Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Orlondo. FL Citrss SUPERCROSs Roundi t3lr I Mo..h t 8, 2()(,6 eOO6 Amp'd Mobile World SuP€rcnoss GPl Amp'd Mobile AMA SuP€rcross Scnics Mv Owtt RRce: I4 Kevin Windham 9th Place "K-Dub" made his return to racing in Orlando after breakinS his forearm three months ago and out-distanced lvan Tedesco and l"lichael B/rne to finish second in his heat race behind Ricky Carmichael. In the main Windham frnrshed the firsr lap tn eighth and on the next lap passed Chad Reed for sevenrh, but he soon started feelinS the eflects ofth€ rouSh track. "l was iustfiShting !his track all day, windham said' "l'm in shape and it is frustratin8 not to be able to put my best foot forward tonight' Ithink you saw a really stronS heat race frorn me. But in the main. I was lusr riding so tentative and not moving forward and not lookinS at rhe Sround. and not looking where lwas going. To be successful, yotl have to look so lar ahead o{ the bike, and I iust wasn't doinS thar. I was prett/ dlsapPointed, but I am healthy, l'm out here and (hat's the importanr thing. I have a mencal block with the sand, and I am lookinS for- ward to Soint to Detroit and Houslon and Setrrng on some tracks that are harder'" ffiGibson ffiffinaa'.1"r cibson cranked out ffi l:*ru t,T ::::,::*:f ;fii ffiof the main event runnint inside the lop tr, before being passed in the closint laps by Jeff Dement and finishing I lth. The linish also moved Gibson into I lth overall in the standingi. "lt was a Bood race for me," Gib- son said. "l am pumped abou( my Semi win and I had a pretty good start in the main. I ended up I lth and got a few more points back on lRyan] Clark, but lost some ro lTimmy] Ferry lr was good ni8ht, because I am walking ou! of here, the good Lord kePt me safe. 3 I Jason Thomas Jason Thomas was prelty beat uP after Orlando race. The Subwa/ Honda rider crashed hard in practice, cra5hed aSain in his Semi and then crashed in the first turn of the main. The britht spot was his win in the LCQ. Thomas was two laps down by the time he 8ot going after his main-event crash and from there, could only cruise around to finish lgth. "lt was just a rough night," Thomas said. "lYy toe is pretty messed up, but other than that, I'll survive." I lth Place l9th Place l"lrchael Byrne midway through the lap. By lap rhree. Stewan had pulled 7 5 seconds on Carmichael, and by lap five he had extended the lead to ll.5 seconds. lJnbelievably, stewart's laP times were over two seconds per laP faster than Carmichael's. While Stewan and Carmichael ran their own races out front, Byrne, Tedesco and Wey were engaged in a lierce battle over the third-place position. Tedesco had moved around Byrne after the open- rng lap, but Bryne, who was now berng pushed by Wey, was staying within strik- ing distance. On lap I I, Wey finally wore BYrne down and pulled even with him but blew out one ofthe soft berms and lost ground. Wey pulled even again on laP 12, and made the pass on Byrne, but by now Tedesco was five seconds ahead of him. Wey didn't give uP and seemed to be getting stronger toward the end of the race. He eventually caught uP with Tedesco with two laps remaininS. Just before the white flag, Wey put a block- pass on Gdesco to move into third, where he finished a lap later- ln the end. Stewart backed it down a notch and finished with 12 seconds to spare over Carmichael. Wey finished third, ahead of Tedesco, while Reed, who was riding with an extremely sore shoul- der, which he separated the day before the Daytona race, put on a late-race charge !o pass Team Hondas Travis Preston and finally Bryne to claim fifth. Preston linished in sixth and Bryne in sev- enth. Wey attributed his strong ride to the rough track and the tougher-than-usual whoops section. "This was a tough track for sure," Wey raid. "The whoops stayed good and that was a determining factor for me. Lately, the whoops haven t been so bigor technr- cal, and lhave been having a hard time catching up. l've been real frLlstrated because I have been getting foutths and fifths, and I feel like I can get up there on the podium. I haven't been Betting good starts, but luckily the track was a little tougher.'' Tedesco ran a strong race, especially at the beginning, but tightened uP in the end. "l felt really good for the first half of the race." Tedesco said. "There toward the end, I got some arm pumP and things iust went downhill from there." Bryne, who had his best-ever Supercross finish last week at Daytona, simply ran out of steam. "This is the lirst time this year lgot tired in a race," Byrne said. "That is the worst feeling in the world as a rider. We tested a lot this week with motocross and I am thinking that maybe we iust over did it a little bit and didn't leave anything for the race. lt is tough when you are trying to get ready for another series as well." After the race, Reed went directly to his motor home to nurse his shoulder and was unavailable for comment. However, it was clear that the former champ had left everything on the track in another painful, but gutsy performance- Cll Cmus Bowr Of,LANDo, F[orlDA RrsrrlTs: ,{af,cH 18 aoo6 SX HEAT I (8 1.p.. !-a to min)r I lamestewa^ (Kaw). 2. N(r we) lHon): l. TE Ferry (Hon): 4 Ryan cl k lHon). 5. lDon Thors (Htr): 6 Brd[ Sell4de (Hon); 7. hcob s.ylcr (Hon)i 8. Ty'e. EEnr (suz): t. cole Siebler (Hon)i 10. Eri.k vallejo (Hon)i ll. ler Demeit {Su:)i 12. Jacob MaEack (/am)r 13. Ryan Lo.khaft (suz)i 14. Gregory Cater tHon,: 15. Ron Boya! (Hon): l6 Btrdon Butler (Hd), 17 Kyle Pre*on (S@): 18 t'leco Dube (KrM): 19. chad Reed (Yam)i20 TomP.Eons(Hon) R:.. time: 7 mh- 22.41 *<. SX HEAT 2 (6 l.Pr, l-'l to m.in): I Rickv Camichael (Sur); 2. Kwinwindhm (Hon)i 3. l!4. Ted6co 20 MARCH 29,20Q6 . CYCLE NEWS A shoulder iniury hos pur Chod Reed into domoge-tonlrol mode ond he ir trying to hong on to second plo

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