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The AMA Supercross series is generically referred to as the "indoor" season or the "indoor" circuit.  However, that's not really an accurate description, as nearly a third of the races take place in stadiums and venues that don't have a roof.  That means the weather can -- and often does -- come into play. Last weekend's contest at SBC Park in San Francisco was a prime example of how a rainstorm can really mix up the event results and overall point standings.

The West Coast series is just 8 races long, which means that it only takes one bad race to end a rider's title hopes.  The key to winning the championship is consistency, which is often a tall order for the guys in the Lites class.  Just take a look at the up-and-down season of privateer Sean Collier.  He failed to qualify for the main event in the series opener at Anaheim, then put in two consecutive top-10 rides to vault right back into the top-10 in the overall standings.  But the mud and rain caused all kinds of problems for Collier, who ended up not qualifying for the main event.  Factory Connection's Jake Weimar was another top rider who had trouble with the adverse conditions.  He watched the main from the sidelines as well.

We saw new names and numbers out front right from the first heat race of the night.  The mud seemed to agree with Yamaha of Troy pilot Brett Metcalfe.  The veteran rider from Australia charged out to his first heat race win of the season and showed that the conditions weren't going to hamper him at all.  Following Metcalfe was Ryan Mills of the Rockstar Suzuki team, another rider who has been quiet for far too long.  Marco Dube finished in third, with Grant Langston right behind him in fourth, and Billy Laninovich in fifth.

Heat two brought out most of the big guns and that was clearly evident in the finishing order, with the first six guys being riders you expect to make the main event week in and week out.  Rookie sensation Ryan Villopoto scored the first heat win of his career in just his fourth Supercross.  The managers over at Pro Circuit Kawasaki must be absolutely ecstatic with their young rider.  Following the rookie were Paul Carpenter, Nathan Ramsey, Jason Lawrence, Andrew Short, and Mike Alessi.  

Just before the main event got underway, the riders were informed that the race would be shortened from its usual 15 laps to just 8 due to the nasty weather and track conditions.  That meant the start would be more critical than ever.  If a rider got a slow jump out of the gate, he probably wouldn't be able to catch up because of the mud, the rain, and the shorter race.

Villopoto grabbed the holeshot and the $1,000 bonus with Metcalfe right behind him.  I guess these guys were out to show that their heat race wins weren't just flukes.  Ramsey started in third, while Short and Langston, the other two major title contenders, were back in 12th and 18th, respectively.  Then Villopoto started experiencing problems and was losing position on the track.  After four laps, he was down to fourth place after Ramsey, Metcalfe, and Alessi all passed him by.  Meanwhile, Short and Langston weren't able to move up as quickly as they ordinarily would under dry conditions.  Short was still in 12th and Langston had passed two guys into 16th.

As expected, there wasn't much passing taking place in this race.  Most of the riders were just intent on keeping their bikes upright and not stalling out.  Finishing the race and scoring points was uppermost in everyone's minds.  As it turned out, Ramsey took the checkered flag for his second win of the season.  He was joined on the podium by Metcalfe and Alessi, both of whom earned the best finishes of their Supercross careers.  Jason Lawrence and Ryan Mills rounded out the top 5.

Ramsey's win combined with Short and Langston's relatively poor finishes means that the Red Bull KTM rider is now in sole possession of first place with 79 points.  Laninovich is in second with 74 points, while Short has 71 and Langston has 69.  The series will continue next week with the third and final stop in Anaheim.