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| SX Season Recap - St. Louis |
| Jason Weigandt |
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Of all of the events on the 2007 Amp'd Mobile Supercross Tour, let there be no
doubt that St. Louis was the wildest of them all. The Midwestern fans get a treat
every year because it seems like big stuff goes down near the Arch every year,
including a crazy 2006 event that saw Ricky Carmichael fail to finish a race for
the first time in seven years, James Stewart crash away an opportunity to take
advantage, and Chad Reed climb from third to first in the point standings. Ivan
Tedesco and Ernesto Fonseca stood on the podium, too.
Yeah, St. Louis 2006 was amazing, but 2007 nearly matched it. Carmichael was
back again riding this one as part of his part-time tour-he loves the dirt at
this venue-and Reed and Stewart were still slugging it out for points and championships.
Plus, the East Region Lites riders were back after an unpredictable night in Atlanta.
As their main event unfolded, it became clear that St. Louis was going to be another
classic.
Ben Townley, who saw his championship hopes evaporate when his Monster Energy/Pro
Circuit/Kawasaki blew up in Atlanta, was out front early, with his teammate Darcy
Lange and last week's winner Ryan Dungey draped all over him. Dungey and Lange
were trying to make passes on Townley and on each other, showing wheels in every
corner, fighting, pressuring and pushing. Most of the action took place in a whoop
section that led to a triple jump. The whoops and the jump had taken a beating
all night long, and eventually it was tough to loft a 250F over the triple. Lange
clipped a tuff block into Dungey's path, and the young Suzuki rider hit it and
crashed. He couldn't get his bike started again, and suddenly he fell like a stone
from the series points lead.
Then Lange battled past Townley in a knock-down drag out race for the win-which
would be the first SX win for either rider. It came down to that whoops and triple
combo one more time, and Lange blew his drive and didn't have enough speed to
clear the jump. But the Canadian wanted the win and went for it anyway. His bike
ejected him on take off, and Lange went sailing through the night without his
bike-a scary crash that Lange was lucky to walk away from. Townley held on for
an emotional win, an amazing comeback considering his entire 2006 season went
up in smoke due to injury. Young Boost Mobile Yamaha of Troy teammates Ryan Morias
and Matt Goerke finished on the podium to leave the race tied for the points lead.
It was crazy and wild and exciting to watch, which left the 450 riders quite a
show to match.
They sure tried. Reed and his San Manuel Yamaha teammate Nathan Ramsey got out
front early in the main, with Stewart close behind and Carmichael buried in traffic.
Stewart attempted a pass on Reed around the outside of a right-hand turn, hoping
to run the rail while Reed rolled the power on down low. But their lines came
together, and both riders refused to let off. They barreled into each other, both
crashing in a heap. The St. Louis crowd was on fire, as Carmichael slithered past
both and headed to the front, while Reed and Stewart picked their way out of the
mess. Reed kept his bike running and stayed in the top five, while Stewart remounted
way back.
Before long Carmichael had the lead and checked out, adding another amazing win
to his Greatest Of All-Time record. But the real fireworks were yet to come between
Reed and Stewart. Stewart was coming through the pack hard and catching Reed.
Instead of just blitzing past him, though, Stewart waited for the same turn where
Reed plowed into him to make the pass. He dove inside, made the pass, and then
stopped and roosted his rival for good measure. After half a season of battling,
tensions were boiling over between the two.
Carmichael won, with Stewart and Reed second and third. After the race Stewart
immediately called Reed over for a talk, and they were all over each other, as
aggressive with the words as they were with the passes out on the track. The fans
at the Edward Jones Dome understood. Once again this race had given them a lot
to talk about.
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