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Cormichoel spent
much of the roce
dicing with Chod
Reed
(22)
for
rcrond
plotc.
Here, Cqrmichoel
putr
lhe moYG on
the forrner
Supcrrrocr chomp.
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I
can come close to winning this title."
Ever since Stewaft knocked himself
out of contention for the win at round l0
of the series at Daytona,
by crashinS
spec-
tacularly while
leading
the main evem, the
Team Kawasaki rider has been on an
absolute rampage.
The week following Daytona, at
Orlando's Citrus Bowl, Stewart bliEed to
a fla8-to-fla8 win over
Carmichael,
leadinE
by
as
much as 14 seconds
on the
rough
and sandy track.
And
this
week, in Detroit,
Stewart
tumed in another dazzling
performance,
topping the Makita Suzuki-mounted
Carmichael with ease, in a
race
that saw
him lead by as much as seven seconds at
one
point.
One thing that
has
turned things
around for Stewart is his sarts. He has
had
problems
all
year
with his starts, but
at the
last
two events,
he has
been nearty
perfect
in that category and he was
giving
all the
praise
to his team and his bike.
"We've
changed a few things
[on
the
bike], and
I for sure know
that
I have the
fastqt
bike out
there,
and that's deflnite-
ly helped me on the starts," Stewart said.
"Even when
I
don't
get
a
good
iump,
I
am
comfortable
knowing it's
Soing
pull."
ln Orlando, Stewart nailed the stan en
route to his
flag-to-flag
thumping of the
competition. And while he didn't cross
the
"holeshot"
line first in Detroit
-
MDK/l.4otospon/Honda's Nick Wey did
that, and took
home
the
$1500
Progressive Direct Holeshot Award
-
Stewart was
iust
inches behind
Wey
and
shot
into
the
lead
out of the second turn
when Wey bobbled.
ln Detroit, Reed also
got
a
great
stan
and
had his Team Yamaha-backed YZ450F
right on Stewart's rear fender, and fol-
lowed suit when Stewart made
his
way
around
Wey,
Both Stewart and Reed were able to
immediately
gap
the
field,
while
Carmichael sat back in sixth, behind a
group
that consisted of Wey, Rocktar
Suzuki's
lYichael Brown,
and Stewfi's
teammate Michael Byrne.
By lap two, Carmichael had worked his
way into third
place,
a few seconds
behind Reed, but he was
rapidly losing
ground
to Stewart.
At
the
halfway mark, Carmichael
pulled
close enough to Reed to make a
pass
attempt, A lap later, Carmichael
pulled
even with
Reed coming out
of
the
whoop section and took him to the Tuff
Blocks in the outside of a berm, stopping
both riders in their track.
"lt
always seems that when
lEo
to
pass
Chad, I am on the ouBide," Carmichael
said.
"We
were both riding hard, and
obyiously he didn't want me to
get
around
him. So i had the advantage on the next
turn, and I kind of
pinned
us up there and
got
by
him."
Reed immediately tried to retaliate,
but Carmichael
held his
Sround.
However, on lap
14,
Carmichael
got
held up in a turn when lappers
got
After
29
years
at the Silverdome
in
Pontiac,
the Michigan round ofthe Supercross
Series was held for the first time at Ford
Field in
downtown Detroit.
The
$500
mi'-
lion
complex, which is the new home
of
the Detroit Lions and hosted this
/ear's
Super
Bowl, seats
65,000,
including
8500
club s€ats that feature wide,
padded
seats:
private lounS€s; upscale food servicet and
preferred pa.rking.
The tacilit), ir comprised
of approximately 1.85 million square feet,
with four levels of suites, a level of club
seating, and a
ground
level designated fo.
restaurants, concessions and retail. The
floor of the stadiurrl was huge and offered
more room than usual for
(he
layout of the
Supercross tra.k, which included avery
long
sran srraight, two sers o[
rhxhm
sec-
tions, and a
long
set ofwhoops.
Most
of
the
riders liked
the track
layout
but
also
praised
the dirt, which was tacky. After
two straight
weeks in
the sand,
everyone
welcomed the traction.
The track in Detroit was considered
"old
school" by some ofthe riders.
lt
was
fast,
with
more
iumps
than
usual. "lt's kind
of
like the
tr-acks
used to b€ - it has a lot more
rhythm nuf( with lots of lines and lots of
iumps,"
Team Rockter Suzuki'sJosh Woods
said.
"lt
is
pretty
fast, and the dirt is really
good
here, lik€ what we alwa).s had at the
Silverdome
-
nice and taclq."
Brock Sellards, who
has
been
running the
Supercross Series a5 a
privateei
showed up
in
Detroit as
a
member
of the
BooKoo Honda
Racing Team. With
the departure of
David
Vuillemin
from
the squad
last
week, the Dallas-
based
teen si8ned
Sellards and
BooKoo Are-
nacross Champion
ro6h
Demuth to llnish
out the Supercross season. Sellards was
actually
getting
his first seat tinre on fie
BooKoo
Hon& in Detroit, while Demuth is
not
scheduled to
ride untilthe Houston
round.
"l
was
lust
lucky something came my
way," Sellards said.
"Now
l've
tot
a team
takifig
care of me, and
you couldn't ask for
anytfiing
more than that. I got to k€€p
almost all of my old sponsors. so h is wort-
ing out great. The bike is definitely faster
dlan what I have b€en riding. and it is taking
a bh to
ger
used to it. bur I feel
pretty good
for the first time on the bike."
Speaking of David Vuillemin, he's currem-
ly in France, taking care ofhis ankle,
which
he injured at the Daytona Supercross.
He is
also reponedly working out a
ride for the
outdoor National MX Series,
Continuod on
poge
27
Briefly...
cYct
E ,vE tiys
.
APRrr
5,
2006
25
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