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FEATURE STORY

IT'S ON!
Mother nature may have affected the track, but it didn’t dampen the spirit of the sellout crowd last night or the racing! Kevin Windham and his teammate Mike Larocco swept the opener over the heavy pre race favorites Reed, Carmichael and Stewart. Nathan Ramsey kept his streak alive in the 125 class and takes a solid lead over defending champ Ivan Tedesco.

I can’t remember being that oblivious to rain in a long time. I really thought the whole night would be a joke and would look bad on TV, but to my surprise the rain made this a race to remember. The crowd hung in there and the riders delivered. Usually nobody can jump anything and it looks dumb, but thanks to the heart and desire of this years deep talent pool riders were doubling, tripling and blitzing the whoops in the worst conditions.

I thought Stewart was going to walk away with it after practice. He took off in his first practice, roosted the crap out of McGrath in the first turn and started jumping everything!

RC came out in the next practice and looked fast, but he was all over the place.

Since everyone has listened to the Internet or seen the TV coverage (which I thought was pretty good) I’m not going blow by blow here, but I’ll share some things that I felt were significant.

First off, when I looked at the results this morning, I was surprised to see Stewart all the way up in 5th. It was getting hard to keep track at around the halfway mark and I thought James was way back. It seemed like he made a thousand mistakes, but he never quit pinning it! I also just realized this is the first race I have ever lost track of where James was. Not because of the mud, but because he is in a class with dudes that are just as good. Something to keep in mind though, when was the last time Stewart lost two races in a row?

Reed looked incredible in the heat edging out RC for the holeshot. That first few laps between them was so intense! They totally threw caution to the wind. It’s the first laps of the first heat of the first race, in mud, yet they took off like some guy sprinting the first mile of a marathon. What I think is cool is that they are that determined, confident and willing to pay the price! Reed looked to me like he would’ve finished 2nd or 3rd no problem if he hadn’t collided with RC in the whoops, and the whole front brake locked episode that followed was painful to watch, but he did what he could and never gave in.

RC surprised me quite a bit. He was a lot faster than I thought he would be. His speed and bravery was unmatched! He may have been third, but he has to be confident in his speed and his bike. After watching him struggle so hard to get going TWICE it’s hard to believe he still got third. After a night like that I’m wondering what it’s gunna take (outside of a mechanical) to keep him off the podium…

Windham did what I thought he would do. The DMXS guys sounded a little surprised when I picked him on Wednesday’s show, but I know Kevin can ride the mud and I know he has possibly the best bike out there for mud. Congratulations to Kevin and his two new additions, his new baby girl and his new mechanic Brent.

Larocco, who had a lot to do with the birth of the Factory Connection team rode like the Rock he is and made it a 1-2 sweep, something the team deserves after a difficult month.

The 125 class is anybody’s race. Other than Ramsey (fresh off two wins in Canada) and Tedesco who seem to have a slight edge in speed and experience at the front, the field is really evenly matched.

Congratulations to N8, and mud specialists Josh Woods and Akira Narita making the podium and to a couple Loretta Lynn’s graduates Tommy Hahn and Ryan Sipes for finishing 4th and 6th in their first supercross.

MC rocked the house when he shot past Kyle Lewis into the lead. His night took a turn for the worse with a goofy crash and a gnarly first turn pile-up, but at least he got to shine for a little while and the crowd let him hear it!

Pastrana…I’m not sure how the dude is even riding, but he managed to run 2nd for a while before getting messed up on a double and having to do a whole portion of the track again! At least he gutted out a 10th and FINISHED – in a cast!

Finally, the decision to seed the field and change the format to present a good show for the fans and the TV audience seemed to work as well as the track despite all the rain. Good job to everyone who worked so hard to get this hyped up season off to a great start.

Happy New Year

db

photo be me with my stock camera from out of left field of the 250 main all lined up. Stay tuned for a gallery of 9 or 10 more amateur pictures.