By Eric Johnson - As very recent history has taught us, Chad Reed out-and-out smoked the field on the opening night of the 2007 Rockstar Energy Drink U.S. Open by completing a triple play in winning the Toyota Superpole, his heat easily and, finally, the main event. All things considered, if one were to walked around the large MGM Grand parking garage that served as the pit area for the U.S. Open and taken an ad hoc pole, the general consensus was that Reed and the dominance he displayed made for an evening of racing that was downright boring. So much so that on Saturday morning, as mechanics and team members began preparing the bikes for the race later that night, many feared another Reed whitewash. But unlike any city on Earth, in 24 hours, Las Vegas can change things dramatically — for both the good and the bad — for a person. In fact after the running of the second night of the U.S. Open, all one had to do was to ask Chad Reed about Vegas and what it can do to a person.
Heat number one got the dice rolling on Saturday night in the MGM Grand Garden Arena with Team Honda’s Andrew Short racing away to win the opening heat over an impressive, hard charging Josh Demuth. Chad Reed won heat number two over Tim Ferry and Team Sobe/No Fear/Samsung/Honda 250F-mounted Jake Weimer. Michael Byrne led the third heat out and in of the jam-packed MGM Grand Garden Arena with Mike Alessi and Branden Jesseman in tow. Just behind were Australian Supercross champion, Dan Reardon (now riding for the Sobe/No Fear/Samsung/Honda team), and Grant Langston. On lap number three new Team Suzuki rider Mike Alessi found a way around Byrne while Langston moved into third by the finish. LCQ DNA Energy Drink/BTO Sports teamsters Jason Thomas and Bryan Johnson both won their respective last Chance Qualifier races and earned spots on the gate for the main event.
When the gate dropped for the main, Jake Weimer used his potent Honda CRF250R to snag the Progressive Direct Holeshot and coming out with the lead. Meanwhile, immediately behind him, all hell was breaking loose as a first turn yard sale left Timmy Ferry, Chad Reed, Grant Langston and Andrew Short on the ground and scrambling to get to their motorcycles. Typical Las Vegas: Up one minute, down the next. Weimer led Hart and Huntington/Rockstar’s Josh Demuth back into the arena, the fans now all on their heat wondering just what in the hell was going to happen next. Out front and leading the way by approximately two seconds, Weimer held station, while back in the pack, Reed was in a frenzied charge, passing Grant Langston before going after Andrew Short. But then it all went wrong for Reed as he botched a small jump and went crashing into Short. “I thought I had enough room on Andrew but I didn’t,” Reed would concede later. “I just really wanted the overall.”
Check out flicks from the US Open of Supercross
Reed would get back up and take off only to rear end the blue fender of Grant Langston’s Yamaha. From that point, for all intents and purposes, it was all over but the shouting for Reed. When the checkered flag was grabbed and waved manically, young Jake Weimer was the first rider to meet it. Somewhere out there on the floor of the arena the fate of the winner of the 2007 U.S. Open hung in the balance. Mike Alessi had zapped Michael Byrne for fourth, while Grant Langston had made it all the way back to fifth. In a frenzy, the mathematics were done and it was declared that 2007 AMA National Motocross Champion Grant Langston had won the 2007 Rockstar Energy Drink U.S. Open of Supercross with a somewhat unbelievable overall score of 2-5. “Man, I don’t know where to begin,” beamed Langston atop the podium. “It was the wildest race I ever been in my life. I got hit about 15 times that time, and I hit about five people and I didn’t know where I was. I looked at my pit board and it looked like Japanese! This is just unbelievable. I just did what I could. I got a pretty good jump off the gate but I got collected up in that mess, but it’s racing and I didn’t give up. It just fell in my lap!”
It was also an amazing night in Sin City for Jake Weimer, his win both impressive and shocking in nature. “Tonight I got a little bit of luck on the start, got into the lead, and it was a long 20 laps,” he smiled. “My team is doing an awesome job and I’m super pumped to be up here.”
At Laguna Seca we saw a truly great race between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner
the best racing of the weekend took place during the Red Bull AMA US Rookies Cup Races
