What a rollercoaster ride it has been for the top-three Supercross class riders in this year’s Amp’d Mobile Supercross Series. Within a span of two weeks, Chad Reed, for example, has gone from third in the series, to first (following Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart’s poor finishes in St. Louis), and then from first, to way out front in first (following Ricky Carmichael’s 25-point penalty for out-of-spec fuel enforced before the Atlanta round last week).Then, just like that, Carmichael was returned the points he had docked the Friday before round 9 of the AMA series when it was determined that the AMA and FIM had different testing standards for fuel specifications. Instead, Carmichael was fined $20,000.Which leads into the night’s events in Indianapolis, where Honda’s Ernesto Fonseca grabbed the holeshot, while James Stewart found himself on the ground again—for the fourth time in the 9 rounds run thus far, Stewart fell in the first turn.”It was kind of like at Toronto,” Stewart said. “They went out in the first corner and pushed up all of that loose stuff, and there was a few rocks in there, and I just kind of leaned over and the next thing I know, I was picking myself up. I just hit something and fell over. At least I didn’t get tangled up—that’s a positive—but it happened so quick that I was just trying to pick myself up.”Stewart remounted quickly without stalling his KX450F and he headed out after the leaders while Carmichael moved around Fonseca for the lead. Reed rounded lap one sixth, and amazingly, Stewart rounded the third lap ninth.”Of course, not starting the bike is definitely helpful—not kicking that thing in the first corner,” Stewart said. “I kind of blacked out coming through the back of the pack. I was just trying to pass as many riders as I could, and I actually felt like I was closing up on second and third and stuff like that. So I had a good pace going getting through the riders and stuff, and I made a few aggressive passes, but it worked out.”Eventually, Stewart found his way around Reed and continued his move toward the front while Reed attempted to latch onto his back wheel.”I just think I struggled to get into my rhythm right away, and I struggled to make passes,” Reed said. “I think I just needed to be more aggressive and try and make it happen a little more than most. I just kind of was too patient and too careful around those guys. When James came by, he was just a lot more aggressive than I was, so it was just frustrating.”Stewart made it to second on lap nine, passing Nick Wey for the position, and it took Reed until five laps later to get by Wey for third. But by the time Stewart made it into second, Carmichael was long gone.That was basically that. Stewart would catch Carmichael when Carmichael was in traffic, but then Carmichael would pull back out when Stewart hit the same batch of lappers.”It was pretty uneventful for me,” Carmichael said. “I got a pretty good start—I was, I think, second place there behind Ernesto—and I was able to get by him on lap two, and I just was trying to see where Chad was and of course where James was, and I could see James was on the move, so I just tried to mark him and do the best that I could to put in the best laps that I could and just keep him in check.”Carmichael scored his fifth win of the AMA season while Stewart finished second for the first time.
It’s turning into a two-man Honda runaway in the Lites East, as Team Honda’s Davi Millsaps and SoBe/Samsung Mobile Honda’s Josh Grant have now hooked up on two straight occasions to battle at the front of the pack. If Grant wouldn’t have crashed out of the main event at round one, he may very well be in the championship chase right now. But that hasn’t stopped him from stepping up and showing his cards at rounds two and three.Grant won round two of the series last week in Atlanta when Millsaps crashed out of the lead, and this week in Indianapolis, Grant hoped to show it wasn’t a fluke.Grant actually grabbed the holeshot, followed closely by Millsaps and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Chris Gosselaar.Somewhat surprisingly, Millsaps wasn’t making much ground on Grant for the first while, and when he finally did make a move on Grant, Grant was quick to run it back up the inside of Millsaps and steal the lead right back.”After I passed him, he snuck up the inside of me, and I knew he was going to do it because he was really fast in that section, and after he got back by me, I made a couple of mistakes in the back,” Millsaps said. “I spun out in a corner and Goose got back on me, and then I wasn’t able to triple after where he passed me the first time, and he pulled away there a lot.”Grant pulled out to a comfortable margin and seemed to have the race under control.”I got a bad jump, but it ended up in a good start and it put me in front, but I stuck my head down and rode my race,” Grant said. “Davi was right behind me, and I handled the pressure really well, and I was really confident about tonight and I figured tonight was my night.”Unfortunately, Grant headed into the track’s main rhythm section and found a downed rider in his path.”Actually, I was committed to doing the triple before I even saw him down, and I tried to move at the last second and I didn’t quite make the triple and I endoed into the next jump,” Grant said. “It happened so quick, I wasn’t worried about if I was hurt or not. I got up so quick because I didn’t want Goose to come by. I knew he was behind us. But after that, I just put my head down and tried to catch Davi. I had lappers in my way that shouldn’t have been…”But Millsaps was too far gone. In a reversal of last week’s race, Millsaps took over when Grant fell this week, and he won his second race of the season and extended his series points lead.”It was flip-flopped,” Millsaps said. “I crashed last week in the lead, and he crashed this week. It’s just, when I got next to him, it reminded me of last week. I kind of backed off a little bit, but then I stayed the same pace as him for a while and then I started making stupid mistakes, and it cost me a couple seconds. I figured if I’d give it a charge and the end and I figured I could catch him, and he went down unfortunately, and I didn’t have to.”Grant was upset with second, but happy to know he has the speed.”I feel really good,” Grant said. “I felt really good tonight, and Daytona’s a good track for me. It’s where it all started last year. I felt like I rode really good tonight, and I’m actually excited about next weekend.”And Gosselaar, who started third, finished there too, despite a hurt flipper.”I had a little bit of an off night,” Gosselaar said. “I hurt my ankle pretty bad in practice—I had a really hard time actually walking, so I wasn’t feeling too good after the heat race. But after the start in the main event, I followed Davi and Josh there for the first few laps and felt all right, so it helps to get a good start like that. I’m happy with the outcome.”Supercross Lites Main:
1. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
2. Josh Grant (Hon)
3. Chris Gosselaar (Kaw)
4. Kelly Smith (Hon)
5. Bobby Kiniry (Hon)
6. Josh Hansen (KTM)
7. Branden Jesseman (Yam)
8. Tucker Hibbert (Yam)
9. Tommy Hahn (Hon)
10. Sean Hamblin (Suz)
11. Greg Schnell (Suz)
12. Matt Walker (Yam)
13. Chad Johnson (Yam)
14. Donnie McGourty (Kaw)
15. Teddy Maier (Kaw)
16. Stephane Roncada (Yam)
17. Geddy Karrle (Yam)
18. Brad Ripple (Kaw)
19. Bryan Johnson (Yam)
20. Martin Davalos (Yam)
21. Chris Blose (Hon)
22. Matt Goerke (Yam)Amp’d Mobile/AMA Lites Eastern Regional Points Standings
(After 3 of 7 rounds):
1. Davi Millsaps (72/2 wins)
2. Chris Gosselaar (54)
3. Branden Jesseman (52)
4. Josh Grant (47/1 win)
5. Bobby Kiniry (41)
6. Josh Hansen (38)
7. Sean Hamblin (36)
8. Teddy Maier (33)
9. Martin Davalos (31)
10. Tommy Hahn (29)
There’s more to come from the Indianapolis Supercross!
Check back on Dirtrider.com early this week for a behind-the-scenes and in-the-pits feature from Indy, with photos, interviews and industry news.
“I mean, honestly, I was trying to go from last to first, and I’m over finishing third,” Stewart said. “It’s actually the first second I’ve gotten all year. I wanted a win, and I knew I had to get up here, otherwise the championship’s basically over. I’m having fun, though. I feel strong every week, but I’m just having little mistakes. Fix that, and it should be good.”And Reed hung on for third and he still maintains the points lead, although he only holds one point over Carmichael with 7 rounds remaining.”I think that where I am this year and where I was last year it’s obviously a hell of a lot better,” Reed said. “Last year, I just started off on the wrong foot with the mud race, and I just never got it together. This year, my riding’s been kind of just coming and going, and this weekend we didn’t have it. That’s life, we move on, and we go to Daytona.”Supercross Main Event:
1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
2. James Stewart (Kaw)
3. Chad Reed (Yam)
4. Ivan Tedesco (Suz)
5. Nick Wey (Hon)
6. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon)
7. Michael Byrne (Kaw)
8. Travis Preston (Hon)
9. Timmy Ferry (Hon)
10. Jeff Gibson (Hon)
11. Jason Thomas (Hon)
12. Jeff Dement (Suz)
13. Brock Sellards (Hon)
14. Heath Voss (Yam)
15. Tyler Evans (Suz)
16. David Vuillemin (Hon)
17. Jacob Saylor (Hon)
18. Ryan Clark (Hon)
19. Mike Brown (Suz)
20. Justin Keeney (Hon).Amp’d Mobile/AMA Supercross Series Points Standings
(After 9 of 16 rounds):
1. Chad Reed (191/1 win)
2. Ricky Carmichael (190/5 wins)
3. James Stewart (174/3 wins)
4. Ivan Tedesco (144)
5. Nick Wey (133)
6. Michael Byrne (132)
7. Ernesto Fonseca (125)
8. Mike LaRocco (108)
9. Travis Preston (103)
10. Jeff Gibson (70)Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP Points Standings
(After 11 of 17 rounds):
1. Ricky Carmichael (242/5 wins)
2. James Stewart (233/5 wins)
3. Chad Reed (231/1 win)
4. Ivan Tedesco (191)
5. (TIE) Nick Wey/Michael Byrne (179)
7. Jeff Gibson (127)
8. Jason Thomas (123)
9. Ryan Clark (122)
10. Tyler Evans (105)
It’s turning into a two-man Honda runaway in the Lites East, as Team Honda’s Davi Millsaps and SoBe/Samsung Mobile Honda’s Josh Grant have now hooked up on two straight occasions to battle at the front of the pack. If Grant wouldn’t have crashed out of the main event at round one, he may very well be in the championship chase right now. But that hasn’t stopped him from stepping up and showing his cards at rounds two and three.Grant won round two of the series last week in Atlanta when Millsaps crashed out of the lead, and this week in Indianapolis, Grant hoped to show it wasn’t a fluke.Grant actually grabbed the holeshot, followed closely by Millsaps and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Chris Gosselaar.Somewhat surprisingly, Millsaps wasn’t making much ground on Grant for the first while, and when he finally did make a move on Grant, Grant was quick to run it back up the inside of Millsaps and steal the lead right back.”After I passed him, he snuck up the inside of me, and I knew he was going to do it because he was really fast in that section, and after he got back by me, I made a couple of mistakes in the back,” Millsaps said. “I spun out in a corner and Goose got back on me, and then I wasn’t able to triple after where he passed me the first time, and he pulled away there a lot.”Grant pulled out to a comfortable margin and seemed to have the race under control.”I got a bad jump, but it ended up in a good start and it put me in front, but I stuck my head down and rode my race,” Grant said. “Davi was right behind me, and I handled the pressure really well, and I was really confident about tonight and I figured tonight was my night.”Unfortunately, Grant headed into the track’s main rhythm section and found a downed rider in his path.”Actually, I was committed to doing the triple before I even saw him down, and I tried to move at the last second and I didn’t quite make the triple and I endoed into the next jump,” Grant said. “It happened so quick, I wasn’t worried about if I was hurt or not. I got up so quick because I didn’t want Goose to come by. I knew he was behind us. But after that, I just put my head down and tried to catch Davi. I had lappers in my way that shouldn’t have been…”But Millsaps was too far gone. In a reversal of last week’s race, Millsaps took over when Grant fell this week, and he won his second race of the season and extended his series points lead.”It was flip-flopped,” Millsaps said. “I crashed last week in the lead, and he crashed this week. It’s just, when I got next to him, it reminded me of last week. I kind of backed off a little bit, but then I stayed the same pace as him for a while and then I started making stupid mistakes, and it cost me a couple seconds. I figured if I’d give it a charge and the end and I figured I could catch him, and he went down unfortunately, and I didn’t have to.”Grant was upset with second, but happy to know he has the speed.”I feel really good,” Grant said. “I felt really good tonight, and Daytona’s a good track for me. It’s where it all started last year. I felt like I rode really good tonight, and I’m actually excited about next weekend.”And Gosselaar, who started third, finished there too, despite a hurt flipper.”I had a little bit of an off night,” Gosselaar said. “I hurt my ankle pretty bad in practice—I had a really hard time actually walking, so I wasn’t feeling too good after the heat race. But after the start in the main event, I followed Davi and Josh there for the first few laps and felt all right, so it helps to get a good start like that. I’m happy with the outcome.”Supercross Lites Main:
1. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
2. Josh Grant (Hon)
3. Chris Gosselaar (Kaw)
4. Kelly Smith (Hon)
5. Bobby Kiniry (Hon)
6. Josh Hansen (KTM)
7. Branden Jesseman (Yam)
8. Tucker Hibbert (Yam)
9. Tommy Hahn (Hon)
10. Sean Hamblin (Suz)
11. Greg Schnell (Suz)
12. Matt Walker (Yam)
13. Chad Johnson (Yam)
14. Donnie McGourty (Kaw)
15. Teddy Maier (Kaw)
16. Stephane Roncada (Yam)
17. Geddy Karrle (Yam)
18. Brad Ripple (Kaw)
19. Bryan Johnson (Yam)
20. Martin Davalos (Yam)
21. Chris Blose (Hon)
22. Matt Goerke (Yam)Amp’d Mobile/AMA Lites Eastern Regional Points Standings
(After 3 of 7 rounds):
1. Davi Millsaps (72/2 wins)
2. Chris Gosselaar (54)
3. Branden Jesseman (52)
4. Josh Grant (47/1 win)
5. Bobby Kiniry (41)
6. Josh Hansen (38)
7. Sean Hamblin (36)
8. Teddy Maier (33)
9. Martin Davalos (31)
10. Tommy Hahn (29)
There’s more to come from the Indianapolis Supercross!
Check back on Dirtrider.com early this week for a behind-the-scenes and in-the-pits feature from Indy, with photos, interviews and industry news.
