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THO AMA Supercross Series/THO FIM World Supercross Grand Prix Series After the first five laps, it seemed like he started catching us. He was definitely a man possessed." Toward the end of the race, Windham, Carmichael and Reed had made up noticeable ground on Stewart, who admitted backing off a bit the second half of the race. "The track was really tough tonight, a lot of ruts," Stewart said. "We lapped up so far it was hard to move around, and I collided with a couple of guys in the air. I just kind of got lucky. I slowed it down - I definitely slowed it down. The track was getting worse and worse, and Iwas catching a lot of the lappers, and they were still battling me - they were in the top 10 and they wanted to continue racing." Stewart offiCially crossed the finish line 6.050 seconds ahead of Windham, who was followed in qUick succession by Carmichael and Reed. Stewart lapped up to fifth place. "I went back home this week and put a lot of laps in," Stewart said. "I feel like every week I'm getting stronger. It was a good night and I felt strong all race. It's all about getting a good start and getting out in front and doing your own thing." For Windham, getting a well-earned second was very confident-inspiring. "It was a slow process building confidence after three or four get-offs [earlier in the season]," Windham said of his newfound speed. "In the past when I don't ride well, people are qUick to say that I'm out of shape. I'm physically fit. It's all about confidence, and it took me a while to get over that hump. I'm here now, and it feels great. I think I showed that performance at the beginning of the season, then all of a sudden it got interrupted by crashes, so it's good to be back." Even though Carmichael clinched the World GP title and can clinch the AMA title at the next round in Houston, Carmichael was obviously disappointed with his result at Seattle and as of late. "The track was really, really rutty, and I struggled all night through the little section of whoops," Carmichael said, "[Windham and Stewart] were head and shoulders better. I'm not the same rider I was at the beginning of the season. I don't know what the problem is. I don't know if it's me or something inside of me that goes into a more conservative mode; it's a pretty tough pill to swallow. That was a 28 APRil 27, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS pretty poor performance on my behalf. I feel like I'm charging, but evidently I'm not. It's a little disappointing, a bittersweet day for me. But I did what I had to do it. It's not the way I want to do it, but that's the way it goes. I want to congratulate Kevin and Bubba on great rides." Carmichael says that he is riding a little conservative as the series winds down, but he also says that he is still trying to win and is frustrated that he has now gone six straight races without a victory. "[I'm riding] conservative, yeah," he said. "It's frustrating. I'm sick at myself; I don't know what my problem is. I dominated at St. Louis; the next weekend Iwas a second slower a lap. You don't get that much slower in one week, I don't care who you are. I've been struggling since then. We've been working on it but really haven't been going anywhere. I think it's something that's inside of you that you can't feel. It just kind of happens. It's frustrating, because it happened to me a couple of years ago. When the ['OS] season started, I said that if I'm in the position to win, I ain't going to let that happen again this year. I'm doing exactly what I didn't want to do." Finishing fifth on the night was Amsoil/ Chaparral Honda's Mike LaRocco, who held that position from the second lap on. Vuillemin, who ran third on the first lap, finished sixth. eN OwEST FIELD 5EArnE, WASHINGTON RESULTS: APRIL 16, 2005 (ROUNDS 14/16 OF 15/17) HEAT I (8 laps, 1-4 transfer): I. James Stewart (Kaw): 2. Ernesto Fonseol (Hon): 3. Sebastien Tortelli (Suz): "1. Tim Ferry (Yam): 5. Chad Reed (Yam); 6. Erick Vallejo (Yam); 7. Doug Dehaan (Hon); 8. Cole Siebler (Suz); 9. Dennis Ewing (Hon); 10. Jake Christensen (Hon); II. Ted Campbell (Hon); 12. Josh Cox (Yam); 13. Forrest Buder (Hon); 14. Tim Hawthome (Hon): I S. Josh Bagge (Hon); 16. Brett Boehm (Suz): 17. Brian Goodin (Hon); 18. Travis Smith (Hon); 19. Scott Adolphsen (Hon). HEAT 2 (8 laps, 1--4 transfer): t. Ricky Carmichael (Suz): 2. David Vuillemin (Yam); J. Travis Preston (Hon); 4. Jason Thomas (Hon); 5. Heath Voss (Yam); 6. Isaiah Johnson (Yam); 7. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 8. Justin Buckelew (Hon); 9. Brandon Butler (Hon); 10. Daniel Blair (Yam); t I. Derek Leist (Hon); 12. Vincent Blair (Suz); I J. Pedro Gonzalez (Yam); 14. Travis Bannister (Hon); 15. Donald Wanat (Suz); 16. Karsten Butler (Hon); 17. Jamey Grosser (Hon); 18. Logan Darien (Yam). HEAT J (8 laps, 1-4 transfer): I. Kevin Windham (Hon); 2. Mike laRocco (Hon); 3. Tyler Evans (Suz); 1. Damon Huffman (Hon); S. Keith R. Johnson (Yam); 6. Joseph Oehlhof (Hon); 7. Ryan Clark (Hon); 8. Thomas Hofmaster (Suz); 9. Kevin W. JohnSOfl (Yam); 10. Matt Shue (Su.): 1I. Rkky Jur.>do (Hon): 12. Boandon Thomas (Hon): I J. Brian Mason (Hen); 11. Chris Barren (Hon); 15. Joel King (Yam); 16. Jlri Dostal (Hon); 17. Todd Carlson (Hon); 18. Bilty Binckley (Yam). SEMI I (6 laps, I·] transfer): I. Reed: 2. Buckelew: J. Isaiah Johnson; 4. Vallejo; 5. Ewing; 6. Dehaan; 7. Daniel Blair; 8. Campbell; 9. Siebler; 10. Darien; 1I. Vincent Blair; 12. Cox; I J. Boehm; 14. Butler; 15. Bagge; 16. Bannister;