It's difficult for a rainy night to affect the racing in an indoor stadium - unless, like the US Open, the track snakes outside and into the elements before bringing the racers back inside on each lap. The bad weather came to Vegas just as the evening program was getting started, so this track actually had a rain section. The riders raced on dry hard pack inside, and slick ground outside that eventually rutted up and added a nice variance to the lay-out for the riders.
Before the heat races began, the US Open held a fast lap competition called the `Superpole.' The first event in a trifecta, the fastest of the ten riders would pocket ten thousand dollars, (the cash was in a briefcase held before the riders just before they took off for their timed lap). The rain outside started to come down on the short outdoor section as the fast laps began. The deteriorating conditions didn't slow the sport's top riders. James Stewart, the ninth rider to ride set a lap that even Carmichael, the tenth to ride, couldn't top. Stewart took off with the briefcase of cash. Stewart was then set to win the trifecta for the night with the main event holeshot (good for $5000 independent of the trifecta) and the main event (good for another $35,000 on its own). The hot lap contest was a nice way to start the night off and give the fans in the Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena a good look at each of the top ten riders competing in the supercross class.
The first lites heat got the qualifying started, and Hahn came out of the gate fast and held it around the first sweeping corner to take the holeshot. Josh Hansen was right behind him. Hahn's lead didn't last long as he went down at the beginning of the second lap, letting Hansen past. Matt Goerke held second, Eric Sorby third, Chris Gosselaar fourth, and Michael Willard fifth. Hahn watched them file past as he tried, unsuccessfully, to get his lite re-lit.
Gosselaar reeled in Sorby and flew past him in the whoop section. By the fouth lap of the 8-lap lite heat, the lead group was already into lappers. Hansen still had the lead well in hand with Goerke staying strong in second. Gosselaar, however was looking great in the whoops and was eating away at the gap to Goerke.
Gosselaar got right on Goerke on the last lap, and set himself up for an aggressive block pass in the final corner before the checkers, but decided not to pull the trigger and risk taking himself out in the maneuver. He rolled over the finish line jump for third and a transfer to the main.
The final five were Hansen, Goerke, Gosselaar, Sorby, and Sean Collier. On the podium Hansen told the crowd that he'd dislocated his wrist the week before and was due to go for surgery soon.
The second lites heat saw Jake Weimer and Steve Boniface round the first corner side by side, but Boniface had a little more momentum coming out and jumped into the lead going into the first rhythm section. Josh Grant came out in fourth, but had third in hand before the pack finished the first lap. Grant is an exciting rider to watch. He combines finesse with aggression and was really working the bike through the rhythm sections cleanly and quickly.
But Boniface kept a strong pace up front and was never challenged by Grant, who finished the heat in second. Third went to Ben Townley, who looked great in the whoops for someone who's supposed to have limited experience in them. Jake Weimer collided with another rider right on the face of the last jump, rode around the tuff blocks, and turned back onto the track riding sideways across the top edge of the ramp. He dropped off the side, and stalled the bike. He would have to wait until the LCQ to earn a spot on the line of the lites main.