After coming very close to his first Supercross win of the year last week in Pontiac, Team Honda’s Kevin Windham came through and won, not only his heat race, but the main event as well in front of 46,402 fans inside Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. Windham’s last Supercross win was at the same venue last year.
Chaparral/Mazda Yamaha’s Jeremy McGrath actually grabbed the main event holeshot, but just after making the first turn he tangled handlebars with Windham and the defending Supercross Champion went down, dropping back to last place. Windham took over from there and never looked back.
Yamaha’s David Vuillemin was slowed down by McGrath’s fall, but by the time the race was just a few turns old, the Frenchman was in second place – behind Windham. By that time, however, Windham was too far gone and Vuillemin had to settle for second.
Gating just inside the top 10 was Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki’s Ricky Carmichael, whose hard charge for the entire 20-lap event resulted in an impressive third-place finish. Carmichael had been forced to ride a semi to make it to tonight’s main event after getting caught up in a first-lap traffic jam in his heat race and not making up the difference.
Fourth went to McGrath. By the fourth lap of the main, McGrath had moved all the way up to 13th and three laps later the six-time champ was in fifth. Five laps from the finish, McGrath had made his way through all kinds of traffic, including Mike LaRocco, Damon Huffman and Sebastien Tortelli to finish an amazing fourth.
With three rounds remaining, McGrath sits 28 points in front of second-placed Vuillemin, 300-272. LaRocco’s fifth place finish on the night helped him hold on to third place in the points race. The Amsoil/Factory Connection/Honda-backed rider trails Vuillemin by 26 points with 246 points.
250cc Main Event Results
1. Kevin Windham (Hon)
2. David Vuillemin (Yam)
3. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw)
4. Jeremy McGrath (Yam)
5. Mike LaRocco (Hon)
6. Sebastien Tortelli (Hon)
7. Damon Huffman (Suz)
8. John Dowd (Kaw)
9. Larry Ward (Kaw)
10. Robbie Reynard (Suz)
The final round of the 125cc Western Region division was action packed from the drop of the gate to the checkered flag. One of the biggest first-turn pileups in Supercross history occurred just moments into the main event and everyone who was anyone in the Western Region points race was involved. The least affected rider was Motoworld of El Cajon/Yamaha-mounted Greg Schnell, who came out on top of the entire affair.
Schnell, who won round two in San Diego, actually had a chance at the title depending on how Splitfire/Pro Circuit-Kawasaki’s Shae Bentley and Motorious.com/Suzuki’s David Pingree fared.
Schnell went on to claim an impressive win, but Pingree and Bentley, who were both affected by the first-turn scuffle, made up enough ground to beat Schnell out in series points. When Schnell took the checkered flag, one spot in front of a hard charging Pingree, it was unbenonest to the crowd and the announcers whether or not Bentley’s seventh-place finish was good enough to beat Pingree’s runner-up spot for the Western Region Championship.
After quick AMA tabulations it was announced that series rookie Bentley, who held the points lead going into the event, was indeed the champion. Bentley beat out Pingree by a mere two points, 122-120. Schnell trailed with 116 points.
Finishing third behind Pingree in the race was Amsoil/Factory Connection/Honda’s Chris Gosselaar with FMF/Honda’s Danny Smith taking fourth. Planet Honda’s Isaiah Johnson led the race briefly, but faded and ended up fifth.
125cc Western Region Main Results
1. Greg Schnell (Yam)
2. David Pingree (Suz)
3. Chris Gosselaar (Hon)
4. Danny Smith (Hon)
5. Isaiah Johnson (Hon)
6. Justin Buckelew (Yam)
7. Shae Bentley (Kaw)
8. Jiri Dostal (Hon)
9. Rodrig Thain (KTM)
10. Casey Lytle (Hon)
