The track itself was designed by supercross legend Jeremy McGrath and featured two large whoop sections and multiple rhythm sections. In the valleys between the jumps and other obstacles, rain seeped through the protective plastic somewhat, which led to a track that featured dry, slick, rocky jump faces and landings with wet, rutted and soft transitions. And the starting line was nearly all rain-soaked, with the exception of a few gates in the middle of the left side of the gates where a pile of dirt had been left during the week, and its removal left a dry
spot of dirt, allowing for good traction for the fortunate few who were able to start there.What this meant was that for the main event, gate picks were going to be key, so heat-race results were at a premium.
AMSOIL 450cc rider Kevin Windham fought his way up to fourth in the second Hhat, which gave him the seventh gate pick for the main event, leaving him out of the preferred area right off the start. Still, the veteran played it smart around the first turn and rounded the first lap in fifth. As he looked for a way around Ivan Tedesco for fourth, he lost a spot to defending champion Chad Reed, who would eventually finish second. On lap eight, Windham found his way by a fallen Josh Grant for fifth just before the sky opened up and rain began to fall, turning the hard, dry areas of track into virtual ice, and Windham lost the spot back to Grant.
However, late in the race, Windham was making up ground on Tedesco for fifth before he stalled
his bike in the slick conditions on the final lap, costing him a spot. He finished seventh.The Lites riders had similar issues to contend with, if not worse, as their heats came before the 450cc qualifiers. AMSOIL's Dan Reardon started up front in his heat and made up some time by jumping the track’s triple on the first lap. It wasn't enough as h still finished third. Meanwhile Trey Canard fought his way through for fourth, giving the two the sixth and seventh gate picks, respectively, putting them outside of the “good area” for starting success.
Off the start, Canard got caught up with Ryan Dungey, who fell in the first turn, and he was forced to come through from the back. He rounded lap one in 17th, while Reardon came around in 10th. Canard and Dungey hooked up and began to come through the pack, and on lap four, Canard had moved into the top 10 when he mis-timed a section and went over the bars in the tricky dirt. Stunned, it took him a while to get going, and by the time he did, he was a lap down. From there, he ran on the leaders’ pace for the rest of the race, even passing eventual fifth-place finisher Jeff Alessi at the 10-lap mark. He still salvaged a strong 12th-place finish despite the first-turn tangle and the later hard fall.Reardon worked his way from 10th up to fifth in the early going before losing a couple of spots in the late going to Dungey and Ryan Sipes. Reardon finished seventh, which matches his current position in the points standings with three rounds left to run.
From here, the AMSOIL sponsored team heads to San Diego on February 14 for round seven of the AMA Supercross Series and round six of the Lites Western Regional Supercross Championship.
Until then, we'll see you at the races.
