GEICO POWERSPORTS HONDA
RACE REPORT
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS
ROUND 12, ST. LOUIS
The GEICO Powersports Honda team again proved the strength of its farm system at the St. Louis round of the AMA
Supercross Championship, as rookie Blake Wharton grabbed his first-ever main-event win in front of over 55,000 fans inside
the Edward Jones Dome.
After winning his heat race and then grabbing his first podium a week earlier in New Orleans, Wharton grabbed the holeshot
in the main event and led every single lap.
“I was thinking about how I was going to be smooth, because if you worry about what’s behind you, then that’s taking the
focus off of what’s in front of you,” Wharton said. “In supercross, you’ve got to be paying attention at all times, and focus on
what’s ahead. I didn’t want to look back, and I didn’t even know how big of a lead I had. I just went across the finish line and
looked back and had a good distance. If you’re looking back or thinking about what’s behind you, you’re going to crash or
something dumb, so...”
Wharton showed veteran composure, and the win vaulted him to fourth in points, just a few points behind second and third.
“Blake has struggled a little bit with his starts, which has impacted his finishes,” team manager JC Waterhouse said. “His
focus has been on improving that part of his race day, and obviously he has sorted that out, and the results have followed. It
was a great effort by Blake, and a great effort by the entire GEICO Powersports team. It was a lot of fun to get back on the
top of the podium again.”
Wharton’s Lites teammate Daniel Blair rode strong all night but got in a few tough spots.
“I got a kind of bad start, but I made a really good move in the first turn and put myself in about seventh,” Blair said. “Then, I
was battling in the lead pack, but I ended up getting stuck behind, can I say, the slowest guy here? He was just being a
complete roadblock, swerving left and right trying to block me, and then I made a move on him, and he swerved over,
jumped into me in the air and took me out. So, I got up and was back in about 10th or 11th, and caught back up to eighth,
which was good, and the number looks okay, but I’m just completely unsatisfied because I know where I belong and I keep
blowing it for myself. But once I figure this out, I’m going to be up there. I know where I belong, and my bike’s awesome,
and I’m coming around. I’ve just got to stay out of trouble and make that good result happen.”
Blair finished eighth after the fall.
In the 450cc class, GEICO Powersports Honda star Kevin Windham actually won his heat race to start the night.
“The heat race was good,” Windham said. “I got a great start, and I wanted to latch onto the back of Bubba and try to pick
up some speed, and he took a little digger, and don’t get me wrong, I was pumped to win the heat race, but those guys are
just on another level. I’m trying to learn a little bit, and I come in and ask the guys where I’m off, and it’s not any one
section, it’s jut a little bit of everywhere – one half of one tenth here and one half of one tenth there – and I just need to
pick up the intensity for the entire lap. He went down, though, and I rode to a pretty easy win. I had Short and them behind
me, but I felt good, I was in a good position, and everything went pretty good.”
In the main, though, Windham nearly got gathered into a first-turn crash and had a hard time moving forward on the very
original track layout. He was stuck behind Matt Boni for much of the race.
“I probably should’ve been a little bit more dirty, but I never really even got in a position to nail him, you know?” Windham
said. “Travis [Pastrana] built a track that had all these little, mini walls in there, so essentially, if you have a track that’s 20
feet wide, and you put a berm in the middle that’s two feet wide, you do the math and you’re not dealing with much of a
track there. You’ve got seven or eight feet on the inside and seven or eight feet on the outside, so there was clearly one fast
line, and we were all racing on a seven-foot-wide track, so I wasn’t very pumped. I went into the first turn in a decent
position, but I wasn’t aggressive enough to carry speed around the outside, and I went in too hot to really hang tight around
the inside, and I ended up in this nasty no-man’s land. I got hit a couple times, and a I hit my front brake on a guy who got a
little sideways, and the next thing you know, I went from having a good start to being in 10th place, and I just couldn’t make
a run. I guess I should’ve just nailed him, but I honestly was in a position where I didn’t even think I could make a decent
block-pass that wouldn’t get me in trouble with the FIM and AMA. I think it was a horrible track for racing. It was all right for
riding, and it kept you on your toes and was exciting – Travis had some interesting ideas and thought outside the box a little
bit – but I don’t think it was a good racetrack. A lot of the berms were waist-high and they were like little, mini walls, so you
couldn’t enter them late, and you couldn’t exit them early, and you couldn’t put two bikes in one berm at one time.”
Windham got up to ninth by the finish.
From here, the GEICO Powersports Honda team heads to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for round 13 of the AMA Supercross
Series, and round seven of the Lites Eastern Regional Supercross Championship, on March 28 inside Rogers Centre.
Team Sponsors: GEICO Powersports, Honda, Planet Fitness, Unbound Energy, AM/PM, Factory Connection, Fox, Shoei,
Gaerne, DVS, Amsoil Lubricants, Cycra Plastics, Dunlop Tires, EK Chains, Filtron Air Filters, Hinson Clutches, Leatt Brace,
One Industries, Pro Circuit, Renthal, Shock Doctor, Showa, TAG Sprockets, Vortex Ignitions, VP Fuels, and Works
Connection.
St. Louis Lites Main:
1. Bake Wharton GEICO Powersports Honda
2. Austin Stroupe Kaw
3. Nico Izzi Suz
4. Matt Goerke Suz
5. Christophe Pourcel Kaw
6. Matt Lemoine Yam
7. Steven Clarke Suz
8. Daniel Blair GEICO Powersports Honda
9. Darryn Durham Yam
10. Shane Sewell Yam
St. Louis 450cc Main:
1. Chad Reed Suz
2. James Stewart Yam
3. Josh Grant Yam
4. Andrew Short Hon
5. Jason Lawrence Yam
6. Ivan Tedesco Hon
7. Mike Alessi Suz
8. Davi Millsaps Hon
9. Kevin Windham GEICO Powersports Honda
10. Paul Carpenter Kaw
RACE REPORT
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS
ROUND 12, ST. LOUIS
The GEICO Powersports Honda team again proved the strength of its farm system at the St. Louis round of the AMA
Supercross Championship, as rookie Blake Wharton grabbed his first-ever main-event win in front of over 55,000 fans inside
the Edward Jones Dome.
After winning his heat race and then grabbing his first podium a week earlier in New Orleans, Wharton grabbed the holeshot
in the main event and led every single lap.
“I was thinking about how I was going to be smooth, because if you worry about what’s behind you, then that’s taking the
focus off of what’s in front of you,” Wharton said. “In supercross, you’ve got to be paying attention at all times, and focus on
what’s ahead. I didn’t want to look back, and I didn’t even know how big of a lead I had. I just went across the finish line and
looked back and had a good distance. If you’re looking back or thinking about what’s behind you, you’re going to crash or
something dumb, so...”
Wharton showed veteran composure, and the win vaulted him to fourth in points, just a few points behind second and third.
“Blake has struggled a little bit with his starts, which has impacted his finishes,” team manager JC Waterhouse said. “His
focus has been on improving that part of his race day, and obviously he has sorted that out, and the results have followed. It
was a great effort by Blake, and a great effort by the entire GEICO Powersports team. It was a lot of fun to get back on the
top of the podium again.”
Wharton’s Lites teammate Daniel Blair rode strong all night but got in a few tough spots.
“I got a kind of bad start, but I made a really good move in the first turn and put myself in about seventh,” Blair said. “Then, I
was battling in the lead pack, but I ended up getting stuck behind, can I say, the slowest guy here? He was just being a
complete roadblock, swerving left and right trying to block me, and then I made a move on him, and he swerved over,
jumped into me in the air and took me out. So, I got up and was back in about 10th or 11th, and caught back up to eighth,
which was good, and the number looks okay, but I’m just completely unsatisfied because I know where I belong and I keep
blowing it for myself. But once I figure this out, I’m going to be up there. I know where I belong, and my bike’s awesome,
and I’m coming around. I’ve just got to stay out of trouble and make that good result happen.”
Blair finished eighth after the fall.
In the 450cc class, GEICO Powersports Honda star Kevin Windham actually won his heat race to start the night.
“The heat race was good,” Windham said. “I got a great start, and I wanted to latch onto the back of Bubba and try to pick
up some speed, and he took a little digger, and don’t get me wrong, I was pumped to win the heat race, but those guys are
just on another level. I’m trying to learn a little bit, and I come in and ask the guys where I’m off, and it’s not any one
section, it’s jut a little bit of everywhere – one half of one tenth here and one half of one tenth there – and I just need to
pick up the intensity for the entire lap. He went down, though, and I rode to a pretty easy win. I had Short and them behind
me, but I felt good, I was in a good position, and everything went pretty good.”
In the main, though, Windham nearly got gathered into a first-turn crash and had a hard time moving forward on the very
original track layout. He was stuck behind Matt Boni for much of the race.
“I probably should’ve been a little bit more dirty, but I never really even got in a position to nail him, you know?” Windham
said. “Travis [Pastrana] built a track that had all these little, mini walls in there, so essentially, if you have a track that’s 20
feet wide, and you put a berm in the middle that’s two feet wide, you do the math and you’re not dealing with much of a
track there. You’ve got seven or eight feet on the inside and seven or eight feet on the outside, so there was clearly one fast
line, and we were all racing on a seven-foot-wide track, so I wasn’t very pumped. I went into the first turn in a decent
position, but I wasn’t aggressive enough to carry speed around the outside, and I went in too hot to really hang tight around
the inside, and I ended up in this nasty no-man’s land. I got hit a couple times, and a I hit my front brake on a guy who got a
little sideways, and the next thing you know, I went from having a good start to being in 10th place, and I just couldn’t make
a run. I guess I should’ve just nailed him, but I honestly was in a position where I didn’t even think I could make a decent
block-pass that wouldn’t get me in trouble with the FIM and AMA. I think it was a horrible track for racing. It was all right for
riding, and it kept you on your toes and was exciting – Travis had some interesting ideas and thought outside the box a little
bit – but I don’t think it was a good racetrack. A lot of the berms were waist-high and they were like little, mini walls, so you
couldn’t enter them late, and you couldn’t exit them early, and you couldn’t put two bikes in one berm at one time.”
Windham got up to ninth by the finish.
From here, the GEICO Powersports Honda team heads to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for round 13 of the AMA Supercross
Series, and round seven of the Lites Eastern Regional Supercross Championship, on March 28 inside Rogers Centre.
Team Sponsors: GEICO Powersports, Honda, Planet Fitness, Unbound Energy, AM/PM, Factory Connection, Fox, Shoei,
Gaerne, DVS, Amsoil Lubricants, Cycra Plastics, Dunlop Tires, EK Chains, Filtron Air Filters, Hinson Clutches, Leatt Brace,
One Industries, Pro Circuit, Renthal, Shock Doctor, Showa, TAG Sprockets, Vortex Ignitions, VP Fuels, and Works
Connection.
St. Louis Lites Main:
1. Bake Wharton GEICO Powersports Honda
2. Austin Stroupe Kaw
3. Nico Izzi Suz
4. Matt Goerke Suz
5. Christophe Pourcel Kaw
6. Matt Lemoine Yam
7. Steven Clarke Suz
8. Daniel Blair GEICO Powersports Honda
9. Darryn Durham Yam
10. Shane Sewell Yam
St. Louis 450cc Main:
1. Chad Reed Suz
2. James Stewart Yam
3. Josh Grant Yam
4. Andrew Short Hon
5. Jason Lawrence Yam
6. Ivan Tedesco Hon
7. Mike Alessi Suz
8. Davi Millsaps Hon
9. Kevin Windham GEICO Powersports Honda
10. Paul Carpenter Kaw
| 03/23/09 |
