Seven-time supercross champion Jeremy McGrath, of Escondido, Calif., brought the crowd to its feet with a holeshot to start the 20-lap main event. He lead the first lap and a half before being passed by Yamaha’s Chad Reed, of Dade City, Fla. Meanwhile, Kawasaki’s James Stewart, of Haines City, Fla., was working his way through the field after a first turn crash left him in last place and over 30 seconds behind the leaders.
With Reed out front, Carmichael began to make his charge. Carmichael was sitting back in second place and was slowly making ground on Reed when the leader spun his bike in the rhythm section before the first triple jump and was forced to stop. By the time Reed got back up to speed, Carmichael was on his tail and began inching closer with each turn. And on lap 11, Carmichael finally made his move with an inside pass in the sweeper turn before the final triple.
Once in the lead, Carmichael continued to extend his lead and won comfortably. Reed finished second and Stewart, whose mid-race charge came up a little short, placed third.
“I’m going to cherish this one like it’s the last one; it’s been a while since I’ve won,” said Carmichael, who picked up the 128th win of his career. “Chad had a little mishap and I was able to get by him. He didn’t hit this timing lane and I got it. The track was good for racing. We need close racing which will make (racing) better for everyone.”
Ramsey wins Western Region AMA Supercross Lites
Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto, of Poulsbo, Wash., grabbed the holeshot off the start but ran into the fallen Honda of Andrew Short, of Murrieta, Calif., who was in the lead at the time, on lap two as the two riders dropped to middle of the pack. Kawasaki’s Grant Langston also went down on the same lap and added his name to the list of series contenders who were struggling in the early stages.
With his main competition behind him, Ramsey shot to the lead on lap four, one he would never relinquish, cruising to his first win of the season and 15th of his career. Honda’s Billy Laninovich, of Lake Elsinore, Calif., finished second, while Langston put a block pass on Short with two turns to go on the last lap to secure third.
Results Supercross : 1.Ricky Carmichael – Suzuki ; 2.Chad Reed – Yamaha ; 3.James Stewart – Kawasaki ; 4.Jeremy McGrath – Honda ; 5.Nicholas Wey – Honda ; 6.Michael Byrne – Kawasaki ; 7.Ernesto Fonseca – Honda ; 8.Mike LaRocco – Honda ; 9.Ivan Tedesco – Suzuki ; 10.David Vuillemin – Honda …
Standing Supercross
1.Ricky Carmichael 45
2.James Stewart 45
3.Chad Reed 44
4.Mike LaRocco 31
5.Nicholas Wey 30
6.Ernesto Fonseca 29
7.Jeremy McGrath 28
8.Ivan Tedesco 28
9.Michael Byrne 27
10. Travis Preston 23
…
Results Supercross Lites : 1.Nathan Ramsey – KTM ; 2.Billy Laninovich – Honda ; 3.Grant Langston – Kawasaki ; 4.Ryan Villopoto – Kawasaki ; 5.Andrew Short – Honda ; 6.Sean Collier – Yamaha ; 7.Paul Carpenter – Honda ; 8.Darcy Lange – Kawasaki ; 9.Brett Metcalfe – Yamaha ; 10.Mike Alessi – KTM …
Standing Supercross Lites
1.Billy Laninovich 42
2.Andrew Short 41
3.Ryan Villopoto 40
4.Grant Langston 38
5.Nathan Ramsey 34
6.Darcy Lange 29
7.Paul Carpenter 29
8.Brett Metcalfe 25
9.Jake Weimer 24
10.Mike Alessi 23
…
Photos copyright TFS