2006 AMP'D Mobile/AMA Dallas Supercross Race Results - Dirt Rider Magazine

Supercross
From the beginning of the Amp'd Mobile/AMA Supercross Series, one of the most common quotes regarding the championship is, "Whoever makes the least mistakes will win the title." Right now, that rider very well could be Chad Reed. In Dallas, Reed was once again the rider to capitalize on the mistakes of his rivals and score his second victory of the season, making up key ground in the championship with only two rounds left to run.Points leader Ricky Carmichael grabbed the holeshot, just in front of James Stewart, and after following Carmichael's lead for the first handful of laps, Stewart made a move past the champ and into the lead through the whoops as Reed gained on the duo in third. The remarkable moment came a lap later, when Carmichael seemed to head into the whoops a little over his own comfort level as he attempted to keep pace with Stewart, and Carmichael went down in a heap, just missing a trackside Mastercraft boat."He went so fast by me that I really didn't even think about it," Reed said of Carmichael, who crossed the track in front of him on the way to the ground. "I just saw this big, blurry yellow thing. I knew he was down, and I obviously knew that I couldn't just sit there. I don't have the luxury of riding it out points-wise or whatever. I had to get up there and somewhat try to go with James."As he attempted to catch up to Stewart, only three laps later, Stewart himself hit the dirt in a rhythm section."I was just out front riding my own deal, and Heath Voss was in front of me, and I really didn't know which way he was going to go, and I bottomed my forks out and they turned on me going up the face, and I jumped onto the haybales," Stewart said. "I tried my best to recover. I started the thing up—I didn't want St. Louis all over—but we've been working on that, so we got it done."He got it started after a few kicks and headed back into the fray, still ahead of Carmichael. Over the next few laps, Stewart worked his way back into second, finally passing Nick Wey for the spot on lap 12. But he had nothing for Reed out front, who took the win and gained to within 2 points of Carmichael in the AMA championship."Right from the get-go, it was kind of hectic and crazy," Reed said. "James came together on the first triple with Travis Preston, and Travis just turned completely sideways. I think anybody else... I think his big, long legs kind of helped him out. He squeezed that sucker back straight. I was freaking out from then, and then I saw Ricky out front, James went to the front, and then I followed those guys. I felt that I had some decent lines in the beginning, and I had a good pace, so I was kind of excited. It was nice not to see him gone right away like the last couple weeks, so I was excited for that. I felt that tonight something was going to go down. I don't know why, I just had that feeling, and I saw Ricky go exit left. I'm glad I actually messed up the turn before it, and I think if I'd have been a little closer, he'd have took me with him. I'm happy I was a little more behind. After that, it was actually a really tough race. I felt like crap. I just was out there riding and just was kind of bored, I guess. My body kind of shut down, and I was riding around the worst I've ever rode. I was watching James, and I was just kind of happy that the race was over."Stewart finished second and now sits 10 points behind Carmichael in the AMA championship, although he's leading the World Supercross Title outright."It's no pressure, I just try to win races," Stewart said. "As long as I keep winning races, or standing on the box, the title will come. I've got the lead in the world, I don't want to hear `slim'. I got the lead, so it feels good to be leading that and make some points up on the AMA."MDK/Motosport/MSR Honda's Wey scored third, his third podium of the season."Well, before I got hurt last year, I felt like I was really making some strides to improve and get closer to the front, and it's a big step," Wey said. "Ricky, James and Chad are unreal, and to take that next step to those guys takes a lot of work. I'll keep my head down, and it's not an easy task, but I'm pretty happy to be able to get three podiums this year, and I'm battling to be top-five in the series—Byrner and Ivan are riding great also, so we have a good series this year, and I'm excited to be in the top five and stoked for my team. They're doing a great job."Supercross Main:
1. Chad Reed (Yam);
2. James Stewart (Kaw);
3. Nick Wey (Hon);
4. Ivan Tedesco (Suz);
5. Michael Byrne (Kaw); 6. Ricky Carmichael (Suz);
7. Kevin Windham (Hon);
8. Travis Preston (Hon);
9. Josh Demuth (Hon);
10. Ryan Clark (Hon);
11. Jason Thomas (Hon);
12. Jiri Dostal (Yam);
13. Jeff Gibson (Hon);
14. Tyler Evans (Suz);
15. Brock Sellards (Hon);
16. Kyle Lewis (Hon);
17. Cole Siebler (Hon);
18. Heath Voss (Yam);
19. Jeff Dement (Suz);
20. Isaiah Johnson (Yam).Amp'd Mobile/AMA Supercross Series Points Standings
(After 14 of 16 rounds):
1. Ricky Carmichael (296/6 wins);
2. Chad Reed (294/2 wins);
3. James Stewart (286/6 wins);
4. Ivan Tedesco (227);
5. Nick Wey (218);
6. Michael Byrne (213);
7. Travis Preston (173);
8. Ernesto Fonseca (125);
9. Ryan Clark (116);
10. (TIE) Mike LaRocco/Timmy Ferry (108).Supercross Lites
Two points, two races. After running all six of the previous Western Regional rounds back to back, the Western guys went into a 9-week hiatus with only two points separating series leader Andrew Short and last year's East champ Grant Langston with only two races left. In a points chase that close with so few races left, small things become big.If Langston could beat Short, he could easily tie for the points lead, or take the lead altogether. But if Short could be Langston, he could take the championship out of Langston's control.Rookie Ryan Villopoto grabbed the holeshot, and in the pack, Langston and Short started together, only for Short to go after his rival right away by stuffing him in a corner in the middle of the pack."He had the inside going into turn two, and he ran me up into the Tuff Blox and I lost a bunch of positions because guys were cutting underneath and going left and right and everything, and it just seemed like I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Langston said. "It was like, if I went left, someone was there, and I'd get held up. But wherever I went, I just couldn't get into a position to get a break, and then through the following two rhythm sections, I almost landed on a guy in each rhythm lane. It wasn't that easy passing, either."So Short set out after the leaders while Langston was floundering in the middle of the pack. Although Short made it into second by lap three, he couldn't do anything with young Villopoto."I was looking ahead at Ryan, and the lappers were definitely a factor tonight, but that's to be expected, and I just have to deal with it and move on," Short said. "He rode a great race. He had to deal with the lappers as well. I tried my best to catch him, and unfortunately tonight I didn't do it. I'm looking forward to next week in Seattle, and hopefully I get a good start and don't have to deal with this stuff."Villopoto had a similar race beginning at Anaheim I, but that time, he fell back to third. This time, he wasn't budging."That happened at Anaheim I, but I just rode really tight for the first one," Villopoto said. "It didn't happen here as much. I knew Andrew was coming and I was seeing if I had to go faster, and I just tried to ride calm, and it worked out for me."Remarkably, Langston made it up to third by lap six, but he was too far behind Short to have it make a difference, and he was forced to settle for the final podium spot. Short finished second, which means the points spread going into the series finale in Seattle next weekend is four. No matter what Langston does, Short needs only to finish second to win the title."Obviously, all I can try and do is win," Langston said of Seattle. "What happens behind happens. It's just one of those deals. It kind of sucks with four points. If it was two or three, maybe winning would be good enough, but anything can happen. You never know. It's just racing, and all I can do obviously is try and win. We've seen in the supercross class that anything can happen, and you've just got to hang in there. It was a bad night for me, but we have one more round and anything can happen."Short was happy with second, under the circumstances."I'm pretty focused on this championship," Short said. "It'll be fun to go into the next race. I know it's going to be a fight, and I know it's not going to be easy, and there are four or five guys that can win on every weekend, so it'll be fun, and it'll be good for the spectators and fans and for the riders."But it was Villopoto's night."Years ago, I used to race Arenacross a lot, so that helps me out a lot for supercross, and then all of the amateur nationals made me good outdoors, I guess," Villopoto said. "It should be good. Testing for the outdoors went good, and next week in Seattle is my hometown, so we'll see what I can do there."Lites Main:
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw);
2. Andrew Short (Hon);
3. Grant Langston (Kaw);
4. Mike Alessi (KTM);
5. Ryan Morais (Suz);
6. Justin Brayton (Yam);
7. Justin Keeney (Hon);
8. Ryan Abrigo (Hon);
9. Billy Laninovich (Hon);
10. Paul Carpenter (Hon);
11. Jason Lawrence (Suz);
12. Nathan Ramsey (KTM);
13. Darcy Lange (Kaw);
14. Brett Metcalfe (Yam);
15. Rodrig Thain (Kaw);
16. Mike Sleeter (KTM);
17. Eric Sorby (Hon);
18. Danny Smith (Hon);
19. Adam Chatfield (Suz);
20. Eric Nye (Yam);
21. Daniel Sani (Hon);
22. Ryan Mills (Suz)Amp'd Mobile/AMA Lites Western Regional Points Standings
(After 7 of 8 rounds):
1. Andrew Short (140/2 wins);
2. Grant Langston (136/2 wins);
3. Ryan Villopoto (119/1 win);
4. Nathan Ramsey (116/2 wins);
5. Mike Alessi (113);
6. Billy Laninovich (111);
7. Brett Metcalfe (98);
8. Paul Carpenter (89);
9. Darcy Lange (63);
10. Ryan Morais (60)