Motocross series heads to Lake Elsinore for season finale

The nation’s leading motocross series heads to Lake Elsinore for its season finale Saturday, although the championships for its two classes of bikes already have been decided.

Ryan Villopoto of Poulsbo, Wash., has clinched the title in the premier 450 class of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, and Eli Tomac of Cortez, Colo., has clinched the title in the second-level 250 class.

The event at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park is the 12th and final round of the series, and Villopoto won seven of the first 11 rounds on his Kawasaki.

Other riders expected to compete Saturday include former 450 champions Ryan Dungey (who won the motocross title last year) and Chad Reed. California riders include Josh Grant of Riverside, Mike Alessi of Victorville and Blake Baggett of Grand Terrace.

But another former 450 champion, James Stewart, won’t be in Lake Elsinore.

Stewart’s Yoshimura Suzuki team announced Tuesday that the Florida rider would sit out the event to fully recover from an injury and prepare for the 2014 supercross season. (Supercross is the stadium version of motocross, or off-road motorcycle racing.)

The injury wasn’t disclosed, but media reports have said Stewart hurt his neck and back area prior to the Unadilla National event in New York two weeks ago and then aggravated the injury at last weekends’ race in Utah. Stewart, 27, is fifth in the point standings.

The Lake Elsinore event, called the Red Bull Lake Elsinore National, begins at 12:30 p.m. PDT Saturday.

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