Pics - A few top pics that went up very early Sunday morning.

SX: 
Stewart controlled every lap of the main at Phoenix, but Reed made him work for it for at least half the opening laps. It was a pretty good race. Langston broke a shock about about 2 laps in while in third. KW rounded out the podium behind Stewart and Reed. Alessi caught a tuff blox banner on his shifter or footpeg on the second lap. Millsaps and Ferry dropped to the back on the first lap but kept going. Ferry made it back up to 10th. 

Lites:

The Lites main at Phoenix was just un-real awesome. There were so many lead changes you lost track, and you just couldn't tell who was going to win. Even in the closing laps, there were 8 riders in the hunt for the lead in the whoops at the same time. That's the parity every race should have. A2 is going to be the same guys, and on a classic old-school track. That's going to be a an unpredictable and close race.

RT Interview - Stewart Interview from Phoenix.
RT Interview - Reed Interview from Phoenix.

Weimer won a thrilling Lites battle that showcased the really good parity in that class. It was one of the best SX races in a long time.

Brothers Michael and Chris Blose, locals to Phoenix, were both in the Lites main.

Heath Voss is such a privateer, he drove his own rig! (Half the WWR semi he rides out of wasnt used due to space so he had his own.)

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Saturday practice was smooth at Phoenix. The track is standard Phoenix, good dirt that gets a little loose.

The afternoon featured a fun 110 race about 5:30, which Victor Sheldon won.

The weather is just right - and way better than the ideberg last year.

Reed is riding with a broken bone in his hand, but he won on it last weekend - must not be too big a deal. During the week, he got in a fight with Josh Hill on a practice day when they collided.

Stewart looks fast and lean.

There was a fun 110 race Saturday afternoon!  Victor Sheldon won. The second rider on the left is Dick Burleson.

More on AMA personnel changes - The SXMX series manager will be Jeff Canfield, who is replacing Steve Whitelock. The Director will be Ryan Holliday. Whitelock is still with the AMA.

The bidding deadline for the AMA contract to manage the nationals is fast approaching. Things may start to happen pretty fast, but it's not certain. It's hard to find a lot of support for the NPG in the pits at this point, but people are timid about talking about it for fear of reprisals. Things don't seem to be going their way, and their tense and paranoid attitude reflects it. It seems the honest truth is the sport is ready for a change and no one can talk publicly, or wants to. There may be some big announcements soon. 

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Some buzz on what's going on with the nationals, ALL unconfirmed-

The AMA had a couple dozen requests to bid on the contract to run the outdoor national championships.

The most talked-about and credible bidders are Youthstream, the National Promoter's Group (NPG), Wasserman Media Group (WMG), and a couple of auto racing promoters-the folks that run Indy and the NASCAR people (not sure on what group names they are bidding under). Also rumored to be bidding is ESPN.

The word was going around A1 that bids close mid Jan, and possibly will be confirmed by the end of the month.

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Racetime is proud to confirm our first real board mod - Sondra!  Woohoo Queenie. 

Reed's energy drink sponsor's website.

Jake Weimer, who crashed out at Anaheim in a heat race, will be OK.

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The Lites main was this good! Five guys in the whoops at once, 1-5.

Lites heat race first turn.

Dungey is ready to win a championship this year.

J-Law is working with Ryno, great match!

Aussie Dan Reardon gets the first Lites holeshot of 2008, then he ran up front and held on to 4th. He's going to win one soon.

#51 is Stroupe, not RV. This year Pro Circuit didn't run off with everything from the first race. Stroupe was 5th, Metcalfe 19th - doh!

If someone could figure out how to make every main this cool.

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Reed got a good start at the A1 season opener and just made one mistake to recover from, while Stewart's main was a battle of patience and making up for a first turn nosedive.

Oops.

People are noticing a more relaxed and humble Stewart this year, which comes across as maturity. Reed has a lot of fight in him, so the season started out interesting.

Langston and Ferry came out strong too and lasted in the mud to podium. Alessi was pretty good in the beginning. Reed blew past him in the whoops. Stewart appeared to be taking his time working up from the back, but still made it to second by the midpoint. By then Reed had about a 10-second cushion, and Reed kept control of the second half of the main with a big cushion.

At one point Stewart passed Ferry over the finish double, ducked in the next turn and rubbed shoulders with Jason Thomas, then passed Langston going into the next turn. It was just too slick to make up 10 seconds and Reed was on the gas.  

The latest (and reliable) rumor about the AMA is Ryan Holliday will replace Steve Whitelock as SXMX series manager.  (Correction - added after Phoenix - Holliday will be the director, and the series manager is Jeff Canfield.)

Media silly season-The musical chairs in media turned out to be as silly as a the rider's silly season. Look around for who ends up where because half of us don't know ourselves!

RC was trackside at A1, keeping a somewhat low profile, hanging with Scott Taylor and Jeff Stanton, plus he did some PR for Suzuki and Monster Energy. He should have a health update in about a week.

The Jesseman situation was heated and still up in the air. Jesseman didn't ride this weekend for the team that was expecting him and they even took some legal steps, like an injunction. Mitch Payton at PC said he was riding for him in the east.

The Anaheim 1 track was remarkably well-preserved after a hard rain the night before. Fortunately, the advance planning was good and the track covered up early. Add to that they got lucky on the weather, and it was one of the great "weather saves" in SX. It was as impressive as San Diego was a couple years ago when a race that was going to be a mudder turned out pretty good. That was nice for live TV too. A race might have been funny to watch in pouring rain, but that can wait for a tape delay weekend, not the live one.

The new Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Honda team parts were the talk of the photo guys...They are awesome to look at.

Old school Toyota and MC replica 125.

Carey Hart fan club.  :)

Joe Gibbs Racing knows how to get a good parking spot in the pits.....Have a Toyota!

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LA Times - Stewart's Supercross Season Could be Muddy. OC Register - Expect a More Focused Stewart in 2008. 

Saturday morning 9am--- The track is covered. Dress warm and bring an umbrella, supercross starts at Anaheim 1. It rained a lot Friday night, and the track will probably stay covered as much as practical. It could turn out to be a good night if the rain stays away.

Bike Setups - Check out the first closeups of supercross factory bikes here.

There is some buzz going around about the Branden Jesseman situation. He made an unexpected team switch 2 weeks ago, and his previous team is keeping him and took legal steps to keep him from racing somewhere else. Stay tuned, its a tense morning for a few people. 

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Bob Moore and Jimmy Button from the Road 2 Recovery Foundation announced this morning a comprehensive catastrophic health insurance policy for all licensed SXMX riders starting this season.  Membership is just $35. Pretty cool. R2R was founded after Button's career was ended in a practice crash at the San Diego SX years ago.

FIM is here, and 2 refs. FIM's John Gallagher explains at the rider's meeting how the FIM fits in to every round since he is not just here for the guys that started in Canada. It's a real global series now. 

 Saturday's schedule is pushed back a few hours due to weather. Practice should start about 4pm local time, and they are having just one practice. 

The weather is holding out all morning so far. 

It looks like some horsepower got used keeping Monster off Honda's number plates. Notice the Red Bull. The FIM is there too.

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Friday is "parking day" at Monster Energy Supercross. Friday practices are gone and no one seems to really miss them. Teams park on fridays, work on bikes, and leave.

The Anaheim 1 track is covered in anticipation of rain for the weekend. It stayed covered yesterday (press day).

Lifestyle - Photos of bikes and pits setting up at Anaheim.

Internet coverage was really good for the opener. A lot of sites ran info and photos and LN loaded youtube videos.

Pit Passes - Get Supercross pit pass info on Monster Energy's website.

USA Today - USA Today Coverage of Stewart's Title Defense.
San Diego Union Tribune - Stewart Sits on Top of Supercross Class.
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin - Riders Just Looking for a Good Start. and another, Stewart Riding High as Series Gets Started.
North County Times - With Carmichael Gone from Supercross, Stewart Ready to be the Star.

RX- Check out the Toyota/Racer X Power Rankings.

Future news - Dave Osterman (Ozzy) will be at KTM soon working on rider development. He was previously heading up Buell's MX project that was canned and before that, he managed Yamaha of Troy.

Stewart has been in boot camp- Stewart showed up at press day fit and looking strong for 2008. He has spent the off season at home in Florida, away from the distractions in Southern California, in "boot camp" with his trainer Aldon Baker, who was known for doing the same with RC previously. They don't give away all their secrets, but we do know part of the preparation is planning the training ahead for the harder parts done early (about November) and less so in December to be better ready for January. RC mentioned this when James ran off with the Canadian world SX round and he said his training was for January, not early December. Stewart hasn't raced since the Washougal national, which his teammate Tim Ferry won.

Baker's influence isn't limited to just Stewart. His manfriend Rado was down about 20 lb at press too.

In case you missed it - Red Bull Honda's factory bikes have very little Red Bull visible. It was decided to logo the riders, not the bikes. That's sensible since Monster Energy is a series sponsor and the TV cameras would not find Hondas very interesting with Red Bulls on them, but podium finishers get their TV time. Honda is running Red Bulls on the front number plates too, next to the AMA and FIM logos.

Anaheim 2 will be "Vintage Night," check this out from Vintage Iron.

Television Reminder - The Maxxis ATV EnduroCross (produced by Pro-Motion Motorsports) is scheduled to air on SPEED TV this Saturday as part of the Lucas Oil On The Edge Series. Air time is set for 6PM Eastern time. Please check with your local affiliate to confirm regional air times. For more information on the schedule, you can go on line to http://www.speedtv.com/programs/328.
The 2007 Maxxis ATV EnduroCross took place on October 7, inside the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Tim Farr piloted his KTM over the extremely treacherous track to a first place in the Sport Expert Class while Jesse West took command on his Artic Cat to win the Utility Expert Class.

Racetime is off to a big start this year, thanks to John Valenty of Earnware, the creator. He's john on the message board, so thank him for working through the New Year's to get the new site started!

We started the message board slowly and read all the comments. It progressed pretty fast and we are still reading. Thanks to everyone.

Lifestyle: Pics from press day.

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Monster Energy's Supercross year started today, and the series kicked off with opening statements from top riders and from Live Nation about Monster Energy, FIM and globalism, and better TV.  

LN's VP for Televison Ken Hudgens spoke this afternoon and said he wanted to make three points for 2008-
(not quotes unless indicated)

1) Monster Energy the new title sponsor. (Logos everywhere kinda gave it away)

2) The supercross championship is now integrated and is a single AMA/FIM supercross championship. He said it "Preserves the tradition of the AMA championship with the chance to globalize it."

3) TV is better than ever. Supercross is in 65% more homes than just 3 years ago. There will be 9 hours of CBS programming this year with the rest on Speed. A1 will be live. All the races will be broacast in high definition. The international TV has expanded to 193 countries and territories.

Some rider quotes:

Grant Langston-

Langston (R) chats with "The Nerd" with Motocross Illustrated Magazine at press today.

The bike is working good and I want to finish the season healthy. If I can be at all 17 rounds it will be a goos season for me. I look at mud races a little like a lottery. The goal is to get the holeshot and roost everyone in the first turn and throw mud on their googles.

I have no points and no supercross wins, so it's only uphill from here.

Tim Ferry- 

Sometimes last year I wished I had a little more raw speed, but I was consistent. James is the one guy that is changing things now. 

I want to win a supercross. I got to feel the victory at Washougal and it was pretty sweet.

(On the mud) It's mainly the start and try and stay up. The hardest thing is we still jump everything, we still jump all the triples in the mud.

Ben Townley-

I took off wrong at a Honda test and my heel hit the ground really hard. It broke the heel and I had to have some reconstruction done and they cleaned up some things. I haven't set a date to race again. I hope to start therapy in a few weeks. I may race by early March. 

Ryan Villopoto-

I got hurt and just started riding again. The west is here now and I am not ready so I am racing in the east. The Motocross of Nations was an awesome weekend and it was a lot of fun. (To a question on learning new cities) I pretty much get lost everywhere I go! 

Chad Reed-

It's been a lng time since I races a race except the ones for money or to have a good time. It's nice to have a good off season and come back healthy. 

Mud has been both good and bad for everyone. I like the mud, but my results in it suck!

I have worn second and third out. I want to get some wins.

(On cars and rallies in his future) All my contracts are up this year so we will see what happens.

James Stewart-

Stewart picked up the last set of two supercross championship rings. This year the championship is consolidated AMA/FIM.

I have been riding a lot and testing a lot. It seems like I have not raced in forever.

(On training with Aldon Baker) It different. I'm going to let my riding do the talking.

(On keeping the intensity) I just want it.

Listening to Stewart answer a question on how he stays motivated....

The audio was live on LN's official SX site, http://www.supercrossonline.com/.

Lifestyle: Pics from press day.

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LN's SX Director Dave "Earning It" Prater.....

Monster Energy Supercross kicked off the new year and the new season with it's traditional A1 Thursday press conference this afternoon.

The audio was live on LN's official SX site, www.supercrossonline.com.

Lifestyle: Pics from press day.

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