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/128373
affects at Dallas. "Monday I fell - took a handlebar to the gut and had to go to the hospital," he said. "I thought I busted out my stomach. That's no excuse, but when stuff like that happens, it makes it tough. I'm pumped that I was okay for the week and slowly got better as the weekend went out." careening off the track and crashing in spectacular fashion. "The flagman was sitting there dangling the yellow flag, and I came over and landed square on his bike," Carmichael said. '" went flying off the track. It was dangerous. When you hit metal to metal like that, it's not a pretty sight." when Reed came fighting back. In fact, Carmichael uncharacteristically backed off and let Reed have second. Carmichael admitted after that he was thinking of the title when Reed was pressuring him, so RC let the defending champ have his way. "Yes, definitely," Carmichael answered when asked if he's now racing for the title. '" don't want to get taken out and don't want to put myself in a bad position." Also, Carmichael still had the first corner on mind when he let Reed by him. "They're going to try to do anything they can [to win the championship], which is no problem," Carmichael said. "I would probably do the same thing, but that's the way it goes. He [Reed] got a little aggressive on the start. I can understand that; he's trying everything he can. The bummer part is that I have to watch my back - can't really race - and protect my inside line and not put myself in a position to where things can go wrong." Reed reportedly denied doing anything overly aggressive on purpose. After letting Reed by, Carmichael seemed content riding in third and tagging along with Reed. Carmichael made no real attempt to run him down until late in the race, when things got a little interesting, but second place was suddenly handed to him when Reed fell over in a turn while trying to get around a lapped rider on the final go around. "It was the last lap and I felt like I had to do what I had to do to stay there," an obviously disappointed Reed said. "I came up on Travis Preston, and he kind of went into the berm in the middle, and I was expecting him to go to the outside, and he just kind of came to a stop as I went to turn underneath him and hit his back wheel. There was nothing I could do." Preston said that he thought Reed was going to go under him and didn't actually feel Reed's bike touch his. For Carmichael, it was a welcomed break in his favor. "I kind of got it handed it to me, but you know what, that's the way it goes," he said. "I've handed it to them many times, so I'll take it." As for Reed, the Dallas race was an obvious bummer. He's fighting for every point and his obvious goal is to finish in "When you hit metal to metal like that it's not a pretty sight. "-RICKYCARMICHAEL Leading up to the main, Carmichael was - for him - noticeably off the pace, his lap times were fourth quickest going into the evening's program. And a crash in his heat race while running a distant second to Reed didn't help his confidence any, but at least the crash wasn't his to blame. A lapped rider crashed in a rhythm section and Carmichael came off a jump and landed on the downed motorcycle, sending RC Carmichael was not injured in the incident, but he was forced to ride a semi that he easily won. In the main, Carmichael got slammed by Reed in the first turn (and he wasn't too happy about it, either) and settled into third, behind Stewart and Reed. When Reed bobbled on the second lap, Carmichael actually had second in his grasp but didn't put up any kind of resistance front of Carmichael in the remaining five races if he has any chance of retaining the Supercross crown. Handing Carmichael second place like that on the last lap was hard for Reed to take. "It was a tough one to swallow because it was the last lap and I felt I could hold on to second," Reed said. And Reed gave up any chance he had of winning the final when he nearly crashed Briefly... Red Bull/Cemic's Travis Pastrana returned to action at Dallas, but things did not go too great for the Suzuki-backed rider. The day started out well enough as he held the third-quickest lap time going into the evening's program and rode impressively right up to the point when he bailed hard over the whoops while running near the front in the first heat race. Pastrana's front wheel dropped between two whoops, catapulting him over the handlebars. The Suzuki rider laid on the track motionless for a while before limping off back to the pits. He returned and nearly won his semi but did not show up for the main. Pastrana reportedly did not realize that he had severely cut both knees in the crash until after the semi. He received stitches in both legs. Team Honda's Jeremy McGrath was expected to return to the Supercross Series next week at Pontiac, but the seven-time Supercross champ says that he will not suit up in Michigan. McGrath is still bothered by the ribs that he injured at Anaheim III. According to Team Honda manager Erik Kehoe, it is likely that McGrath will not ride anymore Supercross rounds this year. He might, however, ride a National or two. Just four points separated Tyler Evans, on the Bloodshot/Skaterade/No Fear Suzuki, and Damon Huffman, on the Team ECC.com/Honda, going into the Dallas Supercross, and that's significant since they're battling for top privateer honors. During practice, Evans crashed hard, hitting his head and suffering other injuries, but he soldiered on to finish 13th in the main. Huffman crashed in the main and finished 18th. Evans now leads Huffman by nine points with four races left. Longtime Yamaha rider Ryan Clark was all red at Dallas. The Team Solitaire.com/Fly Racing rider not only switched to riding Hondas, but he also changed strokes, from Continued on poge 21 CYCLE NEWS • APRIL 13, 2005 17