After a season of unbelievably close racing a champion has been crowned.
This weekend at round 15 of the THQ AMA Supercross Series at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, Team Makita Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael became the 2005 THQ AMA 250 Supercross Champion. The title is his fourth in 250 supercross and his 12th major AMA title. For Suzuki it is the first championship since Mark Barnett won the 1981 AMA 250 Supercross title.
This year Carmichael has won seven rounds of the THQ AMA Supercross Series, more than any other rider this year. He hasn’t, however, won since round eight in Atlanta, Georgia. This weekend in Houston Carmichael did what he needed to do to win the title – he finished third, behind Team Yamaha’s Chad Reed.
The winner of the night was Team Kawasaki’s James Stewart. After a hard fall in his heat race Stewart came back to win his semi, and then the main. It was Stewart’s second win in a row and his third of the season. Even more impressive is the fact that the 250 rookie has done all of this in the last five races he has entered.
The start of the main saw Team Moto XXX’s Kyle Lewis take the holeshot aboard his mighty Honda 450. Behind him Stewart, Reed, Carmichael and Amsoil/Chaparral/Honda’s Kevin Windham got sorted out before all four moved around Lewis by the third lap. From there Stewart rode away.
Meanwhile, Reed and Carmichael engaged in a battle for second, swapping positions several times. On lap four Reed made a pass stick and began to set his sights on Stewart out front. Windham remained in fourth.
By the halfway mark Stewart, Reed and Carmichael began to move into lap traffic. This allowed Reed to make up time on Stewart, however, it wasn’t enough. By the last lap Reed was only a few seconds back, and when the checkered flag came out the deficit from first to second was a mere 1.685 seconds. Carmichael finished third another 15.68 seconds down, good enough for the title. Windham was even further back in fourth, while Reed’s teammate David Vuillemin completed the top-five.
When Team Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ivan Tedesco wrapped up the 125 West Coast Title at the previous round Houston the stage was set for Houston to be one exciting race – it didn’t disappoint.
The start of the 125 class saw Team Honda’s Andrew Short take the $1000 Butterfinger Holeshot Award. Behind him were Team Amsoil/Chaparral/Honda’s Billy Laninovich and Team Makita Suzuki’s Broc Hepler. Meanwhile, newly crowned 2005 champion Tedesco was in last after going down in the first turn.
On the second lap Hepler moved into second, with Short out front and Laninovich in third. For most of the race these three riders steadily pulled away from the rest of the field, while Tedesco was buried outside the top-10. In 11th was last round’s winner, Team Red Bull KTM’s Nathan Ramsey.
Slowly Hepler chipped away at Short’s lead, while Laninovich rode consistently in third. Around lap 11 the top-three came upon lappers allowing Hepler to close in on Short. On the last lap Hepler and Short began a fierce battle until Hepler made a pass stick it seemed to be Hepler’s race until the final turn. Diving under Hepler in the last turn Short made an aggressive pass for the win. The move caused Hepler to run into the Honda rider’s rear wheel and go down. Short took the checkered flag while Hepler picked himself up. Hepler’s fall also allowed Laninovich to take second. Hepler crossed the line third. After a spirited ride Tedesco finished a disappointing eighth. Ramsey finished sixth.
Results:
250 MAIN (20 laps): 1. James Stewart (Kaw); 2. Chad Reed (Yam); 3. Ricky Carmichael (Suz); 4. Kevin Windham (Hon); 5. David Vuillemin (Yam); 6. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 7. Jason Thomas (Hon); 8. Timmy Ferry (Yam); 9. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 10. Ryan Clark (Hon); 11. Heath Voss (Yam); 12. Damon Huffman (Hon); 13. Joe Oehlhof (Hon); 14. Sebastien Tortelli (Suz); 15. Tyler Evans (Suz); 16. Erick Vallejo (Yam); 17. Justin Buckelew (Hon); 18. Jiri Dostal (Hon); 19. Travis Preston (Hon); 20. Doug Dehaan (Hon).
125 MAIN (15 laps): 1. Andrew Short (Hon); 2. Billy Laninovich (Hon); 3. Broc Hepler (Suz); 4. Jay Marmont (KTM); 5. Josh Summey (Hon); 6. Nathan Ramsey (KTM); 7. Paul Carpenter (Kaw); 8. Ivan Tedesco (Kaw); 9. Brett Metcalfe (Yam); 10. Ryan Morais (Suz); 11. Turbo Reif (Hon); 12. Sean Collier (Hon); 13. Chris Gosselaar (Suz); 14. Jesse Casillas (Hon); 15. Ryan Abrigo (Hon); 16. Eric Nye (Yam); 17. Billy Swapp (Hon); 18. Logan Darien (Yam); 19. Bryan Johnson (Yam); 20. Johnny Marley (Hon); 21. Justin Keeney (Kaw); 22. Josh Woods (Suz).
