2012 AMA Supercross Houston Results

Ryan Villopoto Wins 2012 AMA Supercross Championship

[caption id="attachment_11359" align="alignright" width="300"] Ryan Villopoto exited this weekend's Houston Supercross as the 2012 AMA Supercross Champion, earning enough points to clinch the title - Photo: Frank Hoppen[/caption]

It was never really in doubt, but Ryan Villopoto exited this weekend's Houston Supercross as the 2012 AMA Supercross Champion, earning enough points to clinch the title.

Villopoto has made it mathematically impossible for any other rider to catch him with four races remaining in the season. Going into the race, Villopoto needed to win while hoping James Stewart finished lower than fourth place. Stewart, returning from injury, got off to a bad start and eventually pulled out of the 20-lap race on the seventh lap. Villopoto easily passed Davi Millsaps early on and never looked back, winning his third race in a row and eighth of the season.

"It's unreal," said Villopoto. "To wrap it up early feels really good, and then to win it back-to-back is huge. A lot of hard work that went into this, and I'm only one piece of the puzzle; the whole Monster Energy Kawasaki team has worked very hard all year to help me make this happen."

Villopoto is now more than 100 points ahead of second-place rider Ryan Dungey, who is out with an injury. Millsaps, who finished second in Houston, moved past Stewart in the overall standings into third.

Kevin Windham's Season Over After Dislocating Shoulder

[caption id="attachment_11363" align="alignright" width="300"] Kevin Windham is a fan favorite among AMA Supercross riders - Photo: Frank Hoppen[/caption]

Veteran rider Kevin Windham is a fan favorite among AMA Supercross riders, as the rider has earned a reputation for being a competitive and entertaining underdog to watch. Unfortunately, Windham recently got news that his AMA Supercross season is over after suffering an injury at the recent Houston race.

Windham tangled with James Stewart during the event and went down hard, dislocating his shoulder, reports Cycle News. The rider says he may also have a broken wrist, although the two doctors he's seen thus far disagreed on whether it was fractured or not.

Although the season is essentially over now that Ryan Villopoto has clinched the title, Windham certainly would have been a welcome presence during the last four races of the season. The fans seem to get excited every time he does well, even in meaningless races.

Windham says he has no plans to compete in the upcoming AMA Motocross season, although he filled in last year as a replacement rider. That being said, Windham says he's got a few more races left in him and will focus on getting back for next year.

"It's disappointing," Windham told the news source. "I've been lucky at avoiding big get-offs like the one I had in Houston for the past several years. Staying healthy has been a big part of my career going this long. But even after this one, I'm not done. I'll be back for sure."

Ken Roczen Takes The Win At Houston Supercross

The Red Bull/KTM ride of Ken Roczen earned his first win of the season at the seventh round of the AMA East Supercross Lites Series in an unexpected last lap pass for the lead.

Roczen's win in Houston marks his second career victory in the Supercross Lites class. Roczen, who is still recovering from the flu which plagued him last week, took it easy in practice as well as in his heat. He rode a solid pace in the first heat race to easily qualify into the main event with a 3rd place result.

In the main event, Roczen pulled a great start and rounded the first corner in 2nd place behind Justin Barcia. Roczen made a nice pass on Barcia for the lead on the first lap and held it into the next before Barcia was able to get him back. Near the halfway mark in the race, Roczen had heavy pressure from Blake Baggett which forced Roczen to push harder in order to pull away. He eventually put 3 seconds on Baggett to settle into 2nd place. On the final lap with a few corners to go, Barcia crashed and allowed Roczen to move into the lead. Roczen rode it home for the win while Barcia recovered and finished 2nd.

[caption id="attachment_11358" align="alignleft" width="300"] Roczen's win helps him move up one position in the championship point standings - Photo: Hoppenworld.com[/caption]

"This isn't the way I wanted to earn my first win, but I'll take it," remarked Roczen on the podium. "Sometimes in racing it's just having good luck and tonight the luck was on my side. I am really excited to take this motivation into my training over the next two weeks and come back even stronger at New Orleans."

Roczen's win helps him move up one position in the championship point standings. He now sits in 3rd place as the riders head into the first break of the season.

Next Race: New Orleans - April 14, 2012

Ken Roczen Slips Past Justin Barcia To Win In Houston

[caption id="attachment_11358" align="alignright" width="300"] Ken Roczen now sits in 3rd place as the riders head into the first break of the season - Photo: Hoppenworld.com[/caption]

Professional motocross riders may do just about everything they can to win a race, but sometimes there's no stopping bad luck. Justin Barcia found that out the hard way at the Supercross Lites East event in Houston, as a mistake by another rider on the last lap led to Barcia settling for second place.

Barcia was well out in front and it appeared he would win, but the chaos of supercross races can cause unexpected surprises. It's not uncommon for the front riders to begin lapping others, meaning they get so far ahead they pass the riders in last place. That was the case with Barcia, who was out in front with a lapped rider.

On one of the final jumps, the lapped rider made a mistake and accidentally landed on Barcia's back motorcycle tire, causing him to crash. That allowed KTM's Ken Roczen to slip past Barcia and get his first win of the year. Barcia recovered to take second, and still holds a 32-point overall lead in the standings over the next-closest rider, Blake Wharton.

Barcia reportedly confronted the lapped rider after the race and was none too pleased. Roczen, meanwhile, was somewhat conflicted about the win.

"This is so awesome," said Roczen. "This is not how I want to win a race. Justin rode a great race and was really fast tonight, so it is unfortunate that he crashed. I'm super happy to be back on top of the box."

Houston Overview And Point Standings

Overall Results - Supercross Class: 20 Laps

1. Ryan Villopoto: 15:50.046
   
2. David Millsaps: +4.853
   
3. Jake Weimer: +9.075
   
4. Mike Alessi: +19.782
   
5. Justin Brayton: +23.331
   
6. Robert Kiniry: +25.655
   
7. Broc Tickle: +26.429
   
8. Nico Izzi: +40.386
   
9. Weston Peick: +43.446
   
10. Joshua Grant: +46.317
    
11. Kyle Chisholm: +50.462
    
12. Brett Metcalfe: -1 Lap
    
13. Wil Hahn: -1 Lap
    
14. Kyle Regal: -1 Lap
    
15. Matthew Goerke: -1 Lap
    
16. Jeff Alessi: -2 Laps
    
17. Preston Mull: -2 Laps
    
18. Daniel Blair: -3 Laps
    
19. Joshua Hansen: -9 Laps
    
20. James Stewart: -14 Laps
    

1. Ryan Villopoto - 296 - 2012 Champion
   
2. Ryan Dungey - 192
   
3. David Millsaps - 191
   
4. Justin Brayton - 181
   
5. James Stewart - 178
   
6. Jake Weimer - 170
   
7. Kevin Windham - 166
   
8. Brett Metcalfe - 154
   
9. Mike Alessi - 154
   
10. Chad Reed - 128
    
11. Broc Tickle - 122
    
12. Kyle Chisholm - 116
    
13. Joshua Hansen - 89
    
14. Nicholas Wey - 76
    
15. Robert Kiniry - 67
    
16. Marvin Musquin - 59
    
17. Andrew Short - 59
    
18. Matthew Goerke - 58
    
19. Weston Peick - 51
    
20. Cole Seely - 37
    

1. Ken Roczen: 11:51.768
   
2. Justin Barcia: +2.306
   
3. Blake Baggett: +2.885
   
4. Blake Wharton: +9.613
   
5. Phillip Nicoletti: +23.327
   
6. Alex Martin: +29.141
   
7. Jake Canada: +32.316
   
8. Justin Bogle: +36.042
   
9. Kyle Cunningham: +43.760
   
10. Matthew Lemoine: +44.767
    
11. Kyle Peters: +46.588
    
12. Austin Politelli: +48.198
    
13. Les Smith: +49.607
    
14. Shane Sewell: +50.394
    
15. Tommy Weeck: -1 Lap
    
16. Malcolm Stewart: -1 Lap
    
17. Darryn Durham: -1 Lap
    
18. Zackery Freeberg: -1 Lap
    
19. Daniel Herrlein: -1 Lap
    
20. Lance Vincent: -2 Laps
    

1. Justin Barcia - 167
   
2. Blake Wharton - 135
   
3. Ken Roczen - 127
   
4. Darryn Durham - 118
   
5. Blake Baggett - 106
   
6. Jake Canada - 104
   
7. Justin Bogle - 87
   
8. Alex Martin - 65
   
9. Matthew Lemoine - 57
   
10. Malcolm Stewart - 55
    
11. Kyle Cunningham - 55
    
12. Shane Sewell - 44
    
13. Les Smith - 42
    
14. PJ Larsen - 38
    
15. Phillip Nicoletti - 36
    
16. Tommy Weeck - 35
    
17. Cole Thompson - 32
    
18. Hunter Hewitt - 31
    
19. Tyler Bowers - 28
    
20. Lance Vincent - 26