Amsoil/Chaparral/Napster Honda’s Kevin Windham is a wise man who is not afraid to admit to making mistakes.
How fortunate for Windham, then, that his championships hopes have not been seriously dumbed down by the crashes that he suffered at both the Anaheim II and San Francisco rounds of the THQ AMA Supercross Series. Two weeks ago, a crash at Angel Stadium dropped Windham back in the pack, but he was able to rebound and finish third in the main event. Another crash at SBC Park last weekend knocked him off the podium for the first time this season and ended a streak of podium and top-five finishes dating back to last season. Somehow, Windham has been lucky to avoid taking a serious beating in the points standings. He currently trails Ricky Carmichael by 16 points coming into Anaheim III, 79-95.
“I just made a couple mistakes these last couple weeks, but that’s all part of racing, part of the fun,” Windham said. “I have no doubt that I’m still a good rider with good speed, and that I have what it takes to win. Ricky is riding strong, and Chad is riding strong. No surprises. We’re not anywhere different than we were before. Last time, [Anaheim III] I fell here and Chad fell here, so it can happen. But I hit my head, and going into San Fran I was still little cloudy and didn’t make wise decisions on the track.”
Windham said that he elected to take this past week a little more lightly, favoring a less rigorous training schedule and no time on the practice track.
“I took the week off,” he said. “Sometimes you have to do that. This is a tough game, and I hit my head pretty good, so I took the time off, and maybe tomorrow night I will make wiser decisions on the track.”
Like reigning AMA Supercross Champion Chad Reed, Windham said that while he isn’t wishing bad luck on anyone in the series, he knows from experience how quickly it can strike, and how the rest of the field must be ready to capitalize of it should happen to Carmichael.
“Ricky is riding strong, but it is still a long ways to go,” Windham said. “You just never what could happened. It happened to us [Windham and Reed]. If you’re within 25 points heading into Vegas, then you don’t give up. You never give up.”
Even if, as Carmichael also suggested, the series is moving by quickly for Windham.
“Time’s getting faster and faster as I get older,” Windham said. “I’m 27 now, and I remember when I was 16, five races seemed like an eternity. But now it just keeps going quicker and quicker, and from what I understand, I keep getting faster and faster. I’m still having fun with it, and it has been a good couple rounds. I made a couple mistakes, but I’ll learn from those and be back.”
Speaking of comebacks American Honda’s Travis Preston is set to make his first THQ AMA Supercross Series start of the season. Recall that Preston practiced at Anaheim II two weeks ago before opting not to take part in the racing. Now on more solid physical footing after returning from his shoulder and knee problems, Preston is ready to give it a go.
“I can do 15 laps now,” Preston joked. “The goal is 20 laps. It would be my dream to finish a main event.”