The Lites heat races went off without too much drama in the way or race action. Jake Weimer grabbed the early lead and held on for the win, while Honda teammate Josh Grant took the 6 laps to work up from about fifth place into second.
Ryan Villopoto is the man...
Ryan Villopoto is the man to beat in the Lites class.
The second Lites heat had Ryan Villopoto running away. He looked aggressive and stylish as he turned a top five start into the lead on lap 3 with a pass on Josh Hanson in the whoops.
The real action as these Lites riders battled head to head for the first time on the Anaheim track was in the carnage. A surprising number of riders were coming up short on the big triple, leading to several gruesome crashes. The tough whoop section immediately following that triple was no kinder.
Langston looked good on the...
Langston looked good on the 450.
Heat one was an exciting one compliments of Carmichael's poor start. Jeff Dement grabbed the holeshot but got bumped and dropped back as Tedesco took the lead, with Langston in second and Preston in third. Carmichael rounded the first lap mid pack, but no one in the stadium expected him to stay there, least of all Windham, who looked like he was going to hitch a ride on Ricky's rear fender to the front of the pack. Ricky flew through the pack, with Windham with him for the first few spots. Windham reached and stayed in fifth as Ricky kept charging through to the front runners. He passed Langston in the whoops and got right onto Tedesco's tail on the third lap. On the fourth, Tedesco bobbled through a rhythm section and Ricky flew past. Langston capitalized too, and grabbed second. Langston stayed with Ricky for a bit, but within two more laps Ricky had a comfortable lead that he stretched out until the checkers.
Heat two was a Stewart runaway from the first turn to the end, pulling a ridiculous gap. Early in the race Josh Summey looked to keep it close, looking fast and fluid in the opening heat of his freshman year in the 450 class indoors. Unfortunately Summey clipped a tuff block on a tricky step over before the sand section and went over the bars in what looked like a brutal crash. Summey was quickly back to his feet, but traffic coming by prevented him from quickly re-mounting. Another later bobble would relegate Summey to the LCQ. Meanwhile, the excitement was with Chad Reed, visibly off his regular pace, and after going down on the first lap, Reed was circling the track in thirteenth. Reed made a few more passes, the tough track to took out some of the other riders ahead of him, and he finished in ninth place - good enough for a direct transfer to the main under Supercross' new qualification system. The first heats of the AMA season were in the books and the new format had already played a role in the racing.