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| SX Season Recap - Anaheim 3 |
| Jason Weigandt |
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Team San Manuel Yamaha started their supercross experience on the very top of
the podium with a win by Chad Reed in Toronto. After that, though, their fortunes
quickly changed. Reed couldn't match his Toronto speed at the next round in Vancouver,
and then he was injured in a big crash while testing a few days prior to the AMA
Supercross Series opener in Anaheim. Reed's crash made a big impact on the series,
since Ricky Carmichael wasn't going to race the entire series, Reed was seen as
the only rider who could challenge James Stewart for wins and championships this
season. But an injured Reed couldn't do it.
His health started to turn around, though, at AMA round four in San Francisco,
when he engaged Stewart and Carmichael in a classic duel. Reed finished third,
but he showed his injury woes from earlier were not just an excuse. As he got
healthier, he got stronger and faster, and in San Francisco he proved he could
be a contender for race wins once again. With Carmichael out again for the next
round at Anaheim, it was on Reed to bring the challenge to Stewart.
He did. Stewart, as expected, jumped out to the early lead at Anaheim 3, while
Reed quickly fought his way through to second. At that point, it looked like Stewart
was ready to check out, and he did, using his blazing speed in the early laps
to put a small gap on Reed. But about five laps into the race, Reed settled down
and figured out the best lines on the track. The gap stabilized, and then, to
the surprise of most, Reed started closing on Stewart. For a few laps, he hacked
a few tenths of a second off of Stewart's lead. Then Stewart made a big mistake
when the back end came around on his KX450F, as he grabbed too much throttle on
the slippery Anaheim dirt. Reed then climbed right onto Stewart's rear fender,
and the fans realized it. They were going to get a race after all.
The last time they raced supercross at Anaheim, Carmichael was in the announcer's
booth helping with television commentary. This time he was gone completely. It
was up to Stewart and Reed to keep the fans going, and it sure happened as the
crowd grew louder and louder as Reed got closer and closer. He had a special line
dialed in around the first rhythm section, tripling through the center of the
section and closing right in on Stewart. Then, just near the halfway point, he
jumped through the section, landed on the inside, and set up a pass.
The corner Reed tried to make the pass on was tricky. It was an off-camber corner,
so both riders were off balance as they tried to negotiate it. Reed bumped Stewart
lightly, but it was just enough to knock Stewart off his line, putting Reed in
the lead. The crowd was going nuts.
Stewart had the next corner dialed in, though. It was a hard right, and he had
much more exit speed out of that turn, which made him faster through the whoops,
which allowed him to get inside of Reed in the next turn. This would become the
focal point of the entire race. Stewart had the inside and aimed for the berm
at the end of the corner. Reed was headed that direction, too, and the lines came
together in classic motocross fashion. Stewart bumped Reed, not only taking the
lead back, but dropping him a few seconds back as he was brought to a complete
stop.
Reed tried to mount another comeback, but by then Stewart knew all of his lines,
and he rode error free to another win. The record book will show it as just another
Stewart/Reed 1-2 finish, but the Anaheim fans got so much more than that.
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