season. Try as he may, though, the Yoshimura rider couldn't hang with the inspired Villopoto. Stewart even pulled off an un- believable quad, trying to over- take RV, but once he came up short on the jump, he decided it was not worth the risk. "All day I struggled," said James. "The track was pretty easy and a little tough with all the ruts, and there really wasn't any- thing to separate us. Even that quad wasn't any faster. We just never really got the bike setup all night. In the main event, I was trying to push, and it was easy to override the track. I would make a little time and then I'd almost crash in the whoops or just make a mistake." Briefly... "This was the hardest base I've seen at Seattle," said Eli Tomac. "I don't know what they did with the dirt, if they stored it or what, but it wasn't the normal Seattle, because the nor- mal Seattle would be crazy rutted and sketchy." James Stewart rode the Seattle Su- percross wearing Seattle Seahawk colors, since the Century Link Field is home to the 2013-'14 NFL Super Bowl champs. He also gave a shout out to the "12 th man" (the Seattle fans) during opening ceremonies. Stewart was obviously looking for all the support he could get since he was in Villopoto's territory. Ryan Vil- lopoto grew up in Washington State and considers this his home race. Both of the N-Fab JGRMX/Toyota Yamaha "fill-in" riders – Phil Nico- letti and Vince Friese - qualified for the 450 main event. Neither rider, however, had spectacular results, with Nicoletti finishing 18 th and Friese 21 st . The team's regular riders, Justin Brayton and Josh Grant, are recu- perating with injuries. GEICO Honda's Zach Osborne fin- ished an impressive sixth in the 250 main despite riding with a chipped bone in his thumb, which he suffered in a fall during practice earlier in the day. "I just blew the start," Osborne said of the main event. "I was like 15th on the start and had a mediocre ride to sixth. I feel like I really let one slip away from me tonight. Being on the podium seemed to be within my reach after the heat-race ride. I'm a little disappointed." continued on next page

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