Rookie Barcia Soars
to First-Ever Monster Energy Supercross Win in Phoenix
Tomac Opens 250SX
Class With Back-to-Back Victories
PHOENIX (January 12, 2013) – Honda/Muscle
Milk’s Justin Barcia, of Ochlocknee, Ga., captured the first 450SX Class win of
his career tonight at Chase Field in front of 50,109 fans. GEICO Honda’s Eli
Tomac, of Cortez, Colo., won his second consecutive Western Regional 250SX
Class Main Event and now has a six-point lead in the season point standings.
Barcia, who is in his rookie season, picked
up the Nuclear Cowboyz® Holeshot Award in the 450SX Class Main Event
as last week’s winner, Davi Millsaps, of Murrieta, Calif., and TwoTwo
Motorsports Honda’s Chad Reed, of Australia, trailed in second and third,
respectively. On Lap 1, two-time defending Monster Energy Supercross Champion
Ryan Villopoto, of Poulsbo, Wash., spun out and dropped from fourth to eighth
place.
Honda/Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard, of Shawnee,
Okla., passed Reed for third place on Lap 11 and then passed Millsaps for
second place on Lap 14. Villopoto rebounded and moved into fourth place aboard
his Monster Energy Kawasaki on Lap 13, and then passed Millsaps’ Rockstar
Energy Racing machine on Lap 15 for third place. Canard and Villopoto engaged
in a battle for second place for several laps until Canard crashed on the last
lap, allowing Villopoto, Millsaps and Reed to re-pass him. Villopoto finished
second and Millsaps finished third, keeping the 450SX Class lead in the season
point standings.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am right
now,” said Barcia, who became the 56th different winner in 450SX
Class history. “I didn’t think this win would come so soon. I kept it smooth
out there, but the track was super slick. It was a great night for me.”
Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs/Honda’s Jessy
Nelson, of Paso Robles, Calif., earned the Nuclear Cowboyz® Holeshot
Award in the 250SX Class Main Event, leading Monster Energy/Pro
Circuit/Kawasaki’s Martin Davalos, of Ecuador, and GEICO Honda’s Zach Osborne,
of Chesterfield, S.C., who followed in second and third, respectively, through
the first turn. On the opening lap, Davalos, who suffered a frightening crash
in his Heat Race earlier in the evening, moved into the lead.
After a fifth-place start, Tomac made his way
to second place and passed Davalos on Lap 7 en route to his ninth 250SX Class
race win with a 10.193 second margin of victory. Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen, of
Germany, passed Davalos on the last lap to secure the runner-up spot. Davalos
held on for a season-best third place.
“I am totally stoked,” said Tomac. “I am now
two-for-two this season, and to get a win here in Phoenix is huge because I
have a lot of family and friends here. I haven’t had a lot of great races here
in the past, so picking up the win is awesome.”
Monster Energy Supercross will continue next
Saturday night, January 19, at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.
450SX
Class Results
1.
Justin
Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda
2.
Ryan
Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Honda
3.
Davi
Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Suzuki
4.
Chad
Reed, Australia, Honda
5.
Trey
Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda
6.
Jake
Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki
7.
James
Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki
8.
Ryan
Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM
9.
Andrew
Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda
10. Josh Grant,
Riverside, Calif., Yamaha
450SX Class Points
1.
Davi
Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Suzuki – 45
2.
Justin
Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda – 39
3.
Trey
Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda – 38
4.
Chad
Reed, Australia, Honda – 36
5.
Ryan
Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM – 33
6.
Jake
Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki – 31
7.
Ryan
Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Honda – 27
8.
Andrew
Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda – 27
9.
James
Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki – 27
10. Josh Grant,
Riverside, Calif., Yamaha – 21
Western Regional 250SX Class Results
1.
Eli
Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda
2.
Ken
Roczen, Germany, KTM
3.
Martin
Davalos, Ecuador, Kawasaki
4.
Cole
Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda
5.
Jessy
Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda
6.
Zach
Osborne, Chesterfield, S.C., Honda
7.
Ryan
Sipes, Ekron, Ky., Suzuki
8.
Kyle
Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Yamaha
9.
Joey
Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Honda
10. Christian Craig,
Wildomar, Calif., Honda
Western Regional 250SX Class Points
1.
Eli
Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda – 50
2.
Ken
Roczen, Germany, KTM – 44
3.
Cole
Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda – 38
4.
Ryan
Sipes, Ekron, Ky., Suzuki – 29
5.
Zach
Osborne, Chesterfield, S.C., Honda – 29
6.
Kyle
Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Yamaha – 23
7.
Tyla
Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki – 22
8.
Max
Anstie, England, Suzuki – 22
9.
Martin
Davalos, Ecuador, Kawasaki – 21
10. Joey Savatgy,
Thomasville, Ga., Honda – 20
Supercross LIVE!® is back
in 2013 with a three-hour mid-raceday program from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. local time.
Hosts, Jim Holley, a former World Supercross Champion, and Kevin Barnett, a
former member of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Volleyball Team and professional
broadcaster, will provide in-depth analysis of the afternoon’s practice and
qualifying sessions as the riders and teams prepare for the night racing, in
addition to interviews and behind-the-scenes coverage. As the only place to
follow live practice and qualifying coverage from Monster Energy Supercross,
Supercross LIVE! provides fans with an inside perspective before the gate drops
on the night’s qualifying and Main Events. Additionally, there will be
video snippets made available throughout the race day that can be viewed on www.SupercrossOnline.com,
the official website of Monster Energy Supercross, or the YouTube Channel www.YouTube.com/SupercrossLive.
To access the live streaming broadcasts, go to www.SupercrossOnline.com/SupercrossLive
or subscribe to the Supercross LIVE! streaming channel at http://new.LiveStream.com/Supercrosslive.
For more information on the Monster Energy
AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, please log on to www.SupercrossOnline.com, the
official website of Monster Energy Supercross. For all media requests, please
contact Denny Hartwig dhartwig@feldinc.com
or 630-566-6305. To follow Monster Energy Supercross on Facebook and Twitter,
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