Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Iphey both crashed, rhey both won, bLrt they had I wildlv rlifferenr rlev( I V'uti,u Suzuki s'Ricky Carmichael won his I eighth race in a row and ninth overall, on the I srrengh of a 2-l finish on the sandy ruts of the reconfigured Motocross 338 track in Southwick, Massachu- setts. Kawasaki's James Stewart won the first moto, but was slammed to the ground when an engine failure denied him a certain second place on the final lap ofthe second moto. Hav- ing lapped much of the field, Stewart was credited with I lth place, good for founh overall. Overall, it was a flne day of Toyota AMA Motocross Championship racing for a record crowd of I 7,500 on a sunny, cool day in New England. And when it ended, Carmichael had stretched his points lead, Yamaha's Chad Reed was second, again. and American Honda's Davi Millsaps was on the podium for the second time in his rookie Motocross season. "lt's either l'm crashing or he's crashing," Carmichael told the crowd from the podium. 'At this level, we can't do this. But you guys definitely got your price of admission today. lt was a great race between myselfand James fStewart]. Actually Davi ll4illsaps] was on our tail for a lonS time that second lmoto]. I was like, 'Damn.' And, man, we kept going and going. The Suzuki was awesome today. You know what? We're just going to keep on trying and tryin8 to put these motos togeth- er. That's all we can do and puttinS on a good show for you guys." The show was diflerent this year. The track was run in the opposite direction, to mixed reviews. "The track was definitely diflerent, but I think I'm a fan of it the other way," Carmichael said. The question heading into the weekend was whether Stewart would even race at Southwick. ln a Wednesday post- ing on his website, the Floridian said that he'd been unable to ride since injuring the knee at the High Point Raceway outdoor l0 days earlier. Stewart didn't specifically address whether he'd ride, but made it clear from the extent of his iniuries - a con- cussion, a hematoma on his left thigh, and a very sore left knee - thar it was possible that he wouldn't. Physically, he knew he could ride. Rather, it was a question of how much pain he could endure. As explained by Dr. James Augustine, of the Aaterisk Mobile lYedical Unit, the ends of the tibia and femur were bruised. The good news was that there was no break, the bad news was that there was no quick fix. "Bone bruises can be extremely painful, even while just walking, let alone while racing motocross," Augustine was quoted as sayinE on Stewart's website. The question of his fitness was answered early on Saturday. ln the first practice session. he was only a few tenths slower than Carmichael. For the second session, he changed his rear shock and shocked the field with a blistering lap of l:49.705 that would stand as the fastest of the weekend. The gap to Carmichael of .816 seconds was by far the largest between the two all weekend. Pain management was Stewart's only problem, though he would say after the races that he had to alter his riding sryle. "Just charging into the left-hand corners, I was having to struggle to put my knee down," he said. For much of the first race there was no hint of trouble. Stewart didn't get the holeshot - that went to.lacob Saylor - but he was quickly at the front with Carmichael, l"lillsaps, Reed, and SoBe/Samsung l"lobile Honda's Kevin Windham in pursuit. By the third lap Stewart and Carmichael were well away and settling into their own battle. A lap later, and Reed was past Millsaps. Carmichael began to stalk Stewart on the sixth lap, but did- n't get close enough to make the pass until the l0th lap. With a clear track, Carmichael quickly built up a three-sec- ond lead on the I lth lap, addinS a second on lap 12- For sev- eral laps, Stewart kept the damage to about four seconds. On the l5th lap, Carmichael crashed on what he called the "old, old, old finish line.'' "Where the finish line used to be back in the day,'' he said. "l Eot a good drive and my shock iust kind of blew through and 'gee'd out' and kicked me back and I highsided," The Suzuki landed on the wrong side and facing in the wrong direction. "The thing was tweaked. I pretty much took my time. I lost all my steam at that point. I war pretty upset at just a stupid Halfway into the l6th lap Stewart had about a 3o-second lead with Carmichael not losing his second to Reed, thouSh the Yamaha rider was close. Carmichael quickly ate into Stewart's lead, taking out six seconds by the end of the l6th lap, then l0 more on the l7th. But the race would end one lap later and Carmichael ran out of time. Stewarr's margin of victory was 3.745 seconds. Reed was third, about two seconds off Carmichael, with Millsaps a very distant fourth. ln the second moto, Stewart got a clean holeshot, Carmichael coming along, with the pair having a hard time loring l'4illsaps, who showed good early speed. 'Actually, lwas lust drafting those guys," Millsaps later said. "They were going really fast. I lust followed their lines. I wasn't pushing them at all. They were at least two, three seconds ahead of me - Yamaha's Heath Vosr missed the South- wick race and will miss the followint race at Budds Creek, according to tearn manager Keith Mccarty. Voss was hjured in a quali- rying race at the previous High Point National. He tried to ride. but was unable to. When he returned home to Te)Gs, it was discovered that he'd broken a bone in his hand. "The pain lust wasn't going dowo," McCarty said. "He went to a doc- tor who said he had a cracked metacarpal." l4ccarq/ said it doesn't reqlire surgery jurt rest, and thejuly 2, R€d Bud National is the target. "lt's a foua w€ek window with this injury ls it likely he'll be there? I don't know. Wrists are tough." Thirty years ago, Southwick hosted its first Natiooal, won by Dutchman Pierre Kars- makers on a Honda, This year the MX 338 track was different - run, for the lirst time, in the opposite direction. And tfie reviews weren't favorable. "Personalty, I think the track is better in the other direction, the ori8inal way," Ricky Ca.michaelsaid. "l think the bermi - they 8et befter berms, it flows a little bit better. The iumps were very very weird today. lt seemed that if you \veren't antled ritht you could shoot ritht off, and ,t took me a couple laps ih practice to get used to the deal. And also. the start, that kind ofbummed me out. lt seems like they've had a year to Eet it fixed, We come here and there's stillasphalt. That's kind of weird to me. Like, I don't know - it is what is." SoBe/Samsung Mobile Honda's Kevin Windham, makinS his l2th appearance, said, "l talked to a lot of locals and they all say that they iust feel like it doesn't flow the same, and I have to agree with them. I don't think it flows quite as well. On the next breath, it's not a bi8 chanSe. When you ride a track like this - we onty come here once a ye, - to do iq I've been here l2 yearc now, it's lust llke a breath of fresh air Like when we 8o to Colorado now. We haYe a new track. This kind of was like a new track. That has that going for me. Like I said, for me, it's still sand, it doesn't mafter which way )nou run it, it's still sand. I still have my same issues." American Honda's Tmvis Pre- ston agreed. "l heard something on the lnternet that it's rougher backward, and, you know what? lt is rougher backward," he said. "lt doesn't llow as well. I'm really lookint forward to Budds Creek." ilakita Suzukj's Ricky Carmichael has already announced he'll only race select events in 2007. Southwick is one of those selected. "For sure l'm going to do this race," he said. 'There's no doubt about it. l'm sure l'll do Sacramento. I still don't [know the] full exact .aces thar I'm goint to do - I kind of have an idea." Carmichaelsaid he was still finalizin8 his plans and wolrld only make them public after informing Suzuki. Kawasaki's lamcs Stewart said he would- n't make a decision on whether to ride at Budds Creek until consuking his doctor in Florida. St€r r.rt beat himself up when he was thrown to the ground when the rod in his engine broke on rhe final lap of che se<- Conrinued on poga 2l CYCLE NEWS . JUNE 2I, 2006 17 , Briefly... al By HENNv Rav Acx.lms Pxoros ev SrEvE BRUHN ?- h .dq t Y f \ I \ J I ffi r -.1 \ .i. t?Jf-, ?!."d r Chod Reed stoys in the points rqce with qnothcr conrilLnt linish.

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