Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I -- line, but so were the prides, egos and mil- lion-dollar bonuses of three of the sport's best Supercross riders, and all of these things came to a head when the Eate dropped for the linal 20 laps of the season. Some called it ''The Pedect Storm" of Supercross, while o*rers simply called it the most highly anticipated Supercross race ever, but whatever you wanted to call it, it was certainly a grand conclusion to dle rhe dust had settled, there were only two points covering the three, but the important two points were those separating Carmichael from Reed and Stewart, whidr , I I I be h re a ad s ngle s u ro TC ra c s had o pe m c u h h the in bal- n8 angi as ance id d ts th ,s Las year fi N U s TCTOSS n at al Vegas Pe a s B m o ta S d m N o ot n he t yd v l"lobile d AFlA ross rc on tide the P Supe points, and Janes Stewart was just fve points back with 3l l. And when closest Supercross Series tinish ever. And t all happened in fr.off of a sold-out crowd of 39,506 and on li\e television - a lirst for the sport of Supercross. Going into Las Vegas, only fNe points separated $e top three rid- en of the series: Ricky Carmichad I and Chad Reed were tied wi$ 316 The Lites-chss East/west Shootor.rt lost one of its main akiers when West Lites Champion Grant Lntstoo crashed during Friday's press d.y a"d iniured his right wrist. "l'm not sure what ca0sed the crash," Langston said. ')Nl I know I , was enough of a spread to give the Makita Suzuki team rider his flfth - and hardest-eamed - AMA Supercross tide. Even though he flnished second to Stewart in the Las Vegas race, that was still ,ust enough to Eet it done. "This is a team effort. and we overcame a lot of adversity this year," said Carmichael, who announced before the race that this would be his last full season in Supercross. "l'4y team and the people arolnd me have worked way too hard to not seal it tonight, and I iust talked myself into win- ning the championship. I'm proud of myself and l'm proud of my team. I've had a heck ofa career, and it's great to go out on top.'' Carmichael finished out the Arnp'd Mobile Supercrors Series with 338 points, while Stewdrt and Reed, who linished third in tas Vegas, finished up with 336 points each, but since Stewart had more wins on the season (with eight to Reed's two), Stewart was awarded second in the series and Reed was third. But Stewfi and the Kawasaki team still had plenty of celebrating to do, for Stewart had wrappd up the FIM World Supercross GP tide, 15 poins clear of Carmichael. Reed was again $ird in that series. For Stewart, looking back on the season, one I took ofr on the rtrythm section, I was goang into an enda, and when I wem down, I put rny hand out and did what they call a partial dislocation of dle wrist- I didrft dislo- cate the whole thing... We don't know a whole lot, but I'm goirE to see my spe.ialist on Monday and do an MRI and do every- thing lurther. The MT spoke to my do€tor over the phone, and they se€m to think that I should he all riSht to to to Hangtown. It feels okay, but yesterdal it lyas pretty paintul for a whlle - a weird son of throb- bint, and it swelled up pretty bad, Today it's doint better, and if it keeps going this way, I shorld be good, lt was frustrating and I was bummed ouq I realty wanted to be here and race with the number-gne plate. I was really looking forward to h, ny final Super- cross in the Utes. lt's a bummer and l'm just down. I guess as far as timing toes, it could've been a lot worse. I've 8ot to look on the positive side and hoF€fully l'lliust miss one race." Kawasaki's Micha€l Byme crashed in the whoops durin8 precti(e and came up hold- ing his arm alld had to sit out the rest of the day. This was bad news forJames Stewan and the Kawasaki team, since Stewart was hoping that Byrne miglE be able to mix it up wi$ Carmichael and Reed and perhapr llnish ahead of them, lvfiich would Sive Stewart the title, providing that Stewart won. "He crashed in the whoops, and when he thought he was toing to low-side, he tried lettinS go of the bike but cauglt his thumb on the front brake lever," said team manager Mike Fisher. "lt pulled it back, kind o{ dislocated it, but it tore the tendon that holds it in place, and it's iust kind of loose there now. lt kind of wobbles around and it's swollen. He's probably going to have the tendon pinned in place next week, and then it will be about a iix- to eight-week recovery time, if \Me're lucky-" Ir look like t>.ytd Vulllemln has all but signed a deal to ride the outdoor Natiooals on a Yamaha as a member of the Motoworldracing,.om/PPG team. "lt's pretty much a done deal," said Paul Undsey, the team's manager, "We iust have to work out some o, the details, but l'm confident it will happen and be ofllcial any day now" Evidently, Vuillemin has already been given Continued on pdge 27 Briefly... ,- = tr' t! o t- r -t t t 72 rt /. ,( d V \._ - I \ l) ,d Lr.' A frustroled Chod Reed whips hi! Yomoho pd3t Suruki'. lvon Iedesco on the serond lop. 2 -/ J IN T WINS AS, BUT RIOTY Et SQUEAI(S OUT TM[8. /1 ,( r.!-- )\ t? Y/, \ ll I f I I \ I I \ T I t N t I ) ) I '! CTA ) j Stewort won oll of his 18 heqr roces lhroughout lhe reries. CYCLE NEWS . MAY 12,2006 25

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