Chad Reed entered round seven of the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series in third place in the series point standings and, after an unbelievable set of circumstances, the Team Yamaha rider left the stadium with the series points lead.
Reed passed early leader Ivan Tedesco on lap 11 of the 20-lap main event, held in the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St Louis, Missouri, and went on to post his first win of the season, while both of his main rivals, Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart, succumbed to various problems.
Carmichael’s problems started in his heat race, where he crashed hard in the whoops while enjoying a healthy lead. The Team Makita Suzuki rider remounted and continued on, but pulled into the pits after a lap. Carmichael returned to win his semi, despite complaining of a sore neck, and then he started the main event, but after colliding with Subway/Honda’s Jason Thomas in the first turn, Carmichael called it a night with a broken shock, which accured after the first-turn crash.
In the meantime, Tedesco was running up front and for 10 laps held off Reed, who was in turn, holding Stewart at bay.
Finally, Reed cut under Tedesco in a bermed left-hander and took the lead on lap 11, while Stewart played it cool in third. However, a lap later, Stewart clipped a Tuff-Block and went down. The crash knocked his clutch lever upwards, and when Stewart picked the bike up, the motor stalled. Stewart struggled to get the bike started, and when it did, he had lost a full lap to Reed and Tedesco.
From there, Stewart cruised to an eventual 17th overall finish, while Reed lead Tedesco and Team Honda’s Ernesto Fonseca to the checkers. MDK/Motorsport Honda’s Nick Wey finished fourth.
Reed now leads the series standings after seven rounds with 149 points, while Carmichael and Stewart hold down second and third with 140 and 132, respectively.
In the Lites division, Team Honda’s Davi Millsaps worked his way up from a mid-pack start, passing early leader Josh Hansen on lap nine of the 15-lap main event, to win the opening round of the East Region Lites series. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Chris Gosselaar passed the Red Bull KTM-mounted Hansen a lap later and went on to finish second, while Yamaha of Troy’s Branden Jesseman followed suit and passed Hansen for third. Hansen later admitted to suffering from severe arm pump.
SX MAIN (20 laps):
1. Chad Reed (Yam)
2. Ivan Tedesco (Suz)
3. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon)
4. Nick Wey (Hon)
5. Travis Preston (Hon)
6. Michael Byrne (Kaw)
7. Michael Brown (Suz)
8. Timmy Ferry (Hon)
9. Ryan Clark (Hon)
10. Jason Thomas (Hon)
SX LITES MAIN (15 laps):
1. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
2. Chris Goesselaar (Kaw)
3. Branden Jesseman (Yam)
4. Josh Hansen (KTM)
5. Tommy Hahn (Hon)
6. Steve Boniface (Hon)
7. Sean Hamblin (Suz)
8. Teddy Maier (Kaw)
9. Robert Kiniry (Hon)
10. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)
