Bel-Ray Racing-Weekend Racing Wrap-Up
OutdoorHub 02.22.12
Round 7 of the 2012 Monster Energy Supercross Series took place on Saturday night at Cowboy’s Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray Racing’s Chad Reed came to Dallas ready to win. After setting the fastest time in afternoon qualifying it looked as though winning would be in his future however, that was not the case. While pressuring race leader Ryan Villopoto, Reed made an un-characteristic error and went down. During the crash Reed was seriously injured, and will be forced to withdraw from the 2012 Supercross series. Reed’s injuries include a torn ACL, broken Tibia and Fibula, broken ribs and a broken T6 vertebrae. At the time of his crash Reed was in 2nd place in the series’ points standings, just six points away from the top spot. Reed will sit out the remainder of the Supercross Series while he recovers.
Dodge/Hart & Huntington/Sycuan Casino/Bel-Ray Racing’s Josh Hansen continued his streak of top results, finishing in 5th place during the main event. Teammate Kyle Partridge also saw a good result in Dallas. Despite a back of the field start, Partridge persevered, working his way through the field to an eventual 13th place position. Both riders are currently in the top 20 in the series’ points standings with Hansen in 10th and Partridge in 16th.
The Supercross Lites East Coast Series began on Saturday night. Team Rockstar Energy Racing Suzuki’s racers Blake Wharton and Hunter Hewitt both made their series’ debut. Both Wharton and Hewitt qualified for the main event out of their respective heat races, with Wharton holding the lead for part of his heat. In the main event, Wharton nearly grabbed the holeshot and the lead at the start. While challenging the race leader early on in the first lap the two collided, and Wharton went down. Wharton quickly remounted, and began working his way through the pack from his 13th place position. By the end of the fifteen lap main event Wharton was in 4th place, just off the podium. Teammate Hewitt rode consistent laps and finished in 12th place for his efforts.
The series continues to travel east this week stopping in Atlanta Georgia for round 8 this Saturday night.
Follow all of Bel-Ray’s racers in action each week on www.belray.com and www.belrayracing.com.
