2002 AMA EA Sports Supercross Series
Round
12 of 16: April 6 - Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
April 7, 2002
Six straight wins and counting for
Carmichael
Reed clinches 125 East title
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| With the 125 East
title in the bag, Chad Reed might get some more
practice time on 250s in the final four series
races. |
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Steve Bruhn photo
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ST. LOUIS - Ricky Carmichael continued his
impressive winning streak Saturday night in St. Louis, riding his
factory Honda to a sixth-straight victory and further extending
his series lead with four races remaining. Carmichael led from
flag to flag to earn his second straight victory in the Edward
Jones (formerly Trans World) Dome. Yamaha's David Vuillemin once
again did the best he could do, but after a poor start had no
chance of catching Carmichael after the Frenchman finally cleared
the field with just a lap and a half left in the race. Ernesto
Fonseca earned his third podium of the season, losing second to
Vuillemin in the waning laps of the final.
While Carmichael continued to work his way to a
second AMA Supercross title, Australian Chad Reed wrapped up his
first AMA championship by staying a perfect six for six on the
season in 125 East with a dominating performance in the Dome.
In the 250 final, crowd favorite McGrath looked to
have the holeshot at the start, but Fonseca came charging up on
the inside on his Honda, bumped MC and won the Powerade Award. But
while Fonseca and McGrath were grinding on each other it was
Carmichael slipping through in the rhythm section coming out of
turn one to take over the lead.
As Carmichael pulled away a great three-way battle
developed between Fonseca, McGrath and Stephane Roncada. The crowd
gave a huge roar of approval when MC put his No. 2 Bud Light
Yamaha into second on lap eight with a nifty inside move on
Fonseca in turn four. By this time Carmichael was four seconds out
front and McGrath was unable to bridge the gap.
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| A familiar sight in
2002. |
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Steve Bruhn photo
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By lap 13 McGrath started fading. Fonseca got by
him in turn seven and three laps later it was a charging Vuillemin
going by the beloved champ in the whoop section. MC would end the
night in fourth.
In the closing laps Vuillemin moved up fast on
Fonseca and made his move to second at the inside of turn four (a
popular passing spot) with just a lap and a half to go. It was far
too late for Vuillemin however to mount any kind of charge on RC.
The defending champ was way out front and took the checkered flag
eight seconds ahead of his series rival.
"Once I took the lead I just got into a good
rhythm and got really comfortable," said Carmichael.
"The bike was set up perfect tonight so that made it a lot
easier for me. David got through there and was catching me, but
fortunately I'd built up a good cushion. I want to just keep
rolling. I'd like to win the final four races if possible. I don't
want the championship to come down to the last race in
Vegas."
The 125 East final was a wild race. Kelly Smith
took the holeshot and led for the first two laps. Larry Ward, Reed
and Ryan Clark stayed close to Smith making it a quartet of
Yamaha's leading the way. On lap three Reed moved up and made an
inside move on Smith going into the jump at turn four to take over
the lead.
Once up front Reed flew away from the rest of the
field, clicking off times a full second faster that the rest of
the riders.
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| Greg Schnell |
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Steve Bruhn photo
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Meanwhile the battle for second was intense. With
Grant Langston moving up to join Smith, Ward and Clark. On lap
nine Ward appeared to hit the back of Smith's bike (tire to tire)
going through the rhythm section between turns two and three. That
set up a chain reaction that saw Ward go down hard on the face of
a jump and Langston caught up in the accident with nowhere to go.
On the next lap around Smith inexplicably went down in the same
spot leaving putting of the top contenders on the ground. Smith
continued, but Ward and Langston were both out of the running.
Reed emerged from the rough-and-tumble middle laps
unscathed on the Boost Mobile Yamaha and pulled away to an
eventual 19.5-second margin of victory. It was one of the most
dominating performances of the season for the Aussie rider, who
seems to just be getting better race after race.
A great second-place battle came down to the last
lap. It was French newcomer Eric Sorby on the Pro Circuit Kawasaki
winning out over Boost Mobile Yamaha's Greg Schnell. Sorby made an
aggressive move across Schnell's front wheel as the two came down
the stadium's front straight for the final time. That was enough
to shut down Schnell's drive and Sorby continued to show his
supercross skill in only his second race in the U.S.
But the story was Reed taking the 125 East title in
his first AMA season.
"I've been dreaming about this my whole
life," said Reed on winning his championship. "The
ultimate would be a 250 championship, but I've got a good start
here. I can't wait for the Nationals to start."
When asked if he would try to go for the perfect
undefeated season in the 125 East next week in Pontiac Reed would
only answer, "We'll wait and see."
Race Notes
Trans World Dome is now Edward Jones Dome
St. Louis' Dome, which hosts the AMA EA Sports Supercross Series,
recently had a name change. Formerly known as the Trans World Dome
the indoor stadium is now called the Edward Jones Dome. Edward
Jones is a St. Louis-based brokerage firm, which was named as the
No. 1 place to work in America by fortune Magazine earlier this
year. The stadium was renamed late in January after airline TWA
(the former naming rights company) declared bankruptcy last year
and was purchased by the parent company of American Airlines. The
Trans World Dome signage around the stadium was still up on race
weekend.
Reed hoping to get some time in the 250 class
Australian sensation Chad Reed is hoping to get some seat time on
a 250 in the closing rounds of the 2002 AMA EA Sports Supercross
Series. The Boost Mobile Yamaha of Troy rider has already signed
with Yamaha to race 250s next season, but he thinks some more time
on the 250s this year would do him some good.
"I'd like to ride 250s the rest of the season
if I wrap up the championship tonight," Reed said just hours
before the St. Louis race. "I would like to kind of use the
rest of the season as a preparation for the outdoors and to just
have some fun."
Reed said he could also play a part in helping
fellow Yamaha David Vuillemin in the 250 Supercross championship
chase. When asked if he planned on racing the Dave Coombs, Sr.
East/West Shootout in Las Vegas Reed brought up the possibility of
helping Vuillemin.
"As far as racing in Las Vegas I think a lot
of it depends on how David is doing in the points. I guess if
there's a tight points battle between David and Ricky I might be
able to get in there and at least put another bike on the track in
effort to help Yamaha."
McGrath more comfortable on dirt than on the
rubber
Seven-time AMA Supercross champ Jeremy McGrath got a chance to see
what it felt like to be a pro in another sport in St. Louis. MC
threw out the first pitch at the St. Louis Cardinals baseball game
on Thursday before the race. McGrath said he'd much rather be on a
supercross track than a baseball diamond. "I was a lot more
nervous on that pitcher's mound than I am on a starting
gate," joked McGrath, whose sponsor Bud Light is
headquartered in St. Louis. McGrath toured the Budweiser brewery
and found out he had a lot of fans in the Gateway City.
Lusk checks out of hospital and makes race
Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk suffered a hard crash in the first practice
session in St. Louis. He hit his head and twisted his neck. He was
taken to the hospital to be checked out. Lusk was released from
the hospital at 6:30 p.m. and rushed back to the stadium in time
to make the heat races. He qualified for the final by winning a
semi. It turns out that Yogi suffered whiplash in the practice
accident, but rode on despite the injury.
Photo Gallery
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Photos by Steve Bruhn
Copyright AMA Pro Racing, 2005.
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