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| SX Season Recap - San Diego |
| Jason Weigandt |
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Chad Reed left his
speed in California when the series moved to Texas, so when the Amp'd Mobile Supercross
tour returned to the Golden State for the last time, Reed and his San Manuel Yamaha
team were hoping to find the magic that let them battle James Stewart in San Francisco
and Anaheim. If any place could deliver for them, it was San Diego's Qualcomm
Stadium, which was Reed's house for a few years. He won the race there in 2003,
2004 and 2005, which was reason for him to feel confident. But all confidence
is shaky if you have to race James Stewart.
The 2006 San Diego race was a completely different story than the three years
before, as Stewart and Ricky Carmichael broke away from the field and left Reed
behind. Stewart executed a late-race pass on Carmichael to win the race in convincing
fashion, showing patience and maturity. It was quite similar to the race he had
just won the weekend before in Houston. This was bad news for Reed. The best chance
to beat Stewart often comes when Stewart beats himself, and he wasn't showing
signs of doing that coming back into Southern California.
Of course, Reed never seems to believe he can't beat Stewart, and perhaps that's
why he is usually looked at as the only rider who even has a shot at doing it.
For as well as Kevin Windham and Tim Ferry had run up front in Houston the week
before, you know they were looking over their shoulder the whole time waiting
for James to come through. Reed though will still attack, and it shows with his
starts. Normally, when a rider doesn't expect to win, he doesn't try to lead off
the start, either, because that means his march backwards through the pack will
be on full display for everyone. But Reed will take his chances, and he did it
by banging out a big start and trying to sprint through the early laps of San
Diego's main.
Of course Stewart wasn't far away, and he was quickly up to Reed and putting pressure
on. A dangerous game was about to begin. Stewart is know for being fast, but he's
especially fast in the early laps of the race. On a few occasions this year, Reed
had shown the ability to match Stewart starting around lap five. And that's about
the time Stewart got to Reed's rear fender and started looking for ways around.
He did it borrowing a technique all the way from Europe. Last fall, Stewart was
beaten in a moto at the Motocross des Nations by Europe's King of Motocross, Stefan
Everts. Much was made of the differing styles between Stewart and Everts, as Stewart
sat down on his Kawasaki and charged, while Everts stayed standing on his Yamaha
through most of the turns-including the turn where he went around Stewart to beat
him in the final moto of the day.
Perhaps Stewart was taking notes. He rode through a right hand corner behind Reed
standing up on the pegs, and when Reed bounced through the turn sitting down,
Stewart calmly stayed inside and controlled the line through the next rhythm section
and the next turn to take the lead. Stewart was standing on his bike and now at
the head of the pack.
But lap five had passed, and Reed was feeling racy. He stuck with Stewart for
a bit, until James clipped a tough block that tumbled into Reed's path. That slowed
him down and it was basically all Stewart needed to get away and head for yet
another win. But those tough blocks. They're tough.
Stewart went too far outside in the corner before the finish line jump and clipped
the block. He lost his momentum as he took off from the jump and stepped off in
mid-air-the downside to Stewart's forward riding style is that when he loses momentum
at all, he's going tumbling over the front of his bike.
Miraculously, Stewart landed on the backside of the finish line jump by himself
and didn't get hurt (it was like he cased the jump, but since he didn't have a
bike, it would be more appropriate to say he footed it). But damage was done.
Reed sailed by, narrowly missing Stewart when he landed the jump. Then Stewart's
bike was a mess, so he went back into the mechanics' area for some work, which
dropped him further into the pack.
From there Reed cruised to his first AMA Supercross victory of the season, while
Stewart had to fight his way back up to fifth-a miraculous charge considering
how beat up he bike was. Stewart was lucky to survive the crash, but Reed was
pretty fortunate as well-he had found that San Diego magic just when he needed
it.
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