Red whine!
By TMX Archives on 11th Mar 04
about writing with a red wine hangover - it's a different breed of morning sickness. THERE'S SOMETHING about writing with a red wine hangover - it's a different breed of morning sickness. And while this Withnailian ******d behind the eyes may not lend itself to in-depth, big-picture speculation, the occasion calls for nothing short of just that. It's been an eventful month. Let's get started.Factory Yamaha rider Chad Reed is running away with the 2004 250cc THQ AMA Supercross series. As of this writing he's won six of nine Main Events and has a 26-point lead over second-place Factory Connection Honda's Kevin Windham, the winner of the other three Mains. And while that's more than one full race - a win gets you 25 points - it's still a good result for Windham, who had all but retired from the sport after breaking his leg in Atlanta two years ago. K-Dub is one of the smoothest, most talented riders this sport has ever seen but he just can't seem to put it all together for a serious title run. Still, if Reed has a serious bobble, things could get very interesting by the time the series is over.As it stands now, though, the interest is somewhat lacking, especially considering everyone's raised expectations going into this season. With defending champion Ricky Carmichael out of the series before it began with a knee injury, everyone expected a much tighter race for the championship. We probably should have seen it coming as Reed won the last six rounds of the '03 series but we Yanks do tend toward unwarranted optimism.It's a sunny disposition that masks the pain of familiarity, though. In 11 years we've had a total of three 250 SX champions, one being Jeff Emig whose sole title came in '97. Other than Fro, it's been McGrath and Carmichael. That's it! Two riders who have dominated the upper echelon of stadium motocross for a decade and then some. What do we need to do to get a decent, series-long title chase?Perhaps we need only wait another year. In January 2005, the 250 line-up will include #259, James 'Bubba' Stewart (it's an unwritten law over here that you must use all three names when referring to James 'Bubba' Stewart although I will break it here for brevity's sake). Stewart, at the tender age of 18, has already broken several major amateur records and at the end of February broke a big one in the pro ranks, picking up his 14th 125 SX Main Event win. The old record was 13 victories and belonged to the King of Supercross, Jeremy McGrath.Will we see a new coronation a few years down the line? Nothing is ever certain in this sport and Bubba is on a quest to break every record and win every championship the AMA can throw at him - and you'd be a fool to bet against the kid. When he announced that he'd be switching to the 125cc East Region SX Series (another title to win), half of that group jumped ship to the 125 West. After only three races, he holds a 22-point lead on Suzuki's Broc Hepler. James has already made it clear that he's racing the 250 class next year. The scary part? His lap times on a 125 are only tenths of a second off of Reed's fastest on a 250. Stay tuned.If you let out a collective 'who?' when I mentioned Broc Hepler, here's the scoop. Broc, named after the great Broc Glover, is a 17-year-old rookie from Pennsylvania who got a straight-up Suzuki factory ride right out of the amateur ranks.While he arrived on the scene with little of the customary speculation and hype that we've come to expect, his debut at the Houston Supercross was cause for some excitement. Hepler pulled the holeshot in his first professional SX Main and actually held the lead for two full laps before Stewart made the pass. Hepler hung on for second place in his indoor premiere and looks remarkably mature on the track. Remember that name - when Bubba moves up, he could be a force in the class.Another rider making his pro debut this year is amateur phenom Davi Millsaps. Unable to race in Houston - he didn't turn sixteen until about two hours after the race ended - Millsaps had to start his season a week late in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Davi is highly disciplined and practices non-stop, coached by his mother Colleen at their Millsaps Training Facility. His speed on the practice track is already the stuff of legend but his first two races are proof that success on an empty track doesn't translate to the real thing.With a 14th place in Minneapolis and a 21st a week later in Atlanta, Davi's got some work to do. Along with Hepler, though, expect good things - especially once arch rival Mike Alessi gets to the pro ranks.Finally, the AMA's new enforcer (or MX/SX manager if you want to get technical about it) Steve Whitelock has become either a fascist dictator or a powerless eunuch, depending on who you ask. He handed down penalties to Kevin Windham and Grant Langston for separate rough-riding incidents (fascist), only to see both rulings overturned upon review (snip).Two weeks later, Langston pulled off the track during - yes, during his qualifying race - and picked a fight with Jimmy Wilson, a privateer. The two riders had collided early in the race with Langston hitting the dirt. Considering that it was the second on-track fight of the evening, it looks like yet another headache for Mr Whitelock. And if it's anything like this one, I can't help but feel for the guy...By Jeff Kocan, courtesy RacerX