Torco Racing Fuels Honda Race Report - Seattle

SEATTLE, Wash. – As the 2008 AMA Supercross Championship goes down to the wire, Torco Racing Fuels Honda’s Kevin Windham continues to close in on a possible first National SX Championship to go along with his previous Lites Championships. The question at this point is more about timing than performance, as Windham has won the last two races, but still trails by 10 points going into the season finale.

Going into the Seattle main event, Windham had just come off of a win in the opening Heat race of the night, just in front of Davi Millsaps and Torco Racing Fuels Honda’s Josh Grant, in his 450cc debut. At the start of the main, Andrew Short got to the official holeshot line first, but Windham had the lead shortly thereafter, while championship rival Chad Reed was down in the first turn.

After leading the first two laps, Windham got too close to a Tuff Block and got the cover lodged in his rear wheel, forcing him to stop, get off of his bike, and dislodge the banner.

“I got a little close to the side [of the track],” Windham said. “That was a track where, with all of the rocks, sometimes you get a little offline and you had to sort of ride from bale to bale, and that’s what I was doing, but I kind of got a little too close to the bales, and the thing sucked up into my rear wheel, and as I was coming out into the first rhythm section, the thing just completely bogged, and I almost killed myself. It didn’t kill the engine, but I just had the presence of mind that I knew there was know way that I could ride with that thing in my rear wheel. I was just like, ‘I’ve got to try to get this thing out. That’s my only shot.’ I was kind of surprised that I had the presence of mind to do that, to be honest with you. I stopped, got off the bike, worked the thing out.”

Windham remounted at the tail end of the top five, and by then, Reed was only a couple of spots behind him. Windham went to work, first passing teammate Grant for fourth, then chasing down Timmy Ferry for third, Millsaps for second, and then finally retaking the lead from Andrew Short on the 18th of 20 laps.

“I was really thinking, ‘Man, this might be the whole championship. What if I can’t get this thing out of my rear wheel?’” Windham said. “It was just two extremes of emotion in four laps, and then to get back after it again, I was wondering, ‘Can I catch these guys?’”

Windham ended up taking his fourth main-event win of the season, but Reed recovered for second, minimizing Windham’s points gain for the second-straight week.

“As I was going, I was looking at Chad, and I was watching him pick them off one by one, and it was a bummer,” Windham said. “These three-point weekends, they’re not going to get it for me.”

There is one more race to run, and Windham needs to make up 10 points in the finale to win the championship.

“Let’s go!” Windham said. “I’m ready! Let’s go to Vegas right now. I’m ready right now. Let’s go.”

Windham’s teammate Josh Grant had an impressive 450cc debut. After twisting his ankle in practice, he had it taped up, and then had to have the brake pedal raised up a bit so that he could use it with his immobilized right ankle. Then, he went out and grabbed third in his Heat race, and ran in the top five for most of the main event, eventually finishing a strong sixth.

“It was good,” Grant said. “I had a little mishap in practice and twisted my ankle, but it wasn’t too bad. It was something I could race with. I just wanted to come and get a learning experience and ride the 450. I rode it last week, and I felt comfortable on it, and I wanted to just go out, have fun, and race it. I definitely expected to be in the top 10, and to go out tonight and get sixth, that was a pretty good accomplishment. I know things could’ve been better, like if I didn’t twist my ankle or something like that, but I’m just excited to go out and get a feel for what I have to look forward to in the next couple of years. Hopefully, it works out.”

In the Lites class, Phoenix winner Jake Weimer didn’t make the trip to Seattle, as he was still recovering from a recently broken collarbone. He will be in Las Vegas for the East/West Shootout, though. His teammate Dan Reardon, however, started out the night with a Heat-race win.

“The Heat race was good,” Reardon said. “I got a good start, and I came out in second behind [Austin] Stroupe, and he ended up going down, and I led from there on in. I felt comfortable, and I was having fun in that Heat. From there, I couldn’t wait to get to the main. It’s so different having a clear track. You don’t have a bunch of other guys crashing in front of you and making mistakes, so it’s good. You can just work on what you need to work on, and that was it.”

However, in the main, he didn’t have the good fortune of being out front with a clear track, and it cost him, as he got sucked up into a pileup on the opening lap, which ended his night.

“The main event lasted for two straights,” Reardon said. “There was a pileup with about six or eight guys in it, and I was one of them, and that was it for the night. I couldn’t continue. Tonight was working out to be the night, but it ended up not working out, so it’s disappointing, but we can hopefully turn things around for Vegas.”

From here, the Torco Racing Fuels Honda team heads to the AMA Supercross Finale in Las Vegas on May 3 inside Sam Boyd Stadium, where Windham will try to snatch the 450cc title, and Eastern Regional Lites Champion Trey Canard, and his Lites teammates Jake Weimer, Josh Grant and Dan Reardon will take on the Dave Coombs Sr. Lites East/West Shootout.

Team Sponsors: Torco Race Fuels, Honda, Planet Fitness, No Fear Energy, AMSOIL, Factory Connection, No Fear, Shoei, Gaerne, Spy, DVS, Cycra, Dunlop, EK, Ferodo, Hinson, Ogio, One Industries, Pro Circuit, Renthal, Showa, TAG, Twin Air, and Works Connection.

Seattle Lites Main:

1. Ryan Dungey Suz

2. Jason Lawrence Yam

3. Broc Hepler Yam

4. Austin Stroupe Kaw

5. Tommy Hahn Kaw

6. Justin Brayton KTM

7. Brett Metcalfe Kaw

8. Kyle Cunningham Hon

9. Michael Willard Hon

10. Justin Keeney Hon

22. Dan Reardon Torco Racing Fuels Honda

AMA Western Lites Final Standings:

1. Jason Lawrence (157/3 wins)

2. Ryan Dungey (154/3 wins)

3. Austin Stroupe (131/1 win)

4. Brett Metcalfe (126)

5. Tommy Hahn (117)

6. Justin Brayton (100)

7. Dan Reardon (95)

8. Broc Hepler (79)

9. Wil Hahn (73)

10. Bobby Kiniry (72)

15. Jake Weimer (55/1 win)

AMA Eastern Lites Final Standings:

1. Trey Canard (147/4 wins)

2. Ryan Villopoto (137/3 wins)

3. Nico Izzi (99)

4. Branden Jesseman (94)

5. Josh Grant (91)

6. Tyler Bowers (86)

7. Ryan Morais (84)

8. Ryan Sipes (84)

9. Martin Davalos (73)

10. Billy Payne (71)

Seattle 450cc Main:

1. Kevin Windham Torco Racing Fuels Honda

2. Chad Reed Yam

3. Andrew Short Hon

4. Davi Millsaps Hon

5. Timmy Ferry Kaw

6. Josh Grant Torco Racing Fuels Honda

7. Josh Hill Yam

8. Nick Wey KTM

9. David Vuillemin Suz

10. Heath Voss Hon

AMA Supercross Standings (After 16 of 17 rounds):

1. Chad Reed (340/8 wins)

2. Kevin Windham (330/4 wins)

3. Davi Millsaps (262/2 wins)

4. Andrew Short (261)

5. Josh Hill (210/1 win)

6. Timmy Ferry (206)

7. Nathan Ramsey (173)

8. David Vuillemin (158)

9. Nick Wey (144)

10. Paul Carpenter (136)