Motocross.com contributor Steve Cox reports, "One race ago, defending champ Ryan Dungey of the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki team finished last and scored only on point because of a derailed chain - which Trey Canard is taking responsibility for. One race later, he's only 22 points behind Stewart, and 31 behind new points leader Ryan Villopoto.
The 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship reached a major milestone at Houston’s Reliant Stadium over the weekend. Up until recently only two riders, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan VIllopoto and San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart, have reached the top step of the podium. The contest was undoubtedly one of the fiercest events in 2011 and offered fans a rollercoaster experience as top riders were subjected to both falls and overtakes. Kevin Windham -" Houston Supercross "and made up a lot of ground to finish sixth. Fighting a locking front brake, the ’09 champ struggled on to finish a full lap behind Canard in 15th. The defending champion’s second-place finish significantly boosted morale in Suzuki’s camp following Dungey’s DNF in last week’s Anaheim 2 race.
"The bike felt great all day. I really owe a lot to Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki because they worked hard. We need to keep pushing and start winning these races. There’s still a lot of racing left. There were definitely some close moments in that race. While Yamaha's top rider suffered a miserable night, JGR Yamaha picked up the slack with Davi Millsaps posting fourth. Houston was a good week to choose the Red Bull KTM squad as the team selection in Fantasy SX 2011.
Roczen re-injured his heel in a heat race incident with Ivan Tedesco, but the 16-year-old German shook off the pain to line up for the 20-lap final. East Coast Lites riders got first round jitters out of their system with Geico Powersports Honda’s Justin Barcia and Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson going head-to-head. Meanwhile, James Stewart’s younger brother, Malcolm Stewart, made his highly-anticipated debut in professional Supercross.
The Honda Red Riders dominated the Houston Supercross with wins in both the Supercross and Supercross Lites East classes. American Honda Racing’s Trey Canard won the Supercross race, scoring his first-ever Supercross-class win in his rookie season aboard his Honda CRF450R, while GEICO Honda’s Justin Barcia came out on top in the Lites East season opener aboard his CRF250R.
After grabbing the holeshot, Windham rode a solid race out front until he crashed hard on lap 11, knocking himself out of the race. In the" Supercross" Lites East competition, GEICO Honda’s Justin Barcia got his season off to a flying start by winning the opening round of the Lites East series. Aboard his Honda CRF250R, Barcia led 13 of the 15 laps in the main en route to clinching his first win of the season.