Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

The crowd booed James Stewart after he tangled with Windham in the second mota while battling for the runner-up position. This was the crash that everyone was talking about on Sunday. Windham gat up, caught Stewart and eventually possed the Kawasoki rider. close second. Carmichael didn't get one of his better starts and was back in sixth, but that wouldn't last for long. By the second lap, Carmichael was holding down third and was knocking on Stewart's back door. Moments later, Carmichael was out in front, but he had some help getting there. While leading, Reed suddenly came to a stop when a rock caused the chain to jump off the sprockets. The sudden loss of momentum caught Stewart off guard, and the two collided. "I don't know, he [Reed] just kind of hit neutral in front of me, and I thought he was going to go," Stewart said. "So I went past him. When I went past him, he kind of almost fell over, and I hit him really hard. I almost fell myself, I stalled my bike, and Ricky got around both of us." As it turned out, the rock did more than just derail Reed's chain - it also derailed his title hopes. Reed walked back to the pits with a bent shift lever and cracked engine cases. After that, Carmichael took over, and there was nothing Stewart could do about it. By the sixth lap, Carmichael had nearly a IS-second lead. "That [the collision] was the end of that," Stewart said. "I tried catching him, but he had too much of a cushion on me." For Carmichael, he took full advantage of the gift that was given to him on the second lap. "It seemed like it was going to be good in the first moto," Carmichael said. "[But] Bubba and Chad had a run in, and I was able to sneak by and get a nice lead. So I kind of had a little gift given to me." With Reed out, the door was wide open for Team Amsoil/Chaparral/Honda's Kevin Windham to move up the ladder. And he did just that, as he took over third on lap three and was never challenged. He did admit, though, that he had to hold back slightly. "The first moto I got a wobble in my wheel, because I came up just a little bit short on laRocco's Leap," Windham said. "This place is infamous for blowing out wheels. So I got a little bit nervous there in the first moto and just made it through." When it was all over, Carmichael was almost 20 seconds ahead of Stewart, with Windham another IS seconds back of Stewart. Meanwhile, back in the pits, the Yamaha crew frantically changed motors on Reed's wounded Darren Sorinsontuned YZF4S0. As everyone lined up for the second moto, Reed was left the last gate pick, which ended up being on the far outside. Carmichael took the holeshot, with Stewart settling in close behind. This time, Windham got a better start and was right on Stewart's rear fender. As Carmichael steadily pulled away, Stewart and Windham engaged in a battle that had the estimated 30,000 fans Briefly... It might not look like it, but Kevin Windham admitted that he has been riding with a slight injury for the past few weeks. "I've developed a little bit of a hernia from, well, Idon't even know what," Windham said. "So I'll have to get that fixed in the off-season. It's getting bigger, so that's something I need to focus on, and keep my health." Kevin Windham also confirmed that he has indeed signed with Honda again and with it, perhaps, will have less racing. '" just got finished signing my new Honda deal for another two years," Windham said. "This next contract is going to bring me to 3D, and it's definitely time to start weighing out a half season probably at that point." As reported before, Team Cernics/Suzuki is planning on fielding a much larger team next year. Team manager Ron Meridith said that the team plans on having at least two more riders and possibly a semi. As for its number-one rider, Travis Pastrana, Meridith says that Pastrana plans on doing a limited amount of racing next year. This year, Pastrana is going to do X Games supermoto and freestyle. Apparently, the AMA was planning on announcing the Motocross des Nations team at Red Bud. Plans changed,howeve~ when they hit a snag. "Unfortunately, I can't give you an answer on the Motocross des Nations team yet," AMA Pro Racing manager Steve Whitlock said. "We had expected to announce the team yesterday, but there was a little catch in the game, so we are now trying to get back to it. Hopefully, we should have the Motocross des Nations team announcement at Unadilla." The television coverage of the outdoor Nationals hit yet another bump in the road this weekend. Since the Tour de France is taking place, OLN is holding all of its motocross racing for 27 days until the Tour is over. That means Red Bud will not air until late July. As for television coverage for the 2006 Supercross season, Steve Whitlock says it is going to be a lot better. "The Supercross television is going to be different next year," Whitlock said. 'Probably there are going to be some on network television, probably NBC. I've been told between five and seven events are going to be on network television." Continued on poge '9 CYCLE NEWS • JULY 13,2005 17

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