Round eight of the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, held in the jam-packed Georgia Dome NFL stadium near Atlanta, was yet another James Stewart riding clinic, the San Manuel Yamaha rider grabbing the holeshot, then simply putting the hammer down to lead every single lap of the 20-lap main event. At the finish, Stewart was 9.417 seconds ahead of runner-up Chad Reed. It was Stewart’s seventh consecutive victory in the series and neatly placed him atop the championship point standings with 177 marks to his name. Interestingly, Chad Reed, yet again, placed second to Stewart for the seventh straight time. In a fine, highly spirited ride, Supercross class rookie Ryan Villopoto of the Monster Energy/Kawasaki team claimed the third and final podium position.

When the gate dropped and the 20-rider pack roared up the start straight and in and out of the first turn, it was the sensational James Stewart holding the point, hounded by Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Mike Alessi, Yamaha’s Broc Hepler, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto and Honda Red Bull Racing’s Davi Millsaps. Reed, who had experienced a very poor jump out of the hole, was back in 10th, but after berserking it on the opening lap, fought his way up to sixth. While Stewart hit the afterburners, Hepler busied himself with beating back the advances of a fast closing Villopoto and Reed. Just shy of the halfway mark, both Villopoto and Reed were by the Yamaha rider, Reed then looking to pass the rookie. The two riders would trade the second place spot before Reed finally grabbed second for good and went after Stewart. The Australian had nothing for James, though, and Stewart won the race in a cakewalk. Reed was second, Villopoto third, Red Bull Honda’s Andrew Short was fourth and Yamaha’s Hepler finished fifth. Two other riders of note who experienced a rough night in Atlanta were JGR/Toyota/Yamaha Josh Grant and Honda’s Ivan Tedesco, the duo crashing heavily later in the race.

The Georgia Dome marked round two of the 2009 AMA East Region Lites Championship. At the start of the 15-lap main event, Team Monster Energy Kawasaki riders Austin Stroupe and Christophe Pourcel experienced clean getaways, the dynamic duo in immediate control of the race. Stroupe was flying and appeared to be the man to beat, opening up a four second lead over Pourcel early in the race. But then it all went south for Stroupe on lap 10, the North Carolina-born rider stalling his KX250F in a slow speed turn. Kicking furiously at the bike in an attempt to get it fired, by the time he got going, Stroupe was way back in eight place. Pourcel raced away to win easily over Suzuki’s Nico Izzi and MDK/KTM’s Martin Davalos. Honda’s Blake Wharton placed a hard fought fourth, followed across the finish line by Branden Jesseman, Wil Hahn and a dejected Stroupe.

Eric Johnson