The 2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series is in it's home stretch. With Round 12 of 17 coming up this weekend, the premier Supercross class title chase has been whittled down to just two riders with a reasonable chance of winning. The series' support class - Supercross Lites - on the other hand, is not suffering from such an issue. In fact, as the East regional riders enter their final three rounds, the title is still very much up for grabs. The real story is about those riders who were considered wildcards before the season began, and how they've managed to put a kink in the armor of the rider now known as "Superman".

It's a classic showdown; rookies vs. veterans; first-timers vs. a world champ; U.S.A. vs. The World; the East regional Supercross Lites championship has provided much of the best racing that this entire Supercross season has offered. Defending champ, Frenchman Christophe Pourcel and his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250F, came into the opening round at Indianapolis as a clear favorite. He was fast, smooth, consistent and utterly untouchable for most of last season's title run, and there was no reason to think this time around would be any different. The 2007 MX2 (250cc) World Champion was the picture of confidence and precision as he methodically dissected the track (and the competition) in that opener, winning with an ease so apparent that there was already talk of him running the table on the competition for the remainder of the series.

Then the racing moved to Atlanta, and everything changed. Never looking quite as dominant as he had in Indy, Pourcel struggled a bit with the dirt and the design of the track. More importantly, his competition seemed to improve - making time on the Frenchman and even challenging and passing him on several occasions. Despite their best efforts though, those who gave Pourcel trouble during the main event were eventually dispatched with crashes or big mistakes that left the door open for the #1 green machine to snag another win. But there was no mistaking it - Pourcel could be beaten, and there were a slew of youngsters behind him that weren't intimidated and were just as hungry as he was for a title of their own.




It must have been a crushing blow to many of those same riders after the beatdown that Pourcel placed on them at Daytona. Clearly superior on the roughest and longest track of the series, Pourcel gained valuable points at Daytona that no doubt made up for what he was about to experience in the upcoming rounds. It was Toronto the following weekend that must have come as his wakeup call, where his speed was not only matched, but beaten - and beaten by a young rider in his first season of Supercross Lites competition, Justin Barcia. Referred to previously by Pourcel as "that little kid", the #17 Geico Powersports Honda-mounted New Jersey native is as rough and wild as a newcomer has ever been in this sport. Unproven in consistency, but undoubtedly as fast and furious as a summer hurricane, Barcia lead wire-to-wire in the Toronto main event, serving notice that the little kid was for real. Pourcel ended up 3rd, clearly unhappy with his ride but undoubtedly resolute in his attitude. Still with a solid points lead over sophomore phenom (and former teammate), Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Austin Stroupe, Christophe would surely find that speed again the following weekend in Dallas. Or would he?

It was a frigid evening near Irving, Texas, where the sparkling new Cowboys Stadium was decked out with a supercross track that included one very tough and spectacularly tricky first turn. What was expected to provide troubles for all of the racers before a gate even dropped proved to be possibly the lynchpin that unraveled the series for Pourcel. The #1 hit the ground in the main event - along with nearly every other title hopeful - and was forced to re-start his steed and re-mount near the back of the pack. Almost unbelievably, his two closest rivals (Stroupe and Barcia) got going well before him and the Frenchman was able to muster a charge only to 7th place by the checkers. Perhaps more importantly, second and third in points made it all the way up to 5th and 3rd, respectively, gaining valuable ground on the defending champion. What's even more remarkable is that Stroupe was able to do so after hitting the ground three additional times, and Barcia did so without the use of a front brake - in other words, there was no visible excuse for Pourcel's poor result and the hole in his armor grew exponentially.



Heading into the final two rounds, there's little question now that no single rider is in the driver's seat for the hotly contested Eastern Regional Lites Championship war. Christophe Pourcel started out as a title lock, leaving everyone else fighting over the scraps. What's happened was inconsistent riding, ineffectiveness in cutting through the pack, and just plain bad luck which has left the door open for the pack of hungry newbies to come dashing in. Austin Stroupe sits a scant 5 points out of the series lead, with Barcia just barely with a mathematical chance at winning with a 25 point gap. Coming into this weekend in Jacksonville, Pourcel is as close to his U.S. home as any race he'll compete in this year. He'll sleep in his own bed, drive his car to the track, and not have to deal with the travel that may affect him otherwise. Same can be said for Barcia, who could prove to be the real spoiler here. He's anxious to get another win under his rookie belt and, if he can get in between Stroupe and Pourcel, he's going to make a big difference in the points chase. It's unlikely that at this stage of the game that any of the moto pundits would have predicted that Stroupe would have been the most consistent rider of the series thus far, but with four 2nd place finishes and a 5th, he sure has been. The answer as to who's going to walk away with this title is anyone's guess, but one thing is for certain - the Lites class is where it's at this season, and the future looks bright. Jacksonville is a pivotal weekend, both for Pourcel's confidence and for feeding the hunger of the young guns.

Round 12 of the 2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series and Round 6 of 8 for the Eastern Regional Supercross Lites Series is this Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida. See it televised next-day on CBS this Sunday at Noon EDT for the Supercross class, and at 6PM EDT on SPEED for Lites.