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
th three riders log-jammed at the top of the standings of the 125cc Eastern Region Supercross Championship and only two rounds remaining on the schedule, the penultimate round of the series at Texas Stadium had all the makings of a classic confrontation. The series had taken on several different twists and turns during the previous five rounds and was going down to the wire with all three contenders healthy and riding their best. Going into the event, Team Red Bull KTM's Josh Hansen and Team Monster/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Grant Langston were tied atop the standings, with Team Makita Suzuki rider Davi Millsaps only seven points behind. For all intents and purposes, the Texas round would boil down as a make-or-break event for the trio, and if the fireworks provided in the first heat race were any indication, it was shaping up to be an outright brawl. Compared to the heat races, however, the main event was almost boring, and when all was said and done, Langston, the former I25cc World and National MX Champion, claimed his third win of the year and left Texas as the clear favorite to win his first-ever Supercross title. "The championship was pretty close, and a lot of people were telling me that if I get a second here or a third there, I could still win, and that's probably true, but I definitely wanted to come here and win," said Langston, who took his first-ever Supercross win at Texas Stadium in 200 I. "It's great to win, and this gave me a bit of a gap and allows me to sleep a little bit better this week. I think every time I try to change things up and be cautious, that's when bad things happen. So I just wanted to ride like I normally do and not do anything stupid." Despite the anticlimactic ending, the evening's program began with a roller ball-like first heat. Perhaps the evening's fireworks actually began at Daytona three weeks before, where aggressive riding by both Hansen and Amsoil/Chaparral/Factory Connection Honda's Josh Grant left both riders in the dirt. Some of that aggression would ultimately spill over onto the Texas Stadium floor and have a substantial effect on the final outcome. Millsaps and Hansen began the night by facing off in an old fashioned knock-down-drag-out duel, passing each other several times while dicing for the lead. Millsaps had gotten a rare holeshot, pushing Hansen out wide in the process. Hansen rebounded by taking the lead a turn later. an exchange that would be repeated several times over the course of the first lap. On lap two, in a slick left-hander, Hansen punted Millsaps off the track. "We were just messing around at first," Millsaps said, "and I wasn't trying to take him out. I passed him clean every time and never hit him once. He just came in and cleaned me right W Here, Josh Hansen (100) punts Dav; Millsaps off the track in the first heat race. CYCLE NEWS. APRIL 13, 2005 19