Weekly Notes Part 2: Dallas – This Week in Amp'd Mobile Supercross

AURORA, Ill. (March 30, 2007) – Although Yamaha’s Chad Reed has not won an Amp’d Mobile Supercross main event since San Diego (2/17/07), he has enjoyed huge success at Dallas’ Texas Stadium, finishing first in three out of four starts. This weekend Reed will square off against current points leader James Stewart where each rider brings their own win streak. Reed has won two years in a row at Dallas and Stewart is on a three-race win streak in Amp’d Mobile Supercross.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Stewart was able to step it up and pull off an incredible win at the RCA Dome despite a lack-luster start.

“I don’t know if I picked my speed up around the whole track, but I started jumping different sections every lap consistently,” said Stewart. “That’s where I was able to make up my time, especially in the rhythm section, where I eventually made the pass for the lead. Once I got by and he didn’t get a counter attack on me, I knew I was good.”

Stewart heads to Dallas with a 32-point lead over Chad Reed in the Amp’d Mobile Supercross Series and is hopeful this season is a “good year” in Dallas.

“Dallas has been up and down for me,” said Stewart. “Last year we rode good, but I ended up crashing and settling for second. The year before that, I won my first ever 250cc main event. Hopefully this year is my year. I have had good luck every other year, so this should be my year.”

Teammate Timmy Ferry also stepped it up and regained a spot on the podium in Indianapolis. However, even though he captured the third position, he was a bit disappointed in his race weekend.

“Today was, in a round about way, was an off day as far as speed goes,” said Ferry. “I’ve already started getting ready for the outdoor season. I have been doing a lot of motos and stuff since the races have been close to home and I haven’t had to travel. I think that could have played a part in me not feeling fresh.”

He added, “We are coming up on some easier weeks now, and I think next week will be good. We are going back to some hard pack in Dallas, kind of like an Anaheim track, which I felt like I rode really well on. I am looking forward to finishing out the rest of the season and being on the box at all the rounds.”

Cernic’s Kawasaki rider Jeff Gibson has had some up and downs in his race season thus far and is looking for a spark at Texas Stadium.

“I got some things to work out with my training program,” said Gibson. “I think I need to give myself more rest. I came into this weekend kind of tired and now I just feel beat. I am looking forward to getting through next weekend and then taking a break to recover on the two weeks off.”

Teammate Paul Carpenter seems to have been plagued with the dirt virus this year, which has him visiting the soil quite often.

“My biggest thing all year is that if I let the pack get away then I can’t catch them,” said Carpenter. “Tonight I thought, alright I am going to make some passes quick and I made a mistake and lost my front end. After I got back up, I was working my way up and on a roll before I lost my front end once again. I think I may have pushed it a little too hard.”

He added, “This year I have been riding really well, but I think mentally I have been making some errors. I also really need to work on my starts and that’s no secret. I tried to cut my seat to get myself a little more planted on the ground and my starts were a little bit better both in the heat and the main. All things considered, I think I have some improvements to make but I think I can make things happen next week in Dallas.”

Team Makita Suzuki Racing’s Ivan Tedesco came out of last week’s Indianapolis event with a top-five finish. This strong result comes on the heels of several fourth-place finishes and has Tedesco optimistic about the upcoming Dallas race.  On top of that, the former AMA Supercross and Motocross Lites Champion has been spending a lot of time at his house in Texas and feels right at home for this weekend’s event. 

“I need to work on putting myself up front at the beginning of the race,” said Tedesco, who’s been riding his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 on his Texas tracks. “That’s the thing I need to do to get my pace up there, my speed up there, and put myself in a better position. When you’re mid-pack, a lot of bad stuff happens. I’m going to keep on trying to work on what I’ve been working on all year – my speed. I feel like my endurance is finally coming around. At the end of the race my endurance is really solid. I just need to work on my speed so I can give myself a chance.”

Tedesco’s Makita Suzuki teammate Ryan Dungey is riding high after last weekend’s win in the AMA Supercross Lites class at Indianapolis. The victory is rookie Dungey’s second AMA Supercross Lites win, the first being the Atlanta round in February.

“I’m going back to Southern California this week,” said 17-year-old Dungey.  “We’re going to ride some and get ready for this weekend. Winning at Indianapolis was huge for me. I’ve had some bad luck lately, and to pick up this win was huge for me and my team, who’ve been behind me all year.  I’m looking forward to using this as momentum for Dallas.”

For more information about the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, please log on to www.supercrossonline.com