Motocross season set to open in Southern California

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The 2009 pro motocross season begins Saturday with a race at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino and a title chase that’s wide open.

James Stewart, who won the championship in dominant fashion last year and then captured this year’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series title for the second time, is not scheduled to compete in motocross this year. (Supercross is the stadium version of off-road motorcycle racing, or motocross.)

But Stewart’s arch-rival Chad Reed, the Suzuki rider and two-time supercross champ who fell four points shy of Stewart for this year’s supercross crown, announced Tuesday that he will compete in the 12-race Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

Other riders expected to race include Suzuki’s Mike Alessi, Honda’s Andrew Short, Kawasaki riders Tim Ferry and Ryan Villopoto, and Josh Grant of Riverside, a Yamaha rider for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The Glen Helen race course, just west of Interstate 215, is one of the series’ most difficult circuits, with three hills that are among the steepest in the sport.

--Jim Peltz