Stewart, Reed vie in last-lap battle for supercross title
The high-flying, dirt-throwing AMA Supercross riders have ended their season at Sam Boyd Stadium the past 19 years, but on Saturday night there’s a rare addition to the sold-out event: drama.
It will be one of the few times when the series championship hasn’t been locked up before the riders arrive in Las Vegas.
James Stewart will start the 17th race of the year with a four-point lead over reigning and two-time season champion Chad Reed.
Stewart can clinch his second Supercross title by finishing fourth or better Saturday night regardless of how well Reed does on his Suzuki.
It’s apropos that it comes down to Stewart and Reed. They are the only ones to win the Las Vegas finale since 2005; Reed won last year and in ’05, Stewart in 2006 and ’07.
Stewart, 23, of Haines City, Fla., has needed each of his 11 wins this year to climb out of the rut he dug for himself when he didn’t finish January’s season opener in Anaheim, Calif. Stewart’s bike developed a mechanical problem after he crashed for a second time early in the race, and he went on to place 19th.
Reed, 27, was involved in one of the crashes and placed third, behind one-time winner Josh Grant of Riverside, Calif.
Reed, an Australian living in Tampa, Fla., has three titles this year. He has been runner-up to Stewart 10 times but has only one finish below third.
Stewart has dominated the year when he’s kept his Yamaha upright. He has led a series-best 194 laps; Reed is second best with 60.
The rivalry between the two became heated Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City when officials kicked Stewart’s L&M Racing teammate Kyle Chisholm out of the race for an “unsportsmanlike” move that prevented Reed from challenging Stewart, who eventually won.
On Tuesday, the AMA, which governs American motorcycle racing, disqualified Chisholm from the Salt Lake round, suspended him from competing Saturday and fined him $5,000.
• BULLRING DOUBLE — The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will feature two days of racing this weekend, including a unique Sunday afternoon show.
Racing at the three-eighths-mile paved oval begins Saturday night with its regular NASCAR All-American Series featuring the Super Late Models division.
Beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday, racing will include a 121-lap SRL Southwest Tour stock car series feature and national qualifying races for Legends Cars, Thunder Roadsters and Bandoleros.
Among those entered in the Southwest Tour race is Las Vegas resident Bear Rzesnowiecky, who turns 17 on May 10. Rzesnowiecky is focusing on racing at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Calif., this year, and he was runner-up at the Southern California track in an April 18 race.
Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.