Carmichael Takes Atlanta Win but Reed's Points Lead Grows

As if St. Louis wasn't enough, with James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael finishing 17th and 20th, respectively, and virtually handing the points lead to Chad Reed, who until that point had not won a race, the bombshell of all bombshells dropped the night before the Atlanta Supercross—round 8 of the 16-round Amp'd Mobile/AMA Supercross Series.

Four-time and defending AMA Supercross Champion Ricky Carmichael would be docked 25 points for having out-of-spec fuel at the San Diego round of the series. Instead of 9 points behind Reed, going into Atlanta, Carmichael trailed Reed by 34.

Stewart sat second, 17 points behind Reed.

With the bad news out, Chad Reed grabbed the main-event holeshot, followed closely by Ivan Tedesco, Michael Byrne, Ryan Clark and Ricky Carmichael. Stewart went down in the first turn and was playing catch-up.

"I actually didn't go in and slide out, it really wasn't even my fault," Stewart said. "I got clipped by some other rider, and that was the end of the story. I had to restart my bike, and I had a few flashbacks to last week trying to start the thing. But we got it started pretty quickly and were just trying to make our way back up and see what happened."

Reed pulled away out front as Carmichael worked his way through the front-runners.

On lap 5, Carmichael moved past his teammate Tedesco for second. On lap 11, he moved past Reed for the lead.

"I got the holeshot and just was pumped about that—maybe too pumped, because I didn't take advantage of it," Reed said. "I just rode tight. It was kind of weird being out front and not having to work for it, so it's good to get that out of the way. I just got in behind him and followed him. I had a couple of good lines—I was jumping a few more whoops in—and I felt like I had one more shot at him, and I just kind of blew it. I made a mistake with two laps to go."

Carmichael knew something happened.

"He was on my tail," Carmichael said. "I think, as the track got more wore out, I think it was tougher to ride harder, so obviously the gap was going to be harder to pull. I couldn't really make my mind up on that step-on/step-off, and I think he was really gapping me there. I know that's one place he was getting me for sure. It was kind of back and forth, back and forth, and he made a mistake. I don't know where because he was behind me, so I didn't hear him anymore. I just kind of cruised around the last lap and a half."

After hounding Carmichael for the entire last portion of the race, a huge mistakes put a gap between Reed and Carmichael, as Reed said, and Carmichael was able to cruise to the finish. And now that he has such a sudden, large points lead, there was no reason to push it and try and catch back up to Carmichael and risk a fall.

"When I made the mistake, I just kind of thought that it wasn't worth throwing myself on the ground and making myself start the bike again or something like that," Reed said. "I saw James on the other side of the track, so I knew he was quite a ways behind. So three points [lost] is better than what it could be if I was to go down."

Stewart moved into third with six laps to go, but was much too far behind Reed and Carmichael to have a chance at furthering his position.

"Better than 17th!" Stewart said. "I thought I could get third for sure, but I was so far back after the first lap that I didn't know how it was going to be. I saw Ivan and I was closing up on him toward the end and got around him."

But Carmichael was subdued in the press conference, having essentially not gotten any points for his effort, as the 25 points he lost the night before the race were replaced with 25 for winning in Atlanta.

"I'm ashamed for the guys on the team," Carmichael said. "We run an FIM fuel that is pretty much the worst gas made. Performance-wise, it's not very good. We're not dealing with a two-stroke, so it's not like we're trying to find horsepower. We've got plenty of that. I'm still beside myself. As competitive as the racing is getting, anything can happen. You just send your gas off, and it comes back, and somebody tells you it fails. We've all been busted for it. It's a shame. I know with the mixture we run, it doesn't even cross your mind to do it, because you already know that we're at a disadvantage with the blend we run. I'm disappointed for the team. We all put too much time, too much training, too much work, and way too much money to basically just sit here on the sidelines and watch these two guys go at it. So it's frustrating. It disappoints me more for the team than it does for myself. I'm not out here chasing my first supercross title. If I was, it'd be a different story and I might be a little more upset, but don't get me wrong, I'm definitely disappointed, but life goes on, and we'll gear up towards outdoors and try and do it there.

"I just think the whole deal is not professional enough, if you want to be quite honest. Like I said, the bottom line is, they are changing the tracks. They're making it better for us. The racing is great. And now you have a sanctioning body that just wiped it all out. How do you think Live Nation feels about that? I'd like to talk to those guys. I haven't even talked to them. I'm sure they're not pumped. I'm sure these guys, whoever wins the title out of these two guys, I'm sure they would rather beat me frickin' heads up. That's the way I would want it. I wouldn't want to see some dude laying down, or his bike break, or getting protested, or getting busted for something that I don't believe we were doing anything, but it's upsetting. But what's done is done, and hopefully everyone can learn from this, and us riders and the factories can get together. Like I said, it's not fair to any of us. It wasn't fair to Chad, it wasn't fair to James, and it wasn't fair to me regarding the circumstances. It's just a shame. The improvements that they're making, then they do that, and now we have nothing, really. We could've had a three-man battle, but... Another thing in the rulebook, it says you can appeal, but they don't let us appeal, so I don't know."

Supercross Main:
1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
2. Chad Reed (Yam)
3. James Stewart (Kaw)
4. Ivan Tedesco (Suz)
5. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon)
6. Michael Byrne (Kaw)
7. Nick Wey (Hon)
8. Mike LaRocco (Hon)
9. Ryan Clark (Hon)
10. Travis Preston (Hon)
11. Tyler Evans (Suz)
12. Mike Brown (Suz)
13. Jeff Gibson (Hon)
14. Clark Stiles (Yam)
15. Timmy Ferry (Hon)
16. Kyle Lewis (Hon)
17. Keith Johnson (Yam)
18. Jeff Dement (Suz)
19. Brock Sellards (Hon)
20. David Vuillemin (Hon).

Amp'd Mobile/AMA Supercross Series Points Standings
(After 8 of 16 rounds):
1. Chad Reed (171/1 win)
2. James Stewart (152/3 wins)
3. Ricky Carmichael (140/4 wins)*
4. Ivan Tedesco (126)
5. Michael Byrne (118)
6. Nick Wey (117)
7. Ernesto Fonseca (110)
8. Mike LaRocco (108)
9. Travis Preston (90)
10. Jeremy McGrath (67)
*Reflects 25-point penalty for illegal fuel at San Diego round

Amp'd Mobile/World Supercross GP Points Standings
(After 10 of 17 rounds):
1. Ricky Carmichael (217/4 wins)
2. (TIE) Chad Reed (211/1 win)/James Stewart (211/5 wins)
4. Ivan Tedesco (173)
5. Michael Byrne (164)
6. Nick Wey (163)
7. Jeff Gibson (113)
8. Ryan Clark (112)
9. Jason Thomas (110)
10. Tyler Evans (94)

Lites Class

Supercross is a learned discipline. Every amateur rider both in the USA and abroad spends their time racing motocross on outdoor circuits. However, when they turn pro, in the USA they are expected to race supercross. It comes easier to some riders than others, but it seems that even if it's not easy for a rider, hard work will make up for it. Ricky Carmichael is a recent example of this type of rider.

Apparently, so is Josh Grant.

Last year, Grant had a couple shining moments, but spent much of the season on the ground. After having a crash relapse last weekend in St. Louis, where he endoed in the whoops and hit a trackside sign, he returned for Atlanta. Not only did he keep from falling in Atlanta, he won his first-ever Lites Supercross event.

"Outdoors was kind of my thing, because that's we did as amateurs—we never really rode supercross—so it was kind of new to me last year," Grant said. "I struggled a little bit with injuries trying to rush in and trying to do well for my team. The more I ride the supercross track, the more I get comfortable with everything. I put a lot of time in this year, and I feel that it's paying off."

Grant got the holeshot in the main event, followed closely by Josh Hansen, Steve Boniface, and Davi Millsaps. Hansen and Grant were fighting for the lead early on lap three when Grant took Hansen wide going into a turn, not only allowing Boniface and Millsaps by, but Hansen back by, too.

Then, only a couple of straightaways later, Boniface crashed his way out of the lead spectacularly.

"I was watching Josh and Josh in the front, and then I was sitting back there and I got by them after the finish line, and then Boniface flipped, and oh god, it was a mess," Millsaps said. "I mean, everyone was going left and right, and I just tried to stay in my line. I got around him, and I guess I followed [Grant]. Everyone goes fast now, so I just tried to ride my own race."

Grant re-assumed the lead in the melee, and Millsaps went to work on him.

On lap six, Millsaps worked his way around Grant for the lead, but it only lasted about two laps.

"I came around the finish line, hit the single on the inside and my foot hit the ground, and then my hand fell off and I did a 180," Millsaps said. "I was trying to do a one-hander, but fell off the side of the bike (laughs). I don't know what place I went back to, but it took me a couple kicks to get my bike started."

From there, the race was more or less over, as Grant took over a comfortable lead and Millsaps began working his way back toward the front.

"Actually, I pretty much followed his lines because the dude's the fastest guy through the whoops, so I figured I'd try," Grant said of Millsaps. "It's unfortunate that he crashed right there, but after he fell, I started breathing. I felt really good for the rest of the race."

Grant went on to take the win, and Millsaps worked his way around SX rookie Martin Davalos on the last lap to take second.

"I caught back up to second," Millsaps said. "I got behind Martin, and he looked over, and I was like, `Okay, he's going to let me ease by.' So that's good."

Davalos, of Ecuador, was stoked to be on the podium in third.

"I was thinking about staying one more year as an amateur, but this is my dream, and I've been working really hard for it, and I just wanted to be here," Davalos said. "I'm just thankful to be here in the United States because riding with all of these guys... When I was a little kid, I was just watching them on TV, and now I'm actually racing them, so I'm really thankful just for being here in the United States."

Lites Main:
1. Josh Grant (Hon)
2. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
3. Martin Davalos (Yam)
4. Branden Jesseman (Yam)
5. Matt Goerke (Yam)
6. Michael Blose (Hon)
7. Teddy Maier (Kaw)
8. Bobby Kiniry (Hon)
9. Chris Gosselaar (Kaw)
10. Sean Hamblin (Suz)
11. Josh Summey (Hon)
12. Donnie McGourty (Kaw)
13. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)
14. Bryan Johnson (Yam)
15. Josh Woods (Suz)
16. Josh Hansen (KTM)
17. Tucker Hibbert (Hon)
18. Jay Marmont (KTM)
19. Steve Boniface (Hon)
20. Tommy Hahn (Hon)
21. Kevin Johnson (Yam)
22. Chad Ward (Hon)

Amp'd Mobile Lites Eastern Regional Supercross Championship
(After 2 of 7 rounds)
1. Davi Millsaps (47/1 win)
2. Branden Jesseman (38)
3. Chris Gosselaar (34)
4. Martin Davalos (30)
5. Teddy Maier (27)
6. Josh Grant (25/1 win)
7. (TIE) Sean Hamblin/Bobby Kiniry (25)
9. Josh Hansen (23)
10. Michael Blose (20)

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