Kevin Windham won a drama-filled SX-class main event that wasn’t decided until final moments of the 20-lap race tonight at Qwest Field in Seattle.
Windham, on the Torco Racing Fuels Honda, jumped out to an early lead, while points leader Chad Reed fell on the first lap and was 19th as they headed into the second lap. Windham, who trailed Reed by 13 points going into the race, was looking to reduce that gap significantly, as he opened up a big lead over the rest of the back, but on the third lap, Windham collected a Tuff Block wrapper on his footpeg that quickly got sucked into his rear wheel, forcing him to stop, get off his bike, and pull out the plastic cover. He lost five positions in the process and handed the lead over to Honda’s Andrew Short.
Windham slowly worked his way back to the front, but, unfortunately for him, so did Reed. On the 18th lap, Windham passed Short for the lead, while Reed passed Kawasaki’s Tim Ferry for fourth place. Between Windham and Reed rode Short and Honda’s Davi Millsaps, and all of them were within seconds of each other. Reed, riding on a tidal wave of momentum, slipped past Millsaps, then, moments later, tangled with Short, who wasn’t going to give up second easily to the Yamaha rider. Their little get-together held up Reed just enough to ensure victory for Windham, his fourth of the season and second in a row.
Even though Reed lost another three points to the Honda rider, Reed, on the San Manuel Yamaha, took this one almost as a victory, considering how far back he was at the beginning of the race and how many points he could’ve lost to Windham. With just one race left in the series, Reed now leads Windham by 10 points.
Third in the race went to Short, who got an earful from Reed after the race. Millsaps ended up fourth, followed by Ferry, Torco Racing Fuels/Honda’s Josh Grant (who was riding in the SX class for the first time), Yamaha’s Josh Hill and MDK KTM’s Nick Wey. Makita Suzuki’s David Vuillemin, who had to use up his provisional to get into the main, finished ninth, while Honda rider Heath Voss rounded out the top 10.
