RK Excel America

This past weekend the BTOSports.com/BBMX/Palmetto Suzuki race team showed up to race round eight of the Dade City Cup series which are held in Florida at Dade City Raceway. Team riders Jason Thomas and Kyle Keylon were on hand to do battle with the regulars at the popular long running track.

Thomas set the fastest time in qualifying by over one second and was on it all day. Right before the motos, the skies opened up and it kept raining and raining and raining…and then it rained some more. With the track looking more like a jet-ski race, Thomas needed a great start and that’s exactly what he got as he charged into the first corner.

Unfortunately he went down and was forced to work his way up from the back. He made it to second and that was a good ride considering the conditions. After the previous races DNF-DNF score, he’ll take it.

Keylon had similar luck in that he qualified third but had trouble in the first turn and came out outside of the top ten. Kyle had a few more crashes along the way and got stuck at one point. By the time the checkers flew, Keylon had climbed all the way to seventh place.

The Dade City track crew did an excellent job salvaging the track after the hard rains to make the track capable of being raced on. Most tracks would have had to pull the plug on the race night, but the Monster Energy Sponsor Cup is the real deal & the crew at Dade City provided just that.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Chad Reed also made an appearance for his good buddy Jason Thomas. And Chad, in true motocross fashion, didn’t let the weather keep him from showing up. He was soon off in the pouring rain and down on the starting line to help JT pick the perfect gate for the start of the main. It was cool to see Reed showing his support for FL motocross on his off weekend from the Lucas Oils AMA Nationals, both BBMX & Dade City Mx thank him for coming out.

btosports.com and butlerbrothersmx.com

There’s no way that BTO Sports.com/BBMX/Palmetto Suzuki team can go racing without the help of their sponsors and would like to thank the following companies:

BTOSports.com, BBMX, Palmetto Suzuki, FLY Racing, Bel-Ray, Vortex, Pro-Circuit, WMI, Vanquish MX, Smith, FLU Graphics, Jett Boot, Wiseco, Leatt Brace, McGraw Insurance, Umbrella Girls, Dream Traxx, ASMF, ASV, Ti-Fuel, Factory Connection, Applied, Hinson, ICW, Twin Air, RK / Excel, QTM, Faction MX, Pit Posse, Outlaw, Dunlop, FLmx, MX Press, Polisport, Engine Ice, Galfer, Hookit.com, STMX, Kinetic Animation, Safety Kleen, Axcel

Corona, Calif. (May 5, 2010) – Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki is gearing up for the annual Dave Coombs Memorial East/West Shootout in Las Vegas as it’s the only time during the supercross season, all four riders will be competing at the same race. With both champions under the same tent, odds are the team will be battling itself throughout the night. Of the 16 races held this season, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki has won 10 times and is looking to add one more to the tally. Christophe Pourcel notched five victories in 2010, Jake Weimer added four on his way to the title and Josh Hansen closed out the West Coast season with a win.

“I’m really excited to go to Vegas,” said Weimer. “I get to run my No. 1 plate for the first time and I know that is something that is really special. The track is normally really fast and hard packed, which fits my style so I can’t wait to end the season with another win.”

While three of the four riders collected wins in 2010, Dean Wilson was only able to finish as high as second. With one last chance in his rookie year, the Canadian rider is going to give it his all to get on the top step of the podium.

“I need to get a win this weekend,” said Wilson. “I see those guys with all of there trophies and I want one too. This is going to be a tough race and I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m just going to push hard and do my best.”

While Wilson searches for his first victory, Hansen is looking to go back-to-back after winning last week in Seattle.

“After winning last wee, I want to do it again,” said Hansen. “Winning always feels good and with this team it is very special because of how hard everyone works. I want to repay all of that hard work with another win in Vegas.”

Pourcel comes to Vegas as the defending winner of the event and he wants to end his supercross lites career on a high note.

“The Las Vegas race is fun,” said Pourcel. “You don’t have to worry about points, you just have to think about winning. Everyone is giving it their all to win and it makes for some good racing.”

All of the action from Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas can be seen live on SPEED beginning at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on Saturday night.

Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda rider Wil Hahn battled cold, rain, snow and an injured shoulder in Utah and still finished third when the checkers flew. That podium spot was good enough to put Wil second in the series championship, an impressive accomplishment for Hahn and his team. Cole Seely looked good put crashed on the opening lap and had to work his way up from the very back of the pack. He would end up eleventh on the night and seventh overall in the series.

Wil crashed on Thursday and was still nursing a badly separated left shoulder. Still, with a mathematical shot at the title, nothing was going to keep him from racing. The main event opened up with a holeshot by Wil Hahn. After struggling with his starts early in the year, Wil has snagged two of the last three main event holeshots in the series. He led the opening lap and then dropped into second where he spent most of the main event. He wasn’t sure how his shoulder would feel during the race and on lap eight he started to feel it.

“I wasn’t able to charge the way I wanted to out there but the first half of the race I could at least hit my lines and feel like I was riding okay,” said Hahn. “After eight laps it got really tired and I could barely hold my arm up. I had to lean my head to the side to pull a tear-off. It was bad.”

Despite the pain and fatigue, Wil hung on to the end and only lost one spot late in the race. It was probably one of the grittiest rides of the series for the young Mr. Hahn.

Cole Seely looked good in his heat race and was prepared to fight for a win in Utah. Unfortunately, Cole lost his front end while trying to make a pass on the opening lap. The fall would put him at the back of the pack and leave him with a lot of work to do.

“I actually felt good and I think I could have made it up a little further,” explained Seely after finishing eleventh. “A few laps in I missed a shift and hit the triple in first gear. It was so sketchy. I didn’t even come close to making it. Somehow I saved it but I smashed my face into the bars and I thought for sure I broke my nose. It took me a while to collect myself after that. Hopefully I can turn things back around in Vegas before we head outdoors.”

Wil Hahn is going to make a decision later in the week if he will race in Las Vegas or not. His shoulder is still very sore and if he feels it is in his best interest to sit out to be ready for Hangtown then he may be watching in Nevada. Cole, on the other hand, will come out swinging in Las Vegas looking to shoot down the very best from both coasts in the Dave Coombs Sr. east/west shootout.

The Troy Lee Designs Lucas Oil Honda race team would like to thank all of the companies that have supported our racing efforts over the years. They include Lucas Oil, American Honda, Red Bull, PPG, Wings for Life, Alpinestars, Avia, Couts Heating and Cooling, Dunlop, Epic Action Video Cam, Leatt Brace, McQueen Racing, Oakley, Pacific Collision, Pro Circuit, Rossignol, Santa Cruz, Selle Italia, Skullcandy, All Sport Dynamics, Cycra, Fasthouse, Flexfit, Hinson Clutch, Hot Wheels, Kahne Racing, Light Speed, Muc-Off, N Style, Nameplate, ODI, Primm, QTM, Renthal, RK Chain, Excel, Twin Air, Vasser Racing and VP Racing.

Follow the Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda team at www.troyleedesigns.com

Corona, Calif. – (May 3, 2010) – To say Saturday night was a good night for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team would be an understatement. On a cold and rainy night in Salt Lake City, Josh Hansen returned to the top step of the podium and Jake Weimer clinched his first career championship making it a clean sweep of the 2010 AMA Supercross Lites titles for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki squad.

On a weather-shortened day, Hansen was fastest in the only practice session followed closely by Weimer. In the first heat Weimer built an eight-second advantage by the checkered flag to take the victory. In the second, Hansen had his hands full, but he held on to claim the heat race win.

“I am really happy to finally grab a win,” said Hansen. “I feel like I’ve been capable all season and haven’t put it together. I’m not really a mud rider, but I really wanted it tonight. It’s definitely nice to thank my team with this win because they have had to put up with me all season. They never quit on me and I wanted to show them I haven’t quit.”

In the main event, Hansen got a great start out of the gate and he battled for the holeshot. Though he crossed the line in second on the first lap, he made a sweet pass on the leader and then rode away for a 16-second victory. While Hansen was pulling away from the field, Weimer was doing exactly what he had to do to win the title. In the sloppy track conditions Weimer knew he had to ride a smart race and avoid any major mistakes. The Idaho native did just that as he finished fifth and raised the No. 1 plate on the podium.

“It has been a long road to get here. I was so close last year and to earn it this year feels amazing,” said Weimer. “It was awesome to win this title in front of my home crowd. I always have so much fun when I’m around this awesome group of people. It helped out with the nerves knowing I had so many people supporting me here in the stadium.”

All four of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki riders will race against each other this coming Saturday at the Dave Coombs Memorial East/West Shootout in Las Vegas. Weimer and Hansen will be joined by two-time East Coast champion Christophe Pourcel and Dean Wilson as the coasts come together for this big event. The Las Vegas Supercross will be shown live on Speed beginning at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on Saturday, May 8.

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (May 2, 2010) – Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, is an open air venue, and once again the weather was threatening for the latest round of AMA Supercross. With snow predicted for Salt Lake City last week, the track crew arrived earlier than usual to build and cover the track, as soon as they did the snow started falling with more snow in the forecast. The track was uncovered yesterday, and as was the case in Seattle, practice was delayed and shortened to help preserve the racing surface. In spite of the conditions, 38,882 fans braved the cold to cheer on the action. As the heat races began, snow and rain began falling in steady fashion, and the track began to deteriorate quickly.

Both Justin Brayton and Michael Byrne transferred to the main event directly from heat race one without incident. “It was so cold out there I could hardly feel my hands and work the clutch and front brake,” said Byrne after the heat race.

By the time the gate fell for the main event the track was a quagmire with heavy rain still falling. The race was reduced to 15 laps from the usual 20 due to the conditions. Both Brayton and Byrne started at the front of the pack with Brayton third and Byrne just behind in fourth. On lap four Byrne worked his way around his teammate, and they stayed in third and fourth respectively until Brayton slid out in a turn on lap nine. Brayton remounted and would ultimately finish seventh. Byrne appeared to be in route to his first podium finish of the season when with just a few laps to go he started having an issue with his rear brake. Despite the handicap he was able to finish sixth, his best of the season.

Josh Grant made an appearance during the Salt Lake City broadcast on CBS, not at the event, but during an advertisement for the all new fifth generation Toyota 4 Runner. The spot was filmed earlier this year before the Anaheim season opener prior to Josh being injured. During the 30 second promotion, Grant appears wearing his team hat and pit shirt aggressively driving the new 4 Runner on the actual Anaheim supercross track. The spot will air during next week’s live broadcast from Las Vegas, as well as throughout the upcoming AMA Motocross Championship Series. Grant is testing and riding regularly in addition to training with the team’s in-house trainer, and is looking forward to May 22, the opening round of the AMA Motocross Championship.

The original broadcast from Salt Lake City aired today at noon (EST) on CBS. The last round of the 17-race series will be on May 8 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. The original broadcast from Las Vegas will air live on SPEED at 10:00 p.m. (EST).

Corona, Calif. (April 28, 2010) – With the AMA Supercross Lites Western Region season coming to a close in Salt Lake City, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki is looking to claim its second championship of 2010. Jake Weimer currently leads the points standings and needs to finish 15th or better this weekend to hang the No. 1 plate on the team’s transporter.

Weimer has had an impressive season scoring six podiums in seven races including four wins. The Idaho native will be racing at the event closest to his hometown and he is ready to earn his first professional championship.

“I’m going to try and win next week at Salt Lake, but I’m also going to be smart,” said Weimer. “My job right now is to win the title. When the gate drops, if I get the holeshot I’m going to go for the win, but if not, I’m not going to push and ride over my head.”

While Weimer looks to wrap up the series title, Josh Hansen is looking to score his first podium of the season. Hansen looked to be on his way to a podium finish last week, but with four laps remaining he went down on the rough track and had to settle for a sixth-place finish.

“I know I can go out and get the win this week,” said Hansen. “It’s been an odd season, but I’ve been putting in the work and I know if I can get a good start, I’ll be on the box.”

Salt Lake City marks the final round of the West Coast season, but Weimer and Hansen along with two-time East Coast champion Christophe Pourcel and Dean Wilson will also compete in the Dave Coombs Memorial East/West Shootout in Las Vegas on May 8.

Seattle, WA- The BTOSports.com/BBMX/Palmetto Suzuki supercross team rolled into Seattle for round fifteen of seventeen with a new addition to the 450 class. Troy Adams was put on a 450 to see what he could do and he easily made the 20-man main event.

The track was as soft as mom’s chocolate chip cookies coming out of the oven and the ruts were deep enough to swallow our own Jason Thomas so when Adams didn’t get a great start, his work was cut out for him. He worked his way up to 9th within the first 10 laps, but then a fall on the “swamp like” track had him looking to settle in for a 14th place finish. However on the final lap, the deep ruts caught Adams foot pegs on the face of the big triple and sent him sailing through the air with no bike. Adams hit the ground hard, but thankfully had no major injuries. Adams finished in 16th.

JT$ had some bad luck in his heat race but going to the LCQ was nothing to be worried about as he has proved to be the master of these. Unfortunately just as he was in third and looking to make a move up, he tipped over in a turn and that was all she wrote folks. JT’s missed main event was his first miss of the season.

Our 250 west rider Bobby Kiniry rode hard all night and despite not getting a great start, he almost finished inside the top ten. The New Yorker will look to try and avenge his night this weekend in Salt Lake City.

btosports.com and butlerbrothersmx.com

There’s no way that BTO Sports.com/BBMX/Palmetto Suzuki team can go racing without the help of their sponsors and would like to thank the following companies:
BTOSports.com, BBMX, Palmetto Suzuki, FLY Racing, Bel-Ray, Vortex, Pro-Circuit, WMI, Vanquish MX, Smith, FLU Graphics, Jett Boot, Wiseco, Leatt Brace, McGraw Insurance, Umbrella Girls, Dream Traxx, ASMF, ASV, Ti-Fuel, Factory Connection, Applied, Hinson, ICW, Twin Air, RK / Excel, QTM, Faction MX, Pit Posse, Outlaw, Dunlop, FLmx, MX Press, Polisport, Engine Ice, Galfer, Hookit.com, STMX, Kinetic Animation, Safety Kleen, Axcel

April 24, 2010

Seattle, WA – Over the weekend DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha came away with its most successful race since the team’s inception six years ago. Seeing both #48 Max Anstie and #20 Broc Tickle achieve new things for the first time in their career that the industry has really taken notice of. Clear skies greeted the 51,442 fans that visited Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington for the penultimate round of the Lites West AMA Supercross Series.

The night show began with both the rookie and Tickle slated into Heat race #2, Anstie got the best of starts leading the field through turn one. This is when the big highlight all began to come together. Riding at his best and increasing his lead every single lap, Anstie rode flawless and was uncontested. In doing so, Anstie went on to win his first ever Heat race fresh off his hip injury. Also riding in a dramatic fashion, Tickle remounted after being taken down in a first turn pileup to come all the way up to a 4th place finish.

The 15 lap main event fired out of the gate, and once again Anstie was high up in the field, as well as Tickle after the first turn sitting in 3rd and 5th. Unfortunately, in the second turn the leader went down and Max had nowhere to go other than the ground to. Upfront, By the end of lap one Tickle had secured 2nd and was applying heavy pressure to the leader. Once Lap three was in circulation, it was easy to see how strong Broc was, and on this very lap he executed a pass into 1st. Now the leader, Tickle’s confidence kicked in, and he bolted taking the ridiculously treacherous track and making it look easy. Meanwhile, after not being able to restart his bike for some time, Max was nearly a half of a track length behind the second to last place rider in the early stages of the race. However, very methodically and fast, by the halfway mark the combination of those two things stated, enabled him to capitalize on other competitor’s mistakes. Lap eight saw the Yamaha pilot takeover 12th, and then on the very next lap he made a clean pass into 11th. At this point Tickle showed strength by finding his lines and breaking away to a good five second plus lead. With three laps remaining, Anstie was still on the charge and had made it to 10th. Never settling, the rookie prodigy leaped up to 9th in the closing stages of the race and went on to finish there. Back to Tickle, who took his DNA Shred Stix Yamaha 250F through its paces in the closing laps. Still riding solid as if he was a multi time winner, Broc successfully etched his name in the record books as a Supercross winner!

Star Racing thanks the following companies for their commitment.

DNA Shred Stix, Division 7, Yamaha Motor Corp, FLY Racing, DNA Energy, NCY, Bell Helmets, Easton ExP, FMF, Sunstar, Factory Effex, Dunlop, Enzo, DC Shoes, RK Chains, Yamalube, GYTR, Ride Engineering, Mechanix Wear, Twin Air, Lightspeed, ARC, Braking, Vortex Ignitions, CP pistons, Web Cams, ICW, JD Built, Renegade Fuels, Crank Works, Eibach, EVOMX fuel foam, Met Tec, Champion Tools.

Seattle Results

Rookie Justin Brayton Earns First Supercross Podium

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (April 25, 2010) – The first supercross held in Seattle was on February 18, 1978 in the historic Kingdome. Last night’s race was the 28th year Seattle has hosted a round of the AMA Supercross Championship. The Kingdome was demolished in 2000 and replaced with the Qwest Field open-air stadium. With the words “Seattle” and “rain” practically synonymous, every year all eyes are on the weather leading up to the event. The forecast predicted a 50% chance of a major mudder, so the track was covered in plastic after being built. The rain did come, causing practice to be delayed, and qualifying to be condensed into one session rather than two. Thankfully the rain stopped before the racing started, and 51,442 fans were able to see some exciting racing, although the track was extremely soft and technically challenging.

Both Michael Byrne and Justin Brayton pulled holeshots in their respective heat races and easily transferred to the main event. In the main event Brayton and Byrne again started toward the front, with Brayton in second and Byrne fourth. The track had deteriorated to the point that nearly every rider in the field was making mistakes at some point around the circuit. Brayton succumbed to the ruts and went from second to third on the 11th lap, with Byrne in seventh. They would maintain those positions to the finish, with the rookie Brayton earning his first Supercross Class podium finish, and Byrne equaling his best finish of the 2010 season. “It feels good, I got to give it up to my team, the Muscle Milk/Toyota/Yamaha Joe Gibbs team, we never stop working and I got to give it up to them,” said Brayton on the podium. “I really want to thank all the guys who have been behind me 110%, Muscle Milk, Toyota, Yamaha, SHIFT, Gaerne, Oakley, Leatt, Bell, this is for you guys.”

Since its inception, the Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX Team has supported MX for Children, a non-profit organization supporting research for treating hydrocephalus, the leading cause of brain surgery for children. The team donated several items for the annual fund raising auction, and Justin Brayton, along with several other professional riders visited Seattle Children’s Hospital to encourage the young patients to persevere through the multiple brain surgeries they will endure as part of their treatment.

The original broadcast from Seattle airs today at 6:00 p.m. (EST) on SPEED. The 16th round of the 17-race series will be on May 1 at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. The original broadcast from Salt Lake City will air May 2 at noon (EST) on CBS.

Seattle, WA – FMF/KTM rider Phil Nicoletti earned 8th overall in his first race aboard the FMF/KTM 250 SX-F race machine.

The wet weather in Seattle narrowed the day’s schedule to one practice session. Each group went out for their practice session by warming up the first few laps and then trying their hardest to put down their fastest lap in the remaining minutes. Nicoletti rolled out of practice with the 16th fastest time of the night. “The track was difficult and very rutted. It was hard to get in a solid lap time in the short practice but if gave us a good taste of what would come for the remainder of the night,” remarked Nicoletti.

Nicoletti was placed in Heat #1. He got out to a good jump but got tangled with a tuff block in the second turn. He managed to stay up but caught the tuff block cover in his wheel and had to pull off and remove the cover. Once back on course, Nicoletti was sitting in dead last and had to make a come from behind charge into the top nine qualifying positions. Nicoletti charged hard and made it back up to 8th to grab a spot on the main event gate.

As the gate dropped for the main event Nicoletti got a good jump on his KTM and came around the first turn within the top ten and made it up to 6th by the second corner. A small mistake caused him to drop to 9th on lap two. He remained in 9th position through the halfway mark of the race. On lap ten he lost a position to Trey Canard but then gained the position back when he caught and passed Hunter Hewitt on lap eleven. One lap later Canard crashed and Nicoletti moved into 8th position. The final two laps were filled with excitement as Nicoletti and Max Anstie battled for 8th position. Anstie was able to get around him on the final lap but went wide in a turn allowing Nicoletti to make the necessary block pass to close for the position. Nicoletti finished 8th overall.

“I am not overly pleased with my result as I hoped to be in the top five. However, considering the conditions of the track, I am happy to finish within the top ten and will work toward improving that result at Salt Lake,” stated Nicoletti.

Next Event: Salt Lake City Supercross – May 1, 2010