Carmichael Back on Top at Anaheim II - Langston Dominates Lites Class

Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, has witnessed some legendary supercross races over the years, starting with the legendary 1986 David Bailey/Rick Johnson battle (which Bailey won), to Jeremy McGrath's first 250cc win in 1993, and even the 2001 McGrath/Ricky Carmichael battle (which McGrath won—his last AMA Supercross win to date).

Well, as far as the 45,000 fans in attendance were concerned, you can chalk up Anaheim II, 2006 as a race to remember as well.

David Vuillemin, in his first four-stroke supercross ride, grabbed the holeshot over Ivan Tedesco, McGrath, Ernesto Fonseca, James Stewart, Carmichael, Mike LaRocco and Chad Reed. Tedesco quickly grabbed the lead, and in less than a lap, he was joined by Stewart, and a lap later, Carmichael. Stewart got out front while Carmichael worked on Tedesco for second, and although the two are Makita Suzuki teammates, Tedesco wasn't giving way easily. Carmichael had to block-pass his way by for second in a hairpin turn just before the finish line on lap five, then he set out after Stewart, who enjoyed a couple of seconds of space behind him.

"He [Stewart] set the world on fire in practice and in his heat race," Carmichael said. "In his heat race, he was a second faster than me and Chad, if not more. His heat race was about 2 seconds faster, but I was surprised it wasn't more than that to be honest with you. So I felt like, after the heat race, 'Wow, I wasn't too far off. So I'll just try to rely on what I've learned in the 10 years I've been racing this and try to rely on that.'"

Over the next couple laps, Carmichael reeled Stewart in, and by lap 8, Carmichael was glued to Stewart's rear wheel. Every now and then, Carmichael would lose a few bikelengths, but seemed to be able to catch Stewart at will.

"I knew he had some good lines," Stewart said. "He didn't have a problem keeping up with me—it was kind of like how I felt in Toronto. You can just kind of get back there and watch the guy make mistakes and stuff and just pick your lines."

The capacity crowd was on its feet as Carmichael repeatedly put a wheel in on Stewart, only to back off to avoid contact. It was easy to get the feeling that Carmichael could pass if he wanted to.

"I felt I could've got a little buck-wild and try to put a move on him, but I was waiting," Carmichael said. "A little later, if I needed to do it, I was gonna try something."

While leading, Stewart made some spectacular saves under pressure from Carmichael, including landing on a Tuff Block off of a jump, nearly landing on a lapped rider, and nearly crashing twice in the same section of whoops. But he wouldn't go down easy.

"He made two big mistakes in the whoops," Carmichael said. "About lap eight he made one, and some lapper cut him off really bad in the rhythm lane there, and he almost landed on this lapper, and then he made two mistakes in the whoops, and he landed on the haybales one time, and after the finish line, he was getting a little loose there. I felt like I was arching that whole section really nice and that's really the only place where I was getting him. And from the mechanics on, he pulled away, then I'd get him in the tighter stuff."

But it all came to a head, suddenly, with two laps to go, as Stewart approached a section where yellow flags were waving, jumped into the corner, and then went down as he got on the brakes trying to avoid a downed Mike Brown. Carmichael tip-toed around the outside to avoid Stewart and Brown, and the race was suddenly over.

"You know, there was a lapper down in the corner, and he was kind of high up in the corner and I didn't know what he was going to do," Stewart said. "He was picking up his bike. I didn't know if he was going to fall the other way, and if he did that, I would've gone into the haybales, so I just landed and got on the brakes, and the track was kind of slippery tonight and that was it. My front end washed out, and it was over after that. I think, besides the whoops, I felt good. I knew Ricky was going to be there the whole time. I'd already banked on that. You know, there's really nothing you can do out here to pull away. Like I said, I struggled in the whoops, so I didn't feel like I was that strong over there, and I knew it was going to be a good race. Besides that, I felt strong for the 18 laps that I was up, and I figured it would've gone down to the finish. It would've been good race."

Stewart hung on for third, while Reed moved into second after the fall.

"Going into the first turn, all three of us were in the middle of the pack, and I felt like if we stayed somewhat together we could go through the pack," Reed said. "So, we made a few good laps, and I got caught up with a few riders and they just kind of made that gap. Once I got into third, I kind of held that gap—I would kind of catch them a little bit when they would get into lappers, and then I would get that lapper and they'd pull it back out. We just kind of kept going back out, and I couldn't do anything but put my good race together and wait for something to happen. With two laps to go, James went down, so I got another second.

"First I heard the crowd go nuts, so I was kind of hoping they were in a pileup together (laughs)," Reed continued. "But when I came up there, it was only James. No, I don't wish that on them—but it would be nice. (laughs) No, there was only two laps to go, so I guess I just rode for second after that."

But Carmichael scored his second-straight 250cc supercross, and took over the series points lead.

"Obviously, you're always happy to get a win," Carmichael said. "It's unfortunate, though, because I would have rather not won that way. I would've rather passed James fair and square, but he was riding good and I was waiting for a slip-up. A couple times I got beside him I think before the mechanics' area there, and I couldn't get by him. I could've went deep on him on that right-hander there, but I didn't feel like the time was right, and it wasn't necessary. I was just waiting, and unfortunately that happened to him. But it always feels good to win. It's just a shame that it happened that way, but I'll take it."

250cc Main:
1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
2. Chad Reed (Yam)
3. James Stewart (Kaw)
4. Ivan Tedesco (Suz)
5. Jeremy McGrath (Hon)
6. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon)
7. Mike LaRocco (Hon)
8. Michael Byrne (Kaw)
9. David Vuillemin (Hon)
10. Nick Wey (Hon)
11. Travis Preston (Hon)
12. Jacob Saylor (Hon)
13. Ryan Clark (Hon)
14. Jason Thomas (Hon)
15. Tyler Evans (Suz)
16. Justin Buckelew (Hon)
17. Jeff Gibson (Hon)
18. Jeff Dement (Suz)
19. Erick Vallejo (Hon)
20. Mike Brown (Suz)

Amp'd Mobile/AMA 250cc Supercross Championship Points Standings
(After 3 of 16 rounds):
1. Ricky Carmichael (70/2 wins)
2. Chad Reed (66)
3. James Stewart (65/1 win)
4. Ivan Tedesco (46)
5. Mike LaRocco (45)
6. (TIE) Jeremy McGrath/Ernesto Fonseca (44)
8. Nick Wey (41)
9. Michael Byrne (40)
10. David Vuillemin (34)

Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP Championship
(After 5 of 17 rounds):
1. James Stewart (115/3 wins)
2. Ricky Carmichael (114/2 wins)
3. Chad Reed (106)
4. Ivan Tedesco (87)
5. (TIE) Michael Byrne/Nick Wey (78)
7. Jason Thomas (61)
8. Jeff Gibson (60)
9. Ryan Clark (56)
10. Justin Buckelew (44)

Lites Class

Grant Langston doesn't do anything the easy way. Last year, he won the 125cc Eastern Regional Supercross Championship on a tiebreaker, as he tied on points with Josh Hansen at the last event. Then, when the series went outdoors, Langston won the season-opening Hangtown 125cc National after a last-corner pass attempt on Mike Alessi went sour and dislocated Langston's ankle—although he still won the moto and the overall.

And this isn't anything new for Langston. Since coming to the USA in 2001, he has done a myriad of things the hard way. That very same year, he overcame a dislocated shoulder and a couple of DNFs in the 125cc Nationals but still led the series going into the final moto, only to have his front wheel break, handing the championship to Mike Brown. The list goes on and on.

"I don't know if that's a benefit," Langston said. "I'm 23, and I'm going gray, so... I think these tight championships stress me out. My dad's about to have a heart attack as well."

To start the 2006 Western Regional Series, Langston went down in the first turn at round one, but was still able to catch back up to fourth, posting some of the fastest laps of the night. Then, at round two in Phoenix, Langston was running up front when he stalled his machine on the opening lap. He recovered for third in that race.

At Anaheim II, Langston finally got what he wanted—a good start, and an incident-free opening lap.

Mike Alessi actually grabbed the holeshot, followed by Langston, Andrew Short and Nathan Ramsey. Short actually passed Langston for a few feet, but Langston grabbed second back before the finish-line jump. Langston moved to the inside of Alessi on lap two and took the lead. From there, it was a sprint race to the finish, with Short and Ramsey (both also making relatively quick work of Alessi) giving chase.

"I just wanted to get a good start and get out front," Short said. "Unfortunately for me, Grant was up front as well. I got by him early on for a second, and he got right back around me, so I had my work cut out for me, and I tried my hardest."Ramsey agreed that there just was no catching Langston.

"I knew they were going to be fast all year, and Grant [Langston] has had some really fast laptimes in the first couple of rounds," Ramsey said. "This is the first time he's really got out front early like that, and he put down some good laps. I don't know what I can say. I tried as hard as I could. They got away from me pretty quick. I tried to move into third as quick as I could, and Grant was inching away and me and Shorty were kind of fluctuating back and forth a bit. You've got to be able to step up. I'm going to keep fighting and keep trying as hard as I can and hopefully step it up."

Langston sprinted to the finish, the cruised the last lap, taking the win with over 6 seconds to spare over Short and Ramsey—the other two winners on the season so far.

"You know, when I first got here, supercross was new for me, and I did win a few races in '01, but I was a little inconsistent," Langston said. "Then in 2002, I thought I was riding pretty well, but that's when Chad [Reed] arrived, and he was just a little bit better than I was that year, so the first few years were good. I'm not trying to bash anyone, but we definitely struggled on the 250 KTM. I just think that they kind of went in a little unprepared. Now that I'm riding with Kawasaki, I think our bike is just bloody awesome. I think our bike last year was good, but I thing our '06 bike is really good. I know we get paid to say that, but it genuinely is really that good. It's made a big difference. I felt in the off-season that I picked my pace up and everything, but I knew there was going to be a lot of top competition on whichever coast you ride. I really think that my hard work and that of the whole team has really shown a big improvement."

Langston is now tied with Short for the championship lead with five rounds remaining.

"You always have the championship in the back of your mind because one blowout and it's done, for sure," Langston said. "I really believe that if you have a race outside the top 15, I'm pretty confident that you've blown your shot—especially at this point. At the first race, you can say, 'Okay, seven more rounds to maybe pull back 20 points.' But the way it is now, it's really tight. Tonight, I really enjoyed getting that good start because I could relax and ride my own pace. The first two races, I felt like I rode my butt off just trying to get around some people."

Lites Main:
1. Grant Langston (Kaw)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Nathan Ramsey (KTM)
4. Billy Laninovich (Hon)
5. Sean Collier (Yam)
6. Jake Weimer (Hon)
7. Mike Alessi (KTM)
8. Brett Metcalfe (Yam)
9. Jason Lawrence (Suz)
10. Jesse Casillas (Hon)
11. Ryan Mills (Suz)
12. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
13. Eric Nye (Yam)
14. Paul Carpenter (Hon)
15. Ryan Morais (Suz)
16. Eric Sorby (Hon)
17. Marco Dube (Yam)
18. Mike Sleeter (KTM)
19. Michael LaPaglia (Suz)
20. Kyle Partridge (Yam)
21. Daniel Sani (Hon)
22. Ryan Abrigo (Hon)

2006 Lites Western Regional Supercross Championship Points Standings
(After 3 of 8 rounds):
1. (TIE) Andrew Short (63/1 win)/Grant Langston (63/1 win)
3. Billy Laninovich (60)
4. Nathan Ramsey (54/1 win)
5. Ryan Villopoto (49)
6. Jake Weimer (39)
7. Brett Metcalfe (38)
8. Mike Alessi (37)
9. Paul Carpenter (36)
10. Sean Collier (31)