Qualification report for Houston Supercross - MotorSportsTalk

The three riders chasing Cooper Webb all posted top-four timed practice speeds while the points leader landed eighth on the chart for Round 13 of the Supercross season at Houston, Texas.

With a time of 47.386 in Session 1. Ken Roczen posted the fastest time of the day – barely .052 seconds faster than Dean Wilson (47.438).

Eli Tomac (47.580) was third on the grid with Marvin Musquin (47.879) taking the fourth spot.

Meanwhile, Webb (48.315) was about midway down the order of riders who automatically lock into three Mains that make up the third and final Triple Crown event.

Kyle Chisholm was the 18th fastest and final rider to lock in. Adam Enticknap (50.120) was the first rider on the outside looking in and needed to qualify via the Last Chance Qualifier.

Last Chance Qualifier: Austin Politelli transferred easily with his 3.196 second win over Adam Enticknap. … Carlen Gardner and Charles Lefrancois rounded out the top four riders wo advance to the Main. … The action was deeper in the field. Battling for fifth, Ryan Breece clipped a tough block and was pitched from his bike. Adding injury to insult, Scott Champion ran over the rolling body of Breece.

Click here for combined qualifying results

MORE: Marvin Musquin carries momentum to Houston

In the 250 class:

Adam Cianciarulo (47.431) edged last week’s winner Dylan Ferrandis (47.517) for fast time.

Chris Blose (48.494), RJ Hampshire (48.710) and Colt Nichols (48.790) rounded out the top five.

Nichols is looking to rebound from last week’s disappointing finish I Seattle.

Last Chance Qualifier: Vann Martin crashed off course while leading and fell to seventh. His accident handed the lead to Brandan Leith, who handily won by almost three seconds over Killian Auberson. … Mathias Jorgensen rounded out the top three. … Martin Castelo benefitted most from Martin’s fall to climb to the fourth and final transfer spot.

Click here for combined qualifying results

Qualification each week can be seen live with NBC’s Sport Gold Supercross / Motocross season pass, which can be purchased at https://www.nbcsports.com/gold.

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Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”