And so it begins…Ricky Carmichael is the most doggedly consistent rider on the circuit. The last two Supercross titles that he won, he won with podium finishes every single weekend of the series. In 2004, with RC out of the series, Chad Reed was on the podium every weekend on his way to the title. As of right now, RC is the only rider to have finished on the podium in every single race of this season, as James Stewart had a seriously off night after winning in the mud of San Francisco last weekend.Kyle Lewis got his weekly holeshot in the main event. At this point, he could probably live off of his Progressive Insurance Holeshot Awards alone. Stewart actually seemed to have a shot at the holeshot, but washed the front end into the first turn, going down right in front of Carmichael and pushing a lot of the pack wide into the turn to avoid him.”I had a front-row seat for James’ crash,” Carmichael said. “I was on the inside of him. I got a really good start. He closed the door on me just a little bit. I seen him going into that first turn really hot, and he almost crashed in that turn a few times in practice. His forks are so stiff that… he went into that turn and wanted to go around them and get them in that right-hander, so when he went in there, he leaned his bike over and the rest was history. It worked out good for myself and Ivan.”It did. Carmichael came out second, behind Lewis, and passed him right away. Lewis crashed later that lap, holding up a lot of the riders, but Tedesco made it by clean. That left the two Makita Suzuki RM-Z450s of Carmichael and Tedesco out front pretty much by themselves, with BooKoo Honda’s David Vuillemin third, Reed fourth and LaRocco fifth.It took Carmichael a while even to know it was Tedesco chasing him.”I didn’t really know who it was until about the second or third lap,” Carmichael said. “I was going before the finish line and I seen Chad coming down that rhythm lane there, so at first I thought it was Chad. Then I realized it was Ivan, so I was pumped. I was like, ‘If you want your podium, you’d better latch on and then you can just cruise it on in for sure on the podium.” I knew Chad would probably get him, but he hung in there a long time. I was kind of being a fan watching these two go for it. But I thought, ‘Stay with me as long as you can and you’ll get what you want.’”Meanwhile, as he attempted to come through the pack, Stewart made an aggressive move to the inside of Jeremy McGrath as McGrath attempted to square off a corner, and the resulting contact sent them both to the ground. Add to that, a lap later, Stewart fell a third time in another flat turn, washing out the front end again.The three falls made sure that Stewart would be out of contention for the duration of the main event.The lead trio of Carmichael, Tedesco and Reed ran in that order until lap 11 of 20, when Reed finally made a pass stick on Tedesco.”I just wanted to try and make the pass and try and make it stick so that he couldn’t come back at me,” Reed said of racing Tedesco. “And then just try and ride my race more than anything. I sat on him for maybe two or three laps, then put a pretty good move on him and just tried to go on and do my own race.”Late in the race, Reed began gaining ground on Carmichael, but then Carmichael pulled back ahead.”I think definitely, for a while there, I got into some lappers and Chad started catching me a little bit,” Carmichael said. “At then end there, I kind of opened my lines up and started clicking off some good laps and got into a rhythm. But I definitely had to ride a lot different than I did at the second Anaheim because, obviously, I wasn’t trying to pass anyone. I was just riding protective and trying to put in some good laps.”So Carmichael took his third win of the AMA Season and pulled into a 13-point lead over Reed (117-104), and a 14-point lead over Stewart (103). The last couple of times Carmichael has lost Anaheim I and then won Anaheim II and Anaheim III, he won the title.”I try not to be superstitious,” Carmichael said. “Sometimes I am. I don’t think there’s no way around it sometimes. But I’m a firm believer that what I do in the off-season is good, and I don’t think it has anything to do with winning these races, but Anaheim II and III have always been really good to me. It’s just a shame that I didn’t win the first race. That was a huge goal of mine, to win Anaheim I, and I didn’t do it. I’d love for the season to go the way it’s always gone, if that means anything—winning the last two Anaheims.”Reed knows he has to start winning races if he’s going to have a shot at the title.”I’ve got to win. That’s about it,” Reed said. “Getting seconds and thirds and a fifth isn’t really cutting it. I just know that I’ve got to get it done. I feel that I have a great package, and I feel good on the bike, but it’s up to me to put it together on the weekend. That’s all I lack.”Tedesco was stoked to get his first-ever Supercross podium finish.”I’ve been working all year to try and get on the box, and I put it together tonight,” Tedesco said. “I think I rode pretty well. I didn’t get the greatest jump off the start, but I made some moves in the first two corners and got into second and just rode from there. The track is really slick and I just tried to put 20 consistent laps together. I was just trying to stick on [to Carmichael] as long as I could. He was riding good tonight, and he had some good lines, so he showed me a few things that helped me out, and I definitely felt better in the main event than I did in my heat. I latched on to him and found some good lines.”Supercross Main Event Results:
1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
2. Chad Reed (Yam)
3. Ivan Tedesco (Suz)
4. Mike LaRocco (Hon)
5. Michael Byrne (Kaw)
6. Travis Preston (Hon)
7. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon)
8. James Stewart (Kaw)
9. David Vuillemin (Hon)
10. Nick Wey (Hon)
11. Heath Voss (Yam)
12. Timmy Ferry (Hon)
13. Ryan Clark (Hon)
14. Jeff Dement (Suz)
15. Jason Thomas (Hon)
16. Jeremy McGrath (Hon)
17. Keith Johnson (Hon)
18. Kyle Lewis (Hon)
19. Jacob Saylor (Hon)
20. Tyler Evans (Suz)Amp’d Mobile/AMA Supercross Series Points Standings
(After 5 of 16 rounds):
1. Ricky Carmichael (117/3 wins)
2. Chad Reed (104)
3. James Stewart (103/2 wins)
4. Michael Byrne (74)
5. Mike LaRocco (73)
6. Nick Wey (72)
7. Ivan Tedesco (71)
8. (TIE) Ernesto Fonseca/Travis Preston (62)
10. Jeremy McGrath (49)Amp’d Mobile/World Supercross GP Points Standings
(After 7 of 17 rounds):
1. Ricky Carmichael (161/3 wins)
2. James Stewart (157/4 wins)
3. Chad Reed (144)
4. Ivan Tedesco (115)
5. (TIE) Michael Byrne/Nick Wey (114)
7. Jason Thomas (86)
8. Ryan Clark (83)
9. Jeff Gibson (74)
10. Tyler Evans (61)
Lites ClassThe Lites class is quite a bit different from the Supercross class. In the Supercross class, with rare exceptions, you see the same three guys on the podium every weekend. Those three are not only faster (usually) but more consistent than the competition. But the Lites class isn’t this way.Nathan Ramsey started the season with a poor finish at round one, but then won round two. By round four (by virtue of poor finishes by Grant Langston and Andrew Short), Ramsey was leading the series. Now, one round later, he has fallen behind again, as last year’s Eastern champ Grant Langston took control back at Anaheim III.Perhaps the best starter in motocross today, Mike Alessi grabbed the holeshot on his Red Bull KTM, followed by the championship trio of Langston, Ramsey and Short. Within two laps, though, Langston made his way by Alessi and proceeded to check out. Surprisingly, Alessi hung tough until lap 11 of 15 in second. In the past few races, he has lost ground quickly in the early laps. This week, he hung on for third after succumbing to pressure from Short late in the race.”My riding’s picked up,” Alessi said. “I think it’s more that I’m riding with more confidence out there. I’m riding more fluid and comfortable out there on the bike, and running with these guys at that pace the first couple laps. I’m starting to figure it out. I think it’s good for me. I’ve got a good roll going—two 3rds—and I’d like to keep it going next week. I’d like to be on the podium again, but like I said, top five is my realistic goal. But, like I said, a podium is just a bonus. Tonight, I was actually riding better than I thought I was going to ride, and I had a lot of confidence coming in here since the last time I raced here. Last week, I was riding with Metcalfe and Grant. Riding with them, it showed me that I can ride with these guys, and I have the ability to ride with these guys and go the pace. It felt good to come up here tonight and get third.”As Short tried to work his way by Ramsey, Ramsey lost the front going into a flat turn and went down, remounting in 17th. With Langston checking out in the lead, and Short in third and working on Alessi, this was the worst possible scenario for Ramsey. He would only catch back up to 13th, the last rider on the lead lap.With only four laps to go, Short found his way around Alessi for second as Alessi seemed to have moved out of the way of Short in the wide first turn.”It was more like I wanted to battle, but I knew with only like four or five laps to go, if there was a situation, I didn’t want to go into a situation in combat and go down running second,” Alessi said. “For me, realistically the championship’s not in my favor, so I’m just up here to do the best that I can. If there’s something that’s going to possibly happen, I don’t want to be a part of that. I don’t want to have a bad reputation like I had at Glen Helen, so any altercation that’s going to happen like that, I just try to stay away from it. For me, I’m just trying to get my image back and show everyone that I’m a good, clean racer and I’m not going to do anything bad.”Short thought it was his new beard that moved Alessi over. If it works for Chuck Norris…”I’m trying to scare the competition on the gate or something!” Short said. “Give them the mean eye or something. Whatever it takes. I’m trying it out. I think it worked a little bit tonight.”But there was no catching Grant Langston, who not only won the race, but took over the points lead by one over Short.”A lot of people are saying, ‘Hey, it’s simple math. You win all four races, and Nathan can get second all four races, and it’s simple math. You’ll win by two,’” Langston said. “But, that’s not how our series works. It’s just not that easy. Every weekend, you just don’t know what the podium’s going to be. You know the guys that are likely going to be there, but it’s just a weird series week to week. I would have to say it would be the first time if you were to see a guy win four in a row and then another guy get four 2nds. It’s too competitive, and a lot seems to happen. I knew it wasn’t going to come down to that, but I knew if I’m up front or close to it, I knew if I were on the podium tonight I would’ve gained points on Nathan. Maybe not on Andrew, but on Nathan who was leading. It’s just how the series seems to go. It can be an emotional rollercoaster sometimes. At this race two weeks ago, I was tied for the lead with Andrew. Then I slipped from first to fourth, and this week I’m back in the front. It’s just a really weird deal sometimes.”Short is excited to be so close to the series lead past the halfway point.”I’m right where I want to be,” Short said. “One point out of it is a good position to be in. If I can keep the momentum up and get through San Diego and have that momentum going into the break, I’ll be really happy.”Lites Main Event Results
1. Grant Langston (Kaw)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Mike Alessi (KTM)
4. Paul Carpenter (Hon)
5. Brett Metcalfe (Yam)
6. Billy Laninovich (Hon)
7. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
8. Ryan Morais (Suz)
9. Darcy Lange (Kaw)
10. Sean Collier (Yam)
11. Justin Brayton (Yam)
12. Ryan Mills (Suz)
13. Nathan Ramsey (KTM)
14. Colton Facciotti (Kaw)
15. Mike Sleeter (KTM)
16. Rodrig Thain (Kaw)
17. Eric Sorby (Hon)
18. Michael LaPaglia (Suz)
19. Kyle Partridge (Yam)
20. Jake Weimer (Hon)
21. Daniel Sani (Hon)
22. Eric Nye (Yam)Amp’d Mobile/AMA Lites Western Regional Supercross Championship Points Standings
(After 5 of 8 rounds):
1. Grant Langston (94/2 wins)
2. Andrew Short (93/1 win)
3. Billy Laninovich (89)
4. Nathan Ramsey (87/2 wins)
5. Ryan Villopoto (78)
6. Mike Alessi (77)
7. Brett Metcalfe (76)
8. Paul Carpenter (67)
9. Sean Collier (42)
10. Darcy Lange (41)More from Anaheim III
1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
2. Chad Reed (Yam)
3. Ivan Tedesco (Suz)
4. Mike LaRocco (Hon)
5. Michael Byrne (Kaw)
6. Travis Preston (Hon)
7. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon)
8. James Stewart (Kaw)
9. David Vuillemin (Hon)
10. Nick Wey (Hon)
11. Heath Voss (Yam)
12. Timmy Ferry (Hon)
13. Ryan Clark (Hon)
14. Jeff Dement (Suz)
15. Jason Thomas (Hon)
16. Jeremy McGrath (Hon)
17. Keith Johnson (Hon)
18. Kyle Lewis (Hon)
19. Jacob Saylor (Hon)
20. Tyler Evans (Suz)Amp’d Mobile/AMA Supercross Series Points Standings
(After 5 of 16 rounds):
1. Ricky Carmichael (117/3 wins)
2. Chad Reed (104)
3. James Stewart (103/2 wins)
4. Michael Byrne (74)
5. Mike LaRocco (73)
6. Nick Wey (72)
7. Ivan Tedesco (71)
8. (TIE) Ernesto Fonseca/Travis Preston (62)
10. Jeremy McGrath (49)Amp’d Mobile/World Supercross GP Points Standings
(After 7 of 17 rounds):
1. Ricky Carmichael (161/3 wins)
2. James Stewart (157/4 wins)
3. Chad Reed (144)
4. Ivan Tedesco (115)
5. (TIE) Michael Byrne/Nick Wey (114)
7. Jason Thomas (86)
8. Ryan Clark (83)
9. Jeff Gibson (74)
10. Tyler Evans (61)
Lites ClassThe Lites class is quite a bit different from the Supercross class. In the Supercross class, with rare exceptions, you see the same three guys on the podium every weekend. Those three are not only faster (usually) but more consistent than the competition. But the Lites class isn’t this way.Nathan Ramsey started the season with a poor finish at round one, but then won round two. By round four (by virtue of poor finishes by Grant Langston and Andrew Short), Ramsey was leading the series. Now, one round later, he has fallen behind again, as last year’s Eastern champ Grant Langston took control back at Anaheim III.Perhaps the best starter in motocross today, Mike Alessi grabbed the holeshot on his Red Bull KTM, followed by the championship trio of Langston, Ramsey and Short. Within two laps, though, Langston made his way by Alessi and proceeded to check out. Surprisingly, Alessi hung tough until lap 11 of 15 in second. In the past few races, he has lost ground quickly in the early laps. This week, he hung on for third after succumbing to pressure from Short late in the race.”My riding’s picked up,” Alessi said. “I think it’s more that I’m riding with more confidence out there. I’m riding more fluid and comfortable out there on the bike, and running with these guys at that pace the first couple laps. I’m starting to figure it out. I think it’s good for me. I’ve got a good roll going—two 3rds—and I’d like to keep it going next week. I’d like to be on the podium again, but like I said, top five is my realistic goal. But, like I said, a podium is just a bonus. Tonight, I was actually riding better than I thought I was going to ride, and I had a lot of confidence coming in here since the last time I raced here. Last week, I was riding with Metcalfe and Grant. Riding with them, it showed me that I can ride with these guys, and I have the ability to ride with these guys and go the pace. It felt good to come up here tonight and get third.”As Short tried to work his way by Ramsey, Ramsey lost the front going into a flat turn and went down, remounting in 17th. With Langston checking out in the lead, and Short in third and working on Alessi, this was the worst possible scenario for Ramsey. He would only catch back up to 13th, the last rider on the lead lap.With only four laps to go, Short found his way around Alessi for second as Alessi seemed to have moved out of the way of Short in the wide first turn.”It was more like I wanted to battle, but I knew with only like four or five laps to go, if there was a situation, I didn’t want to go into a situation in combat and go down running second,” Alessi said. “For me, realistically the championship’s not in my favor, so I’m just up here to do the best that I can. If there’s something that’s going to possibly happen, I don’t want to be a part of that. I don’t want to have a bad reputation like I had at Glen Helen, so any altercation that’s going to happen like that, I just try to stay away from it. For me, I’m just trying to get my image back and show everyone that I’m a good, clean racer and I’m not going to do anything bad.”Short thought it was his new beard that moved Alessi over. If it works for Chuck Norris…”I’m trying to scare the competition on the gate or something!” Short said. “Give them the mean eye or something. Whatever it takes. I’m trying it out. I think it worked a little bit tonight.”But there was no catching Grant Langston, who not only won the race, but took over the points lead by one over Short.”A lot of people are saying, ‘Hey, it’s simple math. You win all four races, and Nathan can get second all four races, and it’s simple math. You’ll win by two,’” Langston said. “But, that’s not how our series works. It’s just not that easy. Every weekend, you just don’t know what the podium’s going to be. You know the guys that are likely going to be there, but it’s just a weird series week to week. I would have to say it would be the first time if you were to see a guy win four in a row and then another guy get four 2nds. It’s too competitive, and a lot seems to happen. I knew it wasn’t going to come down to that, but I knew if I’m up front or close to it, I knew if I were on the podium tonight I would’ve gained points on Nathan. Maybe not on Andrew, but on Nathan who was leading. It’s just how the series seems to go. It can be an emotional rollercoaster sometimes. At this race two weeks ago, I was tied for the lead with Andrew. Then I slipped from first to fourth, and this week I’m back in the front. It’s just a really weird deal sometimes.”Short is excited to be so close to the series lead past the halfway point.”I’m right where I want to be,” Short said. “One point out of it is a good position to be in. If I can keep the momentum up and get through San Diego and have that momentum going into the break, I’ll be really happy.”Lites Main Event Results
1. Grant Langston (Kaw)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Mike Alessi (KTM)
4. Paul Carpenter (Hon)
5. Brett Metcalfe (Yam)
6. Billy Laninovich (Hon)
7. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
8. Ryan Morais (Suz)
9. Darcy Lange (Kaw)
10. Sean Collier (Yam)
11. Justin Brayton (Yam)
12. Ryan Mills (Suz)
13. Nathan Ramsey (KTM)
14. Colton Facciotti (Kaw)
15. Mike Sleeter (KTM)
16. Rodrig Thain (Kaw)
17. Eric Sorby (Hon)
18. Michael LaPaglia (Suz)
19. Kyle Partridge (Yam)
20. Jake Weimer (Hon)
21. Daniel Sani (Hon)
22. Eric Nye (Yam)Amp’d Mobile/AMA Lites Western Regional Supercross Championship Points Standings
(After 5 of 8 rounds):
1. Grant Langston (94/2 wins)
2. Andrew Short (93/1 win)
3. Billy Laninovich (89)
4. Nathan Ramsey (87/2 wins)
5. Ryan Villopoto (78)
6. Mike Alessi (77)
7. Brett Metcalfe (76)
8. Paul Carpenter (67)
9. Sean Collier (42)
10. Darcy Lange (41)More from Anaheim III
