Reed Wins Supercross Season Finale, Millsaps Takes East/West Shootout

Yamaha's Chad Reed, finished his 2005 season strong, taking his fifth THQ AMA Supercross win of the season in the Las Vegas finale at Sam Boyd Stadium. East finally met West in the Dave Coombs Sr. 125cc Shootout with Suzuki's Davi Millsaps coming out on top.

Damon Huffman holeshot the 250cc main event followed by Kyle Lewis and Kevin Windham. It looked like it was about to be Windham's night when he took the lead on the first lap, and gapped the rest of the field by nearly 15 seconds. Reed and Carmichael worked their way through the pack after both getting mediocre jumps off the start. Once Reed was running comfortably in second, he began reeling in Windham - about one second per lap. On lap 15, he was within striking distance of Windham. The pressure alone did it to K-Dub; his front wheel dropped in the cupped-out whoop section, sending him into the tuff blocks. Carmichael, who had been running in third, was also able to get by Windham before he got his CRF450 relit.

Reed held on for the win followed by Carmichael and Windham. Yamaha riders David Vuillemin and Heath Voss rounded out the top five.

"Things worked out well tonight," said Reed. "I wanted to win this race and end the season on the high note. I learned a lot this year about myself as a person and as a leader. The team worked really hard this year, and we held our chins up high."

Noticeably missing from the night's 250cc main event was James Stewart. Right off the start of his heat race, he reportedly sprained his thumb after being run to the outside into some barriers. He pulled off the track, handed off his bike and was walked out by the Asterisk Medical Crew.

In the Dave Coombs Sr. 125cc East/West Shootout, KTM's Jay Marmont, two-time Australian supercross champion, earned the $1,000 Butterfinger Crisp Holeshot Award with Yamaha's Brock Sellards and Suzuki's Davi Millsaps in tow. Millsaps quickly moved into the lead on the opening lap and led all 15 laps of the main.

Western regional 125cc champion Ivan Tedesco suffered a bad crash early in the main and DNF, leaving only one #1 plate Monster/Thor Kawasaki rider (Grant Lanston) instead of two. Langston suffered a bad start, but quickly started making ground on the leaders. On lap six, he put a pass on Broc Hepler, but Hepler was not about to relinquish his second place position. He diced with Langston before crashing, letting Langston by who went on to finish second, followed by Honda's Josh Grant. Hepler ultimately had to settle for fifth behind Andrew Short.

More crashes in the 125 main left two other potential leaders out of the running: Josh Hansen who tied Langston in the Eastern 125 points standings and Kawasaki's Matt Walker who had the fastest lap times during practice.

"I didn't get that bad of a start tonight, and I wanted to get up to the front as soon as possible and start to pull away," said Millsaps. "I have been working really hard at my house training for this race, and I am happy that I won tonight."

The Las Vegas finale marked the end of the 2005 THQ AMA Supercross Series. The competition now moves to the outdoors for the AMA Motocross Championships which will kick off Sunday, May 22 at the Hangtown Classic.

250cc THQ AMA Supercross Series Event Results
1. Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Yamaha
2. Ricky Carmichael, Havana, Fla., Suzuki
3. Kevin Windham, Centerville, Miss., Honda
4. David Vuillemin, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha
5. Heath Voss, Mico, Texas, Yamaha
6. Travis Preston Hesperia, Calif., Honda
7. Tim Ferry, Largo, Fla., Yamaha
8. Erick Vallejo, Garland, Texas, Yamaha
9. Ryan Clark, Waddell, Ariz., Honda
10. Damon Huffman, Valencia, Calif., Honda

250cc THQ AMA Supercross Series Season Standings
1. Ricky Carmichael, Havana, Fla., Suzuki, 367
2. Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Yamaha, 342
3. Kevin Windham, Baton Rouge, La., Honda, 284
4. Mike LaRocco, Corona, Calif., Honda, 245
5. David Vuillemin, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha, 229
6. Ernesto Fonseca, Murrieta, Calif., Honda, 198
7. Sebastien Tortelli, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Suzuki, 176
8. Heath Voss, Mico, Texas, Yamaha, 160
9. Travis Preston, Hesperia, Calif., Honda, 113
10. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Kawasaki, 129

Dave Coombs Sr. 125cc East/West Shootout
1. Davi Millsaps, Cairo, Ga., Suzuki
2. Grant Langston, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki
3. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Honda
4. Andrew Short Murrieta, Calif., Honda
5. Broc Hepler Kittanning, Pa., Suzuki
6. Nathan Ramsey, Menifee, Calif., KTM
7. Jay Marmont, Murrieta, Calif., KTM
8. Billy Laninovich, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Honda
9. Josh Summey, Allen, Texas, Honda
10. Paul Carpenter, Ithaca, N.Y., Kawasaki