Last week in Dallas, Texas Team Yamaha’s Chad Reed ran second to Team Kawasaki’s James Stewart for most of the race before crashing on the final lap and handing the position to Team Makita Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael.
This week at the Silver Dome in Pontiac, Michigan, round 13 of the THQ AMA Supercross Series (14 of the THQ World Supercross Grand Prix Series), Reed started the night by posting the fastest lap time of the day in the second 250cc practice session. Then in his heat race he finished a close second to Amsoil/Chaparral/Honda’s Kevin Windham while Stewart took a decisive win over Carmichael in his heat race – setting the stage for an interesting main event. And it didn’t disappoint.
The holeshot went to Windham, who was followed by Team Yamaha’s Heath Voss, Reed, Carmichael and then Stewart. It took a few laps for things to calm down and once they did Windham had a respectable lead over Carmichael, Reed and Stewart.
In the beginning, Stewart was steadily working his way up but he slid out on lap four, dropping back to seventh and effectively ending his chances for a win. With that all eyes turned to the battle up front.
Halfway through the race Carmichael and Reed, who were in second and third, respectively, started to catch Windham. On lap 12 Reed passed Carmichael and pulled up to Windham. Carmichael remained in third. Reed battled with the Honda rider for a few laps before making a pass stick on lap 16. From there Reed rode away, with Carmichael also passing Windham to finsh second. At the finish it was Reed with a 1.774-second win over his Suzuki rival. Windham was third, another 8.701 seconds back.
Going into this Pontiac – the final round of the 125cc Eastern Regional Supercross Series – the championship was tight. Team Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Grant Langston led Team Red Bull KTM’s Josh Hansen by just seven points, with Team Makita Suzuki’s Davi Millsaps just 10 points back from the lead. Anything could happen.
The start saw Boost Mobile Yamaha of Troy’s Kelly Smith take the holeshot followed by Amsoil/Chaparral/Honda’s Joaquim Rodrigues, while Hansen was back in fourth and Langston in sixth. Millsaps was buried even further back in 10th.
On the third lap, Hansen moved into the lead and never looked back, leaving Langston to deal with Rodrigues for second. Meanwhile, Millsaps was quietly working his way up. On lap 11, after a battle with Langston, Millsaps moved into second, dropping Langston back to fourth. Millsaps then set his sights on Hansen, putting together lap times that were consistently faster than the KTM rider’s. On the 13th lap, he was on Hansen’s rear fender. Millsaps, however, went down, giving Hansen a comfortable lead for the last two laps. The finishing order went: Hansen, Millsaps, who passed Rodrigues for second with a lap to go, Rodrigues and Langston.
As for the championship, Hansen and Langston tied in points, but the title went to Langston by virtue of his three race wins to Hansen’s two.
RESULTS
250 MAIN (20 laps): 1. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. Ricky Carmichael (Suz); 3. Kevin Windham (Hon); 4. James Stewart (Kaw); 5. Mike LaRocco (Hon); 6. David Vuillemin (Yam); 7. Heath Voss (Yam); 8. Travis Preston (Hon); 9. Timmy Ferry (Yam); 10. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 11. Tyler Evans (Suz); 12. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 13. Jason Thomas (Hon); 14. Ryan Clark (Hon); 15. Damon Huffman (Hon); 16. Keith Johnson (Yam); 17. Doug Dehaan (Hon); 18. Jiri Dostal (Hon); 19. Sebastien Tortelli (Suz); 20. Clark Stiles (Suz).
125 MAIN (15 laps): 1. Josh Hansen (KTM); 2. Davi Millsaps (Suz); 3. Joaquim Rodrigues (Hon); 4. Grant Langston (Kaw); 5. Steve Boniface (Hon); 6. Kelly Smith (Yam); 7. Justin Buckelew (Hon); 8. Branden Jessemen (Suz); 9. Josh Grant (Hon); 10. Brock Sellards (Yam); 11. Jacob Saylor (Yam); 12. Greg Schnell (Hon); 13. Chad Johnson (Yam); 14. Tucker Hibbert (Hon); 15. Donnie Mcgourty (Hon); 16. Brad Ripple (Suz); 17. Tyson Hadsell (Yam); 18. Tommy Hofmaster (Suz); 19. Jeff Dement (Suz); 20. Matt Walker (Kaw); 21. Troy Adams (Hon); 22. Ryan Mills (KTM).
