Chad Reed Wins Daytona Supercross; Josh Hansen Takes First Victory of the Season

Yamaha's Chad Reed of Dade City, Florida took his second win of the season at the sandy track of Daytona's Speedway Friday night. Reed led every lap of the main and won by nearly 30 seconds after Carmichael crashed during a late-race blitz through the whoops. KTM's Josh Hansen won the brutal, crash-filled main of the 125 class with series front runners Grant Langston and Davi Millsaps finishing 15th and 18th, respectively.

Reed holeshot the 250 class main event and was off to an early lead with Carmichael hot on his heels. Reed managed to stay out front with RC only seconds behind, but small mistakes made by Carmichael let Reed slip away by valuable seconds. On lap 16 Carmichael went charging through the sandy whoop section in another attempt to overtake Reed, but got out of control and went down, letting Reed's lead go from 4 to 24 seconds. Reed cinched the win while Carmichael still maintained second place ahead of Mike Larocco. Vuillemin and Windham rounded out the top five.

Reed celebrated his victory with a burn out on the legendary Daytona Speedway. "I was able to win here last year," said Reed, "and people questioned whether or not I could win with [Carmichael] here. I love racing that guy, so to come here and beat him in his back yard feels great!"

Carmichael maintained his "no excuses" policy on the podium. "I just wasn't the better guy tonight," he said. "No excuses, I got beat. Overall it was a fun race and I'm glad that I'm one of the guys going for the win. I just love racing and I love this event. That's why I'm going to keep coming back."

The fourth round of the 125 East series was one of the most exciting—and brutal—main events of the season. Honda's Josh Grant grabbed the holeshot, with Troy Adams, KTM's Josh Hansen and teammate Ryan Mills up front. Davi Millsaps got off to a bad start and Kawasaki's Grant Langston crashed on the first straightaway. After lap one, it was Josh Hansen in the lead followed by Team Samsung's Troy Adams and Josh Grant. Davi Millsaps began an impressive charge from mid-pack all the way up to the top five, and was soon on Adams' heels battling for third. Side by side in the rhythm section, Adams got squirrelly and accidentally took out Millsaps, sending him over the bars.

Millsaps held on for an 18th place finish but was understandingly disappointed. "I crashed in the second turn, but got back up and I was catching them. I wasn't in a podium position yet, but I was working my way up there, and then Troy Adams got a little out of control and hit me and I flipped." His bars and subframe on his RM-Z250 were twisted and he had a bad limp after landing on his ankle, but he will be okay.

Grant Langston was another victim of the 125cc-class carnage after a second crash dropped him even further back. He reportedly hit his head pretty hard, but is okay. He hung on to finish 15th, still earning enough points to keep him in the running for the series points lead.

Meanwhile, Grant had gotten around Adams for second place, and was now battling for first with KTM's Josh Hansen. They were neck and neck heading into the final lap, and just after the white flag they got in a tangle, sending them both to the ground. Hansen got to his bike first with Grant still in hot pursuit before third place Troy Adams caught up. At the finish, it was Josh Hansen, Josh Grant and Troy Adams.

Hansen appeared hurt after the finish and was on the ground. Grant approached him, but much to Hansen's relief, there were no hard feelings. When Hanny was asked what Grant said to him after the race, he replied, "He said, 'Hey, that was a great race.' I'm glad he didn't come over and sock me because I wasn't ready for that." Josh Hansen has now captured the 125 Eastern Regional points lead with Langston trailing by only two points.

250 THQ AMA Supercross Series Event Results

1. Chad Reed, Dade City, Fl., Yamaha
2. Ricky Carmichael, Havana Fl., Suzuki
3. Mike Larocco, Corona, Ca., Honda
4. David Vuillemin, Murrieta, Ca., Yamaha
5. Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda
6. Travis Preston, Hesperia, Ca., Honda
7. Ernesto Fonseca, Murrieta, Ca., Honda
8. Andrew Short, Murrieta, Ca., Honda
9. Tim Ferry, Largo Fl., Yamaha
10. Sean Hamblin, Valencia, Ca., Honda
11. Damon Huffman, Valencia, Ca., Honda
12. Kyle Lewis, Henderson, Nev., Honda
13. Tyler Evans, Corona, Ca., Suzuki
14. Jiri Dostal, Murrieta, Ca., Honda
15. Joe Oehlhof, Hesperia, Ca., Honda

250cc THQ AMA Supercross Series Season Standings

1. Ricky Carmichael, Havana, Fl., Suzuki, 239
2. Chad Reed, Dade City, Fl., Yamaha, 207
3. Kevin Windham, Centerville, Miss., 172
4. Mike Larocco, Corona, Ca., Honda, 169
5. David Vuillemin, Murrieta, Ca., Yamaha, 150
6. Ernesto Fonseca, Murrieta, Ca., Honda, 137
7. Sebastien Tortelli, Lake Elsinore, Ca., Suzuki, 129
8. Michael Byrne, Murrieta, Ca., Kawasaki, 103
9. Heath Voss, Mico, Texas, Yamaha, 95
10. Tyler Evans, Corona, Ca., Suzuki, 81

125 Eastern Regional THQ AMA Supercross Series Event Results

1. Josh Hansen, Elbert, Co., KTM
2. Josh Grant, Riverside, Ca., Honda
3. Troy Adams, Brooksville, Fl., Honda
4. Chad Johnson, Rhinelander, Wi., Yamaha
5. Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mi., Yamaha
6. Ryan Mills, Clintondale, NY, KTM
7. Steve Boniface, Murrieta, Ca., Honda
8. Donnie McGourty, Floral City, Fl., Honda
9. Joaquim Rodrigues, Murrieta, Ca., Honda
10. Justin Buckelew, Riverside, Ca., Honda

125cc Eastern Regional THQ AMA Supercross Series Season Standings

1. Josh Hansen, Elbert, Co., KTM, 80
2. Grant Langston, Murrieta, Ca., Kawasaki, 78
3. Davi Millsaps, Cairo, Ga., Suzuki, 68
4. Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mi., Yamaha, 53
5. Troy Adams, Brooksville, Fl., Honda, 51
6. Josh Grant, Riverside, Ca., Honda, 50
7. Steve Boniface, Murrieta, Ca., Honda, 49
8. Joaquim Rodrigues, Murrieta, Ca., Honda, 45
9. Brock Sellards, Sherrodsville, Oh., Yamaha, 40
10. Matt Walker, Mcdonough, Ga., Kawasaki, 38