The opening round of the 2007 AMA Supercross season got started in Anaheim, California with the promise of some intense racing. Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, and Chad Reed had all shown flashes of greatness in the two recent World SX rounds in Canada. The twists coming into this round – Reed had injured his shoulder a week prior in a practice crash, Carmichael was making his last appearance at Anaheim, the only round (Anaheim I) in all of AMA supercross and motocross he’d never managed to win, and the whole night would be broadcast LIVE on Speed. The skies were clear, the track was challenging, and the seats were filling as 2007 – a week after that silly Times Square ceremony with the dropping ball – really got started.James Stewart set the fastest lap time in practice, with over a full second on Carmichael’s fastest. Lap times now play a role is supercross racing. Where formerly they were used for riders to gauge where they stood in the field – and often providing a psychological edge for the holder of the fastest time – now the lap times actually are part of the racing. Riders go out in groups throughout the day. Each rider gets two timed practice sessions to score his best lap. The top forty riders, based purely on their fastest single lap, advance into the night program. The new race format also changes up once the riders have earned their way under the lights. In the new qualifying program the supercross class (okay, the 450s) no longer races semi-finals. Like the Lites (250Fs), they race only heats and an LCQ. The idea is to make the SX format more live-TV friendly so in the future perhaps all rounds could be broadcast live. Think about that for a second, then cross your fingers. Okay, stop thinking about it now, you’ll drive yourself crazy.The new format certainly affected Chad Reed. Injured last week with a stress-fractured and chipped shoulder, Reed might normally sit out practice. This time he couldn’t. Chad opted to ride the opening practice only, and apparently felt his times would be good enough for an invite into the night show. They were good enough, but not impressive. At five seconds behind Stewart’s best, Reed had the 20th fastest lap time, and was into the night program.Practice Lap Times – Best LapSupercross1 00:55.3 James M Stewart
2 00:56.4 Ricky Carmichael
3 00:57.6 Grant Langston
4 00:57.6 David Vuillemin
5 00:57.8 Timmy M Ferry
6 00:58.1 Kevin W Windham
7 00:58.2 Travis A Preston
8 00:58.4 Nicholas A Wey
9 00:58.6 Michael Byrne
10 00:58.7 Ivan Tedesco
11 00:59.0 Heath D Voss
12 00:59.1 Joshua Summey
13 00:59.3 Nathan Ramsey
14 01:00.0 Eric Sorby
15 01:00.1 Jeff Dement
16 01:00.2 Manuel Gomes Rivas
17 01:00.5 Ryan D Clark
18 01:00.5 Jeff Gibson
19 01:00.7 Joe Oehlhof
20 01:00.7 Chad Reed
Lites1 00:58.0 Ryan D Villopoto
2 00:58.0 Christopher Gosselaar
3 00:58.4 Christophe Pourcel
4 00:58.7 Joshua Hansen
5 00:58.7 Martin Davalos
6 00:58.7 Jason D Lawrence
7 00:58.9 Jake T Weimer
8 00:58.9 Joshua R Hill
9 00:59.9 Kyle P Chisholm
10 01:00.1 Matthew J Lemoine
11 01:00.2 Joshua M Grant
12 01:00.2 Steve Boniface
13 01:00.5 Troy K Adams
14 01:00.8 Kyle Partridge
15 01:01.2 Michael J Lapaglia
16 01:01.4 Dusty Klatt
17 01:01.7 Kyle B Cunningham
18 01:01.7 Justin F Keeney
19 01:02.1 Logan Darien
20 01:02.5 Adam B Chatfield
LCQsThe Lites LCQ saw Josh Hill take a third place start and move his way into the lead to hold on until the win. The race was relatively uneventful for an LCQ.The Supercross LCQ was an exciting one to watch with a lot of aggressive racing going on for the last two tickets to the main event. Kyle Lewis holeshotted, but Paul Carpenter immediately took the lead. Kyle Mace was in third, but Jeff Dement quickly took over that position and pushed Mace to fourth. On the third lap, Carpenter went down in a corner, handing the lead to Kyle Lewis. Josh Summey and Ryan Clark were struggling to find open track to make up time and reach a transfer position. By the end, Clark had reached the front and won the race, but Summey, even with all the speed he had shown in his Supercross class debut, did not qualify for the main.Lites MainThe opening round main event of the 2007 Lites West was a great display of talent but lacked nail-biting moments. Christophe Pourcel, the 2006 MX2 World Champion, made his US supercross racing debut a great one. He grabbed the holeshot and lead Josh Hanson, Ryan Villopoto, Chris Gosselaar, Jason Lawrence, and Jake Weimer around the early laps of the race. Villopoto was on a charge, and moved into second place before the first lap was completed, then went after Pourcel. At the start of the third lap, Villopoto jumped an obstacle to Pourcel’s inside and squeezed his bike underneath. The two looked to make a little contact, with neither rider being disturbed. Villlopoto never looked back, and steadily pulled a little breathing room, then a gap, and then a length of the stadium over Pourcel. Lawrence made a charge for Pourcel, but by mid race it was clear he wasn’t closing in. He would stay in a solid 3rd until the checkers. Weimer caught and passed Hanson on the tenth lap, and looked to have the speed to pull away, but Hanson had plenty of fight left, and took the position back with three laps to go and held on for fourth. Josh Grant did not line up for the race. He’d had a brutal crash in practice, managed through his heat, but was not there for the main.Lites Main Results1. Ryan Villopoto
2. Cristophe Pourcel
3. Jason Lawrence
4. Josh Hanson
5. Jake Weimer
6. Troy Adams
7. Matthew Lemoine
8. Chris Gosselaar
9. Kyle Chisholm
10. Justin Keeney
11. Steve Boniface
12. Richie Owens
13. Kyle Cunningham
14. Adam Chatfield
15. Cody Mackie
16. Michael Willard
17. Dennis Jonon
18. Michael Lapaglia
19. Josh Hill
20. Martin Davalos
