Another weekend of Supercross racing is in the books. And after loosing the last two rounds, Chad Reed is back on top, but that isn't the only story to come out of the Indy Supercross. There was the fact that it was the final race to be held in the RCA Dome, a few Lites class riders bumping up to the premier class, injured SX class riders sitting out, and a second win for the blazingly fast rookie Trey Canard just to name some of the news from the weekend. In case you need to get caught up on all that happened out on the track, be sure to click on the links below. After you're done with that, read on to find out exactly What Really Happened in Indy. Enjoy!
Like we mentioned above, this was the final race inside the RCA Dome, as the round will move just next door inside the new soon-to-be-completed humongous Lucas Oil stadium. Coincidently, the winner of the first Indy SX back in 1992 was multi-time AMA champion Jeff Stanton, and as it turned out he was on hand doing what he now does today, working with Team Red Bull Honda riders. "It was awesome," Stanton said of winning the first Indy SX. "For me, it was great to come back east, since I'm from around here. Coming in here, it was a state of the art place, but now they're getting ready to tear it down."
Some other big news surrounding the track was the fact that it was the third track on the tour that was designed by a rider. Reed got the chance to work with the Dirt Wurx crew to create and design every aspect, he even walked the track Friday afternoon to be sure that everything was just they way he had envisioned it. "I was just looking for something that would have that happy median of challenging yet safe," Reed said of his design. "I felt like we achieved it, and I think that the dirt helped to make it that way. It got really rutty and technical. It was cool, and I want to thank all the guys at Live Nation and Dirt Wurx for giving us the chance. It was a big opportunity for us to do this, and it's definitely a lot harder than it looks."
Like Chad said, he wanted to make it challenging yet, safe. And as it turned out, it was so challenging, that he spent most of practice just dialing in his lines around the track. "Yeah, I felt like I gave up practice," Chad said. "I gave up lap times to try to figure out the track. Obviously, with designing the track, you kind of have an idea in the back of your head of what it's going to take to get around it, I just wanted to get it down." In wrapping up, Chad mentioned his thoughts on the Atlanta track, which was designed by James Stewart. "Last weekend if James had to race, I think that he would have been really disappointed in that track. It was nothing like I think he envisioned it"
Just like in Atlanta where Ricky Carmichael made an appearance and spun a few laps aboard a two-stroke RM250, Mike LaRocco rode a parade lap for his hometown fans in Indy aboard a 2005 CR250. Before the evening show began, we caught the Torco Racing Fuels/Honda team buffing up The Rock's ride and getting it up to date with the team's current sponsors.
Last week marked the first time in a long time that Honda swept the Supercross class podium, as Davi Millsaps took the win, with Kevin Windham second, and Andrew Short third. For Millsaps, it was his first-ever win in the Supercross class, and for his teammate Short, it too marked a first-his first-ever podium finish in the premier class. We decided to catch up with Shorty before the racing got underway. "Last week was a great feeling, and at the end of the race, it was pretty gnarly for me because Ferry was catching me for the second time and he actually passed me with a few corners to go," Short said of his battle with Red Dog. "I dug deep in the next corner and stuck it back to him. It was a good feeling to get back by him and to have held my ground. Ferry hit me pretty good-actually really good-so I was kind of fired up. It was a big thing for me mentally, and obviously to get the result, it's huge too." As it turned out, Short duplicated his Atlanta success by once again grabbing a podium finish with a third in the Indy main event. But if you ask "Shorty," the first time was sweeter. "Last week's podium was a little more special," Short said. "Honda swept the podium, it was my first one in the class, and I felt like I really earned it, because I fought back at the end. Right now [in Indy], I'm pretty proud mentally that I stuck to my guns, got a good start in the main, and just gave it everything I had."
Millsaps unfortunately didn't have the same good fortune that he had in Atlanta. In the main, after running as high as second, Davi crashed in one of the many rhythm sections found on the technical Chad Reed-designed track. Before the race, though, we caught up with him to talk about his big win at what could be considered his hometown race last week. "It was great, just being able to add it onto the list of things I've accomplished," Millsaps said. "As a little kid, you dream about winning a Supercross Championship and I did that in '06. Then you just keep on dreaming about hopefully getting some wins in the Supercross class. I have one under my belt, and now I'm just looking for another." As for Millsaps injures that he was struggling through at the beginning of the season, he says they are good to go. "My arm is good and my stomach is good," Millsaps said. "I took four weeks off for my arm, because I couldn't hold on to the bars; I could only race. Now, I just have to get back into riding shape."
Finishing second in the SX class main was Team Yamaha's young rider Josh Hill. It was Hill's second podium of the season with his first coming at Anaheim II earlier this year. After struggling through a nasty flu for the past few rounds, Hill says that he is finally back up to speed, and it showed. "I wish another podium would have come sooner," Hill said. "After San Francisco, I was really sick. I was really sick at Anaheim III, still really sick at San Diego, and then at Houston I was just pretty much on the recovery." For Hill, having Dungey in the SX class was added motivation. But being friends with Dungey's rival, and West Coast Lites points leader, Jason Lawrence also adds to it. "When I saw Dungey in front of me, that made me really push a little harder," Hill said of the Lites rider. "I mean, he's the Lites guy and he's second in points, so he's not even the fastest Lites guy. I mean, what would we do if Jason [Lawrence] were here? Jason's my buddy, and I don't even want to know what will happen when he gets on a 450. He's going to be up here and probably doing the head games with me. During the week he's probably going to be messing with me [laughs]."
On hand to witness Hill's exceptional ride was his Grandfather, who Hill says has supported him since the beginning. And decked out in his "sick shoes" Grandpa Hill was pumped to see his grandson finish second. "My grandpa has been there since the beginning," Hill said. "He's bought me pretty much every bike until I was sponsored. You couldn't ask for a cooler grandpa. I mean look at him, he's got his stick hat, and you're not going to find a grandpa with cooler shoes than him. He has his pumps with the strap on them-dude he's gnarly."
While we are on the subject of the Supercross class, there were some interesting additions to the class in the form of a few West Coast Lites riders bumping up. Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki's Ryan Dungey, Honda-mounted Chris Gosselaar, and MDK/KTM's Billy Laninovich all made the move up to the class. This was the second week that Gosselaar was racing in the big bike class, but for Dungey and Laninovich, it was their first, and while Dungey had an exceptional night, which we will get to in a second, Laninovich didn't even race after crashing in practice. Billy looked fast and smooth aboard the KTM450SX-F, however, crashed in the first practice. While he tried to ride the second session, the pain was too much and he elected to sit out the night's racing. Gosselaar on the other hand, did make it to the night show, but did not qualify for the main event.
As for Dungey, he too took a few soil samples in practice, but fortunately for the West Coast Lites title contender he walked away unscathed. In the night program, after finishing third in his qualifier behind Chad Reed and Kevin Windham, Dungey turned a great start into an exceptional fourth place finish. Before the race, we cornered the friendly racer to find out why he decided to bump up to the class. "I have two months until Seattle, so I just kind of got this idea in my head to ride the 450," Dungey said. "The day came about, and I rode it and got some time on it to see how I felt. We made the decision to do some races based on how I felt on the bike. The West Coast ended on a bad... well, not such a bad... yeah, a bad note at Houston, and there are two months of just sitting around. I could have handled it, but it's just nice to race." For Dungey it's also more of a way to keep him busy, and it makes it fun again, because after the rough final few rounds of the West Coast series, he needs some fun. "It's good to get out. Especially when there is no pressure either-I'm just having fun doing what I love. It's a really good opportunity that came about for me, and I'm just going to have some fun."
New faces in the SX class wasn't the only news, though, as there were a few factory riders that were MIA due to injures and illness. Regular top-three finisher Timmy Ferry was out of action after a practice crash earlier in the week left him with some bruised ribs and pancreas. In a press release sent out by the team just before Indy, Ferry had this to say. "I was just riding at my house, getting ready for the race, and had a pretty bad crash," Ferry said. "It's a shame, because I have been riding really well this year. I just can't wait to get back to racing." As of now, there is no official word on when Ferry will be back on the bike.
Another rider that was sitting on the couch this weekend was Nick Wey. After struggling through a serious bout of pneumonia, "NYK" made the difficult decision to rest up and get back to 100 percent before returning to the track. "I'm bummed that I can't race this weekend, but I know my team and my fans understand it is for my best interest," Wey said in a statement released by the team. "I will do my best to recover quickly aiming to return in time for Daytona." With Daytona this next weekend, here's hoping that Nick can make it back.
One rider that has quietly been making nearly every main is Team Hart and Huntington/Rockstar's Troy Adams. In his first full season in the Supercross class and aboard a CRF450R, Adams says that everything about the first year Hart and Huntington team is top notch. We decided to catch up with him while waiting for practice to begin. Here's what he had to say.
How has the season been going for you?
Well, the season started off pretty slow. I really didn't have the greatest luck at the first few rounds, and I was kind of bummed a little bit. Then things started to turn around at San Francisco where I finally finished a race. That was when I finally started to get into the top-10, and it's been getting better at each race now. We did a lot of pre-season testing, and actually with even being a privateer team, we had a lot of access to testing. Everything has been great on this team so far. Being a first-year team-Cary [Hart], Kenny [Watson], and all the guys have just been really good and pushing for how a team needs to have to run. So far, it's been running really well for a first-year team.
For people that might not know, how did you get noticed on the pro level?
Back in '04 I was riding a privateer Kawasaki, and then that led to being on the Samsung team in '05, then I finally got my chance with Mitch [Payton] the next year, and that worked out really good, but I just had some bad luck and got hurt right before the Supercross season. Riding for Mitch has just led into everything. I've been on a lot of first-year teams, and this one by far definitely has its stuff together.
What was it like riding for the Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team? Was it tough to get your shot and then get injured?
Yeah, it was really hard for me, because Supercross is becoming more my thing. I can do a little bit better in Supercross than outdoors now, but I've always been known as an outdoor rider. To finally get on what seems to be the best bike for Lites, and me being a heavy guy, and also being at the test track with [Ryan] Villopoto and seeing my lap times and how they were better than his on some days, it really blew me apart to go and get hurt before the season started. I worked really hard on getting it back, but it just wasn't the same. I really loved the opportunity, but I just felt that I needed to move up to the big bike, and I kind of adjusted myself to where I would have the opportunity to get in the big bike class.
Do you think that this year you have a better opportunity than last in the premier class?
I think so. Last year, I really just rode outdoors in the big bike class and still rode Lites in Supercross. This year is just more of a learning thing for me to see what the pace is, and I really got to see that at Atlanta where I got a top-five start. To see how hard those guys sprint really was a good thing for me. I just think that will help me learn more heading into next year.
Talk a little about last weekend in Atlanta...
It actually started off really slow in practice. I was frustrated with myself all morning, because I wasn't flowing right. Then by the heat race, I got a top-five start, was in third the entire time, and ended up getting fourth in it. That led into the main event where I got another good start, and ran in sixth for most of the race. About 13 or 14 laps in, I made a small mistake in the whoops, and with the way the ruts were last weekend, it took one slip up for you to really land on your head, which is exactly what I did. I was really bummed when I crashed, came back to the truck, and started beating myself up, but at the same time I realized that that was the first time that I was up front and actually stayed up front. It just showed that I have the speed to be up there. I think after learning that, it just gave me more confidence coming into this weekend, knowing that I can run that pace.
Being on the Hart and Huntington team, do you have any new tattoos yet?
No [laughs]. They're trying to hold me down and brand me, but they haven't been able to pin me down yet! I love the art and stuff, but I'm just not that type of person, so I'll just let someone else get them all for me.
While strolling through the pits we ran into Merge Racing's Steve Matthes. In case you didn't know, Merge Racing produces an adjustable leak jet for four-stroke carburetors, which helps to eliminate the bog that most four-strokes have today. But the company is also now producing a hydraulic shock preload adjuster. According to Matthes, the product was introduced at the Indy Trade Show a few weeks ago, and allows for 15 millimeters of sag adjustment by simply turning the knob on the side. Check back this week for a full review on the leak jet. Also, we're working on getting our hands on one of the preload adjusters; they look pretty trick.
That's about it from Indy. Be sure to check back Friday for a report from the historic Daytona Supercross and Monday to find out everything that went down behind the scenes. We're also going to be bringing you video coverage from the event. Not the pre- and post-show, but rather some in-depth special features and interviews with the top riders. Don't forget, it's going to be awesome!
Courtesy of MotoCross.com
