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/1542355
"lt s nice to win, but on the other hand, l'd like to earn it," said Reed, whose tvvo victories this year have come when both Stewart and Carmichael have fallen. "Honestly, it's been a tough season for me; I've been off the pace, and I've been struggling with that. Fortunately, I cap- italized on their mistakes again. I think when you've got three Suys that really want to win, and when you are going that speed on these bikes, things happen." The more than 45,000 fans in aftendan(e got the showdown they had come to see when Carmichael grabbed the holeshot at the start of the main. with Stewart exiting turn one right on Carmichael's tail. Reed made it the "Big Three" in the top three when he passed Carmichael's teammate han'fedesco to take over third before the end of the lap. On lap cwo, Srewart began pressuring Carmichael and closed on him considerably when he skipped across the top of the long whoop section. A lap larer, Stewaft again closed on Carmichael after blitzing the whoops, but he couldn't make the pass, as both riders got side- ways and nearly went down. Finally, on lap five, Stewan changed to a differ- ent lane through the whoops, one at the extreme left of the section, and shot by Carmichaelon the rear wheel and into the lead. ''l looked at that line in the parade lap and it was about a tire-width wide, but I didn't really want to go over there until I needed to." Stewart said. "l actually tried making a pass usinS the line he was using, but it wasn't going work, so I just went over there, and it was good - it was about Mach 3 going through there." On the next lap, Carmichael tried to retaliate using Stewart's line but lost control midway throuSh the section, veering off track to the left and almost hifting a boat that was on display in the mid- dle of the track. Carmichael did hit a photographer duringthe mishap and bentthe front end ofhis bike - something that would affect the rest of his race. Carmichael kicked several times before the Suzukistarted, and by the time he re-entered the race, he was down in ninth position. fued had taken over the runner-up spot, with IYDIV I'lotospo(/Honda's Nick Wey in third, ahead of Tedesco, Team Kawasaki's Michael Byrne, and SoBe/Samsung Mobile/Honda's Kevin Windham. Texas Strdium (above) has one of the smaller floor areas on the tour, and the Dirt Wurx crew had to get creative when building the track- The course was tiSht and technical and Ieatured an over/under bridge, two whoop sections, a fairly short start, and the usual rhythm secrioni. The Astroturf in Texas Stadium cannot be removed and has to be decked over with plywood before din can b€ laid down, which adds to the amount of work the tmck crew has to do. The local dirt used for the track has a high clay content, whi.h makes for a very hard-packed surface. The highly anticipated debut of Davi Millsaps (above) in the 450 class was cu( shon when he crashed in the whoops and hurt his knee during the early practice session at Dallas, and he decided to call it a day. Infor- mation on the extent of his injury was not immediately available, but it was not perceived as being serious. The Team Honda rider spent (he weeks prior to the Dallas event rid- in8 the facrory 450 in preparation for the Dallas race and the upcoming outdoor reason. "La5t week was actually the first time I had ridden the factory bike," Millsaps said before practice. "l put a couple of weeks in on the bike, and I am iust tryint to tet used to it. lt is a difficult transition from the 250F to the 450. I am so used to the liftle bike, and I am not used to the power I am a big tuy and I can throw the bike around just like I can the little bike, bur it still controls me in some places. I am iust toinS to go out and put in 20 laps as hard a5 I can." SoBe/Samsung Mobile/Honda's lake Weimer also missed the Dallas race after bein8 involved in a car accident while in th€ Dallas area on Friday. Weimer was admitted to the hospital for mild facial iniuries and was expect- ed to be released on Sunday moming. Windham has been on the road to recovery after breaking his arm in the of[ season and ha5 been makiog bi8 strid$ both ph,,sically and men- tally. "lt \ /as really weird to come back to racing," Windham said. "l had been doing the work and the laps at my house, but when I got back in a race. time stood still. lt was a really weird feeling, At Orlan- do, when I was on lap three, it felt like lap six, and when I was on lap six, it felt like 12, and l2 felt like I should have been on my way to the airport. lt wasn'! a lot of fun. But what I did at Houston was, I really focused on the scoreboard in the center ofthe traak where they post the lap number. Keeping tabs on that really helped me out, and it kept my race in check. I had been so focused on toing fast that I lost $ack of time and where I was at. So that was a big tuming point of my CYCLE NEWS MAY 3, 2006 35 Briefly... I Speaking of Weimer, the ldaho hative spent part of th€ six weeks since the last West Region Lites round rccov- ering from a mild shoulder scpara. tion that he suffered while play-rid- ing in Southem California. "l was iust out riding, and I wrecked and hurt my shoulder," Weimer said durint Thursday's press conference, "l did- n't know at first that it was hurt, and I actually did some outdoor testing with it, but when I went home, I went to my doctor and found out it had been separated. I lust laid low for a couple of week. I got back .id- in8 a couple of weeks ago, and it feels fine how." SoBe/Samsung Mobile/Honda's Kevin Windharn spent a big part of the br€ak since the Houston round testinS for the outdoor season. "lt wasn't much of a break for us." Windham said. "Most of the team5 spent that time getting outdoor set- tinSs zeroed in. I think most people would rather b€ racinS than terting, but it is something that has to be done. I was spending some pretty lonS days testing. I did some 9-to-6 da)s testing. and rhat's a pretty lont time on a bike, but it was good, because I needed to just keep push- ing forward and get my body ready," Broc Hepler's Makita Suzuki mechanic Lee l.lccollum was in the pits at the Dallas round and said that Hepler is still hoping to be ready for the opener of the outdoor season at Hangtown. "He is takin8 it day to day," Mccollum said. "Broc broke a couple ofthe small bones in his foot, and those heal much slower than normal because the blood suppl/ is poor. He is hopint to get on a bike soon and start ridint. but right now ir is still too early." Conrinued oi page 37 A relotively minor .rosh while leoding (o5t Stewort voluoble pointr. \ F , I I I 7 [,. c]),\ t E rv \ \ .d T l \, \ t t t - tl \\ 1 L : I ,