Langston Wins Rockstar Energy Drink U.S. Open $100,000 Check

Lites Class Racer Weimer Wins Main Event
Yamaha’s Grant Langston, of Clermont, Fla., won the Rockstar
Energy Drink U.S. Open at the packed MGM Grand Garden Arena
tonight finishing 2-5 and winning $100,000. Honda’s Jake Weimer,
of Rupert, Idaho, won the main event.

“That was the craziest race of my entire life,” said an elated
Langston. “I was hit about 15 times out there tonight, and I hit 15
people myself. I didn’t know where I was at, so I kept looking at
my pit board. I never gave up tonight.”

Last night’s champion, Chad Reed, needed to win the Progressive
Holeshot and the main event tonight to win the $250,000 Trifecta
Bonus Award. Earlier in the evening, he captured the superpole,
which put him one step closer to the jackpot.

When the gate dropped, the field of 14 riders sprinted to the first
turn. Reed, Langston and Tim Ferry tangled in turn one, ending all
hopes of winning the $250,000. Weimer won the Progressive
Holeshot with fellow Honda rider Josh Demuth, of Keller, Texas, in
tow.

“I never gave up after that crash,” added Langston

On lap 11 Reed and Honda’s Andrew Short, of Smithville, Texas,
collided and crashed. Upon re-entering the race, Reed crashed
again with Langston. Weimer held on for the win, Demuth finished
second and Suzuki’s Mike Alessi, of Victorville, Calif., finished
third.

“That was an awesome race,” said Weimer. “I crashed last night
and made up for it tonight with a great start.”

Last night Reed led all 20 laps of the main event, beating
Langston and Short respectively. “I was going for the holeshot
and went down,” said Reed. “Timmy (Ferry) had a bad night last
… we race with a lot of emotion and things happen.”

Although Langston and Reed tied in overall points, Langston was
awarded the victory due to his fifth-place finish over Reed’s
eighth-place finish tonight. In the two race format, the results of
the second race take precedence over the first race.

Honda’s Mike LaRocco swept both nights of racing in the
Alpinestars Rematch race. LaRocco, who won the 2002 U.S. Open
championship, and Jeff Emig, who won the 1999 U.S. Open
championship, traded positions several times in tonight’s main
event before Emig stalled the bike in the corner, allowing LaRocco
to run away with the win. ussx.com - pics from vitalmx.com