Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128361
t was billed as the most highly anticipated supercross race ever: You had James" Bubba" Stewart, the winningest I25cc racer of all time, making his 25Occ-c1ass debut; you had seventime Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath coming out of retirement and making his first Supercross start in over two years; you had three-time Supercross Champion Ricky Carmichael back in the fracas again; and, of course, on the grid you had Chad Reed, who wanted nothing more than to show the pundits just why he is the defending AMA Supercross Champion. No wonder the race was sold out more than a month in advance. But when it was time to stop talking and start raciog, it was the pretty much overlooked Kevin Windham who proudly stood atop the podium fol- I lowing the opening round of the THQ AMA Supercross Series at a very wet Angel Stadium. And right next to him on the podium was his Amsoil/Chaparral/Napster Honda teammate Mike LaRocco, while Carmichael squeaked onto the podium in third after getting off to what was a very promising start to the race. Despite the miserable conditions, the much-hyped race still attracted a huge crowd that braved a gloomy night of steady rain all evening. But the faithful and true hard-core supercross fans were rewarded with an abbreviated 12-1ap race that they won't soon forget. You might say that this one, unlike many other highly anticipated races in the past, lived up to its high expectations - just not quite in the way that everyone was expecting. 14 JANUARY 19,2005 • CYCLE NEWS Instead of an all-out dogfight on a dry, perfectly groomed track, Anaheim I turned into a mud bath and a battle more of survival than of grace and outright speed. It was a race that saw just about everybocly in the final crash at least once as they negotiated the slippery whoops and slimy rhythm sections, looking as though it was their first time on a motorcycle. And because of the adverse conditions, the field evened out more than anyone had dreamed. This one was truly anybody's race. Nevertheless, all eyes were focused on the big three - Stewart, Carmichael and Reed - as they lined up for a race that certainly wouldn't win any of them the championship but could easily end their chances. In the aftennath, that just may have happened to the Australian Reed. In a mud race, any- thing can happen, which Reed, unfortunately for him, found out firsthand. In the early stages of the main event, as the rain fell, it looked as though Carmichael, on his Mike Gosselaar-tuned Team Makita Suzuki RM250, would simply run away with it. On the wettest section of the track, the start chute, Cannichael's Suzuki actually caught enough traction to loft his RM's front end high into the air as he surged forward and nabbed the holeshot just inches ahead of Windham's 450cc four-stroke Honda, one of only a few four-strokes in the race. Carmichael, full of confidence after having won his earlier heat race, which was also the fastest heat race by over a minute, quickly started pulling away after he cleared a tricky triple jump that