Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

do the triple, but he ffedesco] was just kind of jacking with me, iust kind of pushed me all the way to the outside, and I iust ran out of racetrack and couldnt do the triple, so it was kind of a bummer to let those guys get going at the be8inninS of the race there." Reed and Tedesco fought for about half a lap before Reed could get by him for fourth. "The only real problem I had was with lvan a linle bit," Reed said. "My teammate would've done the same, so no complaints there.'' Reed nrade short work of Wndham for 6ird, giving him a hand gesture over a jump as he passed him. "l dpught t was l n b€hind me at lirst, which it was." Windham said. "l was expectjng to see Chad's mechanic with the board out as soon as Chad got behind me. So I didn't know if it was still lvan - I didnt know who it was. As soon as I found out it was Reed - ldon't believe I impeded any forward progress of him. I tried m1/ best to get out of the race. "Nothing would please me more to get up there and run with those gufs,'' Windham added, "and if I could've, I would've, because I think that any one of them going for the championship should be able to beat atl the Eufs on the track or they iust don't deserve it. Unfortunatelx I wEsn't able to run that pace, and when I knew that I couldn't run that pace, I didn't want to be a roadblock for any of the gu,s. I lor'e Rick;,, Chad and James; I don't have anphing against tho6e guys. I didn't have a dog in the fight, and didn't want to get in the way. I know he had a little trouble with Tedesco or whatever, but as soon as I knew it was Reed, I didn't try to put up any frght. When Riclg came on fie inside of me as well. I gave him some room. He's obvior-rsly faser than me, but I could've held him up for afew comers if I waned. Obviously, the race wasn't going the \^.ay [Reed] wanted it to; I dorlt know if it [the hand gesftre] was a thumbs-up or 'Vy'hat in the hellareyou doing?' ln my mind, I pulled over and gave way." Reed said that he wasn't upset at Windham. "l think Kevin pretty much knew that we were coming and there was a title on the line, and Kevin was good, actually," Reed said. ''l came up on him, and he let me rigk by- I kind of said 'Thanks.' He was a good sport in getting out of the way." But by then, the damage was done for Reed. He could always keep Carmichael in his sigfrt, as he would enter the two whooP sections just as Carmichael would be leav- ing, but Reed couldn't make up any s@ifi- cant ground on the Suzuki rider. "l felt like I rode a solid race," Reed said. "l tried to make passes earty and tried to get up there and tried to chase Ricky down. lt was a realty tough track, fast and slick. I was there; I'd pull in a litde bit, and he'd pull out a liftle." Even when it was apparent that he was- n't going to catch Carmichael, Reed kept pushing- "l never gave up," Reed said, "He rode solid; I have to take my hat off to him. He made no misakes. I got too anxious and tried to make stuff happen and made little mistakes." Carmichael was glad to get through the first turn cleanly, and he was then able to concentrate on racing. "l was pumped," Carmichael said of his clean getaway. "'l'm going to lay it down now iust put down the laps and do my best.' Once I seen Chad get into third, I was like, 'Well, l'm going to lay down the lap6 now, and if he beats me, he beats me.' I told mpelf, 'Last week was the lirst race that he beat me heads up without rne crashing,' and I wasn't about to let that happen. He's a great competitor - he always has been - but he wasn't goirE to get the best of me tonight. He hadn't done it all year, and it wasnt staning this weekend." Carmichael admitted that the race felt long, but, by the haliaray point, he discov- ered a new line on the track that Save him a boost of confidence. "The race felt long until about halfiaay, when I found a good line around the outside there in the back section," Carmichael said. 'After that, it was easy for me to keep the distance." Still, Carmichael couldn't let his guard down, as the dry track could change things at any moment. "l knew that I had to bowl my turns real- ly, really good, and I knew I couldn't slide the back end out," Carmichael said. 'lf ldid that, then he would inch up on me. I don't know what he was doing in the turns, and I knew ridrng high up in the turns wEsn't goin8 to cut it tonight; I just stayed realt, really low and iust tried to be really, really patient. He'd inch up on me there, then l'd PUll out. lf lgot a really solid run through the whoopa, then I would pull out." As you can imagine, Carmichael was thrilled to have won the title. "l'm iust suPer PlmP€d Soing out a champion," he said. "lt could've been cool to get the World title, but kudos to larnes, he st pped it up- The bo)6 in the years to corne are going to have their hands full with him. lwont miss that, that's for sure, because he's Soing to take it to a new level and is iust riding amazing on the bike. I'm looking forward to doing battle with him in the outdoo6, though." Stewan was pretty happy, too. "l've been busting my butt all year," he said, "and l've 8ot to Sive it (o Riclq for win- ning another championship. I have to thank all the people who never stopped believinS in me. We went through a rough year last year, and I was down in dle Sutter. I have to thank all of the hns that str.rck behind me, my team, Kawasaki, and epecially my filom and dad." Stewart said that he didn't feel too much pressure going into the final race - that was, uftil he saw the Lites main. "We all feel pressure iust iacirE," James said. "But when you stick a dde on the line. it goes up a liftle bit, I was actually pretty good until I saw the 125 class, and those guys werE, like. eating it weryrvhere, so I was sitting there, [thinkirE,] 'Man, is the SX HEAT I (5 Lpc' l-t to mrn): l.l 6 stew.rt (K2w)i 2. Chad Red oram): l. ravr Peton (Honl; 4. J6h Demdh (Hd,); 5. Heth Vos (fm); 6.lin D6tai (Y ): 7. l ob s.y'or (Hd); L Keii.lohlN@ flah)r e. lsuh Johen (Yn): 10. ,ls €trs (sd): I l. Dous D.H (Hd)r 12. Oennis E ng (Ho.)i 13. R.ne Tercm Reys (Yd): 14. ,eff Oemst (su)i ls. Tdt Bannkd (Hn): 16. Cole Siebler (Hon): l7- DekiMriEEy (S@)r 18. Leittnon Ull€ (H6)i 19. Jeob manin (Hd); 20. I'4idad Srrc (Kaw). Ra.e T.re: 8 min., l7.6mi& Sx HEAT 2 (5 LF, I -{ to min}r L F,dV Gm,crEl (s@): 2. Kdin Wndh (Hon)i l. s.o 4 glewod ond Cqrmichoel hug, while Reed ridec Pq$, ffi*r ti Frprr CYCLE NEWS . MAY 17,?W6 27 ,l .i , Briefly...

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