Reed came into Las Vegas with a 10-point lead over Windham for the championship and put an exclamation point on his stellar season with a big win before 39,227 fans at a sold-out Sam Boyd Stadium.

Red Bull Honda Racing’s Davi Millsaps opened the AMA Supercross class main event by winning the Progressive Holeshot Award, and Windham trailed in second. Reed started in seventh place. On lap three Windham passed Millsaps and secured the lead. Reed worked his way through the pack and passed Windham for the lead on lap 13 to claim the ninth win of the season. Red Bull Honda Racing’s Andrew Short, of Smithville, Texas, finished third.

“I worked my butt of this year,” said Reed. “I had a new bike this year, and that made my job a lot easier. It has been a great season for me this year. This is very special. It was unfortunate that James Stewart, the defending champion, got hurt, but this was a great year for us.”

The outdoor National motocross season has traditionally kicked off the race for the outdoor 250/450 National motocross titles and this year when the first race of the new motocross season begin's it will include a new twist.

The Glen Helen 250/450 AMA  motocross National on May 24-25 will feature a pro class only for any pro motocross riders who want to race a two-stroke bike. I really like this idea because I miss the old two-stroke motocross bikes. Especially the Honda Elsinores. When Honda first introduced the Elsinore 125 and 250 motocross bikes they were THE motocross bike to be riding if you wanted to compete for the win. Some of my most memorable motocross racing experiences were on the 250 Elsinore and man did I love that ride! I have heard rumors two-stroke engine motocross bikes might try to make a comeback in motocross but this may have only been wishful thinking by the guy who posted the article. If the two-stroke motocross bikes do make a serious comeback they will have their hands full with the thumpers. They are awesome!

The scheduled two-stroke pro race is by invitation-only, although any pro rider can apply to be accepted. Only forty pro riders will get a chance to ride the complete Glen Helen AMA National motocross track on the Saturday of timed qualifying, May 24.

For any pro motocross riders who wants to race the Glen Helen National track in front of the fans this will be a fantastic opportunity. There is no entry fee for accepted riders in the two-stroke motocross race, but you need to fill out the application fast if you want to get into the race. Don't forget, you will need a two-stroke motocross ride! This is the first announcement of the request for invitation, so act fast. The two-stroke race will be sponsored by L.A. Sleeve and there will be a $2000 purse.

Last weekend in Seattle, Windham, who was leading the race, suffered a mechanical malfunction when a banner got tied up in his back wheel. He stopped his bike and removed the banner from the rear wheel, dropping back to sixth place. Windham charged back through the field and re-captured the lead on lap 17. Reed charged his way to second place with a last-lap pass on Short.

“We are going into Las Vegas with high hopes, and I hope lady luck is with me,” said Windham. “It has been a great year for me. The closer this championship gets to the end, the hungrier I get, so this weekend will be a big race for me. I am fired up right now!”

To add salt to the wound, they’ve also been made of fairly soft soil and ended up with deeply rutted jump faces and cupped-out whoop sections. St. Louis was no different, with a couple of truly challenging obstacles that most riders never did conquer.

The whoops were one of those places, spaced about one third further apart than usual and not particularly deep; everyone was struggling in them all night.

 “Clumsy” and “awkward” were words being used to describe them all day, and it seemed to fit. There were also a few pretty unusual doubles thrown into the mix, which featured landings higher than the take-offs.  Not really step-ups as step-overs, they seemed to be easy to screw-up, and it happened many times.

It was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Branden Jesseman who decided that second place wasn’t good enough anymore, as he absolutely dominated the sprint to the first turn in what set the perfect stage for a championship showdown. All four riders who were expected to play a role in the Eastern Lites title were in the top four positions, with Jesseman followed by Canard, then Grant and finally Villopoto. The excitement and anticipation was intense both in the stands and on the track, as these four set a torrid pace out front that quickly outdistanced everyone else on the track—both in pace and in the interest of the crowd. In fact, at this point maybe it would have been better to pull the other 16 guys off the track so these four could go at it? Regardless, the battle raged throughout the pack, while up front it was Canard and Jesseman who first took to their duel, and Canard threw the first blow getting around him as the two actually gapped Villopoto a bit and even more so on Grant who seemed to already be a non-factor. Then on lap four, Jesseman made a bobble just before one of the tricky rhythm sections. At that point, Jesseman immediately fell off the pace just enough to allow Villopoto to get by and set off on a chase for what would decide the championship.